Earth from 93,000 feet. Long Island in the background. Credit: The 1337Arts Group
A group of MIT students have launched a low-budget satellite to near space, taking images of the curvature of Earth and the blackness of space. Their approach was to use low tech, off the shelf equipment, which included a Styrofoam beer cooler, a camera from eBay, open source software and an inexpensive helium balloon as the launch vehicle in order to do their complete mission launch for less than $150. Total cost? $148. The experience? Priceless, including getting interviewed on CNN and Fox News about their achievement. The best news for the rest of us? They’ll soon be sharing an illustrated step-by-step guide on how to launch your own low-budget satellite.
The team, led by Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh had the goal of seeing Earth from space, but didn’t have a lot of money to do it. They knew they’d have to gather all the materials for less than $150.
[/caption]
Their satellite was a huge success. It reached 93,000 feet (calculated from the linear ascent rate at the beginning of the launch), took several images of Earth from space (see their gallery here) and was retrieved using an inexpensive GPS system.
They say the time lapse video above isn’t all that great because the cooler wasn’t stabilized. But the images are incredible.
Many people have launched balloons (see some of our previous articles, here and here) but this is the lowest price to space anyone has ever accomplished. The students say they hope to be an inspiration to others. The balloon falling back to Earth after bursting. Credit: 1337arts team.
Lee and Yeh caution about making sure future explorers contact the FAA about launching a balloon, and to launch from a safe place so the balloon and equipment doesn’t land in a highly populated area.
Next, they want to do it again, but add a rocket to the balloon to launch their payload even higher.
Second image from GigaGalaxy Zoom. Credit: Stéphane Guisard
[/caption]
Last week the GigaGalaxy Zoom project introduced an interactive 360-degree panorama of the entire night sky, and they promised more zoomable images to come. The second of three images is now available, and it is a wonderful 340-million-pixel vista of the central parts of our galactic home. Taken by Stéphane Guisard, an ESO engineer and world-renowned astrophotographer, the image shows the region spanning the sky from the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) to Scorpius (the Scorpion). This mosaic was assembled from 52 different sky fields made from about 1200 individual images totalling 200 hours exposure time, with the final image having a size of 24,403 x 13,973 pixels. Click on the image to get access to larger versions of the image. Jump right in and enjoy the views!
Guisard compiled this amazing mosaic from image taken at Cerro Paranal, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. This second image directly benefits from the quality of Paranal’s sky, one of the best on the planet. The image was obtained by observing with a 10-cm Takahashi FSQ106Ed f/3.6 telescope and a SBIG STL CCD camera, using a NJP160 mount. Images were collected through three different filters (B, V and R) and then stitched together.
The very colourful Rho Ophiuchi and Antares region features prominently to the right, as well as much darker areas, such as the Pipe and Snake Nebulae. The dusty lane of our Milky Way runs through the image, dotted with remarkable bright, reddish nebulae, such as the Lagoon and the Trifid Nebulae, as well as NGC 6357 and NGC 6334. This dark lane also hosts the very centre of our Galaxy, where a supermassive black hole is lurking.
The GigaGalaxy Zoom project was create especially for the International Year of Astronomy.
[/caption]
This picture is from last week; September 9, 2009 to be exact, but I still wanted to share it. I just got in touch with photographer Clair Perry from Prince Edward Island, Canada to get his permission to post the image. No, this is not a comet. Pictured is space shuttle Discovery executing a water dump. The shuttle needed to get rid of excess waste water before landing the next day, and jettisoned it overboard via the waste water dump line, creating a spectacular visual effect as sunlight hit the spraying water. This dump occurred just as the shuttle was flying over North America last week, and lots of people witnessed this “toilet flush.” Some reports indicated it was “pristine” water (the shuttle fuel cells’ by-product is water) and other reports said it was “waste water and urine” (the Bad Astronomer called it Constellation Urion). Whatever, it was pretty. NASA said this was an unusually large dump, about 150 pounds (68 kg), because new regulations say no shuttle water dumps can take place while docked to the ISS, so as not to contaminate the outdoor experiments on the Kibo lab.
See below for the spectacular entire image, which also includes the nearby ISS creating a streak in the sky. Thanks to Clair Perry for sharing his images.
Shuttle and ISS on 9/9/09. Copyright Clair-Perry
And if you’re worried about the water ice freezing and becoming projectiles in orbit, NASA says that while waste water usually freezes upon jettison into a cloud of tiny ice droplets, when the sun hits, the ice sublimates directly into water vapor and disperses in space.
I remember the first time I saw a shuttle water dump. It was back in 2000, and I had gotten up early, about 4:45 am, to watch the shuttle pass over. But I saw this strange sight, like something was coming off of the shuttle. I ran inside and turned on NASA TV, just in time to see a view of a golden spray shooting out of the shuttle — the sunlight hitting the water at just the right angle made it look like a shimmering gold spray. Gold, not yellow.
Art and astronomy often intersect, and it’s wonderful when art can provide an emotional connection to science. Amateur astronomer and artist Sayward Duffano has captured the personalities of several astronomers through history as well as individuals in astronomy related fields in a gallery of paintings she created especially for the International Year of Astronomy. “I knew I wanted to paint something special for the IYA,” she said. “So last year I had started painting a few astronomers, some planets, and some other types of astro art.”
And Sayward says she is looking for a place to display her work.
“Originally, I was working on a print and book project, but due to the recent downturn in the economy, those plans were not able to be realized,” she said. “I’m not trying to sell the originals, but I do want them to be able to be seen because of their subject matter and they were painted especially for the IYA.” Andromedan Gothic. Painting by Sayward Duffano.
Her gallery includes astronomy notables like Galileo, Ptolemy, Cassini, Sagan and Levy and astronauts like Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong, Christa McAuliffe, and even Laika the astro-dog. She also has a collection of the solar system and other astronomical objects, and a few humorous works, such as her “Andromedan Gothic” spoof, above.
She says she saw Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” when she was very young, and it inspired her to study art and created a bond with the night sky. “As time went on, I did more studying on the night sky and space, and realized it was a much bigger, more complex place than I had previously thought.
After attending a star party a few years ago, she found the dark, unpolluted skies to be very inspiring. She began painting some Messier objects and some abstracts inspired by vintage copies of Sky and Telescope. Astronaut Fred Haise with Sayward Duffano. Courtesy Sayward Duffano
In February of this year, she found out that Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise was coming to a nearby college campus in Long Beach, Mississippi. “I had painted his portrait, and wanted to give it to him,” she said. “It’s not every day (for me, at least!) I get to meet an astronaut. We went to his lecture, which was awesome, and afterward I gave it to him. He loved it.”
Sayward says she likes the abstractness of the moon and planetary surfaces. “Even the smallest craters and crevasses never fail to inspire, and the colors in space are always inspiring as well. The strange brightness of the sunny side of any planet reveals unusual earth tones, the vibrant oranges and yellows of Mars, the pale cream and contrasting red of Jupiter, the yellow ocher of Saturn, the icy greys of our Moon. They are vibrant, yet subdued in their own way.” M 27. Painting by Sayward Duffano
Sayward says she grinds many of her own paints and primarily work with Mars pigments. “I feel these colors are perfect for studying the planets via brush. There are reds, browns, yellows, oranges, violets, and black in the Mars color series, usually a light and dark of the same color. The pigment comes in powder form, and it is beautiful in itself. It’s like I’m mulling Martian soils.”
“Jupiter is probably my favorite planet,” she said. “I say probably because it’s almost a tie between it, Mars and Saturn. You have the cool rings around Saturn, and that strange, irresistible orange of Mars- but Jupiter is something else all together. It reminds me of a huge, ever changing marble.”
The astronomers, planets and other studies in this series of painting for IYA are all done on archivally sound recycled materials.
Any planetarium, science center or other place interested in displaying this collection can contact Sayward through her website, SaywardStudio.com.
The ISS and Discovery on Sept. 1, 2009. Credit: Paolo Beltrame
[/caption]
Paolo Beltrame from Italy sent us this amazing montage of images he took of space shuttle Discovery docked to the ISS on September 1, 2009. See the incredible details visible of the space station and docked shuttle! Paolo is with the Circolo AStrofili Talmassons (Amateur Astronomers Club in Talmassons, or CAST) who have an impressive observatory (take a look at Paolo’s website). He took these selected images from a 2-minute movie taken with a TourcamPro webcam. As impressive as Paolo’s astrophotos are, however, he says his real passion is viewing the night sky with the naked eye. His motto is “Lasciate che i fotoni vengano a me!” (Let the photons come to me!) See a close up of Paolo’s best shot of the ISS/shuttle below, as well as images from other astrophotographers of Tuesday evening’s pass of the shuttle and ISS as they flew in tandem after Discovery undocked from the station on Tuesday afternoon. There’s also video from the shuttle’s flyaround.
The ISS and shuttle on Sept. 1, 2009 at 3:03 UT. Credit: Paolo Beltrame
Below is Kevin Jung’s image of the ISS and shuttle as they flew in tandem over Grand Rapids, Michigan: Formation Flyover. Credit: Kevin Jung
Kevin made it home just in time to take this image, and he said the pair of spacecraft went just below Lyra, and you can make out some of the other things in the field, as well. Click the image to see more of Kevin’s handiwork.
And here’s my feeble attempt to image the tandem flyover from my yard in Illinois: ISS, shuttle and a star. Credit: N. Atkinson
Can anyone guess what the star in the picture might be?
Finally, enjoy some video of the shuttle’s fly-around of the ISS following undocking. This video just shows the the shuttle due to the lack of Ku band downlink availability. Video of the station from the orbiter was not available, but we’ll post it here later if it becomes available.
Ever try to imagine what cities on other planets or moons might look like? Universe Today reader Alan Lipkin put his imagination to work for this week’s edition of Astro Art. But do you recognize the different images Alan Photoshopped together to create this very futuristic city? “It is Saturn’s moon Phoebe with New York City inserted in the craters Jason and Erginus,” Alan revealed. Additionally, a portion of the Wild Duck Cluster is the backdrop.
Readers may remember that Alan was the original inspiration for Astro Art of the Week with this submission here.
If you’ve got a space or astronomy image you’ve created and would like to share it, submit it to Nancy . We’re also still looking for a better title than “Astro Art of the Week” — so if you have any suggestions for something a little more catchy, post your idea in the comments.
The waxing Gibbous Moon and the planet Jupiter in the southeastern sky. They are separated by 4 degrees in the sky. Credit: Kevin Jung
[/caption]
Anyone ask you that question this morning? Jupiter was only 3 degrees from the Moon last night, making a pretty (and bright!) conjuction. I put out a call on Twitter last night for pictures of the event, and here are a few that were shared. Above is one taken by Kevin Jung in Grand Rapids, Michigan USA. Click the picture for more of Kevin’s images. Also, if you looked at Jupiter with a telescope last night (Sept 2) at 4:43 to 6:29 Universal Time (12:43 a.m. to 2:29 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) you may have also noticed something was missing: Jupiter’s moons were hiding! Ganymede and Europa passed in front of the giant planet, while Io and Callisto will passed behind Jupiter (from our point of view) making it nearly impossible to visually detect any moons around Jupiter. Our own Brian Ventrudo explains all on his site One Minute Astronomer. And here’s some more images from the conjuction:
Moon + Jupiter + a seagull, at a resort in Southern Portugal. Credit: Daniel Fischer
Here’s a nice shot from Daniel Fischer (a.k.a. cosmos4u on Twitter) who took this image while in Portugal. Check out Daniel’s website, too, for lots of space and astronomy info. Moon and Jupiter conjuction. Credit: Emily Lakdawalla
This one is from Emily Lakdawalla, blogger for the Planetary Society. If you’re wondering why the Moon looks so orange in this picture, Emily is currently looking through the smokey skies of the “Station Fire” out in southern California. Moon-Jupiter conjuction. Credit: David Woods
This is a pretty view of the conjuction from David Woods, who took this image from the mountains of Virginia, USA. Click the image to see more of David’s handiwork.
[/caption]
This week’s Astro Art was submitted by Assi Süer, a 20 year-old amateur astronomer and astrophysics student from Sweden. She has been sketching and painting since she was young. Since space shuttle Discovery is now docked at the International Space Station for the STS-128 mission, Assi’s sketches seemed fitting for this week, especially since her fellow Swede, Christer Fugelsang, is on board. “He has inspired me, and many more, to never give up,” Assi said. “Even a Swede can become an astronaut, but only if we work hard for it. It is, of course, nothing wrong with Swedes, but it’s hard for us because we’re such a small part of the European Space Agency.”
“‘Failure is not an option’ is my favorite quote,” Assi said, “because failure definitely isn’t an option for me, if I’m going to one day work for ESA, which is my dream. So I’m going to do everything to not fail.”
Below is another of her sketches of space shuttles.
Assi shared that she would one day like to sketch and design Mars landers. You’ve got a great talent, Assi! Go for it!
"Music Combines the Soul and the Heavens" by Bhavya Mittal
[/caption]
This week’s featured Astro Art was created by Universe Today reader Bhavya Mittal. Bhavya calls it “Music combines the soul and the heavens,” and explains the image: “On the bottom left is the most dangerous black hole identified till now. On the top right is the Crab Nebula, and below it, as you can see, is our dear Solar System. This image shows that when you are totally engrossed in music,you really get the feel of the Universe. At least I have felt it!”
I’m feeling it too! Great image, Bhavya. Again, this new feature allows readers to share images they have created via digital editing software and other media. If you’ve got a space or astronomy-related image you’ve created and would like to share it, submit it to Nancy . And we still haven’t found nirvana yet for what to call this new feature — so if you have any suggestions, post your idea in the comments.
"Frozen Nitrogen Landscape." Credit: Stephen Guida
[/caption]
Here’s another installment for our new feature, Astro Art of the Week, where we feature our readers’ artwork they have created via digital editing software and other media. On a warm summer day, this image of “Frozen Nitrogen Landscape” looks almost inviting! This image was created by UT reader “Bunnyman,” a.k.a. Stephen Guida. What was the inspiration for this image? “A couple of years ago I was reading about Pluto and its eccentric orbit,” Stephen told us, “how its atmosphere is gaseous part of the time and freezes out into solid material as it reaches its aphelion. I started to imagine a large rocky planet, many times the size of Earth, with a highly eccentric orbit and a dense nitrogen atmosphere which would freeze out into a solid at different points in its orbit. The frozen nitrogen “lake” covers most of the planet’s surface and the background mountain ranges, covered with nitrogen “snow”, poke through and tower thousands of meters above.”
Stephen said this image is a composite of images produced with three separate software tools. The frozen lake and background mountains were produced with a image-generation tool called Terragen. The stars and moon in the black sky were produced with POV-Ray, and the bright blue star was produced with Solar Cell. Check out Bunnyman’s website for more images he has created.
Thanks for sharing your photo-editing wizardry Stephen! Readers, if you’ve got a space or astronomy image you’ve created and would like to share it, submit it to Nancy . And we still haven’t found nirvana yet for what to call this new feature — so if you have any suggestions, post your idea in the comments.
