Asteroid Observing Alert

2011 GP59 imaged remotely from the GRAS Observatory. Credit: Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero

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A newly discovered asteroid could provide one of the best recent viewing opportunities for amateur astronomers, according to the British Astronomical Association. “This is the best NEO close approach these past few years and is bright enough to be observed visually in large (>20cm., or 8-inch) aperture telescopes when on the night of Thursday 14th it will appear as a faint slow-moving star,” writes Richard Miles, the director of the BAA’s Asteroids and Remote Planets Section.

UPDATE: See a new picture of asteroid 2011 GP59 from Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero taken on April 14, 2011, below.


2011 GP59 imaged remotely from the GRAS Observatory. Credit: Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero

Guido & Sostero sent us a note that they imaged 2011 GP59 early on April 14, remotely from the GRAS Observatory (near Mayhill, New Mexico USA) through a 0.51-m, f/6.9 reflector + CCD.

“It’s a single unfiltered exposure of 600 seconds, showing 2011 GP59 as trail with brightness fluctuations clearly evident,” they said.

(end of 4/14 update)

2011 GP59 was discovered just a few days ago and will make its closest approach to the Earth on April 15 at 19h UT at 1.39 lunar-distances. But it will be brightest at an average magnitude of 13.2 around 00h UT on the night of April 14/15 when Miles says it will be very favorably placed in the sky for observers worldwide.
The asteroid is approximately 60 meters in diameter and appears to be rotating very quickly, about once every 7.35 minutes. Its oblong in shape and rotation will vary the object’s brightness every 4 minutes or so.

Miles reported that David Briggs observing with the Hampshire Astronomy Group’s 0.4-m instrument on the evening of April 11 commented, “This is probably the fastest rotator I’ve seen so far in that it completely disappears from view every 3 to 4 images.”

This object was discovered on the night of April 8/9 by the Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca (OAM) using a 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector at their La Sagra facilities (J75) in Andalusia, Spain (see http://www.minorplanets.org/OLS/ ). The observers involved were S. Sanchez, J. Nomen, R. Stoss, M. Hurtado, J. A. Jaume and W. K. Y. Yeung.

Brian Skiff of Lowell Observatory has completed a lightcurve analysis which can be found at this link, and positions can be found using the Minor Planet Center’s ephemeris service at this link. You can also find more information on this object from the website of the Remanzacco Observatory in Italy.

The British Astronomical Association is also seeking observations of the Moon on Friday, April 15, between 19:00 and 21:00 UT, when the Aristarchus and Herodotus area of the Moon will match the same illumination, to within +/- 0.5 degrees, as that observed during the famous Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP) seen by Greenacre and Barr from Flagstaff observatory back on Oct. 30, 1963.

TLPs are very short changes in the brightness of patches on the face of the Moon, which can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours and can grow from less than a few to a hundred kilometers in size. This phenomenon has been observed by hundreds of amateur and professional astronomers, but how and why this occurs is not understood. Some astronomers believe that they are the outcome of lunar outgassing, where gas is being released from the surface of the Moon, but most commonly astronomers think it could be an effect from Earth’s own atmosphere.

If you want to help understand TLPs and perhaps observe an event like this for yourself, the BAA Lunar Section is looking for high resolution monochrome, or especially color, images of this area during this time period,, which favors observers in Europe.

But you can check this website from the University of Aberystwyth for many locations around the world of when would be a good time to observe a TLP.

See more information about how to observe a TLP and how to report your observations at the BAA website.

Sources: BAA, BAA (again) University of Aberystwyth

Global Lunar Week – April 10 to 16, 2011

Lunar Week Logo Courtesy of Astronomers Without Borders

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In 2009, hundreds of thousands of people participated in one way or another with the International Year of Astronomy, and there’s no reason to let the excitement die! Astronomers Without Borders are celebrating the entire month of April as Global Astronomy Month and one of the focus points is just three days from arrival… Global Lunar Week!

” A week-long series of programs, from April 10 through 16, will be dedicated to the Moon during Global Astronomy Month to help people rediscover our closest companion in space.” says AWB. “Lunar Week takes place while the Moon is well-placed for observation in the evening sky. As the Moon’s phases and positions change during its orbit around the Earth, there will be Moon-themed star parties to observe the Moon by telescope and naked eye, educational programs, online observing events, competitions and a celebration of the Moon in different cultures.”

Astronomers Without Borders has a theme – One People * One Sky. For all of those who read Universe Today, we realize quickly how astonomy can bring together friends from different countries, different cultures and different time zones. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all observe together?

The dream can come true…

Sander Klieverik from AstronomyLive is working with telescopes around the world to celebrate Global Lunar Week and bring the view right to you.

“The week will start with an amazing broadcast from the historic Chamberlin observatory of the Denver university (with the help of Prof. R. Stencel). It will start april 9th between 7-10pm local time (Denver), which is 01-04 GMT April 10th.” says Sander. “Our goal is to get as many telescopes pointed towards the Moon as possible. I hope that there will be a continuous view of the Moon somewhere from the globe the whole week.”

How can you participate? It’s easy! Just tune into the AstronomyLive Website and follow the instructions. “During the Lunar Week, AstronomyLive will host at least two broadcasts, currently scheduled 15th and 16th of April.” instructs Klieverik. “The first broadcast will take you on a journey across the 85% illuminated lunar surface, on the hunt for the most beautiful craters during this phase, the ´Crater hunt´. The craters at the terminator will receive special attention, the dark side of the moon that changes during the Moon phase. Please know that you will see a LIVE view of the Moon and not some Moon photo. The same accounts for the “Apollo Hop”.

Come one, come all… Lunatics are welcome!

The Great Moon Hoax of 1835

A lithograph published in the New York Sun newspaper in 1835 showing life on the Moon. Credit: Wikipedia

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Say the words “Moon Hoax” these days, and everyone thinks you are talking about the people who don’t believe the Apollo astronauts ever went to the Moon. But back in 1835 there was the original Moon hoax that thousands of people fell for, despite the tall tale being complete fiction. A series of articles were published in the New York Sun newspaper reporting incredible new astronomical observations of the Moon supposedly made by astronomer Sir John Herschel during an observing run at the Cape of Good Hope with his powerful new telescope. Detailed descriptions of winged beings, plants, animals and a sapphire temple increased sales and subscriptions to the fledgling newspaper.

Here’s a selection from one of the articles:

“We counted three parties of these creatures, of twelve, nine and fifteen in each, walking erect towards a small wood… Certainly they were like human beings, for their wings had now disappeared and their attitude in walking was both erect and dignified… About half of the first party had passed beyond our canvas; but of all the others we had perfectly distinct and deliberate view. They averaged four feet in height, were covered, except on the face, with short and glossy copper-colored hair, and had wings composed of a thin membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their backs from the top of the shoulders to the calves of their legs.”

The descriptions were allegedly reprinted from the nonexistent Edinburgh Journal of Science, and only several weeks after the articles were published did questions arise about the truth of these tales. The newspaper did not issue a retraction back then, and now, even over 175 years later has not issued a full retraction of it, either.

It is said that Herschel was initially amused by the hoax, noting that his own real observations could never be as exciting. But he became annoyed later when he had to answer questions from people who believed the hoax was serious.

To be honest, I had not heard of this hoax until it was discussed by professor Rob Knop in today’s 365 Days of Astronomy podcast. He does a great job telling the story, so it is definitely worth a listen.

Sources: 365 Days of Astronomy, HistoryBuff, Wikipedia

From the Earth and Moon (and Russia) With Love

Russia's Elektro-L spacecraft captured this view of the Moon over the Red Sea region of the Earth. Credit: NPO Lavochkin

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This stunning picture of the Moon and Earth was taken by Russia’s new Elektro-L spacecraft, a weather-forecasting satellite that launched in January 2011. This is the first major spacecraft developed in post-Soviet Russia, and it is designed to give Russian meteorologists the ability to watch the entire disk of the planet, thanks to the satellite’s position in the geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator. The clarity of the images is fantastic, as you can see in another image of just the Earth, below. The Elektro-L is designed to last at least a decade, and will enable local and global weather forecasting, analysis of oceanic conditions, as well as space weather monitoring, such as measurements of solar radiation, properties of Earth’s ionosphere and magnetic field.

On Feb. 26, 2011, at 14:30 Moscow Time, the Elektro-L satellite produced its first breathtaking image of the home planet. Credit: NPO Lavochkin

Learn more about the Elektro-L mission at their website.

h/t: SDO Facebook page.

“How Apollo Flew To The Moon” Second Edition Set For Summer Release

The second edition of "How Apollo Flew To The Moon" is set to be released this summer. Image Credit: Springer/Praxis

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Apollo: the name conjures up images of spacesuit-clad astronauts riding fantastic machines to the surface of another world. But when it comes to the brass tacks, the mechanics of how it was accomplished – the image gets a little fuzzy.

It is with that in mind that author, engineer and historian David Woods has written: How Apollo Flew to the Moon. Now while this book is written by someone that has sat down with those involved with the Apollo Program and is an engineer himself – it doesn’t read that way. This appears to be one of Woods’ key considerations from the outset.

“I believe that the essential elements of any technology can be understood by any reasonably intelligent person, provided that the words can be found to explain it,” said Woods during an interview regarding the second edition of his book which was recently released. “This was the basis for this book. There’s no point in getting into the function of every electronic component or each equation used to describe a trajectory to the Moon, but I could see no reason why a person couldn’t come to understand the broad sweep of a mission and the many layers of technology and procedure that went into one.”

Many books that cover the Apollo Program delve a little too deeply into the technical aspects that made man’s first journey to another world possible. Novices, or those without engineering degrees get quickly bored and the books find themselves warming shelves.

How Apollo Flew To The Moon defeats this problem by breaking the technical hurdles, accomplishments and other aspects of the missions into bite-sized segments. It also avoids engineer-speak, explaining points in easy-to-understand language. It also is filled with color and black-and-white images as well as diagrams that explain how things happened, why other things were selected (and others weren’t) and so on.

The first edition of the book can be found on Amazon.com for around $30, whereas the newly updated second edition will set you back around $44.95. Given the attention to detail that is contained within this tome – it is well worth the additional cost to pick up the newer edition. How Apollo Flew To The Moon, second edition, is available for preorder from Amazon.com and other outlets. The book is scheduled to be released this summer.

“The book’s initial reception has been fantastic and I have been deeply humbled by folk’s kind words about it since it first came out,” Woods said. “The second edition is nearly ready and it expands on what was written in the first edition. At over 500 pages, it will be 25 percent larger with more color photographs throughout. There are additional stories of Apollo’s engineering triumphs both on the surface of the Moon as well as in flight, much of which reflects my continuing journey into the technical achievement that was Apollo.”

The first edition cover of "How Apollo Flew To The Moon." Image Credit: Springer/Praxis

Your Pictures of the “Super” Full Moon

The full Moon on March 19, 2011, as seen in Ankara, Turkey. Credit: Ra?id Tu?ra

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How super was your full Moon on March 19, 2011? I was completely clouded out, but thankfully quite a few people have been kind enough to share their images. Here are a pictures sent in by readers, as well as via Twitter and Facebook. We’ve got images from all around the world, and even though the size of the Moon really wasn’t that much bigger than usual, (read here why not) it is great to see so many people getting out and looking up at the sky! Our lead image comes from Rasid Tugral in Ankara, Turkey.

This view of the March 19, 2011 full Moon was taken on West Kennet Avenue at the Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire. Credit: Pete Glastonbury
Perigee moonrise from Rothenfels, Germany. Credit: Daniel Fischer.

This one is from Daniel Fischer , who took a series of images of the Perigee moonrise sequence from Rothenfels, Germany.

Perigee Moon. Credit: Jason Major

Jason Major from Lights in the Dark created this image from a combination of two exposures from his Nikon D80 and 200mm telephoto.

The full super moon. Credit: Peter Riesett
The full moon is seen as it rises near the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, March 19, 2011, in Washington. The full moon tonight is called a "Super Perigee Moon" since it is at it's closest to Earth in 2011. The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

moon from Tim Burgess on Vimeo.

Supermoon through the trees. Credit: Adam Schaefer
‘I took a few shots of the moon during last week and collected three of them to the same picture adding color lines to help the viewer to compare the size of the moon when it is nearing to its perigree status. All the shots have been taken in Laukaa, Central Finland with Sony Alpha700 dslr -camera equipped with 300mm minolta telephoto lens and 2x tele converter, hand held, manual focus. Unfortunately, the night 19.3.2011 was here cloudy, so I couldn't take photos then.’ Credit: Jukka Seppala, Teacher, nature photographer, Vihtavuori, Central Finland
Full Moon over Florida, sent in by cmurray6.
'I see the Supermoon a rising, I see trouble on the way ....' taken with an iPhone and a 3.5-inch scope: Credit: Bill Dillon
The Moon over the San Francisco, CA Bay Area. Credit: Diane Garber
The Moon and an old coal fired power station in Fremantle, Western Australia. Credit: Donna Oliver Rockingham, Western Australia

This gorgeous shot, was sent in by Donna Oliver from western Australia, take a bit of creative license. She says: “The goal was not to shoot the moon as such but to take advantage of the additional light. Obviously on a long exposure, the moon would not look this good, so I shot the moon, then added it. You can see star movement if you look carefully. I made the moon extra large as my interpretation of the Super Moon.”

'The Moon rising behind a couple of palm trees with cows grazing in the foreground. As you can see in the image, the bottom half of the moon has a different tint due to the earths atmosphere.' Credit: Tom Connor, Parrish, FL
SuperMoon taken from Alpha Ridge, March 19, 2011. Credit: James Willinghan
Moon over New Orleans. Credit: Peter Jansen
Moon over Cape Town, South Africa. Equipment: Canon 400D, Sigma 170-500 lens 'The Moon was definitely at its best. I did not try any new tricks as I wanted to compare the "supermoon" with my previous attempts. Phocussing was definitely much easier. My exposure was just right to show up the ejecta rays of the impact craters, Tycho and Copernicus as well.' Credit: Carol Botha
The Moon over Gulf Islands National Seashore near Navarre Beach, Florida. Credit: Mindi Meeks. Click the image to see more in a series taken by Mindi.
A 'side by side' comparison of 4 different shots taken over the period of 30 hours before 'SuperMoon'. It shows the progression of Moon in it's orbit until the closest point. Credit: Ramiz Qureshi, from Karachi, Pakistan.
This one is pretty creative: Saturdays "Supermoon" compared to the size of an apogee moon (2008). The 'big one' was taken yesterday (March 19, 2011). It is compared to the full moon fotographed at 20.4.2008. The same camera and optics was used (Canon EOS 40 D and Canon 100-400L IS @400mm). In 2008 moon distance was 406,000km, Saturday only 357,000km. Credit: Hans Schremmer Niederkrüchten Germany
The Moon over Teneriffa, Canary Islands. Camera: Atik 314 E, Astrotrac and 70/420 tube. Credit: Vesa K.
'I took this in my garden this evening about 9pm using my Tokina 500mm mirror lens. More detail than I was expecting to be honest,' said photographer Dave Green. Click the image to see his Flickr page.
'Supermoon was scared to shows its face to me.' Credit: Euan McIntosh
Full moon over Bassett, Virginia, 03/19/2011. Credit: Essie Hollandswort
Image of the Full Moon at perigee, taken from Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on March 19th., 2011 at 20.05UT using a Canon 30D camera set at 1/800sec and 1000ASA. The camera was attached to an 80mm refractor of 500mm focal length and a x3 teleconverter giving an effective focal length of 1,500mm. Credit: Colin Henshaw.
The full Moon over England. Credit: Jerry T Krzyzanowski. Click the image to see his gallery.
This Super Moon image was taken in Pointe-Claire,Canada. The Super Moon is right behind Mercier bridge, one of the key bridge that ties the Montreal island to the south shore. Credit: Jean-Guy Corbeil, Beaconsfield, Québec
Full Moon over Lake Ontario, beside Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). Credit: Nona Clark

Check out these two from Tavi Greiner on her blog, A Sky Full of Stars: In this one, the Moon rises over a boat on the Shallotte River, just a few hundred yards from the Atlantic Ocean.

And in this one, the Moon appears captured by the rigging, and even almost appears to have lit the ropes on fire.

Google Lunar X-Prize’s ‘college team’ gaining steam, attention and support

The Google Lunar X-PRIZE team, Omega Envoy, consists primarily of college students and is working to land a rover on the lunar surface. Image Credit: ESI

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ORLANDO – The Google Lunar X-PRIZE (GLXP) recently announced the 29 official teams that will be vying for the $30 million grand prize. One group in particular stands out amongst the list however – Omega Envoy. This team is comprised primarily by college students from the University of Central Florida, working on engineering and other degrees. However, while they may be relatively young, they have drawn the attention of the media, numerous sponsors, NASA and the space industry.

NASA has inked a deal with the tiny band of potential explorers to purchase data from their spacecraft. The space agency awarded the Innovative Lunar Demonstration Data contract to Omega Envoy. This contract is worth up to $10 million. However, while this contract and the growing list of sponsors is impressive, the feat that the team is trying to accomplish is daunting. What they are attempting to do, only nations have done before.

The GLXP requires that to win, the team must safely land a robot on the lunar surface, have it travel 1,500 feet and send back both images and data to Earth. Given the fact that, to date, only the U.S. and Russia have accomplished this before – this is no small task.

Different views of Omega Envoy's proposed lunar rover. Image Credit: ESI

The Google Lunar X-PRIZE is another effort by the X-PRIZE Foundation. The impetus behind this organization is to accelerate space exploration efforts much in the same way that the Orteig Prize accelerated air travel in the 20th Century. That prize was a paltry (by today’s standards) $25,000 for the first person to fly non-stop from New York to Paris (or vice-versa). Its winner, Charles Lindbergh, would go down in history as one of the most famous aviators of all time. It is with this premise in mind that the X-PRIZE Foundation works to inspire today’s explorers and innovators.

The Omega Envoy team under Earthrise Space Inc., has been growing, gaining experience and the attention of major aerospace players - including NASA. Photo Credit: ESI

For the original Ansari X-PRIZE it took an established (if somewhat outside of the mainstream) aerospace company with years of experience to finally accomplish the objectives laid out. Scaled Composites, renowned for their kit aircraft; successfully sent a manned spacecraft into sub-orbital space, returned safely and then sent the same spacecraft, SpaceShipOne; back into space within the required two weeks.

The non-profit organization that oversees all aspects of Omega Envoy, Earthrise Space Inc. (ESI), works to provide services to private companies, government agencies, as well as educational institutions that currently have the resources to explore space and are looking for low cost products that will accomplish their requirements. They feel that this will enhance the accessibility of technology and increase educational interest amongst the workforce that drives the space.

“Aside from the GLXP, ESI intends to continuously schedule lunar deliveries for scientific payloads and robotics,” said Earthrise Space Institute’s Project Director Ruben Nunez. “Other mission objectives for Omega Envoy entail the visual feedback of a scientific payload that will analyze the lunar terrain.”

This illustration displays what Omega Envoy's lunar lander craft might look like. Image Credit: ESI

Through the Google Lunar X-PRIZE and government contracts such as the contract with NASA, it is hoped that this initiative will enable the creation of a new economic system to support lunar exploration as well as Technology Readiness Level (TRL) advancement of innovative, commercial space systems.

“I am fortunate in that I had the opportunity to witness what Omega Envoy is capable of producing when I field tested their prototype rover during the 2009 FMARS (Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station) Expedition,” said Joseph Palaia 4Frontiers’ Vice President. “There is little doubt in my mind that this team is fully capable of accomplishing the objectives laid out in the GLXP.”

One of the Omega Envoy team members, Joseph Palaia; took a prototype of the rover to be field tested during the 2009 FMARS Expedition. Photo Credit: Joseph Palaia

The Supermoon Illusion

You’ve probably all seen it before, a huge Full Moon sitting on the horizon and you wonder why it looks much bigger than at other times? It isn’t, really; it’s an illusion.

And now, if you have heard about the close approach of the moon, or so called “Supermoon” on March 19th and are concerned about the disasters and mayem it may cause, there is no need to worry. And surely, when this so-called “Supermoon” occurs on March 19th — at its closest approach to Earth in two decades — people will indeed report that the Moon looks much bigger than normal. But it won’t really be much bigger in the sky at all. It’s all an illusion, a trick of the eye.

The moon does have an effect on the Earth with its gravity affecting ocean tides and even land to a lesser extent, but the moon on the 19th won’t interact with our planet any differently than any other time it’s been at its closest (also known as perigee).

If anything we may get slightly stronger tides, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit, meaning that it is not always the same distance from the Earth. The closest the Moon ever gets to Earth (called perigee) is 364,000km, and the furthest is ever gets (Apogee) is around 406,000km (these figures vary, and in fact this Full Moon on March 19, 2011 will see a slightly closer approach of 357,000km).

So the percentage difference in distance between the average perigee and the average apogee is ~10%. That is, if the Full Moon occurs at perigee it can be up to 10% closer (and therefore larger) than if it occurred at apogee.

This is quite a significant difference, and so it is worth pointing out that the Moon does appear to be different sizes at different times throughout the year.

Moon at Perigee and Apogee Credit NASA

But that’s NOT what causes the Moon to look huge on the horizon. Such a measly 10% difference in size cannot account for the fact that people describe the Moon as “huge” when they see it low on the horizon.

What’s really causing the Moon to look huge on such occasions is the circuitry in your brain. It’s an optical illusion, so well known that it has its own name: the Moon Illusion.

If you measure the angular size of the Full Moon in the sky it varies between 36 arc minutes (0.6 degrees) at perigee, and 30 arc minutes (0.5 degrees) at apogee, but this difference will occur within a number of lunar orbits (months), not over the course of the night as the Moon rises. In fact if you measure the angular size of the Full Moon just after it rises, when it’s near the horizon, and then again hours later once it’s high in the sky, these two numbers are identical: it doesn’t change size at all.

So why does your brain think it has? There’s no clear consensus on this, but the two most reasonable explanations are as follows:

  1. When the Moon is low on the horizon there are lots of objects (hills, houses, trees etc) against which you can compare its size. When it’s high in the sky it’s there in isolation. This might create something akin to the Ebbinghaus Illusion, where identically sized objects appear to be different sizes when placed in different surroundings.

Ebbinghaus Illusion – the two orange circles are exactly the same size

  1. When seen against nearer foreground objects which we know to be far away from us, our brain thinks something like this: “wow, that Moon is even further than those trees, and they’re really far away. And despite how far away it is, it still looks pretty big. That must mean the Moon is huge!”.

These two factors combine to fool our brains into “seeing” a larger Moon when its near the horizon compared with when it’s overhead, even when our eyes – and our instruments – see it as exactly the same size.

Source: “Moon Illusion” on Dark Sky Diary Special thanks to Steve Owens

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Delivers Treasure Trove of Data

LOLA data give us three complementary views of the near side of the moon: the topography (left) along with new maps of the surface slope values (middle) and the roughness of the topography (right). All three views are centered on the relatively young impact crater Tycho, with the Orientale basin on the left side. The slope magnitude indicates the steepness of terrain, while roughness indicates the presence of large blocks, both of which are important for surface operations. Lunar topography is the primary measurement being provided, while ancillary datasets are steadily being filled in at the kilometer scale. Credit: NASA/LRO/LOLA Science Team

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NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has completed its initial phase of operations during the exploration phase which lasted one year from Sept. 15, 2009 through Sept. 15, 2010 and has now transitioned to the science phase which will last for several more years depending on the funding available from NASA, fuel reserves and spacecraft health. The exploration phase was in support of NASA’s now cancelled Project Constellation

To mark this occasion NASA released a new data set that includes an overlap of the last data from the exploration phase and the initial measurements from the follow on science mapping and observational phase.

This is the fifth dataset released so far. All the data is accessible at the Planetary Data System (PDS) and the LROC website and includes both the raw data and high level processed information including mosaic maps and images.

LRO was launched on June 18, 2009 atop an Atlas V/Centaur rocket as part of a science satellite duo with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter & Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

After achieving elliptical orbit, LRO underwent a commissioning phase and the orbit was lowered with thruster firings to an approximately circular mapping orbit at about 50 km altitude.

LRO spacecraft (top) protected by gray colored blankets is equipped with 7 science instruments located at upper right side of spacecraft. Payload fairing in background protects the spacecraft during launch and ascent. Credit: Ken Kremer
LRO was equipped with 7 science instruments that delivered more than 192 terabytes of data and with an unprecedented level of detail. Over 41,000 DVDs would be required to hold the new LRO data set.

“The release of such a comprehensive and rich collection of data, maps and images reinforces the tremendous success we have had with LRO in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and with lunar science,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington according to a NASA statement.

The new data set includes a global map produced by the onboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) that has a resolution of 100 meters. Working as an armchair astronaut, anyone can zoom in to full resolution with any of the mosaics and go an exploration mission in incredible detail because the mosaics are humongous at 34,748 pixels by 34,748 pixels, or approximately 1.1 gigabytes.

Browse the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Image Gallery here:

The amount of data received so far from LRO equals the combined total of all other NASA’s planetary missions. This is because the moon is nearby and LRO has a dedicated ground station.

Topographic map from LRO data. Credit: NASA

Data from the other LRO instruments is included in the release including visual and infrared brightness, temperatures maps from Diviner; locations of water-ice deposits from the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) especially in the permanently shadowed areas and new maps of slope, roughness and illumination conditions from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter team.

Additional new maps were generated from data compilations from the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation and the Miniature Radio Frequency (mini RF) instruments

The combined result of all this LRO data is to give scientists the best ever scientific view of the moon.

“All these global maps and other data are available at a very high resolution — that’s what makes this release exciting,” said Goddard’s John Keller, the LRO deputy project scientist. “With this valuable collection, researchers worldwide are getting the best view of the moon they have ever had.”

Slope image. Credit: NASA
The Atlas V/Centaur carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter & Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite hurtles off Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on June18, 2009. Credit: NASA/Tom Farrar, Kevin O'Connell

Source: NASA Press Release

Just to be Clear: The Moon Did Not Cause the Earthquake in Japan

Apparrent size difference at Perigee and Apogee

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We’re getting a lot of visitors to our site today, many searching for information about earthquakes, tsunamis, and the ‘SuperMoon’ phenomenon. Just to be clear, the Moon did not cause the earthquake in Japan. Several scientists have posted articles online today clarifying the topic, and all of them, in no uncertain terms, agree that the the upcoming perigee of the Moon — where it is closer than usual in its orbit to Earth — had nothing to do with the earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Tammy discussed this yesterday, but as we often do, we’ll also point you in the direction of an article by astronomer Phil Plait about this topic, and another by Ben Goldacre, who completely debunks an article that appeared in the Daily Mail about the possibility of a connection between the two events.

In addition, Dr. Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has provided some answers to questions about the ‘supermoon’ phenomenon, below:

Question: What is the definition of a supermoon and why is it called that?

Garvin: ‘Supermoon’ is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon. So, the moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times.

It is called a supermoon because this is a very noticeable alignment that at first glance would seem to have an effect. The ‘super’ in supermoon is really just the appearance of being closer, but unless we were measuring the Earth-Moon distance by laser rangefinders (as we do to track the LRO [Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter] spacecraft in low lunar orbit and to watch the Earth-Moon distance over years), there is really no difference. The supermoon really attests to the wonderful new wealth of data NASA’s LRO mission has returned for the Moon, making several key science questions about our nearest neighbor all the more important.

Question: Are there any adverse effects on Earth because of the close proximity of the moon?

Garvin: The effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor, and according to the most detailed studies by terrestrial seismologists and volcanologists, the combination of the moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its ‘full moon’ configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth since there are lunar tides every day. The Earth has stored a tremendous amount of internal energy within its thin outer shell or crust, and the small differences in the tidal forces exerted by the moon (and sun) are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet due to convection (and other aspects of the internal energy balance that drives plate tectonics). Nonetheless, these supermoon times remind us of the effect of our ‘Africa-sized’ nearest neighbor on our lives, affecting ocean tides and contributing to many cultural aspects of our lives (as a visible aspect of how our planet is part of the solar system and space).