Universe Today

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

Warp Drives Probably Impossible After All

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Just when I was getting excited about the possibility of travelling to distant worlds, scientists have uncovered a deep flaw with faster-than-light-speed travel. There appears to be a quantum limit on how fast an object can travel through space-time, regardless of whether we are able to create a bubble in space-time or not…

First off, we have no clue about how to generate enough energy to create a “bubble” in space-time. This idea was first put on a scientific grounding Michael Alcubierre from the University of Mexico in 1994, but before that was only popularized by science fiction universes such as Star Trek. However, to create this bubble we need some form of exotic matter fuel some hypothetical energy generator to output 10⁴⁵ Joules (according to calculations by Richard K. Obousy and Gerald Cleaver in the paper “Putting the Warp into Warp Drive“). Physicists are not afraid of big numbers, and we are not afraid of words like “hypothetical” and “exotic”, but to put this energy in perspective, we would need to turn all of Jupiter’s mass into energy to even hope to distort space-time around an object.

This is a lot of energy.

If a sufficiently advanced human race could generate this much energy, I would argue that we would be masters of our Universe anyway, who would need warp drive when we could just as well create wormholes, star gates or access parallel universes. Yes, warp drive is science fiction, but it’s interesting to investigate this possibility and open up physical scenarios where warp drive might work. Let’s face it, anything less than light-speed travel is a real downer for our potential to travel to other star systems, so we need to keep our options open, not matter how futuristic.

The space-time bubble. Unfortunately, quantum physics may have the final word (Michael Alcubierre) — The space-time bubble. Unfortunately, quantum physics may have the final word (Richard K Obousy & Gerald Cleaver, 2008)

Although warp speed is highly theoretical, at least it is based on some real physics. It’s a mix of superstring and multi-dimensional theory, but warp speed seems to be possible, assuming a vast supply of energy. If we can “simply” squash the tightly curled extra-dimensions (greater than the “normal” four we live in) in front of a futuristic spacecraft and expand them behind, a bubble of stationary space will be created for the spacecraft to reside in. This way, the spaceship isn’t travelling faster than light inside the bubble, the bubble itself is zipping through the fabric of space-time, facilitating faster-than-light-speed travel. Easy.

Not so fast.

According to new research on the subject, quantum physics has something to say about our dreams of zipping through space-time faster than c. What’s more, Hawking radiation would most likely cook anything inside this theoretical space-time bubble anyway. The Universe does not want us to travel faster than the speed of light.

“On one side, an observer located at the center of a superluminal warp-drive bubble would generically experience a thermal flux of Hawking particles,” says Stefano Finazzi and co-authors from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy. “On the other side, such Hawking flux will be generically extremely high if the exotic matter supporting the warp drive has its origin in a quantum field satisfying some form of Quantum Inequalities.”

In short, Hawking radiation (usually associated with the radiation of energy and therefore loss of mass of evaporating black holes) will be generated, irradiating the occupants of the bubble to unimaginably high temperatures. The Hawking radiation will be generated as horizons will form at the front and rear of the bubble. Remember those big numbers physicists aren’t afraid of? Hawking radiation is predicted to roast anything inside the bubble to a possible 10³⁰K (the maximum possible temperature, the Planck temperature, is 10³²K).

Even if we could overcome this obstacle, Hawking radiation appears to be symptomatic of an even bigger problem; the space-time bubble would be unstable, on a quantum level.

“Most of all, we find that the RSET [renormalized stress-energy tensor] will exponentially grow in time close to, and on, the front wall of the superluminal bubble. Consequently, one is led to conclude that the warp-drive geometries are unstable against semiclassical back-reaction,” Finazzi adds.

However, if you wanted to create a space-time bubble for subluminal (less-than light speed) travel, no horizons form, and therefore no Hawking radiation is generated. In this case, you might not be beating the speed of light, but you do have a fast, and stable way of getting around the Universe. Unfortunately we still need “exotic” matter to create the space-time bubble in the first place…

Sources: “Semiclassical instability of dynamical warp drives,” Stefano Finazzi, Stefano Liberati, Carlos Barceló, 2009, arXiv:0904.0141v1 [gr-qc], “Investigation into Compactified Dimensions: Casimir Energies and Phenomenological Aspects,” Richard K. Obousy, 2009, arXiv:0901.3640v1 [gr-qc]

Via: The Physics arXiv Blog

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Anne Minard

Humble Little Pulsar Puts on a Big Show

This is a quiz.

This X-ray nebula pictured above measures 150 light-years across. At its center is a very young and powerful pulsar known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short.

How big is the pulsar?

B1509 is only 12 miles (19 km) across!

The small, dense pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand. In this image, the lowest energy X-rays that Chandra detects are red, the medium range is green, and the most energetic ones are colored blue. Astronomers think B1509 is about 1,700 years old, and located about 17,000 light years away.

Neutron stars are created when massive stars run out of fuel and collapse. B1509 is spinning completely around almost seven times a second and is releasing energy into its environment at a prodigious rate — presumably because it has an intense magnetic field at its surface, estimated to be 15 trillion times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.

The combination of rapid rotation and ultra-strong magnetic field makes B1509 one of the most powerful electromagnetic generators in the Galaxy, pushing an energetic wind of electrons and ions away from the neutron star. As the electrons move through the magnetized nebula, they radiate away their energy and create the elaborate nebula seen by Chandra.

In the innermost regions, a faint circle surrounds the pulsar, and marks the spot where the wind is rapidly decelerated by the slowly expanding nebula. In this way, B1509 shares some striking similarities to the famous Crab Nebula. However B1509’s nebula is 15 times wider than the Crab’s diameter of 10 light years.

Finger-like structures extend to the north, apparently energizing knots of material in a neighboring gas cloud known as RCW 89. The transfer of energy from the wind to these knots makes them glow brightly in X-rays (orange and red features to the upper right). The temperature in this region appears to vary in a circular pattern around this ring of emission, suggesting that the pulsar may be precessing like a spinning top and sweeping an energizing beam around the gas in RCW 89.

The image was released today as part of the ongoing “100 Hours of Astronomy” celebration, which is just one of many global activities as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Video, additional images and other information on this result can be found at the Chandra sites run by Harvard and NASA.

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Anne Minard

And the Winner Is …

Earlier this week, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed the winning target in the Space Telescope Science Institute’s “You Decide” competition in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.

The winning object, above, received 67,021 votes out of the nearly 140,000 votes cast for the six candidate targets.

Arp 274, also known as NGC 5679, is a system of three galaxies that appear to be partially overlapping in the image, although they may be at somewhat different distances. The spiral shapes of two of these galaxies appear mostly intact. The third galaxy (to the far left) is more compact, but shows evidence of star formation.

Two of the three galaxies are forming new stars at a high rate. This is evident in the bright blue knots of star formation that are strung along the arms of the galaxy on the right and along the small galaxy on the left.

The largest component is located in the middle of the three. It appears as a spiral galaxy, which may be barred. The entire system resides at about 400 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.

Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to image Arp 274. Blue, visible, and infrared filters were combined with a filter that isolates hydrogen emission. The colors in this image reflect the intrinsic color of the different stellar populations that make up the galaxies. Yellowish older stars can be seen in the central bulge of each galaxy. A bright central cluster of stars pinpoint each nucleus. Younger blue stars trace the spiral arms, along with pinkish nebulae that are illuminated by new star formation. Interstellar dust is silhouetted against the starry population. A pair of foreground stars inside our own Milky Way are at far right.

The International Year of Astronomy is the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first observations with a telescope. The ongoing “100 Hours of Astronomy,” April 2 to 5, is part of the fun, geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

For images, videos, and more information about Arp 274, visit the Hubble site, the Hubble Heritage Project , NASA’s Hubble site or 100 Hours of Astronomy.

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Space Tourist Flights to ISS Still On, Says Space Adventures

Soyuz capsule docked to the ISS. Credit: NASA

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If flying to the International Space Station has been one of your lifelong dreams, don’t give up hope just yet. While NASA and even the Russian space agency have been warning that with the increase in crew size on the ISS, there won’t be room for any space tourists on board the Soyuz crew exchange flights, Eric Anderson, CEO of Space Adventures held a news conference on Friday to let everyone know the space tourist game is still on. “Space Adventures is very much looking to continue providing orbital space flight opportunities to the ISS, even as the logistical and crew situation continues to evolve,” Anderson said. “We plan to do this in two ways. First, via privately funded Soyuz missions; fully dedicated flights of the Soyuz with two seats available for private spaceflight. That program is moving full steam ahead and we anticipate first flight of that profile could launch in 2012.” The second option, Anderson said, is that they anticipate the 3rd seat on board the Soyuz could become available occasionally.

“The third seat will mostly be used to facilitate the expanded crew size, but there might be sets of circumstances where the third seat is available,” Anderson said. “It’s too early to tell for sure, but we believe this will be possible in the future.”

Anderson said Space Adventures has also received new information, about the possibility of a seat opening up on Soyuz TMA 16 flight, scheduled for Sept. 16, 2009. “We’ve learned from Roscosmos that the seat may not be used by cosmonaut from Kazakhstan, and they are considering another spaceflight participant, or another Russian cosmonaut. It’s too early to confirm whether such an opportunity firmly exists, but I mention it because it is a distinct possibility. ” Aydyn Aimbetov is the Kazak cosmonaut in question.
Asked who could be ready on such a short timeframe, Anderson was vague, but mentioned Esther Dyson, and Nik Halik, who have both trained as back-up spaceflight participants could possibly be candidates.

Anderson said Space Adventures has many exciting things planned on board the ISS over the next few years, and hope the continued prospect of short term stays by private citizens will continue to be part of that.

While the Russians have at times been hard pressed to come up with enough Soyuz spacecraft for the two crew exchange flights needed per year, Anderson said he’s confidant that by 2012 the prospect of adding more Soyuz flights is reasonable.

“Historically, there have been many times in the past where Russia has launched more than two Soyuz flights a year,” Anderson said. “We believe the more people we have traveling to the ISS the better it is, for everybody. It is a good thing for private citizens to be able to visit this wonderful space station from time to time.”

Anderson even hinted that the crew rotation logistics for professional astronauts from the countries participating in the ISS partnership could be in flux. “The crew size could go up and down from the base-line planning of six, due to budgetary questions, and questions of how long each astronaut stays on station,” he said. “We believe there’s the likelihood of these flights opening up from time to time.”

Space Adventures client Charles Simonyi, currently on board the ISS. Credit: Space Adventures

Asked if he anticipate increased cost of the tourist flights, Anderson said yes. “Costs have definitely been going up and I expect those trends to continue. Inflationary factors have driven up the costs and I expect that to continue.”

Anderson said there has been steady interest from the public in spaceflights to the ISS, despite the economic downturn. “The times we’re in, of course we are being affected by the economic crises. No company in unaffected, but the kind of person who indicates to us they are interested in flying to space is an long-term thinker, and people who have had a lifelong interest in going to space doesn’t allow an economic downturn to change their mind. It’s a multiyear process for this to happen, and there is still a deep-seated interest from the public. As things turn around, I’m sure we’ll see an uptick in interest.”

Anderson said Space Adventures has been excited about Charles Simonyi who is currently on board the ISS during his second flight, and that his stay has been extended by a day due to weather.

“He has been quite busy with mission activities, supportive of the ISS professional crew, and volunteered to assist crew with their duties,” Anderson said. “At this point we’re proud to have been provided the six private individual people with these seven flights; to provide them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of flying to space. I remain proud of Space Adventures and all our partners and am excited about what the future holds.”

Source: Space Adventures telephone conference 4/3/2009

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Latest Images from Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1 captured this view of a nearly full Earth on March 25, 2009 at 07:03:03 UTC. India is at the center of the image. Credit: ISRO. Click for larger version

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ISRO and NASA have recently released some of the latest images taken by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Above, Chandrayaan 1 looks back at Earth, and fittingly, India is at the center of the image. And here’s a link to another similar image, taken about an hour earlier. Below, are images taken by the Mini-SAR, the imaging radar instrument that NASA has tagging along on the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. “The new radar images are not only visually arresting, but they will be extremely useful in unraveling the complex geological history of the Moon as a whole,” said Dr. Paul Spudis, principal investigator for Mini-SAR. “We are hard at work finishing the calibration of our instrument, which is required in order to make definite statements about the nature of the radar backscatter signature, the tell-tale sign of the presence or absence of water ice.”

Rozhdestvensky crater on the Moon. Credit: ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI

As you can see, the Mini-SAR gathers data in strips as it orbits the Moon, which are later assembled to create larger images. This composite shows Rozhdestvensky K, a moderately sized (42-kilometer [26-mile] diameter) impact crater on the southern rim of the larger crater Rozhdestvensky, near the moon’s north pole. These Mini-SAR images show massive slumping, as result of wall collapse caused by gravity. NASA says these images demonstrate that Mini-SAR images will be of great value in deciphering the geological evolution of the moon.

A new crater on the Moon. Credit: ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI

Here’s a very young, fresh impact crater (3 kilometers [nearly 2 miles] in diameter) on the western limb of the moon near the crater Sylvester, taken by the Mini-SAR instrument aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. Fresh features on the moon display “radar bright” (i.e., high backscatter) material around them. This is caused by the presence of very fresh ejecta, which includes many angular blocks and rough material. These deposits are the cause of high radar backscatter.

Mini-SAR's coverage of the Moon so far. Credit: ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI

Coverage maps of the Mini-SAR experiment aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter as of mid-March 2009. Mini-SAR has mapped about 80% of both of the moon’s poles. The polar excluded zone is a consequence of the side-looking nature of the instrument; these zones will be filled by both scatterometry (in which the instrument views the moon straight downward at low resolution) and high-angle SAR, in which operators roll the spacecraft 9 to 12 degrees to look at areas closer to the ground track.

For more images check out ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 webpages, and NASA’s Mini-SAR site, and for more detail about the Mini-SAR images, check out Dr. Spudis’ blog.

April 3, 2009April 26, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

Astronomers Compile Most Detailed Map of Nearby Universe

The clustering pattern of about 100,000 nearby galaxies, revealed by the 6dF Galaxy Survey. Each galaxy is shown as a dot. The galaxy we live in is at the centre of the pattern. Credit: Dr Chris Fluke, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology.

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A new detailed map of the nearby Universe reveals not only where local galaxies are currently, but where they are heading, how fast and why. “It’s like taking a snapshot of wildebeest on the African plain,” said Dr. Heath Jones of the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO), lead scientist for the Six-Degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS), the most detailed survey of nearby galaxies to date. “We can tell which waterholes they’re heading to, and how fast they’re traveling.”

The project was a collaboration between astronomers from Australia, the UK and the USA. The survey was carried out with the 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope, which is operated by Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. Broader and shallower than previous comparable surveys (it covered twice as much sky as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey) it has recorded the positions of more than 110,000 galaxies over more than 80% of the Southern sky, out to about two thousand million light-years from Earth, (a redshift of 0.15).

Galaxies are tugged around by each other’s gravity. By measuring the galaxies’ movements, the researchers were able to map the gravitational forces at work in the local Universe, and so show how matter, both seen and unseen, is distributed.

Giant superclusters of galaxies are huge concentrations of mass, but they can’t be weighed accurately by looking at their light alone.

“Light can be obscured, but you can’t hide gravity,” said Dr. Jones.

The UK Schmidt Telescope. Photo: Shaun Amy

The survey shows strings and clusters of nearby galaxies on large scales in unprecedented detail, and has revealed more than 500 voids—”empty” areas of space with no galaxies.

The special aspect of this survey is that it will let the researchers disentangle two causes of galaxy movements.

As well as being pulled on by gravity, galaxies also ride along with the overall expansion of the Universe.

For about 10% of their galaxies, the 6dFGS researchers will tease apart these two velocity components: the one associated with the Universe’s expansion, and the one representing a galaxy’s individual, “peculiar”, motion.

“The peculiar velocities collected as part of this survey number more than five times as many as in any previous survey,” said Professor Elaine Sadler of the University of Sydney, a 6dFGS team member.

Source: Anglo-Australian Observatory

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Integral Dissects Super-Bright Gamma Ray Burst

This artist's impression illustrates how a gamma-ray burst can flare dramatically over a short time period. Credits: ESA (Illustration by AOES Medialab)

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The European Space Agency’s Integral spacecraft has captured one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen. In looking at the data, astronomers have been able to investigate the initial phases of this giant stellar explosion, which ejected matter at velocities close to the speed of light. Astronomers also believe the explosion lifted a piece of the central engine’s magnetic field into space. The GRB reached Earth on December 19, 2004, and since then the Integral team has been meticulously dissecting the data.

Integral, an orbiting gamma-ray observatory, recorded the entire 2004 GRB event, providing information for what may prove to be one of the most important gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) seen in recent years. As the data was collected, astronomers saw the 500-second-long burst rise to extraordinary brilliance.

“It is in the top 1% of the brightest GRBs we have seen,” says Diego Götz, CEA Saclay, France, who headed the investigation.

The brightness of the event, known as GRB 041219A, has allowed the team to investigate the polarization of the gamma rays. Polarization refers to the preferred direction in which the radiation wave oscillates. For example Polaroid sunglasses work with visible light by letting through only a single direction of polarization, blocking most of the light from entering our eyes.

This artist's impression shows the centre of a dying star collapsing minutes before the star implodes. The blast from a Gamma Ray Burst is thought to be produced by a jet of fast-moving gas that bursts from near the central engine; probably a black hole created by such a collapse of the massive star. Credits: NASA/Dana Berry

The team has shown that the gamma rays were highly polarized and varied tremendously in level and orientation.

The blast from a GRB is thought to be produced by a jet of fast-moving gas bursting from near the central engine; probably a black hole created by the collapse of the massive star. The polarization is directly related to the structure of the magnetic field in the jet. So it is one of the best ways for astronomers to investigate how the central engine produces the jet. Götz said there are a number of ways this might happen.

In the first scenario, the jet carries a portion of the central engine’s magnetic field into space. A second involves the jet generating the magnetic field far from the central engine. A third concerns the extreme case in which the jet contains no gas just magnetic energy, and a fourth scenario entails the jet moving through an existing field of radiation.

In each of the first three scenarios, the polarization is generated by what is called synchrotron radiation. The magnetic field traps particles, known as electrons, and forces them to spiral, releasing polarized radiation. In the fourth scenario, the polarization is imparted through interactions between the electrons in the jet and photons in the existing radiation field.

Götz believes that the Integral results favor a synchrotron model and, of those three, the most likely scenario is the first, in which the jet lifts the central engine’s magnetic field into space. “It is the only simple way to do it,” he says.

What Götz would most like to do is measure the polarization for every GRB, to see whether the same mechanism applies to all. Unfortunately, many GRBs are too faint for the current instrumentation to succeed. Even the state-of-the-art IBIS instrument on Integral can only record the polarization state of gamma rays if a celestial source is as bright as GRB 041219A.

“So, for now we just have to wait for the next big one,” he says.

Source: ESA

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Tammy Plotner

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast – April 3-5, 2009

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! “100 Hours of Astronomy” is now underway – and doesn’t it just figure that most of us are enjoying clouds and rain? Apparently Murphy’s Law (with it’s many variations of names) works everywhere on Earth! But, keep up the good spirits. My own bags are packed and I’m ready to head towards the observatory for the next 3 days of non-stop astronomy programming and here’s some features coming up this weekend I thought you might enjoy sharing as well. Are you ready? Then come on along and let’s have a great time…

Friday, April 3, 2009 – This date marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first lunar orbiter, Luna 10. That makes another good reason to view the Moon tonight! Follow the southward descent of large crater rings Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel to a smaller, bright one southwest named Thebit. We’re going to have a look at Hell.

Just west of Thebit and its prominent Acrater to the northwest, you will see the Rupes Recta (Straight Wall) appearing as a thin, white line. Continue south until you see large, eroded crater Deslandres. On its western shore is a bright ring that marks the boundary of Hell. Although this might seem like an unusual name for a crater, it was named for an astronomer—and clergyman!

While you’re out tonight, be on watch for the Kappa Serpentid meteor shower. Its radiant will be near the ‘‘Northern Crown’’—the constellation known as Corona Borealis. The fall rate is small with an average of 4 or 5 per hour, but this is a great time to just enjoy a Spring evening and share your knowlege with others!

Saturday, April 4, 2009 – Today we celebrate the 1809 birth on this date of astronomer Benjamin Peirce. Peirce was a professor of astronomy and mathematics for nearly 40 years and contributed greatly to the discovery of Neptune.

On the lunar surface, crater Copernicus becomes visible to even the most modest of optical aids. Small binoculars will see Copernicus as a bright ring about mid-way along the lunar dividing line of light and dark called the terminator. Telescopes will reveal its 97-kilometer (60-mile) expanse and 120-meter (395-foot) central peak to perfection. Copernicus holds a special appeal; it’s the aftermath of a huge meteoric impact! At 3,800 meters deep, its walls are 22 kilometers thick. Over the next few days, the impact ray system extending from this tremendous crater will become wonderfully apparent.

Tonight use Copernicus as a guide and look north-northwest to survey the Carpathian Mountains . The Carpathians ring the southern edge of Mare Imbrium, beginning well east of the terminator. But let’s look on the dark side. Extending some 40 kilometers beyond into the Moon’s own shadow, you can continue to see bright peaks, some reaching 2,000 meters high! Tomorrow, when this area is fully revealed, you will see the Carpathians begin to disappear into the lava flow forming them.

Continuing onward to Plato—on the northern shore of Mare Imbrium—and look for the singular peak of Pico. Between Plato and Mons Pico, you will find the many scattered peaks of the Teneriffe Mountains. It is possible that these are the remnants of much taller summits of a once precipitous range. Now the peaks rise less than 2,000 meters above the surface. Time to power up!West of the Teneriffes, and very near the terminator, you will see a narrow line of mountains, very similar in size to the Alpine Valley. Known as the Straight Range, some of its peaks reach as high as 2,000 meters. Although this doesn’t sound particularly impressive, that’s over twice as tall as the Vosges Mountains in west-central Europe and comparable to the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States!

“Sun” Day, April 5, 2009 – Today let’s take a look at Vincenzo Viviani. Born on this date in 1622, Viviani was a mathematician. At age 17, he became the student, secretary, and assistant to Galileo, serving him until the Master died in 1642. Viviani published his own books on mathematical and scientific subjects and edited the first edition of Galileo’s collected works. He was an ardent supporter of Galileo and worked tirelessly to reinstate his mentor’s good name. What a great addition to talk about during the International Year of Astronomy!

Tonight let’s continue our lunar mountain-climbing expedition and revisit the ‘‘big picture’’ on the lunar surface. All of Mare Imbrium is bathed in sunlight tonight, and we can see its complete shape. Appearing as a featureless ellipse bordered by mountain ranges, let’s identify them all.

Starting at Plato and moving east to south to west you will find the Alps, the Caucasus, the Apennine, and the Carpathian Mountains. Look at the form closely. Doesn’t it look like it’s possible that an enormous impact created the entire area? Compare it to the younger Sinus Iridum, which is ringed by the Juras Mountains. The latter region may have also been formed by a much later and very similar massive impact event.

Are you in the mood for a double star? Then let’s head west and away from the Moon. Begin your search right after skydark with El Nath. From Beta Aurigae, shift about two finger-widths eastnortheast to identify very dim 26 Aurigae . At low power, look for an 8th magnitude companion due west of the 5.5 magnitude primary. The brighter star should give a warm yellow appearance, while the fainter will appear slightly bluer. This pair shares space with a third member (magnitude 11.5), some three times further out than the closer, brighter secondary. Thanks to lunacy, small instruments will have difficulty distinguishing the C star in such bright skies.

For now? I hope you have clear skies to enjoy the “100 Hours of Astronomy” weekend… and remember to ask for the Moon – but keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images – in order of appearance – are credited to these wonderful friends and photographers: Craters Deslandres, Hell and Walter (credit—Alan Chu), Crater Copernicus (credit—Greg Konkel), Vincenzo Viviani (historical image) and Lunar image (credit—Greg Konkel). We thank you so much!

April 3, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Watch ‘Around the World in 80 Telescopes’ Now!

Right now a live webcast, “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” is taking place. This is a live 24-hour webcast, taking place today (Friday) that started with a broadcast from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii at 9 am GMT, (night time in Hawaii), moving around the globe for whistle-stop tours of the international observatories while the large telescopes are exploring night skies, observing distant galaxies, searching for extrasolar planets around other stars, or studying our own solar system. Watch below, or here’s the link for watching on UStream. They are experiencing some technical difficulties, but on the whole, this is a great chance to see observatories around the world, and see their observations, as well. Enjoy!
Free video streaming by Ustream

April 2, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Help Galaxy Zoo Reach Its Goal!

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Reminiscent of a telethon or a community fundraiser, Galaxy Zoo has challenged the public to complete one million classification clicks of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey during the 100 Hours of Astronomy. The clock started ticking at 12:00 GMT on Wednesday, April 1st, with the challenge ending at 16:00 GMT on Sunday April 5th. The Galaxy Zoo site even includes a thermometer-like gadget called the Zoonometer to provide up-to-the minute ticks on the number of clicks. If you have just returned from a cave on Mars and haven’t heard of Galaxy Zoo, or if you don’t know what the 100 Hours of Astronomy is about, keep reading. Otherwise, head on over to Galaxy Zoo and start clicking!

Galaxy Zoo was launched in July 2007, with a data set of a million galaxies, imaged with a robotic telescope, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In order to understand how these galaxies formed, the idea was to get the public to help classify them according to their shapes. The human brain can do this task better than even the fastest computer. With so many galaxies, the team thought that it might take at least two years for visitors to the site to work through them all. Within 24 hours of launch, the site was receiving 70,000 classifications an hour, and more than 50 million classifications were received by the project during its first year, from almost 150,000 people. With the public’s help the Zoo team has published six papers from the findings, and have received viewing time with other, bigger telescopes to clarify the discoveries.

Zoo 2 launched a few months ago, and focuses on the nearest, brightest and most beautiful galaxies, and asks users to make more detailed classifications.

100 Hours of Astronomy is an event of the International Year of Astronomy that wants to get as many people as possible to look through a telescope – just as Galileo did 400 years ago. This four-day event encompasses astronomy clubs, groups, individuals, observatories, science centers and more around the world as they reach out to the public to achieve this common goal. There’s lots of great events, so check out Tammy’s article to find out more, or check out the 100 Hours of Astronomy website – but hurry – you’ve only got until Sunday April 5th to participate!