For the most part, Titan is an alien world with methane rain, lakes of hydrocarbons, and very little that reminds us of Earth. But Saturn's moon has strangely familiar clouds that hover above its middle latitudes. Scientists from the University of Arizona studied Cassini images of some clouds, and watched how they evolved over the course of 3 hours. The clouds rise quickly like thunderstorms here on Earth and then seem to dissipate, as if they're turning into rain.
Continue reading
A Titan 4B rocket carrying a classified cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base today. It's believed that the rocket was carrying a next generation reconnaissance satellite. This was the last launch of the Titan 4 class of vehicles. Future launches will use Atlas 5 and Boeing Delta 4 EELVs.
Continue reading
NASA has turned the Hubble Space Telescope at our closest neighbour to help scout out potential landing sites. In addition to being incredibly powerful, Hubble is sensitive to ultraviolet light, which is reflected off of surface materials on the lunar surface. This will allow scientists to identify areas abundant in titanium and iron oxides, which would provide oxygen and metals for future lunar bases. Hubble's resolution is still only 50-100 metres, so it can't reveal Apollo spacecraft still on the Moon.
Continue reading
Get your telescope ready, as the planet Mars is about to put on another fine show. The Red Planet has been getting closer, and will make its closest approach on October 29/30, 2005. Although it won't as close as two years ago, it takes a fairly powerful telescope to be able to tell the difference. Look to the eastern horizon after 8:0pm to see Mars, which will be climbing night after night during October. There's really nothing else that bright that you'd be able to confuse it with.
Continue reading
Just a few days ago, Wilma was a tropical storm, but now it has exploded into a Category 5 hurricane - with the lowest pressure ever recorded in an Atlantic storm. Wilma's pressure was measured early Wednesday at just 882 millibars, breaking the previous record of 888 set in 1988 by Hurricane Gilbert. Wilma is currently off the coast Mexico's Yucatan peninsula , but it's expected to take a sharp right turn and move up through the Florida panhandle on Saturday.
Continue reading
This just blew my mind.
Tom Gwilym from Renton, WA took this series of pictures of the space shuttle Atlantis (STS-112) docked to the International Space Station. The blurry pictures are the actual photos of the linkup, and the clear pictures are computer recreations to show their positions.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Maybe it is just a statement of our times that one person's life can span the complete maturation of a technology. As John Glenn said, 'it was hard to imagine that virtually the entire history of space travel had occurred between my first flight and my second'. With so many stunning achievements and horrific failures, the history of humanity's space program, though short, was eventful. The collection of narrations prepared by Richard Russell Lawrence and presented in the book entitled
Space Exploration and Disasters gives an emotional, often first hand account of many dramatic moments of our space program.
Researchers at the University of Arizona think that future robotic explorers should have the ability to survey their targets at many different levels: from orbit, in the air, and on the ground. These next generation missions would be able to arrive in orbit and then deploy a blimp or balloon that could create a more detailed map of a planet or moon's surface. The balloon could help coordinate ground rovers to analyze the most interesting targets. The rovers and balloons would relay their data up to the orbiter which could then give new targets to explore.
Continue reading
On October 11, 2005, Cassini flew within 500 km (310 miles) of the surface of Dione; one of Saturn's moons. Like many of Saturn's moons, Dione shows a heavily cratered surface, and unusual streaks in the terrain that dominates one whole hemisphere of the moon. Cassini found evidence that Dione's surface is covered by fractures, which run in roughly parallel lines; these are interrupted by larger bright features. Scientists are working with the data to compositional maps of Dione's surface.
Continue reading
Gary Hatfield took this beautiful image of NGC7000/Gamma Cygni using a Nikon FE2 camera. Gary used a 105mm f2.5 lens @ f4, Kodak Elite Chrome 200, and a Hutech IDAS LPS filter. He manually guided the exposure for 90 minutes.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
I'd just like to take a moment and congratulate Tammy Plotner on wrapping up a full year's worth of
What's Up This Week articles. Woohoo! She's never missed a week and never been late. Anyway, if you've appreciated her column, take a moment and drop her an
email. I'm sure she'll really appreciate it (and curse me for filling up her email box). Hah! Check out the
full archive here.
Here's to many more years of Tammy's wonderful, weekly columns.
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. I just did an interview with UK psychic debunker Tony Youens for the
Skepticality podcast. I figured I'd pitch in to help out Derek and Swoopy while Derek continues his recovery. Check it out. Don't worry, I'll be updating my Podcast shortly too.
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! The time for Mars is now as even small telescopes can see a wealth of details. Mid-week will offer some viewers the chance to see a very rare eclipse of a bright star by an asteroid! We'll explore bright stars, open clusters, watch occultations and welcome back the children of Comet Halley. So turn your eyes to the skies, because....
Here's what's up!
Continue reading
Continue reading
New high-resolution images of Mars have revealed several glaciers in the planet's mid-latitudes, far away from its polar ice caps. Scientists had speculated that many of Mars' mid-latitude features looked like they had been formed by shifting ice, but there wasn't any sign of the actual glaciers. New images from Mars Odyssey show features, such as debris lines on valley floor, which are amazingly similar to Earth glaciers.
Continue reading
The Japanese Subaru telescope took this high resolution image of spiral galaxy NGC 2403, located 10 million light years away. NGC 2403 is an Sc type galaxy with open spiral arms and a small nucleus. It's approximately half the mass of our own Milky Way galaxy and has large quantities of neutral hydrogen gas. Edwin Hubble used NGC 2403 as evidence to help prove that galaxies move faster away from us the further they get.
Continue reading
Although NASA engineers are working on radical new kinds of propulsion, like ion engines, nuclear rockets, and even solar sails, they're still tuning up the old standby liquid-fueled rocket. Current rockets burn a small amount of fuel into preburners which power pumps that force the rest of the fuel into the combustion chamber. A new strategy will be to run all the fuel through the preburners which will create higher pressures, and should give better performance from the rocket.
Continue reading
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this amazing photograph of our neighbour galaxy, Andromeda. The image was made by stitching together 11,000 separate images of the galaxy taken over the course of 18 hours of observations by Spitzer. Under Spitzer's infrared gaze, Andromeda reveals an off centre ring of star formation and a spot where it looks like another galaxy punched a hole as it passed through the galactic plane.
Continue reading
An Ariane 5GS rocket lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana today. On board were two satellites: a Syracuse 3A defense satellite, built by Alcatel Alenia Space and a Galaxy 15 communications satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The satellites were released into their geostationary transfer orbits about 30 minutes after launch. This was the 23rd Ariane 5 launch.
Continue reading
Here's a complilation photo of last week's annular eclipse taken by
Martin Whipp. The series of images were taken using a Sony VX-2100 3CCD camcorder and Thousand Oaks solar filter from York, England.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has released detailed new photographs of the region surrounding the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. Chandra has confirmed that there is a mysterious group of newborn stars orbiting less than a light-year away from this black hole. Previous models predict that these stars should be torn apart by tidal forces from the black hole. It's possible that there's dense enough disk of material around the black hole that it has enough gravity of its own to hold these stars together. It's also possible the stars formed somewhere else and migrated to this current location.
Continue reading
Aaron Price from Slacker Astronomy has set up a
new fund to help the hurricane ravaged observatories and astronomical societies along the US Gulf Coast. If you'd like to help some fellow astronomers get back on their feet, check the site out and see how you can get involved.
Fraser Cain
Publisher, Universe Today
P.S. Aaron also wanted me to remind you to listen to Slacker Astronomy #29:
Carrying the 1?s Along Gravitational Highways. He's particularly proud of it. :-) Give it a listen!
Tom Davis delivers another amazing photograph from his backyard observatory in Idaho of the Flaming Star nebula - IC405. The photo was taken using an Astro-Physics 155EDF f/7, STL-11000M.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
Great scientists don't necessarily make for great people. One reportedly never took a bath in his long life. Many were so anti-social as to have their mental stability questioned. Sordid character traits often set them well apart from peers and students. Joshua Gilder and Anne-Lee Gilder explore this avenue in their book
Heavenly Intrigue. In it, they bring to life the olden times of Europe and two great astronomers, Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe. Then, step by step, they lead the reader onto a great scientific undertaking that might have its roots in a less than great murder.
A Northrop Grumman/Boeing team has unveiled new details about the successor to the space shuttle: the Crew Exploration Vehicle. This new spacecraft, reminiscent of the original Apollo capsule, is expected to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2012 and return them to the Moon by 2018. Unlike Apollo, however, the CEV will carry four astronauts to the Moon and back. It will orbit the Moon autonomously, allowing all four astronauts to descend to the surface.
Continue reading
Continue reading
John Bunyan took this picture of the Orion Nebula at the California Star Party using an Orion Atlas GoTo mount and 80mm reflector.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! While the Moon will figure strongly in this week's observations, that won't stop us from locating Neptune, visiting a faint comet or studying a radio source. Join us as we hike along the Alpine Valley, stare into the eye of Plato, reveal the details in Clavius and set sail on the "Ocean of Storms." It's time to open your eyes to the skies...
Because here's what's up!
Continue reading
ESA officials have confirmed that the Cryosat mission smashed into the Arctic ocean minutes after launch on Saturday. It was launched on board a Rockot vehicle - a converted SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile - from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The 135m euro satellite was designed to monitor ice thickness around the planet. Another version of the satellite may be constructed.
Continue reading
After 17 months of productive data collection, NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite has gathered all the data it needs to pronounce Einstein right or wrong. The probe was launched in April 2004, with four spherical gyroscopes designed to test two of Einstein's predictions about General Relativity: how the Earth's gravity warps space, and how its rotation drags space around with it. Scientists will now spend about a year analyzing the data before presenting their conclusions.
Continue reading
Researchers from NASA have confirmed that it would have been impossible for advanced life forms, like fish or mammals, to live in the Earth's early oceans because it was such a toxic environment. The scientists studied ancient rock formations, and found evidence of photosynthetic bacteria living as recently as 1.6 billion years ago. This bacteria would have required both sunlight and an environment rich in hydrogen sulfide - this environment would have been quite toxic for air breathing creatures.
Continue reading
ESA's CryoSat ice observation satellite is scheduled for a Saturday launch from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Once in orbit, the satellite will used a specialized radar altimeter to measure changes in land and sea ice thickness over a three-year period. Until now, scientists have known that Arctic sea ice is shrinking, but not if it's thinning. Existing Earth observation satellites don't have the resolution to detect smaller pieces of pack ice, so CryoSat will help fill the gaps.
Continue reading
This Cassini photograph shows several of the large craters that pockmark Dione, one of Saturn's moons. The most prominent crater in the image is 188 km (73 mile) Dido, and the smaller crater above it is Antenor. On the sunlit side you can see some of the wispy markings, which Cassini has revealed to be a complex system of fractures in the moon's surface.
Continue reading
Gregory Blount captured this image of the International Space Station as it passed over his my farm near Ketchum, Ok. Greg used a Nikon D70. This photo is facing south, just as ISS passed below Corona Borealis and into Sagittarius.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
Scientists from the University of Arizona think they have an explanation for a strange bright spot on the surface of Titan. It originally wasn't clear whether this crescent-shaped feature was a mountain, cloud, or even a geological hotspot. By comparing observations of the region in both visible wavelengths and microwave radiometry, the scientists were able to rule out hotspots. It hasn't moved for years, so it's probably not a cloud. They currently think this region must be a bright patch with a different composition to the surrounding areas.
Continue reading
NASA engineers tested out a prototype unmanned sailplane this week at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. This robotic aircraft is capable of detecting and using rising air thermals, similar to a glider or bird, to gain altitude. It launched from the ground, and navigated to a likely location for updrafts. Once it found a thermal, it turned off its engine and circled to stay within the updraft. NASA hopes to develop techniques for using thermals that could extend the range of unmanned aerial vehicles that often have very limited fuel.
Continue reading
An international team of astronomers think they've solved the mystery of short gamma-ray bursts. These powerful explosions shine brighter than a billion suns for only a few milliseconds and fade away quickly. But now, thanks to NASA's Swift satellite, which can detect and analyze these blasts anywhere in the sky, astronomers were able to measure short bursts. The evidence now points to the theory that these bursts occur when a black hole consumes a neutron star, or two neutron stars collide together.
Continue reading
Tour guides add vibrant, often personal accounts of locales along your travels. They impart much more knowledge than simply standing in front of a building and reading some brief nameplate. By including a relative context, they tie a building to its neighbours and even substantiate its mere existence. Ron Miller and William K. Hartmann in their book
The Grand Tour, A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System equally provide this important service for worlds within our solar system. They take the reader along on a detailed tour, and, without assuming prior knowledge, they vividly distinguish and join each of the worlds into a technical and visual journey.
Tom Davis wows us again with this astonishing picture of M45 (aka Pleiades). It was taken using his AP 155 EDF f/7 refractor and STL-11000M CCD camera.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this beautiful photograph of supernova remnant N132D, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud - a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way. By measuring the wispy cloud, astronomers estimate that the original star probably detonated about 3,000 years ago. A supernova-generated shockwave is traveling through space at a velocity of more than 2,000 kilometers per second (4 million mph), and colliding with surrounding material. This causes the material to heat up to millions of degrees so we can see it from here on Earth.
Continue reading
Astronomers knew something was hiding inside a dark, dusty cloud, but they weren't sure exactly what it was. The Spitzer Space Telescope confirmed a faint infrared object within the cloud. But by focusing the Hawaii-based Submillimeter Array on the object, astronomers learned that the hidden object has a weak outflow of material, which was predicted by star formation theories. This revealed the object to be a young star, perhaps only 10,000 to 100,000 years old with only 25 times the mass of Jupiter.
Continue reading
Australian researchers are using ESA's Envisat Earth Observation Satellite to peer down and help judge the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Envisat's MERIS sensor can detect coral bleaching down to 10 metres below the surface of the water. This bleaching occurs when the symbiotic algae living with the coral are expelled when ocean temperatures rise. Since Envisat images the entire planet every three days, scientists will be able to watch this bleaching process on a weekly basis to see how the reefs are doing.
Continue reading
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! We hope that the skies were cooperative for today's annular eclipse. This week we'll explore the "Helix" nebula, begin tracking a new comet, remember our history, visit the lunar surface, watch Mars and be treated to two meteor showers. So open your eyes to the skies, because...
Here's what's up!
Continue reading
Christophe Bogaert captured today's annular eclipse from Beligium. This partial eclipse was taken using an 8" newtonian telescope with a Canon EOS 300D camera. The final photograph is a stack of three 1/640 sec. exposures.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
The newly discovered 10th planet - which the discoverers have dubbed "Xena" - appears to have a moon of its own. Nicknamed "Gabrielle", this moon is 100 times fainter than Xena, and seems to orbit the planet once every couple of weeks. It's estimated to be 1/10th the size of Xena, so approximately 250 km (155 miles) across. The powerful Hubble Space Telescope will be turning its gaze on the pair in November/December, and should reveal even more details.
Continue reading
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying the crew of Expedition 12 and space tourist Greg Olsen docked with the International Space Station on Monday. The visitors were greeted by the crew of Expedition 11, who have been on board the station for nearly 6 months. Olsen will conduct several experiments on the station, and then return with the crew of Expedition 11 in about a week.
Continue reading
Efrain Morales took this recent photograph of Mars. He took 750 individual frames of the planet with his telescope in Puerto Rico, and then merged them on computer to build these composite photographs.
Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the
Universe Today astrophotography forum or
email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.
Continue reading
According to Genesis, 'First there was light.'. According to scientists, this initial light is still about us, shining down from the heavens. Not only does it shine, it's red-shifted, and, depending on its composition, it indicates whether the universe is static, expanding or contracting. All we need do is detect this light to learn about our origin. This is the story in Michael Lemonick's book
Echo of the Big Bang. In particular, he tells the tale of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), its place in remote sensing and its role in cosmology. From it, we learn a little more about the first light and we know it is good.
NASA is planning on sending rovers to crawl around the surface of Mars for the foreseeable future, but there's only so much terrain they can explore. Global Aerospace Corporation is proposing a future balloon mission that would float just a few kilometres above the surface of Mars, and explore a much larger territory in tremendous detail. The balloon would trail a wing beneath that would work like a rudder, and allow it to steer itself in the Martian winds.
Continue reading
The massive Keck Observatory at the top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea has learned a new trick: it can block the light from stars to see faint objects near them. This will be an invaluable tool for analyzing young star systems, since planetary disks are often impossible to see next to the dazzling light of a star. This new instrument is called a "nuller", and it's able to reduce the light from a star by a factor of 100 times. Similar technology will be used in future planet hunting missions to see dim planets lurking beside their stars.
Continue reading
Cassini made its first flyby of Saturn's moon Hyperion last week, and took this amazing photograph. The spacecraft got within 500 km (310 miles), and you can clearly see how unusual this spongy-looking moon is. Scientists think that Hyperion is little more than a pile of rubble, loosely held together by its own gravity because much of its mass is just empty space. Hyperion is only 266 kilometers (165 miles) across, has an irregular shape, and spins in a chaotic rotation.
Continue reading
Universe Today