Earlier this week at the SXSW festival, NASA presented the above video featuring astronaut and ISS flight engineer, Don Pettit.

The video is a tongue-in-cheek demonstration of basic physics concepts such as trajectories. In order to show how trajectories work, Pettit used bungee cord to catapult a stuffed Angry Bird toy through the International Space Station.

For those of you who participate on Google+ be sure to add Don Pettit to your circles, as he regularly posts great content from aboard the ISS.

You can view Pettit’s Google+ profile at: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115906812292895633529/posts

Source:NASA/YouTube

Carnival of Space - Image Credit: Jason Major

Carnival of Space #239 is available at Links Through Space!

This edition features great articles about:

Check it out at: http://linksthroughspace.blogspot.com/2012/03/carnival-of-space-240-here-at-links.html

Remember, if you’ve got a space-related blog, you really should consider joining the Carnival. It’s easy to participate – just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it.

By participating, your writing will get more exposure, and you will also meet other bloggers in the space/astronomy community, after all, community is what blogging is all about.

You can also sign your blog up to host the Carnival of Space by sending an e-mail to the address above.

This artist's impression shows a binary system containing a stellar-mass black hole called IGR J17091-3624, or IGR J17091 for short.
Image Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

Scientists were able to calculate their estimates with spectral data (intensity of X-rays at different energies) taken by Chandra in 2011. By studying how ions emit and absorb differently, researchers can better understand their behavior. Additionally, evidence suggests that the wind coming from the disk of gas around the black hole might be carrying more material than the black hole is capturing.

The process to create stellar-mass black holes is thought to be when stars five to ten times the mass of our Sun experience a collapse at the end of their lifetime.

If you’d like to learn more about the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, visit: http://www.chandra.harvard.edu/index.html

Source:Chandra Mission Images

The above image is comprised of infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope (blue) and Herschel Space Observatory (green and red).
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/IRAM

Since Herschel is designed to observe in longer infrared wavelengths than Spitzer, combining the data helps astronomers better understand the processes taking place inside the Orion Nebula. The Spitzer data shows hotter objects in blue, whereas the cooler material (dust) in the Herschel data is shown in green and red.

If you’d like to learn more about the Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/mission
Read more about the Herschel Space Observatory at: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=16

Source: NASA Image of the Day Gallery

Carnival of Space

Carnival of Space #239 is available at Vintage Space!

This edition features great articles about:

Check it out at: http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/carnival-of-space-239/

Remember, if you’ve got a space-related blog, you really should consider joining the Carnival. It’s easy to participate – just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it.

By participating, your writing will get more exposure, and you will also meet other bloggers in the space/astronomy community, after all, community is what blogging is all about.

You can also sign your blog up to host the Carnival of Space by sending an e-mail to the address above.

The histogram summarizes the findings in the Feb. 27, 2012 Kepler Planet Candidate catalog release. Image Credit: NASA Ames/Wendy Stenzel

While we’re on the subject of exoplanets and the habitable zone, I thought I’d share this infographic from the Febuary 27th Kepler Planet Candidate catalog. Containing over 2,300 planet candidates, the catalog is comprised of objects identified between May 2009 and September 2010.

What is of particular interest is that out of 46 candidates found in the habitable zone, ten are nearly the same size as Earth.

What a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant may look like.

Do the parameters for the habitable zone change if we consider moons of gas giants?

I’ve been wondering about this (especially with all of the Kepler news the past couple of months), but can’t figure out how to search the all-knowing Google for an answer.

(related, the Drake Equation doesn’t seem to take habitable moons into account – should it?)

Many thanks!

This is actually a very interesting question, especially with the fact that I’m working VERY hard to specialize in Exoplanetary Science.

If you aren’t familiar with the Drake Equation, or how it may actually apply to exomoons, continue reading to learn more about the famous equation.

Additionally, I’ll discuss what conditions could make a habitable moon like “Pandora” as depicted in the blockbuster movie, Avatar, or the forest Moon of Endor as seen in Return of the Jedi

For starters, what exactly is the “Drake Equation”? SETI founder Frank Drake is credited with the equation, hence the name.

The equation is as follows (Courtesy of SETI):

N = R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc • L

Where:

By adjusting one (or more) parameters in the equation, you can come up with estimates for habitable worlds (with intelligent life) in our Galaxy. Of course, new discoveries of exoplanets in habitable zones provide data that can be used in the Drake Equation (keep in mind in that exoplanets weren’t discovered until the 1990′s).

Chart showing the effect different stars have on the habitable zone. Image Credit: Wikimedia

So how does all this fit in with the habitable zone?

Shown in the image to the left is an infographic showing where the habitable zone would be in our Solar System, given different classes of stars.

The “habitable zone” is merely a region where, given proper atmospheric conditions, liquid water could exist in a stable form on the surface of a body.

As you can see, a smaller, dimmer star would produce a habitable zone closer to the central star, and a larger, brighter star would push this habitable zone further out.

So, for the most part, the habitable zone is determined by the luminosity of the central star.

But wait, there’s more!

Just because a world isn’t in the habitable zone doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t have liquid water. Look at moons such as Europa or Enceladus. While the first impression of these icy worlds is that of a giant ball of ice, it is theorized that tidal flexing may heat the interiors of these worlds and provide an environment where liquid water may exist.

Keep in mind that the distance between a world and its host star can only provide an educated guess as to whether or not liquid water can exist on its surface. There are other factors such as the composition of the world itself (both surface and atmospheric), and that the mechanism for providing planets with water still isn’t completely understood.

So, to sum everything up, if astronomers detect a gas giant planet outside the habitable zone of its parent star, there’s still a chance it may harbor habitable moons – well, at least habitable for basic life. If a Jupiter-class planet is detected in the habitable zone of its parent star, it is well within the realm of possibilities for an Earth-like habitable moon to exist in orbit around said planet.

Of course, said detections are still a few years away – currently researchers can detect exoplanets a bit smaller than Mars, and are working on ways to detect moons orbiting around large exoplanets. As for updating Drake’s famous equation – I think we can simply replace planet with “world” and continue our search for life elsewhere in our Galaxy.

This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in merging galaxy cluster Abell 520.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CFHT, CXO, Jee, and Mahdavi

What is so puzzling about the discovery is that the dark matter collected into a “dark core” which held far fewer galaxies than expected. The implications of this discovery present challenges to current understandings of how dark matter influences galaxies and galaxy clusters.

Initially, the observations made in 2007 were dismissed as bad data. New data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008 confirmed the previous observations of dark matter and galaxies parting ways.

The new evidence is based on observations of a distant merging galaxy cluster named Abell 520. At this point, astronomers have a challenge ahead of them in order to explain why dark matter isn’t behaving as expected.

Read the full article over at Universe Today

Carnival of Space

Carnival of Space #238 is available at Next Big Future!

This edition features great articles about:

Check it out at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/02/carnival-of-space-238.html

Remember, if you’ve got a space-related blog, you really should consider joining the Carnival. It’s easy to participate – just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it.

By participating, your writing will get more exposure, and you will also meet other bloggers in the space/astronomy community, after all, community is what blogging is all about.

You can also sign your blog up to host the Carnival of Space by sending an e-mail to the address above.

Hubble Telescope image of Eta Carinae. This image consists of ultraviolet and visible light images from the High Resolution Channel of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 30 arcseconds across. Image Credit: ESA/NASA

The Eta Carinae system is comprised of two stars – one being a giant, unstable star at the final stages of its lifetime. The 1840′s event is thought to be a “supernova impostor” event – an event which appears similar to a supernova, but does not destroy the host star. While astronomers of the 19th century weren’t able to see the 1840′s outburst in detail, modern astronomers are able to study its effects.

The outburst detected in the 1840′s threw out tremendous amounts of matter, which is now known as the Homunculus Nebula. The image shown above was taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Channel, on-board the Hubble Space Telescope. What is interesting about this nebula is that the ejected material wasn’t expelled uniformly.

Eta Carinae is one of a handful of stars near Earth that are nearing the end of their lives. The end stage for Eta Carinae and others will be a brilliant supernova some time in the near future. Of course, cosmically speaking, “near future” could be tomorrow, or even a million years from now. Eta Carinae’s supernova will be an impressive sight, as it’s much closer than the brightest supernova currently recorded, which was 200 light-years from Earth!

Source:spacetelescope.org

To form a solid particle, the buckyballs must stack together, as illustrated in this artist's concept showing the very beginnings of the process.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The discovery implies that the little carbon spheres are prevalent in certain stellar regions of the cosmos. Unlike a gas, a solid is more dense, requiring large quantities of molecules to form.

The infrared observatory first detected buckyballs as a gas in 2010, the first time the material was ever definitively observed in space. Buckyballs are made up of 60 carbon atoms arranged as hollow spheres that resemble soccer balls. They also look like the geodesic domes of the late architect Buckminister Fuller, hence their name.

If you’d like to learn more, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer20120222.html

Source:NASA Spitzer Mission Images

Carnival of Space.
Image Credit: Jason Major/Universe Today

Carnival of Space #237 is available at Universe Today!

This edition features great articles about:

Check it out at: http://www.universetoday.com/93653/this-weeks-carnival-of-space-237-right-here/

Remember, if you’ve got a space-related blog, you really should consider joining the Carnival. It’s easy to participate – just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it.

By participating, your writing will get more exposure, and you will also meet other bloggers in the space/astronomy community, after all, community is what blogging is all about. You can also sign your blog up to host the Carnival of Space by sending an e-mail to the address above.

Artist's concept of NuSTAR in orbit. NuSTAR has a 10 meter long mast that separates the optics modules (right) from the detectors (left).
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

According to NASA, NuSTAR will probe some of the hottest, densest and most energetic objects in space, such as black holes and supernova remnants. NuSTAR is the first space telescope that can image in X-rays at high detail, which will help astronomers better understand our universe.

The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and its instrumentation was provided by a number of agencies including: Caltech; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Columbia University; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; UC Berkeley; and others.

If you’d like to learn more about NuSTAR, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/nustar/main/index.html or http://www.nustar.caltech.edu/

Source:NASA/JPL News

Newly detected series of narrow linear troughs are known as graben. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/Smithsonian Institution

The images reveal small trenches less than a kilometer in length, and less than a few hundred meters wide. Only a small number of these features, known as graben, have been discovered on the lunar surface.

There are several clues in the high-resolution images that provide evidence for recent geologic activity on the Moon.

The LROC team detected signs of contraction on the lunar surface as early as August of 2010. The contractions were in the form of lobe-shaped ridges known as lobate scarps.

Based on the data, the team suggests the widely-distributed scarps indicate the Moon shrank in diameter, and may be continuing to shrink. Interestingly enough, the new image data featuring graben presents a contradiction, as they indicate lunar crust being pulled apart and theorize that the process that created the graben may have occurred within the past 50 million years.

Read the full article over at: Universe Today

Carnival of Space #236 is available at the “AartScope” blog.

This edition features great articles about: New space propulsion technologies, suborbital skydiving, Earth’s complex magnetic field, how to (properly) paint a Saturn V model, and more!

Check it out at: http://aartscope.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/carnival-of-space-236-feb-10-2012.html

A Valentine's day message from our Moon.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The original image is of a lunar crater, made famous by a sharp-eyed observed who was browsing the public LROC data set

If you aren’t aware of the The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, it is designed to address two of the prime LRO measurement requirements:

In addition to the above objectives, the LROC team is conducting meter-scale mapping of polar regions, stereo images that provide meter-scale topographic measurements, global multi-spectral imaging, and a global landform map.

The LROC Center at Arizona State University also houses one of a handful of Lunar samples – Apollo Sample 15555.

Sample 15555 is a sample of lunar basalt – a type of volcanic rock. The sample dates back to nearly 3.3 billion years ago. The sample on display in the LROC Visitor Gallery at ASU is a small piece of original rock – one of the largest and most studied basalt samples collected at the Apollo 15 landing site.

If you’d like to learn more about Apollo Sample 15555, visit: http://www.lroc.asu.edu/apollo-sample-15555/index.php

To learn more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, visit: http://www.lroc.asu.edu/index.html

Read more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

Source: LROC Featured Images

Arizona State University Foundation Professor, and Inaugural Director of the Origins Initiative, Lawrence Krauss did a short “Q&A” about his new book “A Universe from Nothing”. Click the above video to watch the segment.

“Dear Astronomer, Imagine you are inside the space station, with all fans and air circulation turned off.
The air inside is completely still. You decide to light a cigarette.

How would the smoke from the burning cigarette form? Would it be a perfect sphere?
Would the smoke around the cigarette kill off the oxygen supply and put the cigarette out,
or would the cigarette slowly float away like a small mini rocket?

Interesting question Markus!

NASA actually has been performing experiments on the International Space Station to learn more about how fire behaves in zero-g.

Read more to learn about what the NASA studies have revealed.

Color image of a burning fuel droplet. (NASA/GRC)

On Earth, the heated gas rises from a fire, and draws oxygen into the flame. However, in zero-gravity environments, heated gases do not rise, so the process that drives the flame is molecular diffusion. The end result is that fires in space burn slower, cooler, and use less oxygen than on Earth.

Given the different behavior of fire, NASA must design fire-suppression methods that use higher concentrations of flame-retarding materials. One other concern with fire aboard a space station or craft orbiting Earth is that ventilation fans could the fire to accelerate.

How NASA’s FLEX helps researchers learn more about fire in zero-gravity is by igniting a small drop of heptane or methanol. The fuel droplet burns for less than a minute, and while doing so, a spherical flame is created. As the flame burns, the fuel droplet will shrink until all the fuel is burned up, or the flame is extinguished.

Here’s a video showing NASA’s FLEX in action. It’s not exactly a burning cigarette, but it’s still pretty amazing to watch.

In short, scientists are still learning how fire behaves in space, but current experiments, such as FLEX are helping us learn the answers.

New results from the MARSIS radar on Mars Express give strong evidence for a former ocean of Mars. The radar detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor inside previously identified, ancient shorelines on the red planet. The ocean would have covered the northern plains billions of years ago. Image credit: ESA, C. Carreau

Deployed in 2005, the MARSIS radar has been collecting data that was recently analyzed by Jérémie Mouginot (Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble). Mouginot’s analysis revealed that the northen plains of Mars are covered in low-density material.

“We interpret these as sedimentary deposits, maybe ice-rich,” says Mouginot. “It is a strong new indication that there was once an ocean here.”

Scientists have long suspected the presence of martian oceans in the past. One piece of evidence supporting the theory of a wetter martian past are features that closely resemble shorelines on Earth. According to some researchers, Mars may have actually had a large ocean during two seperate time periods. The first, around four billion years ago, and the second at around three billion years ago.

The first time Mars had an ocean, the planet more than likely had a thicker atmosphere and much warmer temperatures. When the second ocean appeared, it may have been due to volcanic activity that caused subsurface ice to melt and drain into lowere elevations, such as the northern plains.

Artist's rendition of Mars Express orbiting Mars. Image credit: ESA, C. Carreau

The sediments detected by MARSIS are typically low-density materials that are carried by flowing water. In the case of the more recent ocean on Mars, it was only temporary. Mouginot estimates that within a million years or so, the ocean would have frozen, turning into subsurface ice, or evaporated into the martian atmosphere. “I don’t think it could have stayed as an ocean long enough for life to form.” adds Mouginot.

In the search for current or past life on Mars, astrobiologists have to look at Mars’ ancient past, when liquid water most likely existed. In many scientific circles, the debate continues as to exactly how wet ancient Mars really was.

“Previous Mars Express results about water on Mars came from the study of images and mineralogical data, as well as atmospheric measurements. Now we have the view from the subsurface radar,” says Olivier Witasse, (Mars Express Project Scientist). “This adds new pieces of information to the puzzle but the question remains: where did all the water go?”

If you’d like to learn more about ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, visit: http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars_Express/index.html

Source:European Space Agency

Carnival of Space #235 is available at the “Constant Astronomer” blog.

In this edition of the carnival of space, you can read about coronal mass ejections, a Pluto stamp campaign, anti-matter, exoplanets, and more!

Check it out at: http://dobby.dyndns.biz/constantamateur/2012/02/04/carnival-of-space-235/

This image is a new image from the Chandra X-ray observatory. Featured in the image is supernova remnant G350.1-0.3 which is located nearly 15,000 light years from the Earth. Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I. Lovchinsky et al; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Recent studies suggest that a dense object may lie at the center of G350.1+0.3, and that the object is most likely a neutron star – the dense core of the original star that exploded to create the supernova remnant. What makes this particular supernova interesting is that the position of the neutron star appears to be offset from the center of X-ray emissions. If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a powerful kick in the supernova explosion.

Based on current findings, G350.1+0.3 is estimated as only 600 – 1,200 years old. If the age estimates are correct, this means the central neutron star has been moving at nearly five million kilometers per hour since the supernova explosion. One other unusual aspect of G350.1-0.3 is its shape. Generally supernova remnants are circular, but as shown in the above image G350.1-0.3 is very asymmetrical. Astronomers theorize that the unusual shape of G350.1+0.3 is due to a stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas.

While the age of G350.1+0.3 puts it in the same age range as the supernova that formed the famous Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants, it’s unlikely the supernova was visible from Earth, due to obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

NASA scientists created a companion image to the wildly popular 'Blue Marble' released last week (January 25, 2012).
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA

Compiled by NASA Goddard scientist Norman Kuring, this image has the perspective of a viewer looking down from 7,918 miles (about 12,742 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface from a viewpoint of 10 degrees South by 45 degrees East. The four vertical lines of ‘haze’ visible in this image shows the reflection of sunlight off the ocean, or ‘glint,’ that VIIRS captured as it orbited the globe. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense.

If you’d like to learn more about the methods used to create this image, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/viirs-globe-east.html

Source:NASA Earth Updates

Stephen Colbert, host of the nightly ‘The Colbert Report, ‘ said in a new NASA public service announcement released today that he’s always been a huge fan of space.

The talk show host tells his Colbert Nation — and the world — that he now likes space even more “because NASA is doing great things on the International Space Station (ISS).”

The completion of the ISS ushered in new era of research and discovery in a near gravity-free environment. Research on the orbital laboratory is focused on four areas: human health and exploration; basic life and physical sciences; earth and space science; and technology development to enable future exploration.

Colbert specifically mentions the agency’s work aboard the space station to develop new vaccines to fight infectious and deadly diseases, such as salmonella and pneumonia. As resistance toward current antibiotics becomes more common, there is an increasing need for alternative treatments.

The Comedy Central comedian has had a continuing interest in the ISS. In 2009, when NASA asked the public to help name the station’s Node 3, Colbert urged his followers to submit the name “Colbert.” The name received the most entries and astronauts continue to exercise on the most famous treadmill in the world, the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill or COLBERT, in the station’s Tranquility module.

Source: NASA Technology Features

Starting off this week’s Carnival is from Next Big Future, where researchers describe a new system for a society of highly advanced civilizations around a super massive black hole (SMBH), as an advanced Type III “Dyson Sphere,” pointing out an efficient usage of energy for the advanced civilizations. SMBH also works as a sink for waste materials. It would produce 100 million times the power of a dyson sphere around our sun. Check out the full article at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/01/type-iii-dyson-sphere-of-highly.html

Next up, Urban Astronomer reports that The Goddard Institute for Space Studies have released their annual global surface temperature report and, unsurprisingly, showed that 2011 was one of the hottest years on record. That puts 9 out of the top ten in the 21st century so far. Read more at: http://www.urban-astronomer.com/Urban-Astronomer-Updates/2011amonghottestyearsonrecord

Coronal Mass ejection from our Sun. Image credit: NASA/SOHO

Ian Musgrave at Astroblog reports that Comet hunters have unexpectedly found an old comet returning, and we might be able to see it! Read Ian’s post at: http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2012/01/comet-2003-t12-recovered-in-stereo.html

NASA released a new “Blue Marble” image of the western hemisphere this week. This beautiful hi-res image was taken from the recently renamed Suomi NPP satellite. You can view the image, along with a striking and familiar planetary nebulae in a new image of the Helix Nebula over at Starry Critters.

Here’s another article from Next Big Future. Project Bifrost is an ambitious study examining emerging space technologies that could lay the foundation for future interstellar flights and investigates the utility of fission for future space missions. Read the full article at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/01/project-bifrost-is-new-study-of-nuclear.html

Artist's rendition of a Lunar base.

Simostronomy: The stellar astronomy blog offers up two interesting articles. The first, mentions that this year we will add a leap second to the USNO’s clock on June 30. The second post is about the AAVSOnet robotic telescope K35 which is helping to confirm the latest Puckeet Supernova Search discovery, SN 2012N.

For your listening pleasure, Steve Nerlich at Cheap Astronomy offers up a podcast on big stars. Listen at: http://www.cheapastro.com/podcasts/CA136_BigStars.mp3

Next up, Paul Scott Anderson at The Meridiani Journal reports on a new study indicating that planets are the rule rather than the exception, and most stars have planetary systems.
Read more at: http://themeridianijournal.com/2012/01/a-milky-way-full-of-planets/

Rounding out this week’s Carnival of Space, The Chandra Blog offers a teacher guide for ice core records – from volcanoes to supernovas

That’s it for this week’s Carnival of Space! Stay tuned for the next weekly showcase of articles written on the topic of space.
If you have a science/space blog, joining the carnival is a good way to meet members of the space/science blogging community and help your site reach a wider audience.

If you’d like to be a host for the carnival, please send email to carnivalofspace@gmail.com

A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

The first of a new generation of Earth-observing satellites, Suomi NPP is NASA’s next Earth-observing research satellite, which will observe many facets of our changing Earth. There are five instruments onboard Suomi NPP, the most important of which is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

On May 19, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. The image was taken around 6 P.M Mars local time. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Texas A&M/Cornell

Dear Astronomer,
What is the size and brightness of the Sun as viewed from the different planets in the Solar System?

Excellent question, Doug!

As the distance increases between a planet and our Sun, not only do planets receive less energy, but the apparent size deceases.

Standing on the surface of Mercury would yield an impressive sight, while standing on Eris, the sun would be much fainter.

Keep reading for a detailed comparison of the Sun’s apparent size through the Solar System.

For starters, here’s a little math. We can calculate the apparent size of the sun with the following equation:

                     180°    Measured diameter
Apparent diameter =  ---  x  ----------------
                      π      Distance from object

Example using Earth:

180°    1,380,000 km
---  x  ----------------  = .527 degrees.  
 π      150,000,000 km

Interestingly enough, the Sun’s apparent diameter as seen from Earth is nearly that of our Moon.
(Hence why the Sun is blotted out during an eclipse.)

The resulting apparent diameter is in degrees, so it’s not exactly intuitive. Let’s put this into a “real world” perspective.

The human thumb is about 2cm wide. Extend your arm out, stick out your thumb and you’ll cover about 2° of sky.
Your closed fist covers about 10°.

As seen from Earth, the Sun’s apparent diameter of .527° means your thumb is about four times wider than the Sun when held at arms length.

The formula above is pretty easy to use, so forgive me for not calculating all of them.
Here’s a few examples though to give you an idea of how distance affects the Sun’s Apparent diameter.

Mercury ~ 1.36° Which is just over half the width of your extended thumb if you were standing on Mercury.
Mars ~ .35° A bit over half the apparent diameter as seen from Earth (See above image for a real-life example)
Titan (Saturn’s Largest moon) ~ .055° About one-tenth the apparent diameter as seen from Earth! This is only from a distance of 10AU – not even half way to Pluto!
Neptune ~ .017° Neptune is thirty times more distant from the Sun than Earth.

As seen from Eris, past Pluto in the Kuiper Belt, our Sun would look like a very bright star.

Despite these relatively small apparent diameters, the apparent magnitude of our Sun is still quite impressive at great distances.
To answer the second part of your question, here’s a short table of apparent magnitudes.

Mercury ~ -29
Earth ~ -27
Mars ~ -25
Titan ~ -22
Neptune ~ -19
Eris ~ -17 (Still several orders of magnitude brighter than the full Moon!)

Keep in mind with apparent magnitude the scale is logarithmic. If you want to learn more about the math behind apparent magnitudes, check out this link:
http://hs.riverdale.k12.or.us/~dthompso/math/starmag.html

I hope this helps shed some light on how distance affects the apparent size and magnitude of our Sun.

Thanks for sending in your question!

Bill over at Riding with Robots Is hosting this week’s edition of the Carnival of Space

This week Bill covers LROC, Death Stars, Galaxies, Nibiru, and more!

Check it out at: http://www.ridingwithrobots.org/2012/01/carnival-of-space-233/

Two spacecraft engineers join a grouping of vehicles providing a comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is JPL's Mars Yard testing area. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sojourner and its flight spare, named Marie Curie, are 2 feet (65 centimeters) long. The Mars Exploration Rover Project’s rover, including the “Surface System Test Bed” rover in this photo, are 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) long. The Mars Science Laboratory Project’s Curiosity rover and “Vehicle System Test Bed” rover, on the right, are 10 feet (3 meters) long.

The engineers are JPL’s Matt Robinson, left, and Wesley Kuykendall. The California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, operates JPL for NASA.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

The Death Star. Image Credit: Wookieepedia / Lucasfilm

Mirroring many late night caffeine-fueled arguments among Sci-Fi fans, a University of Leicester researcher asks the question:

Could a small moon-sized battle station generate enough energy to destroy an Earth-sized planet?

Read the full article over at Universe Today

For starters, Carnival of Space #230 is hosted by Steve Nerlich over at his Cheap Astronomy blog.

You can read COS #230 at: http://www.cheapastro.com/index_files/Page4392.htm

Next, Carnival of Space #231 is hosted over at the Weird Warp blog.
View COS #231 at:
http://www.weirdwarp.com/2012/01/carnival-of-space-231

Last but not least, my favorite space historian, Amy Teitel is hosting Carnival of Space #232 at her Vintage Space blog.
View COS #232 at: http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/carnival-of-space-232/

If you’re interested in looking at past COS entries, Universe Today has an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space at: http://www.universetoday.com/12019/carnival-of-space/.

If you’ve got a space-related blog, consider joining the carnival. To get started, just mail an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. Joining the Carnival of Space can help make others aware of your writing, and help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, sign up to be a host. Send and email to the above address.

Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope.
Shown with Telrad finder (sold separately ). Image Credit: Ray Sanders

The Orion XT8 dobsonian is a mid-range reflector telescope. There are a few smaller and less expensive models available in Orion’s classic dobsonian series, and there are a few larger, more expensive models as well. The XT8 offers a good balance between portability, price and performance. In this review we’ll look at the build quality of the XT8, along with how it performs at planetary and “dark sky” objects.

For starters, let’s look at the raw specifications for the XT8. The XT8 features an 8” (203mm) primary mirror. With a focal length of 1200mm, this gives a focal ratio of f/5.9. Advanced observers will enjoy the XT8′s 2” focuser, which allows for larger eyepieces, or even a “T” adapter for short-exposure astrophotography. New observers (or those on a budget) will find the included 2” to 1.25” eyepiece adapter allows the use of 1.25” eyepieces with no noticeable wiggle/slop.

The XT8 does come with a 25mm 1.25” Plossl eyepiece which performs well as a medium-power eyepiece in the XT8. The XT8 features Orion’s EZ Finder II sight. While the EZ Finder II isn’t a terribly bad “red-dot” finder, some observers may see fit to replace the stock finder with something like a “correct image” finder scope, a laser pointer, or even a Telrad non-magnified finder.

Orion ships the XT8 in two boxes. One for the optical tube, and a second for the dobsonian mount base. The shipping box for the mount base was well thought out, minimizing potential damage to the base components. The shipping box for the optical tube was adequate, but as with any piece of delicate equipment – there can never be enough padding.

Assembling the XT8 took about half an hour by myself. With a helper, the XT8 could probably be assembled in ten minutes. Once assembled the mount base is quite sturdy and allowed for smooth rotation of the optical tube, due to the Teflon azimuth bearings. Adjusting the optical tube in altitude was equally effortless and the tension springs provided enough tension to maintain position (even pointed at the horizon) without making the tube difficult to raise or lower.

The mount base does include a carrying handle. At around 40lbs total weight, some users of the scope may prefer to carry the optical tube and base assemblies separately. Once assembled and put in place at an observing location, operation of the XT8 is fairly straight forward.

Depending on what finder setup is used, aligning the finder may take just a few minutes, or slightly longer. Generally, using a very bright object (newcomers may want help with this step) in the finder makes the process of alignment easier and faster. When setting up the XT8 for this review, I aligned my Telrad finder and the telescope itself with Jupiter.

After aligning the finder, using the XT8 is simply a matter of moving the optical tube to whatever objects are desired. Once the telescope is pointed at an object, making focus and/or eyepiece adjustments are fairly trivial. The eyepiece holder features thumbscrews which do a good job of holding eyepieces in place. The focuser offers smooth operation with very little image “wobble”.

Putting the XT8 through a short observing session, I was able to obtain great views of the Moon, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula (M42), and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). At the time of testing, the Moon was in a waning crescent phase and the XT8 brought out some great views of lunar craters near the terminator. Despite being close to the horizon, the view of lunar craters in the eyepiece were crisp and clear. Moving eastward to Jupiter revealed a delightful view of a few of Jupiter’s atmospheric bands, as well as the Galilean moons. While the view from an 8” telescope can’t compare to the views of Jupiter from Voyager or the Hubble, the detail revealed is still quite impressive.

Saving the best for last, I pointed the XT8 at M42 (Orion Nebula) and M31 (Andromeda Galaxy). Star-hopping to M31 was fairly trivial, via Alpheratz (In Pegasus). I did switch from the stock 25mm to a lower power 40mm eyepiece, as M31 does tend to benefit from lower power eyepieces, at least visually. The view of M31 provided a fuzzy patch that clearly stood out from the background stars. Moving eastward to M42, the views were breathtaking for such a relatively small telescope. Significant detail (albeit without much color) of the gas and dust was visible, along with a bright trapezium.

In Summary, the Orion XT8 is a great mid-range telescope which balances price and performance quite well. Despite Orion classifying this telescope as an “Intermediate” telescope, the XT8 would be an excellent choice for a beginning astronomer, or even an experienced observer looking to add a new scope to their fleet.

Assembling the XT8 was a trivial task with the included wrenches, and after assembly the telescope felt very sturdy. At around 40lbs, most people will have little to no trouble carrying the XT8 from their car to their observing spot, or from the house to a spot in their backyard. The included 25mm eyepiece works well as a mid-range eyepiece, but some users may want to invest in additional eyepieces, or at the very least a 2X barlow lens.

Some users of the XT8 may choose to replace the stock finder with one of their own choosing, but the included red-dot sight is fairly adequate. With a scope as powerful as the XT8, those planning to regularly perform lunar observations may want to consider purchasing a lunar filter. Any users who choose to perform solar observations can easily obtain a glass filter lens for the XT8 at a cost of around $100.

YOu can also read the review at Cloudy Nights and Universe Today

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Expedition 29 commander, works with the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Multi-user Drop Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA

Following up on the success of the first “Ask” feature, UT followed up with a new installment featuring Expedition 29 commander Mike Fossum.

Questions from readers were collected, and then passed along to Mike who graciously took the time to answer them.

You can read the questions picked by readers, and Fossum’s responses over at: http://www.universetoday.com/92507/mike-fossum-answers-your-questions/

Special thanks to NASA and Mike Fossum for their participation.

This galaxy cluster, which has been nicknamed "El Gordo" for the "big" or "fat" one in Spanish, is a remarkable object. Found in the distant Universe by Chandra and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, El Gordo appears to be the most massive, the hottest, and gives off the most X-rays of any known cluster at its distance or beyond. In this composite image of El Gordo, X-rays are blue, optical data from the Very Large Telescope are red, green, and blue, and infrared emission from Spitzer is red. The comet-like shape of the X-rays, along with optical data, show that El Gordo is actually the site of a collision between two galaxy clusters, similar to the well-known Bullet Cluster. Image Credit: NASA/ESO

X-ray data from Chandra reveal a distinct cometary appearance of El Gordo, including two “tails” extending to the upper right of the image. Along with the VLT’s optical data, this shows that El Gordo is, in fact, the site of two galaxy clusters running into one another at several million miles per hour. This and other characteristics make El Gordo akin to the well-known object called the Bullet Cluster, which is located almost 4 billion light years closer to Earth.

As with the Bullet Cluster, there is evidence that normal matter, mainly composed of hot, X-ray bright gas, has been wrenched apart from the dark matter in El Gordo. The hot gas in each cluster was slowed down by the collision, but the dark matter was not.

El Gordo is located over seven billion light years from Earth, meaning that it is being observed at a young age. According to the scientists involved in this study, this cluster of galaxies is the most massive, the hottest, and gives off the most X-rays of any known cluster at this distance or beyond.

The central galaxy in the middle of El Gordo is unusually bright and has surprisingly blue colors in optical wavelengths. The authors speculate that this extreme galaxy resulted from a collision and merger between the two galaxies at the center of each cluster.

Using Spitzer data and optical imaging it is estimated that about 1% of the total mass of the cluster is in stars, while the rest is found in the hot gas that fills the space between the stars and is detected by Chandra This ratio of stars to gas is similar with results from other massive clusters.

Source:NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory Image Releases

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum onboard the International Space Station during Expedition 28. NASA's Robonaut is also visible in the background. Image credit: NASA TV

Here’s how it works: Readers can submit questions they would like Universe Today to ask the guest responder. Simply post your question in the comments section of the article. UT will take the top five (or so) questions, as ranked by “likes” on the discussion posts. If you see a question you think is good, click the “like” button to give it a vote.

Keep in mind that final question acceptance is based on the discretion of Universe Today and in some cases, the responder and/or their employer.

This installment features International Space Station Expedition 29 commander, Mike Fossum.

You can read a short bio on Fossum, and submit your question at: http://www.universetoday.com/92386/ask-an-astronaut-mike-fossum/

Carnival of Space #229 was delayed a bit, due to technical difficulties. “Next Big Future” has graciously hosted the content.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Brian covers seasons greetings, the International Space Station, Dark Energy, Comet Lovejoy, the bar in the middle of the milky way, and more!

Check it out at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/01/carnival-of-space-229.html

Three satellites fly in formation as part of the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) investigation.
Image Credit: NASA

The SPHERES project is the brainchild of David Miller (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Miller was inspired by the floating remote “droid” that Luke Skywalker used to help hone his lightsaber skills in Star Wars. Since 2006, a set of five SPHERES satellites, built by Miller and his students have been onboard the International Space Station.

Since lightsabers are most likely prohibited onboard the ISS, what practical use have these “droids” been to space station crews?

Read the full article over at Universe Today

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “Next Big Future“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Brian covers SOHO, the Opportunity Mars rover, SpaceX, Solar Sails, Gene Krantz’s iconic white vests, and more!

Check it out at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/12/carnival-of-space-227.html

Artist's concept art featuring the fastest rotating star found to date. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

Dr. Alan Stern preparing for a high-altitude test flight in NASA's two-seat WB-57 aircraft.
Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Some of you may know, I recently launched a new “Ask” feature over at Universe Today.

The inaugural launch features Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator for the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. I collected questions from UT readers in the initial post and passed them along to Dr. Stern who graciously took the time to answer them.

You can check out Dr Stern’s responses to the reader questions at: http://www.universetoday.com/92028/dr-alan-stern-answers-your-questions/

Thanks to everyone who helped make this kick-off a success. Stay tuned next month for the next installment with Expedition 29 Commander, Mike Fossum.

The BRAVA fields are shown in this image montage.
Image Credit: D. Talent, K. Don, P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF and the BRAVA Project

Nearly 80 years ago, astronomers determined that our home, the Milky Way Galaxy, is a large spiral galaxy. Despite being stuck inside and not being able to see what the entire the structure looks like — as we can with the Pinwheel Galaxy, or our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy — researchers have suspected our galaxy is actually a “barred” spiral galaxy.

Barred spiral galaxies feature an elongated stellar structure , or bar, in the middle which in our case is hidden by dust and gas. There are many galaxies in the Universe that are barred spirals, and yet, there are numerous galaxies which do not feature a central bar.

How do these central bars form, and why are they only present in some, but not all spiral galaxies?

Check out the full article at: Universe Today

Dr. Alan Stern, Associate Vice President, Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute. Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute

I’m testing a new “Ask” article format over at Universe Today and I know you’ve got questions you’d like to ask Alan Stern!

Here’s how it works: Readers submit questions they would like Universe Today to ask the guest responder. Post your question in the comments section of the article. Universe Today will take the top five (or so) questions, as ranked by “likes” on the discussion posts. If you see a question you think is good, click the “like” button to give it a vote.

The inaugural launch (pun intended) will feature Dr. Alan Stern, principal investigator for NASA’s “New Horizons” mission to Pluto.

Read the full article over at Universe Today

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “Next Big Future“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Brian covers 2012 conspiracy hype, a history of the Mercury capsules, SpaceX, new Kepler discoveries, and more!

Check it out at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/12/carnival-of-space-227.html

Gamma-rays detected by Fermi's LAT show that the remnant of Tycho's supernova shines in the highest-energy form of light.
This portrait of the shattered star includes gamma rays (magenta), X-rays (yellow, green, and blue), infrared (red) and optical data.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS

The discovery provides researchers with additional information on the origin of cosmic rays (subatomic particles that are on speed). The exact process that gives cosmic rays their energy isn’t well understood since charged particles are easily deflected by interstellar magnetic fields. The deflection by interstellar magnetic fields makes it impossible for researchers to track cosmic rays to their original sources.

“Fortunately, high-energy gamma rays are produced when cosmic rays strike interstellar gas and starlight. These gamma rays come to Fermi straight from their sources,” said Francesco Giordano at the University of Bari in Italy.

Read the full article at Universe Today

Space Shuttle Explorer makes its way from KSC's visitor center in preparation for its eventual delivery at Johnson Space Center in Texas.
Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Despite Houston being snubbed during the selection process for the final locations of Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour, and Enterprise, the consolation prize of receiving Explorer comes with one benefit the other locations won’t have. Explorer was built to actually allow people inside the mock-up, so it will most likely be the only shuttle attraction that will actually allow visitors to step inside.

One other shuttle mock-up (fuselage and cargo bay only – no wings) will be headed to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

If you’d like to learn more about Space Shuttle Explorer, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Explorer

This month I’m testing out a new program where I feature a monthly site sponsor. As mentioned above, this month’s featured sponsor is The Chop Shop. I chose The Chop Shop for a few reasons. One, I like their shirts, especially their badass “space exploration” shirts. Secondly, The Chop Shop donates a portion of the proceeds from some of their shirts to The Planetary Society.

Basically, if you are looking for a geek gift this holiday season, I encourage you to visit http://chopshopstore.com/ and check out The Chop Shop’s offerings.

With regards to advertising and site sponsors, rather than throw random ads on the site, with the hopes of covering costs ( site hosting, telescope giveaways, etc.) I’ve been a bit more selective about the ads ran on the site. Instead of seeing ads for online casinos or mortgage refinancing, you see ads for telescopes, think geek gadgets, etc. Also of note is that the ad placement is rather inobtrusive and I don’t resort to pop-ups, interstitials, or any of the other annoying ad techniques. While I do have site costs (and expenses) to cover, keep in mind that my plan will always be to do so in the least obtrusive manner possible.

Thank you all for continuing to read “Dear Astronomer”

Viewing data for the December 2011 Lunar eclipse. Click for larger image. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

According to NASA, the eclipse will last from 11:33 UT (6:33 a.m. EST, 3:33 a.m. PST) until 17:30 UT (12:30 p.m. EST, 9:30 a.m. PST).

The period of time the Moon will spend at totality, (when Earth’s shadow completely covers the moon) is expected to be about 50 minutes. While the entire U.S will be able to see at least some part of tomorrow’s Lunar Eclipse, viewers on the West coast will have a more complete view.

For those on the West coast, the eclipse will start at 3:33AM PST, providing a view of totality around moonset and sunrise. West coast viewers will notice the deep red color of the Moon around 6:30 AM PST.

While the Geminids won’t peak until mid-month, you may spot a number of meteors after midnight on the 10th. Sadly, with the full moon and Gemini near each other throughout the night, this years view won’t be as spectacular as past showers. Those observers with telescopes may want to point them at the bright pinkish dot in the East if hunting for meteors isn’t panning out, since Mars is making its return to the night skies.

To view an image showing where to spot the Geminids, click the “Continue Reading” link below. Happy meteor hunting and clear skies!

View of the Eastern skies around midnight. Gemini is top center, with Orion to the right and Mars at the lower left. Image created with Stellarium

Coronal Mass Ejection as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7, 2011.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO

According to a new set of NASA computer simulations, solar storms and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) can erode the lunar surface. Researchers speculate that not only can these phenomena erode the lunar surface, but could also be a cause of atmospheric loss for planets without a global magnetic field, such as Mars.

A team led by Rosemary Killen at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has written papers exploring different aspects of these phenomena and will appear in an issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets. The team’s research was also presented earlier this week during the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Read my full article over at: Universe Today

The Allen Telescope Array. Image Credit: SETI Institute

“This is a superb opportunity for SETI observations,” said Dr. Jill Tarter, the Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute. “For the first time, we can point our telescopes at stars, and know that those stars actually host planetary systems – including at least one that begins to approximate an Earth analog in the habitable zone around its host star. That’s the type of world that might be home to a civilization capable of building radio transmitters.”

What other studies will SETI be performing with the array, and how were they able to restart the Allen Telescope Array?

Read the full article at: Universe Today

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Space! This week, we’ve got a slew of fascinating space stories.

Starting off with one of my favorite subjects (aside from astronomy), Ian O’Neill (Discovery News) asks: Has a brewing company finally managed to launch their beverage into space? Well, it depends on your definition of “space” (and how much “space beer” you’ve had to drink) read more at: http://news.discovery.com/space/the-first-real-space-beer-not-so-fast-111130.html

On November 26th NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) into space aboard an Atlas V rocket. learn more at: http://chandra.si.edu/blog/node/327

Looking to buy a new telescope? Before you do, check out this review of the Orion 8″ dobsonian reflector at Universe Today: http://www.universetoday.com/91221/telescope-review-orion-skyquest-xt8-classic-dobsonian-reflector

Dr Paul Spudis discusses the latest destination for human spaceflight (Spoiler: Not Mars). You can the entire article at: http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2011/12/the-latest-destination-for-human-spaceflight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+airspacemag/TheOnceAndFutureMoon+(The+Once+and+Future+Moon)&utm_content=LocalHost

The “Next Big Future” blog offers a triple-threat of entries this week. First, a discussion of Space based solar power status in Japan and other countries, with startups Solaren, and Orbital power group.Read more at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/space-based-solar-power-status.html

MSL launches from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011. Image Credit: NASA

Another space-based solar power article from “Next Big Future” is available at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/major-iaa-space-based-solar-power.html

Lastly, a discussion of Far Future (Kardashev 2 technology) Shkadov thruster and stellar engines for moving stars can be viewed for your reading pleasure at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/12/shkadov-thruster-and-stellar-engines.html

Steve Nerlich appears on the ‘Smart Enough to Know Better’ podcast to discuss our 4% (and the rest) universe. Listen at: http://www.cheapastro.com/podcasts/CA132_DazeOfAstronomy1of2.mp3

The Meridiani Journal offers another look at the recent MSL launch carrying “Curiosity” to Mars. Read more at: http://themeridianijournal.com/2011/11/curiosity-is-on-its-way-to-mars

If you habla your space news en espanol, Check out this post explaining the main characteristics of Pallas, the second asteroid discovered [In Spanish] at: http://www.vega00.com/2011/11/el-asteroide-palas.html

Amy Shira Teitel gives us a historical account of what plans NASA had for Apollo-era hadware once the Moon program had completed. One mission idea was a manned mission to Venus. read more about this mission at: http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/nasas-manned-mission-to-venus/

Nicole Gugliucci at Discovery News writes about how Astronomers can make very precise measurements of a black hole’s mass and size, using an array of techniques that span the electromagnetic spectrum. Learn more at: http://news.discovery.com/space/measuring-a-teeny-tiny-massive-black-hole-111202.html

Space artifacts have been making headlines of late, both for the prices being paid and for NASA’s attempts to retain what it sees as its property. Sharing column space this week are articles about an Apollo 13 flown checklist soaring to six figures at auction and the recovery of a 6-foot RL-10 rocket engine.

Whether a NASA artifact can be sold, or is seized, is not always clear but it often depends on if the seller can clearly establish title.

Read the full article at: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-120111a.html

A map of the sky showing the numbers of stars counted in the Sagittarius streams.

A team of astronomers from the University of Cambridge has discovered new interactions between our Milky Way Galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy.

Learn more at: http://www.universetoday.com/91510/sagittarius-dwarf-galaxy-a-beast-with-four-tails/

The Urban Astronomer site provides a great article to combat light pollution: Cities in the UK which have been reducing the number of street lights shining late and night to save energy have been surprised to find crime rates actually dropping! Read the full post at: http://www.urban-astronomer.com/Urban-Astronomer-Updates/darkercitieshavelesscrimeofficial

More coverage of MSL from Universe Today. Nancy Atkinson provides us with an interesting article on a time-lapse video of MSL leaving Earth’s orbit on its way to Mars. Check it out at: http://www.universetoday.com/91332/comet-curiosity-msl-looks-like-a-comet-as-it-heads-toward-mars/

Want to know why will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas was hanging with Bill Nye the Science Guy? Learn more about it, along with an idea of what it’s like to be on a rocket launch at: http://www.ridingwithrobots.org/2011/11/lets-go-to-mars/

Rounding out the posts on the MSL launch is Weird Warp. Check out their post which describes the MSL’s mission – to search for elements that are needed to support life (water and carbon-based materials). The mission should help determine if Mars ever was habitable or could be habitable in its future. Read more at: http://www.weirdwarp.com/2011/11/mission-to-mars-about-to-lift-off-looking-for-life/

That’s it for this week’s Carnival of Space! Stay tuned for the next weekly showcase of articles written on the topic of space. If you have a science/space blog, joining the carnival is a good way to meet members of the space/science blogging community and help your site reach a wider audience.

If you’d like to be a host for the carnival, please send email to carnivalofspace@gmail.com

Concept artwork portraying four extremely red galaxies nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth.
Image Credit: David A. Aguilar

A team of astronomers, led by Jiasheng Huang (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) using the Spitzer Space Telescope, have discovered four ‘Ultra-Red’ galaxies that formed when our Universe was about a billion years old. Huang and his team used several computer models in an attempt to understand why these galaxies appear so red, stating, “We’ve had to go to extremes to get the models to match our observations.”

The results of Huang’s research were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope helped make the discovery possible, as it is more sensitive to infrared light than other space telescopes such as the Hubble. The newly discovered galaxies are sixty times brighter in the infrared than they are at the longest/reddest wavelengths HST can detect.

What processes are at work to create these extremely red objects, and why are they of interest to astronomers?

Read the full article over at Universe Today

The voting deadline for the 2011 Blogging Scholarship has passed and it seems that John McAuliff over at http://roadtripofpassage.com/ is the winner.

Please take a minute to stop by his blog and give him some well-deserved congratulations.

It was an honor to be one of the finalists this year, and I’d like to thank every one of my readers for helping to grow the Dear Astronomer site into what it is today. I’ve only been doing this for about two years now, but my readership has grown each month.

For most of you it’s clear that I run this site out of my love for astronomy and science literacy. This isn’t a business, (I do have to pay for hosting and the telescopes I give out) but I do take this site as seriously as my family, education, and “day” job.

Thank you all for visiting my little corner of the Internet – the best is yet to come!

Orion XT8 Dobsonian reflector in front of the author's observatory. (Shown with Telrad finder scope - not included with product.) Photo Credit: Ray Sanders

Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope, (MSRP $349.99)

Orion Telescopes.

For many astronomers who are just getting started, dobsonian reflector telescopes are a popular choice. While many newcomers to Astronomy seek out computerized “go-to” telescopes, some prefer the “no-frills” setup a dobsonian telescope offers.

The Orion XT8 dobsonian is a mid-range reflector telescope. There are a few smaller and less expensive models available in Orion’s classic dobsonian series, and there are a few larger, more expensive models as well.

The XT8 offers a good balance between portability, price and performance. In this review we’ll look at the build quality of the XT8, along with how it performs at planetary and “dark sky” objects.

For starters, let’s look at the raw specifications for the XT8:

The XT8 features an 8″ (203mm) primary mirror. With a focal length of 1200mm, this gives a focal ratio of f/5.9. Advanced observers will enjoy the XT8′s 2″ focuser, which allows for larger eyepieces, or even a “T” adapter for short-exposure astrophotography. New observers (or those on a budget) will find the included 2″ to 1.25″ eyepiece adapter allows the use of 1.25″ eyepieces with no noticeable wiggle/slop.

Read the full product review over at Universe Today:
http://www.universetoday.com/91221/telescope-review-orion-skyquest-xt8-classic-dobsonian-reflector

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “One Astronomer’s Noise“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Nicole covers the magnetic fields of Pulsars, Exoplanets, MSL, Mariner 2, and more!

Check it out at: http://noisyastronomer.com/2011/11/28/carnival-of-space-225/

I’ll be hosting Carnival of Space #226, so keep an eye out in a week or so!

The Vela Pulsar contains a neutron star - the remains of a supernova explosion.
Image Credit:
NASA/CXC/PSU/G.Pavlov et al.

Some of the most bizarre phenomenon in the universe are neutron stars. Very few things in our universe can rival the density in these remnants of supernova explosions.

Johan Hansson and Anna Ponga (Lulea University of Technology, Sweden) have written a paper which outlines a new theory on how the magnetic fields of neutron stars form.

Hansson and Ponga theorize that not only can the movement of charged particles form a magnetic field, but also the alignment of the magnetic fields of components that make up the neutron star – similar to the process of forming ferromagnets.

You can read the full article I wrote for Universe Today at: http://www.universetoday.com/91174/are-pulsars-giant-permanent-magnets/

Don’t forget, I’m a finalist for a $10,000 blogging scholarship, but I need your votes!

Please take a moment and vote for me (you can vote once a day!) at: http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

Orion at 10:00 p.m. in early December. Image generated with Stellarium.

Curious as to what you can view in the night skies this winter? Hop on over to the Planetary Society Blog and read my “guest” post which provides some winter sky highlights. The guide is at: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00003267/

Please don’t forget to cast your daily votes to help me win a $10,000 student blogging scholarship. Click on the badge below to cast your vote.

You can vote once per day-ish (about every 24 hours), so please vote each day and help support your friendly, neighborhood science blogger!

Thanks!

Eastern Skies before dawn (~3AM) Image Generated with Stellarium (www.stellarium.org)

While the Leonids peaked on the 17th, Stargazers with a “day” job should be able to still catch some celestial fireworks this weekend. After midnight and up to about an hour before dawn, look in the region of Leo, as shown in the image above.

The moon will be up, so there will be some interference, but observers with decent night sky conditions should still be able to see a fair amount of meteors. Those of you who have missed the tiny pink dot of Mars will be in for a treat, as it will be visible near the moon as well!

Rounding out 2011′s meteor shower season will be the Geminids on December 13th. I’ll have a post showing you how to find them next month.

Clear skies!

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “Breakdown: Science’s Smaller Questions“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Sarah covers Voyager 2′s “tune-up”, recycling within galaxies, Europa, SpaceX, and more!

Check it out at: http://www.smallerquestions.org/2011/11/carnival-of-space-edition-224.html

Europa's "Great Lake." Researchers predict more lakes are scattered throughout the moon's icy shell.
Image Credit: Britney Schmidt/Dead Pixel VFX/Univ. of Texas at Austin.

A recent research paper appearing in the journal Nature describes evidence for a subsurface lake on Jupiter’s moon Europa. The subsurface lake is estimated to contain a volume of water comparable to the North American “Great Lakes” and may offer new clues for habitable regions beyond Earth. The research paper is authored by Britney Schmidt (University of Texas at Austin), a postdoctoral fellow at the university’s Institute for Geophysics.

Schmidt and her team believe that this discovery increases the potential for life, since the lake is covered by floating ice shelves which appear to be collapsing. The processes the ice shelves are subjected to could provide a way to transfer nutrients and energy from Europa’s surface and the vast ocean already thought to exist below the moon’s icy crust.

“One opinion in the scientific community has been, ‘If the ice shell is thick, that’s bad for biology — that it might mean the surface isn’t communicating with the underlying ocean,’ ” said Schmidt. “Now we see evidence that even though the ice shell is thick, it can mix vigorously. That could make Europa and its ocean more habitable.”

Schmidt and her team based their findings on research using imagery taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Specifically, the team used image data showing two regions Europa’s surface which feature chaos terrains. By applying knowledge of similar ice shelves and glaciers covering volcanoes on Earth, the team developed a model to show how the chaos terrains might form on Europa. The model appears to resolve many conflicting observations, and may help determine just how thick (or thin) Europa’s icy crust is.

Mary Voytek, director of NASA’s Astrobiology Program, commented on the research, stating: “The data opens up some compelling possibilities, however, scientists worldwide will want to take a close look at this analysis and review the data before we can fully appreciate the implication of these results.”

If Schmidt’s results are confirmed, this could provide significant motivation for NASA to green-light future exploration missions to Europa. Currently, such a mission is rated as the second-highest priority flagship mission by the National Research Council’s recent Planetary Science Decadal Survey.

You can view a video animation showing how the subsurface lakes on Europa may form at: http://www.utexas.edu/know/2011/11/16/europa_great_lake/

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the Galileo mission, visit: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/

Source: NASA News Updates , University of Texas (Austin) Press Release

I’ve been nominated as a finalist for the 2011 Blogging Scholarship!

Please take a moment and visit the voting page, and vote for me:
(Ray Sanders).

With my wife and I having just had our first child a couple months back, this scholarship would be a a huge help with my final year of classes.

To cast your vote, click on the image below, and you’ll be taken to the voting page. You can vote once per day, but please don’t attempt to “cheat” the voting system.

You can also vote by following this link: http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/

I also wanted to take a moment to thank you, the readers of this site, for all your support and enthusiastic participation.

I’m very thankful to have the privilege of sharing my little corner of the Internet with every one of you.

Artist's concept of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have six sets of thrusters to control the pitch, yaw and roll of the spacecraft. The combined total of six thrusters is made up of three pairs of primary thrusters and three backup pairs. As of today, both Voyager spacecraft are using all three backup thruster sets.

Built and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are in the heliosheath – the region of our solar system where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. Voyager 1 is about 33 light-hours (118 A.U) from our Sun, and Voyager 2 is a bit less distant at just over a light-day’s distance (~26 light-hours / 97 A.U).

If you’d like to learn more about the Voyager missions, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/voyager

Source: NASA/JPL News Release

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “Vintage Space“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Amy covers SpaceX, NASA, promordial gas in the universe, asteroid 2005 YU55, and more!

Check it out at: http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/carnival-of-space-223

A supernova recorded in 1054 A.D formed the famous Crab Nebula. Spanning nearly 10 light-years across, the nebula's center is home to a pulsar: a rapidly spinning neutron star with the mass of our sun, but only a few kilometers in diameter. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU)

Aaron asks,

Dear Astronomer, What can be learned by analyzing pulsars?
I ask because a friend of mine asked what pulsars are.
I explained, and he then asked, “Why look for them?” I didn’t have a good answer. Help?

Great question Aaron!

Quite often astronomers are asked why they study a particular subject of interest. I’ve been asked a few times why I research variable stars ( more about that some other time ). Some astronomers study specific subjects because they sort of “fell” into that field, while others are passionate about a particular piece of the cosmic puzzle. Quite often astronomers study a subject so that they can add to the body of scientific knowledge, which may allow other scientists to better research their own chosen field.

In the case of Pulsars, let’s take a step back and examine what they are, so we can better understand why they are scientifically important to astronomers…

A diagram of a pulsar showing its rotation axis, its magnetic axis, and its magnetic field. Image Credit: NASA

As stars fuse their hydrogen into helium and “evolve” into later-stage stars, the end result varies, more or less, on their mass. Small stars like our sun will flare into a red giant, and then eventually shrink down to a small white dwarf. Stars a bit larger than our sun can form neutron stars – not too much bigger though, as very massive stars will implode into a black hole.

Interestingly enough, we can thank these supernova explosions for “enriching” the regions of space near them. Most all elements past Iron on the periodic table like Gold, Aluminum, Sodium, and Uranium are formed from supernovae. Without elements like Iron, producing Earth-like planets would be nearly impossible.

At the center of many supernova remnants, like the Crab Nebula, observers can usually detect neutron stars, and in many cases, pulsars.

Pulsars are neutron stars, but not all neutron stars are pulsars. Essentially a rapidly spinning neutron star emits “beams” of high energy radiation. The diagram to the right shows the relationship between a neutron stars rotational axis, and its magnetic field.

The neutron star’s rotation causes the previously mentioned beam of radiation to “sweep” across space. If Earth is in the path of these beams, then we can detect a signal from them, very similar to how ocean-going ships on Earth detect the beam of light from a nearby lighthouse. By analyzing the timing of the pulses, astronomers can determine how fast the neutron star is spinning.

As a sort of cosmic “lighthouse”, pulsars can provide a wealth of information to astronomers. The extreme density of neutron stars (only black holes rival neutron stars in terms of mass/size ratio) combined with their extreme rotational speed help researchers use Einstein’s theory of relativity to better understand time, space, and gravity.

So there you have it. A bit of a recap on pulsars and neutron stars, along with some information on why we study them. Hopefully I’ve been able to shed a little more light on the subject.

If you’d like to learn more about pulsars, visit: http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/everyone/pulsars, or http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/pulsars.html

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at “Next Big Future“.

In this edition of the carnival of space, Brian covers lasers, NASA, asteroids, the “Mars 500″ mission, and more!

Check it out at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/carnival-of-space-222httpwwwbloggercomp.html

Astronaut Bruce McCandless ventures over 300 feet from Space Shuttle Challenger. Image Credit: NASA

In a daring move, astronaut Bruce McCandless ventured further away from the safety of his ship than any previous astronaut. McCandless used NASA’s nitrogen jet propelled Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) to perform this space “first”.

After first testing the MMU inside and above Challenger’s payload bay, McCandless flew over 300 feet away from the shuttle. The above image shows a breathtaking orbital panorama featuring McCandless, the deep black of space and the vibrant blue and white colors of Earth.

If you’d like to learn more about NASA’s MMU, visit: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter13.html

Yes, I totally stole the post headline from “Fett’s Vette” by MC Chris.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

This image combines data from four different space telescopes to create a multi-wavelength view of the oldest documented example of a supernova, called RCW 86. The Chinese witnessed the event in 185 A.D., documenting a mysterious star that was visible for eight months.
Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO & ESA; Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B. Williams (NCSU)

Shown in the image above is a multi-wavelength image of supernova remnant RCW 86. First witnessed by humanity in 185 A.D., the supernova was visible for eight months. The blue and green colors in the image were obtained by using x-ray images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton Observatory. The observations of X-rays show interstellar gas heated by the supernova’s shockwave.

The red and yellow colors in the image come from infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The infrared data shows dust radiating at a temperature of several hundred degrees below zero, warm by comparison to normal dust in our Milky Way galaxy.

Combining the X-ray and infrared data allowed astronomers to better understand that the cause of the explosion was a Type Ia supernova. White dwarf stars that are normally stable can detonate into a type 1a supernova when a companion star dumps extra material onto the white dwarf’s surface. The combined data also allowed researchers to determine how the remnant expanded in a very short amount of time, cosmically speaking. Scientists believe that by blowing a powerful wind prior to exploding, the white dwarf was able to clear out a huge cavity. The cavity, being a region of low density would allow the supernova explosion to expand much faster than normal.

What makes this discovery interesting to astronomers is that it’s the first cavity detected around a white dwarf system prior to explosion. Scientists say the results may have significant implications for theories of white-dwarf binary systems and Type Ia supernovae.

RCW 86 is approximately 8,000 light-years away. At about 85 light-years in diameter, it occupies a region of the sky in the southern constellation of Circinus that is slightly larger than the full moon.

If you’d like to learn more about the Chandra X-ray observatory, visit: http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/

Source:Chandra X-ray Observatory Images

Image of "Southern" lights (Aurora Australis) Taken by STS-39 crew. Image Credit: NASA/JSC

Azmaria asks,

Dear Astronomer, I know that there’s a link between solar flares, the poles, and the upper atmosphere to make auroras, but what exactly is that link?

Why are they so much more beautiful from space, and why are they normally green?

Great question Azmaria!
Aurorae ( or Auroras ) have been in the news quite frequently, partly due to some very powerful solar outbursts this year.

Let’s explore how particles from our sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere to produce these wonderful phenomenon.

Starting with the solar wind, solar flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections, charged particles ( electrons and protons ) can be hurled from the sun at speeds of nearly 800 km/sec! The charged particles fly through space and interact with Earth’s magnetic field, and upper atmosphere.

Regarding why Aurorae are more impressive from space, I would have to say for the same reasons why the Hubble Space Telescope works well in space – less interference from our atmosphere ( moisture, wind, dust, smog, etc ). As for the colors present in an Aurora, it’s simple chemistry/physics!

When an atom is excited ( receives energy ) it can return to its “ground” state by emitting light in the form of photons. Since Earth’s atmosphere is mostly Oxygen and Nitrogen the dominant colors in an Aurora would be reds/greens (Oxygen) and blues/reds (Nitrogen).

If you are lucky enough to be within 20° (sometimes farther during an intense solar outburst) from the North or South magnetic poles, you’ve probably been able to see the tell-tale hazy green, blue, or red ribbons in the sky that mark to occurrence of an Aurora.

Read more about solar storms at NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) homepage at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

This week’s carnival of space is hosted over at the “Habitation Intention” blog.

What makes this carnival entry unique is that it uses Prezi, and presents the week’s news in an interactive video format instead of the traditional blog article format.

Check it out at: http://www.habitationintention.com/2011/11/carnival-of-space-221-prezi-experiment.html or watch using the player below:

The video is an hour long, so make sure you are in your comfy chair and have some snack and drinks ready. Enjoy!

TAM Panel – Our Future in Space from JREF on Vimeo.

Featured in this week’s Carnival are great articles about NASA, our Solar System, falling satellites, a great writing contest, and Nicole Gugliucci’s request for assistance to the residents of Luisa county, Virginia (the epicenter of the east coast earthquake earlier this year).

Read more about this week’s Carnival of Space at:
http://weareallinthegutter.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/carnival-of-space-220-shuttles-satellites-comets-tweetups-competions-more/

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows stars near the "sword" in the constellation Orion. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

While we’re on the topic of Orion, don’t forget the Orionid Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow. Between midnight and dawn tomorrow morning (Oct 22nd), look to the East (in the direction of Orion). Since the Orionids are a fall meteor shower, be sure to dress appropriately.

Speaking of comfort, I always suggest to people who want to watch a meteor shower to grab a comfy lawn chair that can recline – you’ll want to be looking up at as much of the night sky as possible. If at all possible, make sure there are no bright streetlights in your field of view and try to give your eyes up to an hour to fully adapt to the darkness.

Most importantly relax and enjoy the night sky. Don’t allow yourself to get frustrated if you don’t see any meteors right away. This years peak is estimated at about a dozen per hour. Keep in mind that a waning crescent moon will be rising during the optimal time to view the Orionids, but shouldn’t pose a problem for urban viewers.

Image Source: NASA Image of the Day Gallery

Solar System Diagram. Image Credit: Wikimedia

Michelle asks,

Dear Astronomer, Why isn’t Pluto a planet anymore?

Great question Michelle, one that still sparks debate over five years after the controversial decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). For the benefit of those who don’t know the full backstory, this will be a pretty in-depth explanation.

Discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, Pluto is certainly an interesting case. During the early 1900′s there was speculation of another planet lurking past Neptune. After many years of studying Pluto, the determination was made that Pluto was not massive enough to be the cause of perturbations in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. The determination was also supported by revised estimates of Neptune’s mass.

Pluto, Charon, Nix, Hydra and newly discovered "P4".
Image Credit: NASA/HST

As astronomers discovered more about Pluto, the less of a “fit” with the rest of the solar system became clear. Even when I was in grade school (in the late 70′s/early 80′s), textbooks and even some planetarium presenters described Pluto as more of a “giant comet”, than a planet.

Further adding to the confusion is Pluto’s moon ( for lack of a better term ) Charon. Technically speaking, Pluto and Charon are a “binary” system – the only one known to exist in our solar system. Additionally, three more objects orbiting Pluto have been discovered. Nix, Hydra and an unnamed object now designated “P4″. Given these objects, one could describe the Pluto system as a loosely bound “cloud” of icy objects.

So how does all this fit in with “planetary status” ?

Consider that most people like to organize things in similar groups. We don’t put plates in the silverware drawer, nor do we put shoes in our refrigerator. A quick glance at our solar system shows three readily apparent classes of planets; Terrestrial planets ( Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), Gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn), and “Ice” giants ( Uranus and Neptune ). Out past Neptune (out to a distance of almost a light year from our Sun!) there are many icy/rocky objects, few of which have been studied in great detail.

Eris and Dysnomia.
Image Credit: NASA/HST

While studying the region past Neptune, astronomer Mike Brown and his team discovered an object that at its furthest point orbits at nearly twice the distance from our Sun as Pluto. The object, first dubbed 2003UB₃₁₃ (now known as Eris) was estimated to be nearly the same diameter as Pluto and additional studies of this object and its moon revealed a mass roughly 25% more than Pluto’s.

Brown’s discovery raised some interesting questions. If Eris, being much further from the sun was the same diameter and had more mass than Pluto, had a new planet been discovered? If more objects like Eris were to be discovered past Pluto’s orbit, would they also be planets?

A controversial decision by the International Astronomical Union in 1996 set out to provide an “official” set of criteria for planetary status. The IAU states an object is a planet if it:

In order to classify objects like Pluto and Eris (as well as Makemake, Ceres, and Haumea) which meet the first two criteria, the IAU adopted the term “dwarf planet”. Based on studies of the outer solar system, estimates of how many dwarf planets exist range between a few dozen and a few hundred.

On August 24th 2006, the IAU’s proposal passed a vote, and thus, Pluto no longer was considered a full-fledged planet, but instead the first of the dwarf planets. Many people to this day criticize the vote and the decision, however science is not dictated by popular opinion. With the discovery of many additional objects past Neptune’s orbit that share similar characteristics with Pluto, the IAU’s decision appears to make sense, for the time being.

Interesting note #1: As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had actually removed Pluto from the planetarium’s display of the solar system several years before the discovery of Eris and the “demotion” of Pluto.

Interesting note #2: There are seven moons in our solar system larger than Pluto: Our Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and Triton.

Interesting note #3: Triton is widely speculated to be an object that orbited in the same region as Pluto, but was captured by Neptune. Triton’s orbit around Neptune is “retrograde”, which means eventually it will either collide with Neptune, or disintegrate into a ring system.

You can read more about the 1996 IAU resolution at: http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/detail/iau0603/

A few good books that deal with the Pluto controversy are:

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown ( co-discoverer of Eris and other dwarf planets )

The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Differenceby Alan Boyle

Read more about this week’s Carnival of Space at:
http://www.weirdwarp.com/2011/10/carnival-of-space-219

Professors and researchers from ASU's School of Earth and Space have instruments on board or play a significant role with six NASA missions and one European Space Agency mission, and have left their mark throughout the solar system. Photo by: Chris Capages

Arizona State University has a long track record of involvement in space exploration missions. Beginning in the 1970′s and continuing on through the present, professors and researchers from ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration are currently involved with six NASA missions and one European Space Agency (ESA) mission.

A few highlights of ASU’s involvement are the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, Mercury MESSENGER mission, and Mars exploration. ASU will also be involved in several future missions, including the Mars Science Laboratory, set to launch later this year and the upcoming OSIRIS-REx mission.

If you’d like to learn more about Arizona State University’s efforts in space, visit: http://asunews.asu.edu/20111013_asu-in-space

Visit ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration site at: http://sese.asu.edu

Dear Astronomer, I have a budding young scientist who is taking high school astronomy this year.
Any good links I should pass on to him?

Rachel, I’m always happy to help young scientists become more involved in science!

If your son is taking a High School Astronomy, then obviously the NASA Starchild website (http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html) isn’t for him.

Consider joining your son in a local astronomy club, if he isn’t already, or the Planetary Society (http://www.planetary.org)

One other consideration is the Youth for Astronomy and Engineering program at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

The YAE provides opportunities for its participants to be exposed to activities and experiences that are representative of the work done by individuals in astronomical and engineering field.

You can learn more about the Youth for Astronomy and Engineering program at: http://www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/youthae

After your son has some experience under his belt within the community, consider having him apply for the National Young Astronomer Award.

The Astronomical League sponsors the National Young Astronomer Award (NYAA) to recognize outstanding astronomical research achievements of high-school-age students throughout the United States. Read more at: http://www.astroleague.org/al/awards/nyaa/noya.html

If your son is more interested in the science side of astronomy than the observational side, there’s a number of “Citizen Science” projects he can consider participating in. A few projects to consider are:

Also, last but certainly not least, does your son have a telescope? Even a modest telescope can offer wonderful learning opportunities.

Marking the centennial celebration of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSOS) This week’s host did a live blog from the AAVSO’s centenary meeting, which is celebrating 100 Years of variable star observation.

Read more about the AAVSO and this week’s Carnival of Space at:
http://aartscope.blogspot.com/2011/10/carnival-of-space-218.html

Dear Astronomer, I am curious about a phenomena I’ve seen in early evening or very early morning eg. 5-6pm or 3am. The whole sky will seem to be emitting pink light.
It’s not like the sunset when just the area in the horizon is pink and golden,

but the entire sky, it’s not hazy like a sunset but very bright and clear.

It almost hurts your eyes it’s so bright.

Zodiacal light in the eastern sky before the beginning of morning twilight.
Image Credit: Dominic Cantin

Great question Anjel!

If I’m understanding your description correctly, the phenomenon you are seeing is known as “Zodiacal Light” or “false dawn”

This time of year, (late summer/early autumn) is the best time of year to see this phenomenon. Specifically, you’ll want to observe this week, with the moon out of the morning sky to see the Zodiacal light before dawn.

You mentioned that you are in Georgia; the Zodiacal Light is easy to see from latitudes like those in the southern U.S. Living in Arizona, I’ve actually fallen for the “false dawn” a few times during some marathon observing sessions. The best way I’ve heard the zodiacal light described is that it resembles the lights of a city just over the horizon.

For those who haven’t seen the Zodiacal light before, it can be seen about an hour before true dawn. At this time of year (fall), start watching the eastern horizon about 90-120 minutes before dawn. If you’d like to view the Zodiacal Light in the evening, you can do so in early spring, around the time of the spring equinox.

Of particular interest is that when you see the Zodiacal light, you are looking into our solar system. The phenomenon of zodiacal light is actually sunlight reflecting off dust particles in our solar system that are in the same orbital plane as Earth.

If you’d like to know more about Zodiacal Light, Sky & Telescope Magazine has a great write up at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/16987266.html.

This historic image shows a technician putting the finishing touches on Sputnik 1, humanity's first artificial satellite.
Image Credit: NASA/Asif A. Siddiqi

On this day in 1957, (October 4th), Sputnik 1 successfully launched and entered orbit around Earth, beginning the famed “space race”. Sputnik’s lanuch by the former Soviet Union shocked the world by putting the first man-made object in space. Of note, in Russian, ‘Sputnik’ originally meant ‘fellow traveler,’ but in modern Russian is has become a synonym for ‘satellite’.

As shown in the image above, Sputnik was comprised of a pressurized sphere made of aluminum alloy. There were five primary scientific objectives for the Sputnik mission: Test the method of placing an artificial satellite into Earth orbit; provide information on the density of the atmosphere by calculating its lifetime in orbit; test radio and optical methods of orbital tracking; determine the effects of radio wave propagation though the atmosphere; and, check principles of pressurization used on the satellites.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Galley

This map shows the ground track for UARS. Credit: NASA

Kicking off this week’s carnival is news from Deborah Byrd at Earthsky.org on the final resting place of NASA’s UARS satellite.

Turns out the numerous reports of the satellite coming down over northern Canada were hoaxes.

Here’s a link to one (of many) hoax videos, courtesy of Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33BPFxA8Ndg

Astrophotographer Thierry Legault also has some breathtaking imagery of UARS before its reentry. You can see his work at: http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/uars_110915.html

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast celebrated their 1000th episode this week with a two part series on the electromagnetic spectrum.
You can read part one at: http://365daysofastronomy.org/2011/09/27/september-27th-wavelengths-more-than-meets-the-eye/ and part two at: http://365daysofastronomy.org/2011/09/28/september-28th-wavelengths-the-long-and-the-short-of-it/

Ian O’Neill at Discovery News discusses the possibility of whether or not famed exoplanet Fomalhaut b exists. Also coming from Discovery news is a great article on solar astronomy by Nicole Gugliucci.

This week brought incredible views of aurorae, thanks to an intense solar outburst. Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy provided an informative write-up at: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/26/aurora-alert-for-tonight/

Faster than a speeding Photon? Probably not. Chad Orzel wrote about the recent kerfuffle regarding the recent announcement of possible faster-than-light neutrinos. You can read Chad’s analysis at his blog, “Uncertain Principles”.

David Portree at Beyond Apollo provided an in-depth Special Study of the Surface of the Moon.

The above image has been circulating around the internet over the past month. The image makes a commentary that more people should know who Carl Sagan is, instead of Snooki (MTV’s “Jersey Shore”). Emily Lakdawalla provides her thoughts on the image (and Sagan’s legacy) over at the Planetary Society Blog).

Speaking of the Cosmos, Tibi Puiu at zme science has a post covering a UC Santa Cruz supercomputer simulation confirming a universe formation model

Fans of Mars exploration will enjoy a write-up on Vintage Space covering NASA’s ten-year plan for Mars exploration.

While we’re on the subject of decades, this week marks 106 years since Einstein’s “Annalen der Physik” (or “Annals of Physics” in English)known for its most famous equation: E=mc². Megan Watzke provides her thoughts on the matter at: http://chandra.si.edu/blog/node/309

Paul Anderson at The Meridiani Journal brings us an update on potentially habitable exoplanets and the Habitable Exoplanet Catalog

SpaceX is in the news again this week, this time founder Elon Musk announced plans for a reusable launch system, as well as re-iterating his desire for a human colony on Mars. You can read Nancy Atkinson’s write-up of Musk’s speech at Universe Today., along with news on NASA’s plans to use the Space Launch System for a manned mission to an asteroid. Louise Rifrio also has her thoughts on SpaceX’s reusable rocket plans over at: GM=TC^3.

If you haven’t heard about the newest planned single-stage-to-orbit craft in development, Next Big Future has a great write-up of Sklon at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/09/skylon-testing-key-part-of-hypersonic.html

Curious about what might be next for humanity in space? You can read an opinion piece over at Habitation Intention.

Like to read space news en espanol? You can read about November’s approach of asteroid 2005YU55 at vega00.com. (Note: Google Chrome can translate the page.)

Having lived near Fermilab ( and interviewing there about ten years ago ), I’ll be raising a glass to toast the Tevatron tonight after work. Kelly Oakes at Scientific American discusses the Tevatron’s closure, scheduled for today. You can read more about the shutdown at: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/basic-space/2011/09/29/in-praise-of-the-tevatron/

Brian Berger at spacenews.com reported that Edward Weiler, NASA associate administrator for science will be resigning today, September 30th. You can read Berger’s coverage at http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110927nasa-science-chief-stepping-down.html

On a lighter note, Google+has opened the doors to the public. If you haven’t joined Google’s social network offering, you should give it a try. Once you join Google+, feel free to add me to your circles. You can find my profile at: https://plus.google.com/107935490847186075336 I’m giving away a Galileoscope kit next week to one lucky Google+ member who has added me their circles.

That’s it for this week’s carnival of space! If you want to check out any of the carnival entries from the past, a full listing is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/12019/carnival-of-space/

If you run an Astronomy or Space related blog and would like to be a part of the Carnival of Space, drop an e-mail to carnivalofspace@gmail.com It’s a great way to get to know the com­mu­nity and help your writ­ing reach a wider audi­ence.

Diagram displaying orbital parameters

Asteroid Apophis (Formal designation 99942 Apophis) will be making an extremely close pass to Earth in 2029. The trajectory of Apophis is such that the asteroid will pass through a “keyhole” area of space near Earth, which will cause the asteroid to make a second pass near Earth in 2036.

While the orbital trajectories of the 2029 Apophis encounter with Earth are well known, the details of the 2036 pass are a bit uncertain. Given a window of only seven years between the 2029 and 2036 passes, scientists and engineers will have to work quickly if the chance of a collision between Apophis and Earth is relatively high in 2036.

A recent scientific paper authored by Shengping Gong (Tsinghua University, Beijing) outlines a possible plan of action to divert Apophis.

Given that orbital keyholes are only a few hundred meters wide, the team believes a very small deflection relatively soon would cause Apophis to avoid the keyhole and a second close encounter with Earth.

Aside from sending Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck on a Space Shuttle to blow up Apophis, there are numerous methods that could be used to deflect an incoming asteroid. Some methods border on science-fiction and others are quite ingenious.

Scientists and engineers have suggested placing probes in orbit around Apophis to “steal” its momentum, others have suggested “painting” part of an incoming asteroid a different color to take advantage of solar radiation, and some have suggested the equivalent of a tugboat in space to tow the asteroid. One other method, which is the method suggested by Gong and team, is to use a solar sail to place a small spacecraft on a collision course with Apophis. If the impact velocity is around 90km/s there should be enough energy to move Apophis enough to alter its trajectory.

The close approach of 99942 Apophis to the Earth and Moon on Friday, April 13, 2029.
Image Credit: Wikimedia

No single method to divert an asteroid is perfect, as each of the methods have differing advantages and drawbacks. Based on the calculations presented in Gong’s paper, the main advantage of their proposed plan is that a 10 kg sail colliding with Apophis in 2028 ( a year before the 2029 encounter), would deflect it enough to prevent a second encounter between Apophis and Earth in 2036.

One of the major drawbacks to Gong’s plan is that much like a hot-air balloon or a sailing ship, using a solar sail to place a spacecraft on a collision course with Apophis is fairly risky. The solar wind has variations that could send a craft off-course. One other issue is that a very large sail would be require, which could be easily damaged, or could malfunction.

Another possible issue with Gong’s plan is that the physical properties of Apophis are relatively unknown. Sending an object on a collision course with the asteroid could have consequences if the asteroid breaks apart instead of having its trajectory slightly adjusted. There are also questions of whether or not tweaking the trajectory of Apophis could still end up causing a collision with Earth.

In short, there are many techniques that could be used, if the need arises to alter the trajectory of an incoming asteroid. Each technique has benefits and drawbacks which need to be weighed against what, if any, benefits there would be to altering the trajectory of an incoming asteroid.

If you’d like to learn more about Apophis, visit NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/

You can read the full paper at: http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1108/1108.3183.pdf

Source:Utilization of H-reversal Trajectory of Solar Sail for Asteroid Deflection

Photographed by the Expedition 28 crew aboard the International Space Station, this image shows the Moon, the Earth's only natural satellite.
Image Credit: NASA

Shown at center, this image features Earth’s moon, with the limb of Earth transitioning into the troposphere (orange).
The troposphere is the lowest and densest component of Earth’s atmosphere.

The sharp boundary between the orange and blue regions is the tropopause. Silvery-blue noctilucent clouds can also be seen far above Earth’s troposphere.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

Check out this YouTube video from Analytical Graphics, Inc. AGI’s animation shows UARS in its current orbit, along with its potential debris area, breakup model and the estimated debris region.

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will deorbit sometime during the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 23, Eastern Daylight Time. NASA has reported that the satellite will not be passing over North America during atmospheric re-entry.

If you’d like to learn more about AGI, visit: http://blogs.agi.com/

You can read more about NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite mission at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html

Source: YouTube/AGI , NASA UARS mission page

A quintet of Saturn's moons come together in the Cassini spacecraft's field of view for this portrait.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The image above was taken in visible green light with Cassini’s narrow-angle camera on July 29, 2011.
Cassini was at a distance of roughly 1.1 million kilometers from Rhea and 1.8 million kilometers from Enceladus.
The camera view is aimed toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings.

In the image are five of Saturn’s moons:

Janus (179 kilometers in diameter) is on the far left.
Pandora (81 kilometers in diameter) orbits between Saturn’s A and F rings.
Enceladus (504 kilometers in diameter) shines brightly just above center.
Rhea (1,528 kilometers in diameter) Saturn’s second largest moon is at the far right.
Mimas (396 kilometers in diameter) can be seen to the left of Rhea.

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

Science educator James Drake created this time-lapse video taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits at an altitude of 220 miles above our planet. The movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica.

From the video description, there are many visible cities, countries and landmarks. In order, the video features Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico.

Also visible in the movie: The Yucatan Peninsula, lightning over the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon river. Earths ionosphere and some stars can be seen in the video too!

Keep in mind a few things: First, this video is comprised almost entirely from shots of Earth at night, hence all the orange “splotches” of city lights on the surface. Secondly, the ISS takes about 90 minutes to orbit Earth.

The raw data for the video was downloaded from: The Gateway To Astronaut Photography of Earth, and assembled with Virtualdub.

If you’d like to see more of Drake’s work, visit his website at: http://infinity-imagined.tumblr.com/

Source:YouTube

Fire and smoke light up a blue sky as a Delta II Heavy rocket propels NASA's GRAIL mission into space.
Photo credit: NASA/Darrell McCall

Last weekend (Sept. 10) the GRAIL mission launched its twin spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The GRAIL mission comprises of the aforementioned twin spacecraft which will orbit in tandem around the moon. The spacecraft will use their instruments to precisely measure and map variations in the moon’s gravitational field. The data collected will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth.

The detailed information should reveal density variations in the moon’s crust and mantle, which will help scientists answer fundamental questions about the moon’s internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. One of the end goals of the GRAIL mission is to map the moon’s gravity field so precisely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon’s surface.

Source:NASA Images

Image of the moon's north polar region taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The image mosaic above was created from almost 1,000 images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). This mosaic shows the pole when it is best illuminated, regions that are in shadow are candidates for permanent shadow.

Some of LROC’s mission objectives include the identification of regions of permanent shadow and near-permanent illumination.

If you’d like to learn more about LROC, visit http://www.lroc.asu.edu/

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Star Trek didn’t just show the possible advances in science and technology, the show cleverly broke down social and racial barriers in the guise of science fiction. Series creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future showed men and women of all nationalities working together, and even featured the first inter-racial kiss between two fictional characters (Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura).

Khaaan!

Star Trek wasn’t just a clever way to raise social awareness, as the show had many memorable episodes penned by science fiction legends. “The City on the Edge of Forever” and “Arena” are two episodes of Star Trek which consistently rank in many “top ten” episode lists. One other fan favorite is the episode “Space Seed” in which the evil villian and Kirk’s nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh is introduced. Khan returned in the feature film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Not all the fan favorite episodes were drama or hard science-fiction. One fan favorite, “The Trouble with Tribbles” has many humorous moments and was even re-visited in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. David Gerrold, writer of “The Trouble with Tribbles” went on write episodes for the animated series and consulted with Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gerrold also went on to write several science-fiction novels outside of the Trek universe – his semi-autobiographical novellette “The Martian Child” won both Hugo and Nebula awards and was made into a feature-length movie, which starred John Cusack.

Sadly, Star Trek did not fare well in the ratings during its initial run. Nearly cancelled after its second season, Trek limped along on the Friday night “death slot” at 10PM. Star Trek’s final episode aired in June of 1969, one month before the Apollo 11 moon landing in July of 1969. The unfortunate timing of Trek’s cancellation has made some people wonder if the show had been renewed for a fourth season, the ratings would have picked back up due to the moon landing.

Regardless of the cancellation and low ratings, Star Trek was a surprise hit in syndication and enjoyed far better success in the late 60′s and early 70′s. After syndication, Star Trek spawned five shows over the next four decades (The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise) and twelve movies (Complete list)

Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon!

In 2009, the eleventh Star Trek movie was released. Directed by J.J Abrams, the movie aimed to make Trek appeal to larger audiences by featuring a younger Enterprise crew ( Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, etc), and focusing more on action and humor than the deeper stories in previous Trek movies.

The 2009 Star Trek film also featured a new design for the Enterprise. Sleeker and “sexier” than previous incarnations, the ship’s look was radical, yet stayed true to the classic ship design.

A sequel to the 2009 Star Trek movie is in production, with an estimated release date of late 2012, or possibly some time in 2013.

If you’d like to learn more about the Star Trek universe, visit http://www.startrek.com, or http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Portal:Main

Since I have a fever and the prescription is more theremin, I give you the original 1966 opening theme to Star Trek.

May the force be with you! Oh… wait.. wrong universe… Live long and prosper!

The Cassini spacecraft peers down through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan to view the dark region called Belet.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Captured in the near-infrared (938 nanometers) on June 23rd 2011, this image from the Cassini spacecraft highlights a large dark region called Belet. The dark color is due to the Belet region’s low albedo (reflectivity). The view is of Titan’s trailing hemisphere and north is up.

Cassini obtained the image from a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers from Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a shared project of NASA, ESA, and the Italian Space Agency. NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) manages the mission. Cassini and its two cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Cassini’s imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

If you’d like to learn more about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov or http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

Source: Cassini Solstice Mission Updates

Space Shuttle Challenger's third launch and first night launch. Image Credit: NASA

After a few days of not posting due to my wife giving birth, figured I would start back up with a quickie image post. Enjoy!

Here is a great shot of Space shuttle Challenger making her third launch, and the first at night. This flight happened to be the eighth space shuttle launch (STS-8). Launched twenty-eight years ago on August 30th, 1983, Challenger lit up the Florida sky.

The five-person crew consisted of: Commander Richard Truly, pilot Daniel Brandenstein, and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Guy Bluford and William Thornton. STS-8 launched an Indian communications and weather observation satellite named INSAT-1B. NASA also used STS-8 to test the shuttle’s “Canadarm” remote manipulator system.

Of historical note, Guy Bluford was the first African-American in space!

Source:NASA Image of the Day gallery

During the 2008 Desert RATS tests in Arizona, engineers, geologists and astronauts came together to test the surface version of the Space Exploration Vehicle. Image Credit: NASA/Regan Geeseman

In northern Arizona, NASA just kicked off the 2011 Desert RATS test mission, which is testing vehicle technologies for off-Earth exploration. Desert RATS is the nickname for NASA’s program officially called “Desert Research and Technology Studies”. For over ten years, NASA has assembled a wealth of information on vehicle technology, living space technologies and human studies.

A key component, the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) uses lessons learned from the Apollo-era “moon buggies”, yet takes advantage of new materials and technologies.

NASA’s goal for the SEV is to have a vehicle that can meet the needs of any destination. With features such as a pressurized cabin suitable for surface exploration or in-space missions, the SEV concept should prove instrumental in future manned exploration missions.

The test vehicle for surface exploration places the pressurized cabin on a motorized chassis, featuring wheels that can pivot 360 degrees and a top speed of about 10 kilometers an hour. Roughly the size of an SUV, the vehicle allows two astronauts to explore an area for up to 14 days.

Developed to survive harsh conditions and rough terrain, NASA’s engineers set lofty goals for the SEV : travel thousands of kilometers of rocky terrain, up 40 degree slopes, and little-to-no maintenance required.

One other goal NASA set for the SEV was to provide a shirtsleeve environment for astronauts. Both the surface and space versions feature suitports, which allow the astronauts to quickly enter and exit the vehicle. The suitports allow the spacesuits to remain outside the vehicle, preventing dust or other contaminants from entering the SEV.

Proposed HDU architecture under evaluation for the Desert RATS 2011 field testing. The Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) is depicted in the center. Image credit: NASA

According to NASA, new testing during the 2011 Desert RATS mission campaign is set to be the most extensive D-RATS testing to date. Testing more systems than in previous years, including more Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) systems. The HDU’s core module includes improvements to the 2010 configuration including laboratory equipment, work stations and a new sanitation module.

The 2011 version of the Habitat Demonstration Unit has an new, innovative, system to test: The X-Hab, which is an inflatable second story loft style addition to the HDU. The X-Hab was developed in conjunction with the X-Hab Academic Innovation Challenge. Together with the X-Hab, the HDU module provides astronauts with a means of habitation during the D-RATS test mission.

As mentioned above, during the 2011 Desert RATS field test the X-Hab loft is configured as the second story of the HDU. The HDU loft contains habitat facilities for crew personnel. The 2011 field test configuration also includes a new Hygiene Module and the Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) Work Porch. The resulting configuration with the HDU, X-Hab, Work Porch and other new elements result is the HDU Deep Space Habitat configuration.

What other technologies are being tested by NASA to assist with future manned exploration missions?

Stowage Area of the Hygiene Module. Image credit: NASA

Also being tested during the 2011 mission is a new Sanitation Module. The Hygiene Module is a new addition to the HDU that provides the crew with a better means of practicing good hygiene. Consisting of a bath/sink area, supply cabinet and external water/wastewater tanks, and of course, a toilet, the new hygiene module allows the crew to stay clean and healthy. The hygiene module also monitors water usage rates, waste management and other logistics associated with the daily hygiene of a two-person crew. The data the hygiene module collects will be vitally important for mission planners of future manned space exploration missions.

During the 2011 Desert RATS mission, evaluating the data collected from the hygiene module will allow engineers to understand if the module is of adequate size and capability. Some specific data of interest is if the methods of collecting and stowing waste are effective and how much waste (solid and liquid) a two person crew can accumulate over a specified period of time.

Developing a heavy-duty, mobile habitat that can stand up to the rigors of off-world exploration is no easy task. Among the many NASA engineers and scientists, manufacturers of cars and heavy equipment are also working to develop the technologies used in the Desert RATS tests.

Each piece of technology NASA proves out with the Desert RATS tests is a fundamental building block that will allow the Space Exploration Vehicle to facilitate manned exploration of destinations such as the moon and Mars.

And now for something completely different!
Below is a YouTube clip featuring James May from “Top Gear” testing out the vehicle. I still say the Stig should have driven it.

I can hear the intro now: (Hammond)
“Some say he’s the reason we haven’t gone back to the moon and his blood is made of Tang. All we know is, he’s called the Stig!“

If you’d like to learn more about what is being tested during the 2011 Desert RATS mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/hdu_DRATS2011.html

You can learn more about NASA’s field testing missions (including Desert RATS) at: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html

NASA’s Desert RATS mission is also on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.DRATS

You can follow the Desert RATS mission on twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/DESERT_RATS

Source:NASA Desert RATS Page

Image credit: The International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser

Fraser Cain at Universe Today writes:

Pluto isn’t a planet any more, but it’s still a very interesting dwarf planet in the Solar System, worthy of our fascination and interest. Here are 10 facts about Pluto. Some you might already know, and others will be completely new.

1. Pluto has an atmosphere
Even though Pluto’s average temperature averages a mere 44 degrees above absolute zero, the dwarf planet has an atmosphere. Not an atmosphere as we know it, but an atmosphere, none the less.

It was first discovered back in 1985, when astronomers watched as Pluto passed in front of a star. They were able to calculate a slight dimming as its atmosphere passed in front of the star, before Pluto itself blocked the star entirely. From those observations, they were able to calculate that it has a thin envelope of nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide.

As Pluto moves away from the Sun, this atmosphere gets so cold that it freezes onto the surface. And then as the dwarf planet warms again, the atmosphere evaporates again, forming a gas around it.

2. Pluto has 3 4 moons
You might have heard that Pluto has a large moon called Charon (more on that later), but did you know that it actually has 3 moons in total. Charon is the large one, with a mass of roughly half that of Pluto’s.

Two additional moons, Nix and Hydra, were discovered by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope on May 15, 2005. They were originally called S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2, and then given their final names on June 21, 2006.

They took a long time to discover because they’re so tiny. Nix is only 46 km across, while Hydra is 61 km across.
Update:A fourth moon, dubbed “P4″ was recently detected by the Hubble Space Telescope.

3. Pluto hasn’t cleared out its orbit
Although Pluto orbits the Sun and it’s round, it’s not a planet. And that’s because Pluto hasn’t cleared out its orbit of material. This was the reason that the International Astronomical Union chose to demote it from planet to dwarf planet in 2006.

Just to give you an idea, if you added up the mass of all the other objects in Pluto’s orbit, Pluto’s mass would only be a tiny fraction of that total. In fact, it would only be 0.07 times as massive as everything else. For comparison, if you did the same thing with all the other material in the Earth’s orbit, our planet would be 1.5 million times as massive.

And that’s why Pluto’s not a planet.


4. Pluto is actually a binary system
You’d think that Charon orbits Pluto, but actually, Pluto and Charon orbit a common point in space. In the case of the Earth and the Moon, we actually orbit a common point, but that spot exists inside the Earth. In the case of Pluto and Charon, however, that common point is above the surface of Pluto.

Before Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet, astronomers were thinking of classifying it as a binary planet system. And then as a binary dwarf planet system. Perhaps that will help it recover some of its lost glory.

5. Pluto is named after a god, not a dog
If you think Pluto is named after a Disney character, you’re wrong. It’s actually named after the Roman god of the underworld. And Charon is the ferryman who carries souls across the river Styx.

When it was first discovered, Pluto was just given the name Planet X, but then the discoverers needed to come up with something better and more permanent. The name Pluto was suggested by Venetia Burney, an 11-year old school girl in oxford, England. She thought it was a good name for such a cold, dark world.It was passed along to the discoverers and they liked it enough to make it official.

6. Pluto can be closer than Neptune.
For most of its orbit, Pluto is more distant than Neptune, reaching out as far as 49 astronomical units (49 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun). But it has such an eccentric, elliptical orbit that it gets much closer, reaching a mere 29 AU. And during that time, it’s actually orbiting within the orbit of Neptune. The last time Pluto and Neptune made this switch was between February 7, 1979 and February 11, 1999. And give it another couple of hundred years and it’ll happen again.

7. Pluto is smaller than any planet, and even 7 moons
Pluto is small. How small? Astronomers recently calculated that its mass is 1.31 x 1022 kg (less than 0.24% the mass of Earth). And its diameter is only 2,390 km across.

At this point, it’s smaller than Mercury, and seven other moons including: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, Earth’s Moon, Europa, and Triton.

And now astronomers know that it’s even smaller than the recently discovered dwarf planet Eris. Here’s more information about how big Pluto is.

8. If it were closer to the Sun, Pluto would be a comet
Although this isn’t officially a reason for losing its planet status, Pluto wouldn’t last long if it got much closer to the Sun. It’s comprised of about half rock and half ice. This is a similar ratio to many rocky comets in the Solar System.

If you could somehow bring Pluto closer to the Sun, it would sprout a tail, becoming a spectacular comet. And over millions of years, the solar wind would blast away its icy structure, causing it to lose mass.

It’s lucky Pluto lives in such a cold, dark part of the Solar System.

9. Charon might have geysers
In the last few years, astronomers have discovered that several objects in the Solar System have ice geysers, including Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and maybe several others as well. But Pluto’s moon Charon could have this happening too.

Astronomers using the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea in Hawaii recently turned up evidence that geysers on Charon are spreading ammonia hydrates and water crystals across the surface of the moon.

Is this really happening? We’ll know soon, because here’s the last Pluto fact.

10. There’s a spacecraft going to Pluto right now
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is making its way to Pluto right now. The spacecraft launched in 2005, and its expected to reach the dwarf planet in 2015. It will pass right through the system, imaging the surface of Pluto and its moons, and finally answering questions that have puzzled astronomers for nearly a hundred years.

I hope you enjoyed these interesting facts about Pluto.

source: Universe Today

This photo was made from three images taken through color filters, then processed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Because the Earth is many times brighter than the moon, the moon was artificially brightened so that both bodies would show clearly in the prints. Image Credit: NASA

Busy week here, but I wanted to get this image up for everyone to see.

The above image depicts a crescent Earth and Moon. According to NASA, this was the first image of its kind taken by a remote spacecraft.  The image was taken on September 18th, 1977 by Voyager 2.

Launched in August of 1977, the craft was nearly twelve million kilometers from Earth when the image was taken.
Currently, Voyager 2 is just under 100 A.U from Earth ( 1 A.U is the distance from our Sun to Earth – roughly 150,000,000 km. )

What are the Voyager probes doing at this moment?

Both Voyager 2, and its twin, Voyager 1 are still sending valuable data from the fringes of our solar system, over thirty years later, as both probes are currently engaged in the Voyager Interstellar Mission. According to NASA, the mission plan is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun’s sphere of influence, and possibly beyond.

In order to learn more about the far reaches of our solar system, NASA plans to use the Voyager probes to characterize the outer solar system environment and search for the heliopause boundary, the outer limits of the Sun’s magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind. Penetration of the heliopause boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar medium will allow measurements to be made of the interstellar fields, particles and waves unaffected by the solar wind. 

Diagram of the Voyager Interstellar Mission. Image Credit: NASA

If you’d like to learn more about the voyager program, visit: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov or http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/index.html

Source:NASA Image of the Day Gallery

A graphical representation of cosmic expansion. Image Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

It’s time for another featured question! This week’s featured question is from Gianmario in Finland. If you have a question about Astronomy, feel free to send it in via the contact form , my Google+ page, or even the “Dear Astronomer” Facebook page.

Gianmario asks,

I know that space is expanding at a rate of 2.3*10^-18 cm/s/cm. I figured that means the milky way’s diameter increases by about 2.3 km/s. Fine. Does this also mean that also inter-atomic distances increase, albeit by zepto-meters per second?

Great question Gianmario!

Essentially the forces behind cosmic expansion manifest themselves over large distances. Secondly, the forces that govern intermolecular and submolecular bonds are much, stronger than the forces responsible for said expansion, so no… inter-atomic distances won’t increase, just the distances between large groups of molecules. e.g the distances between galaxies will increase, but individual masses won’t lose density (same mass, larger volume).

Consider cosmic expansion more an issue of geometry than one of stretched taffy. Essentially the expansion causes the distance between two fixed points ( or galaxies separated by vast distances) to increase. The rate of expansion increases at a rate proportional to the distance between the two distant points. Simply put, the farther apart two points, the more the effect of cosmic expansion is noticed.

Edwin Hubble is one of the first astronomers to notice this phenomenon – hence “Hubble’s Law“, which has been measured to be about 74 kilometers per second, per megaparsec. (1 parsec is a bit over 3 light-years)

The effect of cosmic expansion isn’t perceived until you look at things, such as distant galaxies.  Ordinary matter, like you, Earth, even solar systems and individual galaxies. are bound together.  When you start considering galaxy clusters, separated by many mega-parsecs, cosmic expansion is the more domninant effect between them. 

 I actually discussed your question with a few other people I know.  An interesting way of looking at the situation was explained as such”:

“Take a steel girder and hang it from the ceiling so it’s suspended by one end and supporting its own weight. Climb onto the bottom of the girder, kind of like a clock pendulum. The force you are exerting on the steel girder is trillions more than the force cosmic expansion would have on said girder.“

So there you have it. Based on current theories, the forces of cosmic expansion aren’t strong enough to overcome the forces that bind atoms together. I wouldn’t say there’s absolutely zero effect, just infinitely close to zero.

If you haven’t already heard, Google is getting into the social media game with Google+. There’s many things Google is doing differently than MySpace, Twitter and Facebook which are quite refreshing. Google+ is getting close to 30 million members while still in an “invite-only” beta test.

One concept that I’ve enjoyed is Google’s method of organizing friends. Google+ uses the concept of “circles”, so you can make content available to any or all circles.

You can even “nest” circles for even more convenience. Another interesting feature is that there’s no direct mail system like Facebook/MySpace. If you want to drop a note to someone, you’d simply create a post, but only share it with that friend. This concept is like posting on a friend’s wall on Facebook, except that only you and your friend would see the post ( and subsequent replies )

I will say, there’s still a few glitches for Google to sort out, and plenty of room for improvement. Google has taken user feedback during the beta test seriously and are continually making improvements.

If you’d like to join google plus, I have 150 140 invites available now. You’ll need to have a Google account (Gmail, etc.) to sign up. Currently there’s no way for google apps (Gmail for companies) users to join Google+, but Google is working on the issue.  Follow this link to sign up:
 
https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?path=%2F%3Fgpinv%3DQlReMp5Bz6o%3ApPiPWYwgjFQ

If you are already on Google+, feel free to add me to your circles. Here’s my profile link:

https://plus.google.com/107935490847186075336/about

Adding me to your circles will qualify you for the Google+ Galileoscope Giveaway!

An artist's concept of graphene, buckyballs and C70 superimposed on an image of the Helix planetary nebula. Image credit: IAC/NASA/NOAO/ESA/STScI/NRAO

The research team, led by Domingo Aníbal García-Hernández of the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias in Spain is based at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. The team’s research will also be published in the Astrophyscial Journal Letters.

Spitzer detected the signatures of graphene in planetary nebulae located in both the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, which are “satellite” galaxies to our own Milky Way. The Spitzer Space Telescope, which views in the infra-red also detected Carbon-70, the first discovery of C70 outside our galaxy. Spitzer had previously discovered carbon molecules last July, proving that complex molecules can form in hydrogen-rich regions in deep space. Current theories state that fullerenes may form through the interactions of shock waves from dying stars with carbon grains that contain hydrogen.

Since life on Earth is carbon-based, a greater understanding of chemical reactions involving carbon in space may give scientists a better understanding of how life on Earth developed. The carbon molecules detected are members of the fullerene family. Buckyballs have 60 carbon atoms, and are similar in shape to a soccer ball. C70 is slightly oblong, due to the extra ten carbon atoms it has over C60.

What make C60 “buckyballs” so attractive to scientists is their ability to “trap” other molecules inside their spherical structure. Since fullerenes have been found in meteorites with gasses trapped inside their structure, some researchers believe that it’s possible fullerenes helped transport materials to Earth.

You can read more about the discovery at: http://www.noao.edu/news/2011/pr1103.php.
If you’d like to learn more about the Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

Source: NASA/JPL – Spitzer Space Telescope Mission News

The film has been in development hell for some time, but Dimension Films is releasing Apollo 18 on September 2nd 2011. Recently a number of promotional videos for the film have popped up all over the Internet, which claim to include actual footage from the Apollo 18 mission, stating that although NASA denies the authenticity, said footage is the real reason we’ve never gone back to the Moon.

While a lot of people tend to shun “indie” Films, I will say, as a side note that some “indie” sci-fi films that I’ve watched were quite enjoyable despite less than favorable initial buzz. “Moon” starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey, along with District 9 are a couple of movies that come to mind.

In short, Apollo 18 seems like a good movie to catch on a Friday night. Just make sure to unplug your brain and engage your “suspension of disbelief” for a few hours. You can look forward to a full movie review from me in a couple of weeks.

If you want to learn more about the film, visit: http://www.apollo18movie.net, or http://www.facebook.com/apollo18movie

Below is one of several trailers for Apollo 18 (Warning: Trailer includes some intense scenes, but no gore or foul language (PG):

Click the preview image to see the full series of images showing evidence of flowing water on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Once again it’s time for another weekly installment of the “Carnival of Space”,  featuring weekly highlights from Space and Astronomy blogs across the Internet. This episode includes some great articles about Mars, SETI, JWST, Backyard Astronomy, and Comet Honda.

If you run an Astronomy or Space related blog and would like to be a part of the Carnival of Space, drop an e-mail to carnivalofspace@gmail.com It’s a great way to get to know the com­mu­nity and help your writ­ing reach a wider audi­ence. 

Starting this week’s carnival off is Allen at Urban Astronomer. Allen discusses the recent news announcement by NASA/JPL regarding new evidence of flowing water on Mars. You can read his news brief at: https://sites.google.com/site/urbanastronomer/Urban-Astronomer-Updates/wetmars

SETI has announced that they have successfully raised funding necessary to continue operating the Allen Telescope Array. Alan Boyle discusses at: MSNBC’s CosmicLog

Comet Honda-M-P animation compiled using photos taken on July 21. Click for more comet photos. Credit: Michael Mattiazzo

Bob King at Astro Bob Provides a wealth of information on how backyard astronomers can observe Comet Honda this week. You can read his blog post at: http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/08/08/speedy-comet-honda-to-pass-near-earth-next-week/

Thilina Heenatigala at Universe Cafe writes about the “Stars of Somalia” fundraiser event, coordinated by Starpeace. Starpeace invites astronomers to hold a public stargazing night/fundraiser on August 13th to help drought victims in Somali. You can read more at: http://thilinaheenatigala.blogspot.com/2011/08/stars-of-somalia-tomorrow-is-late.html

In other news, the James Webb Space Telescope is still in trouble. You can learn more about how you can help show your support for JWST by visiting: http://savethistelescope.blogspot.com/

Jason Rhian at Universe Today writes about Elon Musk’s plans to have SpaceX develop a manned mission to Mars as early as 2018 nearly a decade earlier than NASA’s estimates for a manned mission. You can read Jason’s article at: http://www.universetoday.com/88060/spacex-mars-is-our-future

Brian at Next Big Future Discusses how NASA funded 30 innovative advanced concepts for space propulsion, energy and other game changing capabilities. Each recipient was awarded $100,000. Brian’s post can be read at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/08/nasa-innovative-advanced-concepts-funds.html You can also read more about one of the projects involving fusion energy propulsion by John Slough. Learn more at: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/08/john-slough-fusion-space-propulsion.html

Deborah Byrd at Earthsky discusses the best way to view the Perseids this weekend, along with helpful tips to reduce interference from the full moon. Look to the North-East after midnight local time near the constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus. For more info on viewing the Perseids, check out the full article at: http://earthsky.org/tonight/wheres-the-radiant-point-for-the-perseids

Lastly, I covered this “Mars Rap” by a group of students in Chicago earlier this week. Here’s a link to the video for those who may have missed it.

That’s it for this week’s carnival of space! If you want to check out any of the carnival entries from the past, a full listing is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/12019/carnival-of-space/

“NASA is continuing to write remarkable chapters in our nation’s story of exploration with discoveries on Mars and trips to an array of challenging new destinations,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a NASA press release. “Opportunity’s findings and data from the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory will play a key role in making possible future human missions to Mars and other places where humans have not yet been.“

Opportunity’s destination of Endeavour crater, most likely it’s last,  is roughly 22 kilometers in diameter. The composition of Endeavour crater is expected to be much older than terrain previously studied by Opportunity. Endeavour became a tantalizing destination after NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected clay minerals that may have formed in an early warmer and wetter period.

A portion of the west rim of Endeavour crater sweeps southward in this color view, composed from exposures taken by Opportunity’s panoramic camera on August 6th, 2011.

The image below is the result of images taken through three different filters,  753 nanometers (near infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). Some additional processing has been performed to remove seams in the sky, so as to better simulate what humans would see if on Mars.

Source(s):NASA Image of the Day Gallery , NASA/JPL Press Release

For more information on the Imagine Mars project, visit: http://imaginemars.jpl.nasa.gov/

Steve passed the telescope along to his grandson, Matt and wrote a little about his grandson and his experiences with the telescope.  Steve was also nice enough to pass along a few “action” photos.

“My son Scott, his wife, and children live in Nevada. His youngest son, Matt, has cerebral palsy and I knew he would love the scope.“
“The Moon photo was taken by my son using his iPhone camera held up to the eyepiece of the celestron, which explains the blur. Many thanks again for sending it to me “

Personally, it makes me VERY happy to have seen both telescopes given away so far end up in the hands of kids.  Without getting on my soapbox, I’ll just re-iterate my belief that getting children interested in math and science should be a priority in our schools. 

Matt checking out the "Firstscope".

Image of the Moon. Image taken via iPhone camera through the eyepiece of the "Firstscope"

We will be giving away an Orion SkyScanner Reflector Telescope later this month, along with our Google+ Galileoscope Giveaway

To stay in touch with the telescope giveaways, check out the Dear Astronomer Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/DearAstronomer

Trajectory of comet Elenin.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

At it’s closest, Elenin will be slightly closer to us then Venus, comparatively speaking (22 million miles for Elenin and roughly 25 million miles for Venus). Current predictions predict that comet Elenin will be at it’s closest to Earth around Oct. 16, 2011.

Discovered in December of 2010 by Leonid Elenin, the comet is also known by it’s “proper” name of C/2010 X1. Elenin (the astronomer) hails from Lyubertsy, Russia, and made his discovery using equipment at an observatory in New Mexico.

Coment Elenin was about 400 million miles away from Earth at the time of its discovery. Much like any other comet, Elenin has been steadily moving closer to Earth as its trajectory takes it closer to our sun.  

Below are a few questions and answers about Comet Elenin. The answers have been collected from a list of responses from NASA scientists who are a part of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL.

• When will Comet Elenin come closest to the Earth and appear the brightest?

Comet Elenin is expected to be at its brightest shortly before the time of its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16, 2011. At its closest point, it will be 22 million miles (35 million kilometers) from us.

Comet Elenin will not come closer to Earth than 22 million miles (35 million kilometers). That’s more than 90 times the distance to the moon.

There have been incorrect speculations on the Internet that alignments of comet Elenin with other celestial bodies could cause consequences for Earth and external forces could cause comet Elenin to come closer. “Any approximate alignments of comet Elenin with other celestial bodies are meaningless, and the comet will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth,” said Don Yeomans, a scientist at NASA JPL.
“Comet Elenin will not only be far away, it is also on the small side for comets,” said Yeomans. “And comets are not the most densely-packed objects out there. They usually have the density of something akin to loosely packed icy dirt.

“So you’ve got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer than 35 million kilometers (about 22 million miles)” said Yeomans. “It will have an immeasurably minuscule influence on our planet. By comparison, my subcompact automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean’s tides than comet Elenin ever will.”

“As seen from the Earth, comet Elenin will not cross the sun’s face,” says Yeomans.