Fraser Cain, Author at Universe Today

May 31, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astronomers See the Face of Altair

One of the brightest, closest stars to the Earth is Altair, located about 15 light-years away. For the first time, astronomers have imaged its surface, getting a better look at this bizarre neighbour.

Unlike the red giant stars that have been imaged to date, Altair is relatively tiny. It only has 1.7 times the mass of our own Sun. It rotates at an amazing speed, with its equator turning at about 300 km/s (186 miles/s), and completing a full revolution in under 10 hours. This high rate of rotation flattens the star out so that it’s 22% wider than it is tall.

These new observations were made using four of the six telescopes at a facility on Mt. Wilson, Calif., operated by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA). They have a special instrument that allows them to clean up the distortions created by the Earth’s atmosphere. By using the four telescopes together, they acted as a single instrument with 25 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Original Source: NSF News Release

May 31, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astrosphere for May 31, 2007

Let’s see what’s happening in the astrosphere.

First, I’m happy to report that the 5th Carnival of Space is up, including a post from Universe Today. Check it out, and participate next week.

Pity poor Pluto, kicked out of the planet club.

Seed Magazine has an interesting article from Chris Mooney about how science needs to be able to get its message across effectively.

And Deborah Byrd from Earth Sky Blogs explains why people resist science.

Astroprof has an analysis of space tourism safety.

Sentient Development thinks the Drake Equation is obsolete.

May 31, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Grapple Attachment May Be Added to the James Webb Telescope

When the James Webb telescope launches in 2013, it’ll be the most powerful telescope ever deployed in space. To the get the best view, using the least fuel, it’ll sit in a stable orbit about 1.6 million km (1 million miles) from Earth. Unlike Hubble, it was never meant to be repaired. But NASA announced that it’s considering installing a grapple attachment anyway, just to be safe.

Since the new Orion spacecraft will be capable of taking astronauts to the Moon and back, NASA is investigating how feasible it’ll be to send astronauts to the James Webb telescope to perform emergency servicing operations. Although the observatory is meant to never be serviced, it’s good to keep your options open.

Engineers are currently working out what would be the best kind of hardware they could add to the telescope, so that future astronauts or robotic missions could link up with the telescope and perform repairs.

Original Source: NASA News Release

May 31, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

NASA Administrator Isn’t Sure Global Warming is a Problem

I’ve got to say, I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this today. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin was interviewed on NPR about the threat of global warming. Apparently, he’s not convinced it’s a problem.

When it comes to the science on global warming, NASA is one of the good guys. They’ve got a fleet of spacecraft and aircraft analyzing every aspect of the planet. They measure ice levels, global temperatures, cloud cover, ocean levels, snow melt, rainfall patterns, dust storms, desertification and more. It’s amazing how many scientific instruments they have working on this project. They have luminaries from the scientific community working for them, like Dr. James Hansen.

And they release a hail of press releases. Just from the last week, we’ve got a story about how they detected increased snow melt in Antarctica, measuring Greenland’s glaciers, and a new release about how the Earth’s climate is approaching the point of no return.

Here’s what Griffin said on NPR:

I have no doubt that … a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with.

So he’s convinced that global warming is happening and it’s man made. But he thinks it’s arrogant for humans to decide what the perfect climate is.

… I would ask which human beings – where and when – are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that’s a rather arrogant position for people to take.

Wow.

Sure, there’s a possibility that dramatic climate change could end up being better overall for the majority of humans on Earth, on average.

But there’s also a possibility that it’s not the case. That severe climate disruption will be terrible for a huge percentage of the population of the Earth. That the wrenching effects of change will hit the people least able to defend against it, and will suffer the most: the poor in undeveloped countries. Griffin thinks it’s okay to roll the dice. That’s it’s arrogant to not roll the dice.

If it’s okay to take that chance; if it’s arrogant to err on the side of caution, why bother investing in climate science at all? Just cut the funding, and take your chances.

NASA went into damage control mode today after Griffin’s statement, and posted a statement on its website.

“NASA is the world’s preeminent organization in the study of Earth and the conditions that contribute to climate change and global warming. The agency is responsible for collecting data that is used by the science community and policy makers as part of an ongoing discussion regarding our planet’s evolving systems. It is NASA’s responsibility to collect, analyze and release information. It is not NASA’s mission to make policy regarding possible climate change mitigation strategies. As I stated in the NPR interview, we are proud of our role and I believe we do it well.”

But this statement doesn’t really take back what Griffin said. I suspect he’s going to have an uncomfortable few weeks.

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Cosmonauts Install Debris Panels on the Station

The International Space Station is getting an upgrade today. Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov stepped outside the station this afternoon, to begin a 6-hour spacewalk to install a debris protection system to the Zvezda module. The station’s 3rd resident, US astronaut Sunita Williams, remained inside.

If everything goes according to schedule, the two men will install the Service Module Debris Protection (SMDP) panels onto the Zvezda module, and reroute a Global Positioning System antenna cable.

While station operators are able to detect larger chunks of space debris and move the station, the smaller pieces are almost impossible to detect, and could punch through the station. These 17 protective panels will give an additional layer of protection to the station’s inhabitants.

They’re scheduled another spacewalk next Wednesday, where they’ll perform similar tasks.

Original Source: NASA News Release

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Right in the Middle Between a Planet and a Star

Brown dwarfs are failed stars that didn’t have the mass to ignite fusion. But where do you draw the line between a large planet and a failed star? The Gemini observatory has helped discover the coolest brown dwarf ever seen. It’s right in the middle between a star and planet.

The object is called ULAS J0034-00, and it weighs in around 15-30 times the mass of Jupiter. That sounds like a lot, but it’s actually so small that it has the coolest surface temperature ever seen for a brown dwarf: 600-700 degrees Kelvin. It’s only 50 light-years away, much closer than most of the stars you can see with the unaided eye. But it’s so cool, only a powerful observatory can actually see it.

The finding was announced today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii by an international team of astronomers. Their discovery was first made using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), and then follow up observations with Gemini Observatory’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) on Gemini South.

This discovery opens up the possibility that even lower-mass objects are out there, further blurring the line between high-mass planets and the smallest brown dwarfs.

Original Source: Gemini News Release

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

One of the Most Energetic Events Ever Seen in the Universe

A new photograph taken by NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveals one of the most energetic events ever seen in the Universe. According to astronomers, two huge galaxy clusters are currently undergoing a collision at a speed of 6.5 million km/h (4 million mph), releasing a tremendous amount of energy as their clouds of hot gas slam together. Or maybe it’s a supermassive black hole consuming an incomprehensible amount of material.

In Chandra’s vision, the gas heated to a temperature of 170 million degrees Celsius, glows brightly in the X-ray spectrum as bright arc, extending over two million light-years. If this was galaxy clusters coming together, the arc is a shock front between them, were the clouds of hot gas are colliding.

Another theory, however, is that the disturbance is an outburst coming from a supermassive black hole that recently received a large infall of matter. The black hole can only consume so much before it starts to choke. The excess material is expelled outward into a pair of high-speed jets which can also glow brightly in the X-ray spectrum.

The black hole theory holds true, it would have to be consuming an implausible amount of mass; about 30 billion times the mass of the Sun over a period of 200 million years.

“These values have never been seen before and, truthfully, are hard to believe,” said Ralph Kraft of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

Original Source: Chandra News Release

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Star Formation is Active in the Galactic Suburbs

Astronomers have always assumed that the most active star formation was happening in the largest galaxy clusters, since they have the most activity. But a comprehensive new map of the Universe shows that it’s the galaxy clusters in the outskirts which are the most active with new star formation.

This new comprehensive survey extends out, mapping galaxy clusters between 6 and 9 billion light-years away. This included hundreds of clusters, and the massive superclusters, connected by webs of galaxies. They have even found the largest supercluster ever seen, which was present when the Universe was half its current age.

The big surprise was how many of the outlying galaxies, not in the heart of the superclusters, are actually the most active with star formation. Many of these galaxies are producing more than 100 new suns per year, with actively feeding central black holes.

Original Source: UC Davis News Release

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Blue Moon on May 31st, 2007

On Thursday, May 31st, 2007, the Moon will be full again, like it does every 29 days. But according to some traditions, it’ll be a special Blue Moon, since it’s full for the second time in May. The first full Moon occurred on May 2nd, and now, still in May, there’s time for another full Moon.

The concept of a Blue Moon has been around for hundreds of years, but the modern definition appeared in the last century. There was a reference to it in books like the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, and an issue of Sky and Telescope in 1946 entitled “Once in a Blue Moon”.

Sky and Telescope has a detailed analysis here. And here’s more information from NASA.

Does anything special happen to the Moon? Nope, it’s just a quirk of the dates, since 29 days can fit inside the 30/31 days we have in a month.

To complicate the matter, though, there are times when the Moon can look blue. If there are tiny droplets of water in the air, they strongly scatter red and green light while allowing other colours to pass through. A moonbeam passing through a wispy cloud will turn a beautiful shade of blue.

So, tomorrow’s a Blue Moon, but it won’t actually be blue. And the Moon can turn blue, but it doesn’t have to be a full Moon, or a Blue Moon. The Blue Moon isn’t anything special, it’s just a trick of the dates. Did that make any sense?

Original Source: NASA Science Article

May 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astrosphere for May 30, 2007

Here’s what’s going around the astrosphere.

First, I’d like to remind you that the 5th Carnival of Space is happening tomorrow. Get your entries in!

Spacescan has some interesting details on India’s plans to send a mission to the Moon.

The Astroprof spoke with Mars Society’s Bob Zubrin about going directly to Mars.

Pamela Gay is still at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Hawaii. She’s finding that scientists are surprised at how much we’re all following their research.

Space Politics has an analysis of Paul Spudis’ speech at ISDC about how the Vision for Space Exploration is progressing.

Wandering Space has some cool links to new animations of the Mars Science Laboratory.