Noctilucent Cloud display with the bright star Capella over West Berkshire UK Credit: Adrian West
[/caption]
Noctilucent Clouds are finally here! Well, at least they were for me at about 3:00am on the 29th of June.
I have heard that there have been some sightings, but for me, this mornings display heralds the new NLC season – a month later than usual?
Conditions were amazingly warm, and the night was still and magical as I looked northwards from my home in West Berkshire UK. I couldn’t help but notice a burning bright star almost due North and quite low, Capella in the constellation of Auriga! This is when I spotted the first faint wisps of noctilucent cloud.
Capella isn’t always in the North, but it is this time of year and it usually makes a guest appearance during morning noctilucent cloud displays.
Noctilucent clouds are very rare and tenuous clouds on the edge of space and occur at altitudes of around 76 to 85 kilometers (47 to 53 miles).
They are only seen when conditions are just right (still not fully understood) after sunset or before sunrise. They are illuminated by the sun, which is still way below the horizon from the observers location. Due to their very delicate nature, noctilucent clouds can only be seen at these times. More info on what NLC’s are, can be found here
Animation of 2011 MD on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 09:30 UTC. Credit: Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Giovanni Sostero at the Faulkes Telescope South. Click for original larger version.
[/caption]
Today, Monday June 27 at about 17:00 UT, asteroid designated as 2011 MD will pass only 12,300 kilometers (7,600 miles) above the Earth’s surface. Here are some images and an animation of the asteroid’s close approach taken around 09:30 UT taken by Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Giovanni Sostero at the Faulkes Telescope South through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien and a CCD. The trio of astronomers say that at the time these images were taken, the asteroid had a magnitude of about 14.5. At the moment of its close approach, 2011 MD will be bright as magnitude ~11.8.
The animation above shows the object’s movement in the sky. Each image was 20-second exposure.
See more below from Guido, Howes and Sostero.
Below is a single 20-second exposure also taken by the 2 meter telescope at Faulkes Telescope South, and just below that is another image using a RGB filter.
2011 MD on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 09:30 UTC. Credit: Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Giovanni Sostero at the Faulkes Telescope South2011 MD on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 09:30 UTC with RBG filter. Credit: Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Giovanni Sostero at the Faulkes Telescope South.
Some early observers have suggested that 2011 MD — which is only 5-20 meters in diameter — could possibly be a piece of space junk, such as a rocket booster. However, additional observations and further calculations show that this asteroid could not have been close enough to Earth any time during the space age to have started off as a rocket booster.
Trajectory of 2011 MD from the general direction of the Sun. Credit: NASA
Again, scientists at NASA’s Asteroid Watch program at JPL say there is no danger of the asteroid hitting Earth. “There is no chance that 2011 MD will hit Earth but scientists will use the close pass as opportunity to study it w/ radar observations,” they said on the the @AsteriodWatch Twitter feed. “Asteroid 2011 MD measures about 10 meters. Stony asteroids less than 25 m would break up in Earth’s atmosphere and not cause ground damage.”
Accomplished amateur astronomer and blogger Peter Lake, a.k.a “AstroSwanny” from Australia captured some of the first images of what will be a very close pass of Earth by asteroid 2011 MD. He actually took the image at 07:00 UTC on June 26th with a 20 inch telescope in New Mexico controlled via his iPhone, through the Global Rent-A-Scope program. Ahh, the wonders of technology! As Peter says, “Its not every day, that an asteroid misses by less than 3-5 earth Radii.”
The asteroid, which was only detected last week, is about 25 to 55 feet (8 to 18 m) across, is expected to pass less than 8,000 miles above Earth’s surface around 1 p.m. EDT (17:00 UT) on Monday, June 27th. The time of closest approach will be observable from South Africa and parts of Antarctica, but the approach will be visible across Australia, New Zealand, southern and eastern Asia, and the western Pacific.
Below is a video he compiled of the his observations of the pass, and used ten 120-second images for the video.
Peter also noted that “Its close approach is being followed with great interest, more for honing the skills and techniques of the Minor Planet Center and the network of asteroid hunting astronomers, rather than because it poses any real danger.”
Thanks to Peter and his Aartscope Blog for sharing these views with Universe Today.
Ground-based images of three different classified satellites: the X-37B, USA-186 Keyhole, and the LaCrosse 3. Credit: Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch
[/caption]
Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but we’ve got pictures….. ground-based pictures of secret spy satellites in Earth orbit. We’re not revealing our sources, but … oh wait, I guess we might as well tell you. Even if we didn’t reveal our source, you’d probably guess that astrophotographer extraordinaire Thierry Legault — who has been sharing his wonderfully detailed ground-based images of the space shuttle and International Space Station with Universe Today – has been working on capturing other satellites in orbit as well. Legault and his partner in imaging crime, Emmanuel Rietsch have tackled the difficult task of tracking down spy satellites and then tracking them with a telescope. For imaging the shuttle and ISS, they developed their own design of a motorized mount outfitted with a computer program so it can slowly and precisely rotate in order to track and follow an object in Earth orbit with a telescope and video camera. Now they are able to image even smaller objects.
Thierry Legault with his customized satellite tracking system. Photo courtesy Thierry Legault.
Since October 2010, Legault has been using the autoguided mount, with the help of a DMK 31AF03 Firewire video camera mounted on the finder (FL 200 mm) and of the software Videos Sky, created by Rietsch, and then modified by Reitsch and Legault for fast tracking with the Takahashi EM400 mount.
The X-37B spaceplane now in orbit is the second of the two Orbital Test Vehicles launched by the US Air Force, launched on March 5, 2011. Reportedly, it will conduct experiments and tests for close to nine months and then autonomously de-orbit and land. Legault and Rietsch were able to image the spaceplane in late May of this year with fairly good results.
“I tried to get help to identify the real orientation of X-37B,” Legault told Universe Today via Skype today, “but on the contrary of the Keyhole and Lacrosse satellites, it’s not easy considering its complex shape with several wings.”
And the Air Force isn’t telling.
“Keyhole-class” (KH) reconnaissance satellites have been used for more than 30 years and are typically used to take overhead photos for military missions. Some of the keyhole satellites resemble the Hubble Space Telescope, but instead of looking out into space, it looks back at Earth. A similar type of spy satellites are the Lacrosse satellites, which are radar-imaging satellites.
But even with the tracking system, getting images of small satellites is not easy. “Despite this performing tracking system and hours of training on airplanes passing in the sky, keeping the space ship inside a sensor of a few millimeters at a focal length of 5000 mm and a speed over 1°/s needs a lot of concentration and training,” said Legault on his website.
The autoguiding and acquisition are done via a laptop with a double hard drive (one of which is a Solid State Drive – made with flash memory), enabling the precision of tracking of about one arc minute.
For security reasons, the sighting times for spy satellites are not published on an official website like NASA does for the shuttle and ISS. But with a bit of digging, Legault said others can try their luck at trying to spot these secret satellites.
“Orbital data are in the Calsky database,” Legault told UT, “therefore their passages are forecast as for the ISS. Generally, orbits are determined by amateurs, some of them are specialized in this activity, especially Kevin Fetter (and data are exchanged on the Seesat mailing list, owned by Ted Molczan).”
Legault is well-known for his images of the shuttle and ISS transiting the sun, but he said the accuracy of orbital data for the spy satellites is not sufficient for capturing a solar transit – and besides, these satellites are much smaller than the ISS and would appear as a small dark dot, at best.
“But for nighttime passages the data is sufficient,” Legault said. “Generally they are not visible with the naked eye or barely (except during flares), but they are easily visible with a finder.”
You can follow Universe Today senior editor Nancy Atkinson on Twitter: @Nancy_A. Follow Universe Today for the latest space and astronomy news on Twitter @universetoday and on Facebook.
'Blazing Bristlecone' by Tom Lowe of the USA, winner of the 2010 years Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
[/caption]
Astrophotography is one thing we can’t get enough of here on Universe Today and some of the best amateur astronomy images can be found at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Interested in entering? There’s just over a month to go until the Royal Observatory in Greenwich’s annual contest closes. If you have taken some astrophotos this year, why not enter? You’ll need to submit any entries by 13 July, 2011 for a chance of winning what has become a prestigious award for amateur astronomers.
The prizes include a top prize of £1,500 and pride of place in the exhibition of photos which opens at the ROG in September. I was fortunate to be on hand for the award ceremony in 2010, and it was a wonderful event. Each entrant can submit up to five images to the competition and some truly breathtaking photos can already be seen on the official Flickr page for the competition.
There are four main categories you can enter: Earth & Space, Our Solar System, Deep Space and Young Astronomy Photographer of The Year. And this year there are also three special awards – one for newcomers, another for shots that creatively capture people and space, and a third for images that have been taken by robotic/remote telescopes and that have been processed by you.
Photographers can enter online by visiting www.nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto, where full competition rules and some top tips on photographing everything from star trails to deep space objects are also available.
The panel of judges includes Sir Patrick Moore and the ROG’s Public Astronomer Dr. Marek Kukula. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 8 September, and an exhibition of the winning images will open to the public at the Royal Observatory the following day.
Good luck, and we hope to be posting YOUR winning image here on Universe Today!
You can follow Universe Today senior editor Nancy Atkinson on Twitter: @Nancy_A. Follow Universe Today for the latest space and astronomy news on Twitter @universetoday and on Facebook.
Growing up in the Dakotas, I can attest to the dark skies that grace the northern plains. However, there is also cold weather (even in the spring) and — at times — almost unbelievably windy conditions. But that didn’t stop videographer Randy Halverson from shooting this magnificent timelapse video of the Milky Way. And in fact, his low shots enhance the beauty of the landscape and sky. “There were very few nights, when I could shoot, that were perfectly clear, and often the wind was blowing 25mph +,” Halverson said. “That made it hard to get the shots I wanted. I kept most of the shots low to the ground, so the wind wouldn’t catch the setup and cause camera shake, or blow it over.”
Ten seconds of the video is about 2 hours 20 minutes in real time. Randy tells us he has been doing astro timelapse for only about 16 months, but shooting other types of video since the mid 90’s. See more of his marvelous work at his Dakotalapse website.
Four views of Endeavour docked to the ISS on May 29, 2011. Credit: Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch
[/caption]
Award-winning French astrophotographer Thierry Legault traveled through Germany, France and Spain during Endeavour’s final mission to find clear skies and good seeing to capture the shuttle’s voyage to the International Space Station. While he told us it wasn’t easy, the results are incredible! The visible detail of the shuttle and parts of the International Space Stations is absolutely amazing. You can see the newly installed Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer in one shot, as well as the open payload bay doors on Endeavour in another. The video Legault shot is available on his website, and he has unique 3-D versions as well.
Below are some of his trademark views of transits of the Sun by ISS and Endeavour, with one showing the shuttle just before it docked to the station.
Solar transit taken on May 18th from Essen, Germany through thick clouds showing Endeavour a few minutes before docking to the ISS. Transit duration was 0.7 seconds. Credit: Thierry Legault.
Legault told us he was chasing the shuttle and the station from different parts of Europe, however because of weather problems (clouds and turbulence) he was not very happy with the results. But this image is stunning anyway even though clouds dimmed available light by more than 100 times, Legault said. What is perhaps most amazing is that the transit time for this pass in front of the Sun was 0.7 seconds!
Here’s a less cloudy view taken on May 25:
A close-up view of Endeavour and the ISS transiting the sun on May 25th from France. Transit duration was 0.5 seconds. Credit: Thierry Legault.
And the full view for reference. This transit was only a half second!
Solar transit taken on May 25th from France (Orleans), showing Endeavour docked to the ISS. Credit: Thierry Legault. Series of transits taken on May 20, 22 and 23, 2011 from different areas of France, showing variations of orientation of the ISS with Endeavour docked. On May 23, the ISS passes besides a sunspot which is larger than the Earth. Credit: Thierry Legault
All transit images were taken with Takahashi TOA-150 6″ apochromatic refractor (focal length 2400mm and 3600mm) on EM-400 mount, Baader Herschel wedge. Nikon D3X at 1/8000s, 100 ISO, working in continuous shooting at 5 frames per second during 5 seconds.
Frames from videos taken from Spain (May 31) and France (June 1) 90 minutes before deorbit burn. Credit: Thierry Legault and Emmanual Rietsch.
Here are frames from videos taken by Legault and fellow astrophotographer Emmanual Rietsch just prior to the deorbit burn for landing on June 1. The video of these shots, as well as more images are also available on Legault’s website.
Thanks to Thierry for sending Universe Today these amazing images and allowing us to post them!
A new supernova (exploding star) has been discovered in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, M51.
M51, The Whirlpool galaxy is a galaxy found in the constellation of Canes Venatici, very near the star Alkaid in the handle of the saucepan asterism of the big dipper. Easily found with binoculars or a small telescope.
The discovery was made on June 2nd by French astronomers and the supernova is reported to be around magnitude 14. More information (In French) can be found here or translated version here.
Image by BBC Sky at Night Presenter Pete Lawrence
The supernova will be quite tricky to spot visually and you may need a good sized dobsonian or similar telescope to spot it, but it will be a easy target for those interested in astro imaging.
The whirlpool galaxy was the first galaxy discovered with a spiral structure and is one of the most recognisable and famous objects in the sky.
The Spirit rover's last panoramic image, taken before its fourth Martian winter on on Sol 2175, or February, 2010. Credit: Mosaic by Marco De Lorenzo and Ken Kremer, image NASA/JPL/Cornell University.
[/caption]
Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) features an image mosaic put together in part by Universe Today’s Ken Kremer, along with his imaging partner Marco De Lorenzo. It’s the last thing the Spirit rover ever saw: a panoramic view of the Home Plate region of Gusev Crater where the rover now silently sits. In the background are the Columbia Hills, where Spirit climbed and investigated Husband Hill. Visible are parts of Spirit herself and the stark but enticing landscape where Spirit will be forever mired in sand.
Congrats to Ken and Marco for being featured on APOD!
Tenerife, Canary Islands is home to several telescopes and at 2,000 meters above sea level, it claims one of the best skies on the planet. This incredibly stunning timelapse video from astrophotographer Daniel Lopez captures the nocturnal and crepuscular beauty of the island, showing the natural movement of the earth, stars, clouds, Sun and Moon. Lopez worked over a year to capture all possible shades and landscapes, pulling out all the stops by using several different timelapse techniques. Lopez promises more videos are coming, as he says this is the first in a series to capture the beauty of each of the Canary Islands.
