Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

NanoSail-D Caught on Video

When you have an automated video camera, it’s amazing what you can pick up in the night sky. Dr. Robert Suggs used the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory at Marshall Space Flight Center to catch NanoSail-D on video as it slipped across the sky back on March 2nd, 2011. This video is from the small finder camera for the observatory and the solar sail appears just how it would be seen by the naked eye. The NanoSail-D twitter feed said that this video is actually upside down. “I am actually sailing out of the trees and higher into the night sky,” the solar sail Tweeted. The same facility also captured images of NanoSail-d with 80mm and 14″ telescopes.

NanoSail-D won’t be visible for very much longer, just a couple of weeks or less until it will burn up in the atmosphere. See our previous article on how to observe NanoSail-D before it de-orbits.

Source: NanoSail-D website

Posted on by VirtualAstro

Dawn Planetary Delights

Dawn 11th May Credit: Adrian West

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During the month of May, four bright Planets will grace the morning sky just before dawn.

The planets Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars will be involved in a series of conjunctions (close together) and will finally be joined by the thin crescent moon at the end of the month.

Twice during May some of the planets will converge to form a trio, where 3 planets will fit in an imaginary circle roughly 5 degrees across.

On the 11th Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will be within 2.5 degrees of each other, forming a very tight trio and on the 21st another trio will be formed by Mercury, Venus and Mars.

Dawn Planets 21st May Credit: Adrian West

On the 29th, 30th, and 31st, the waning crescent moon will arrive, moving past Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury stretched out in a line across the eastern sky.

Dawn 29th May. Credit: Adrian West

Unfortunately, these gatherings will be a challenge especially for observers in high latitudes, as the ecliptic in May is very shallow and low to the horizon. But if all you need is a challenge to get you out observing, then here’s your chance!

Venus and Jupiter should be easy objects to see, but Mercury and Mars will be very difficult, along with the crescent moon due to the onset of daylight.

Be careful as you will be viewing objects close to the sun. Never ever look at the sun with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope as this will permanently damage your eyes or blind you. Viewing the sun can only be done with specialist solar telescopes and equipment.

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Catch Seven Planets Now!

Planetary Alignment in Tasmania by Shevill Mathers

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No… What you’re looking at isn’t fireflies caught in the trees – but planets! Thanks to a little haze in Tasmania, incomparable sky shot artist, Shevill Mathers, was able to capture four planets lined up neatly before the dawn. One of the most beautiful facets of this image is that this is (with the exception of daily movement) how it appears to the unaided eye. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve watched the inner planets gather along the ecliptic just before dawn… but even just a day makes a dramatic difference in their positions. We see it with our own eyes and we know it’s natural – but what makes it happen? Let’s find out…

Even though it’s been over 240 years since a very cool dude named Johannes Kepler was born, some of the laws he laid down about planetary motion still hold true today. Despite the fact he could have been jailed for supporting the Sun-centered Copernican theory, Kepler was teaching a class about the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter when he realized that regular polygons bound one inscribed and one circumscribed circle at definite ratios, which, he reasoned, might be the geometrical basis of the Universe. From these conclusions, Kepler gave us three laws:

1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci.

2. A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time. (Suppose a planet takes one day to travel from point A to B. The lines from the Sun to A and B, together with the planet orbit, will define a (roughly triangular) area. This same amount of area will be formed every day regardless of where in its orbit the planet is. This means that the planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun.) This is because the sun’s gravity accelerates the planet as it falls toward the Sun, and decelerates it on the way back out, but Kepler did not know that reason.

3. The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axis of the orbits. Thus, not only does the length of the orbit increase with distance, the orbital speed decreases, so that the increase of the orbital period is more than proportional.

May 10 Conjunction

Each day the second law is clearly demonstrated as the inner planets quickly change position because they are closer to the Sun. But what about the outer planets? They’re obeying the third law and will barely change positions over the next couple of months. Let’s take a look…

Location Map of Planets on May 10, 2011

Right now is the best time of year to catch all the planets in our solar system in the same night. After sunset, grab Saturn… before dawn you’ll find Uranus and Neptune hanging around in the constellation of Aquarius. As skies begin to brighten, you’ll find Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury rising in progression just ahead of the Sun. What a wonderful way to celebrate the morning… by standing on Earth and checking out planetary motion!

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

The Early Morning Show – Eta Aquarid Meteor Showers While The Planets Align

Comet Halley Courtesy of Halley Multicolor Camera Team, Giotto Project, ESA

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Are you ready for the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower? While the peak activity will be on the night of May 5/6, the offspring of Comet Halley are already beginning to make their appearance known. No matter where you live or what time zone you observe from, the best time to look for “shooting stars” is over the next week or so during the hours just before dawn.

Somewhere in the outer reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Jupiter, Comet Halley continues on its track – far away from its 1986 debris trail. However, now isn’t the only time we encounter this famous comet’s leftovers. Three times a year the Earth cruises through the dusty trail causing the Eta Aquarids, the Beta Aquarids (both in May) and the Orionids (during October). When a piece of this debris enters our atmosphere, it is traveling about 66 kilometers per second and can shine as brightly as the stars (3rd magnitude) in the constellation from which it appears to originate. Encountering a dense paticle stream may spark activity of up to 70 meteors per hour for lucky observers in the southern hemisphere, but don’t count yourself out if you live in the north! Because the constellation of Aquarius is relatively low for northern observers, this means we have at least a better chance of spotting those breathtaking Earth grazers!

Eta Aquarid Radiant Courtesy of NASA
Staring aound 4:00 a.m. (local time) the constellation of Aquarius is beginning to rise low to the southeast for the northern hemisphere and fall rates could be as marked as an average of one meteor every three or four minutes. Although meteors can appear from any point in the sky, your best northern skies bet will be to face generally southeast, gaze roughly halfway up the sky and get as comfortable as possible. A reclining lawn chair makes a wonderful meteor watching companion! Getting as far away as possible from city lights will also increase the amount of meteors you see – typically about 30 per hour for the northern hemisphere.

Don’t be discouraged if you’re clouded out or unable to view at the peak time. The most wonderful part about the Eta Aquarids is the fact the stream is very broad and activity is extended from April 21 until May 12. And there’s an added treat – the ongoing planetary alignment…

May 1 Visualization by Dave Reneke

Don’t let anyone discourage you from watching the Eta Aquarids if you have an opportunity. While it isn’t one of the most prolific showers of the year for the north, it is very well established and having dark skies will help tremendously. There is nothing finer than cradling a cup of hot coffee, sneaking a donut and waiting on the dawn while watching Kepler’s Laws of planetary motion in action. I am sure that you’ll come away feeling very happy indeed that you took the time to look for Comet Halley’s children racing by!

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Weekend Observing Project: T Pyxidis

Are you ready to observe a nova event which can be caught in simple binoculars? Then open your eyes wide and locate T Pyxidis! Right now it’s showing up as just slightly fainter than magnitude 7, which means it is going to appear as an “extra star” in an otherwise rather starless portion of the constellation of Pyxis. Are you ready? Then let’s dance…

T Pyxidis is actually a binary star – one much like our own Sun with a white dwarf companion. Thanks to its diminuative, heavy-weight companion, matter from the primary star is always being drawn toward the secondary causing periodic thermonuclear explosions. Since there hasn’t been any real activity in about 45 years, astronomers believed T Pyx could possibly have began evolving into an entirely new system and activity wouldn’t occur perhaps for centuries. But they were wrong…

With a normal magnitude of 15.5, T Pyxidis would only be visible to some of the largest of amateur telescopes, but right now it can easily be spotted with average binoculars. The first finder chart seen on this page will get you in the right area and the one below will get you spot on (RA 09h 04m 41.50s Dec -32° 22′ 47.5″).

The fun part about observing T Pxidis is that it’s an object well suited for both hemispheres – one where the south is a bit more favored than the north – and all the “buzz” that goes with it. According to many sources, the white dwarf may be nearing its Chandrasekhar limit and become a Type 1a supernova when it collapses under its own weight. Says Edward Sion (et al); “The recurrent nova T Pyxidis has had 5 recorded thermonuclear explosions, more than any other recurrent nova, with an average time between nova outbursts of 19 years. However, it has been 44 years since its last nova outburst in 1966, making it long overdue for the next nova (supernova?). ”

However, don’t worry about this 3,300 light year distant stellar explosion happening any time soon. It’s estimated that kind of action may take as long as another couple of million years. “A key fact about T Pyx is that its accretion rate has been secularly declining since before the 1890 eruption, with the current rate being only 3% of its earlier rate. The decline in the observed accretion rate shows that the supersoft source is not self-sustaining, and we calculate that the accretion in T Pyx will effectively stop in upcoming decades.” say Bradley E. Schaefer (et al). “With this, T Pyx will enter a state of hibernation, lasting for an estimated 2,600,000 years, before gravitational radiation brings the system into contact again. Thus, T Pyx has an evolutionary cycle going from an ordinary CV state, to its current RN state, to a future hibernation state, and then repeating this cycle.”

But don’t you wait that long to observe it. For the next week or so, the Moon won’t interfere with your early evening chance to see this very cool cosmic customer!

Posted on by VirtualAstro

Last & Best Chances to See NanoSail-D

Nanosail-D Pass Credit: Vesa Vauhkonen, Spaceweather.com

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Over the next few weeks, skywatchers will have excellent viewing opportunities for the NanoSail-D solar sail.

The satellite is coming to the end of its 95-day mission to test the viability of de-orbiting decommissioned satellites or space debris. NanoSail-D is now de-orbiting and slowly losing altitude in the Earths thin upper atmosphere.

As the satellite descends, viewing opportunities will improve.

To see NanoSail-D pass over, you will need to know exactly when it will be visible from your location. To do this, go to Heavens-above.com or Spaceweather.com where star charts with times and pass details will be displayed after you enter your observing site.

Once you know the time and location in the sky of the pass of the satellite, make sure you are able to get a good view of the part of the sky where the satellite due to appear. Give yourself plenty of time, go outside and get ready. I always set a 30 second reminder on my watch or cell phone, so I don’t have to fumble around or guess the time.

To enjoy the NanoSail-D passes:

• Make sure you know the right place in the sky and the time of the pass, by checking on the web.
• Make sure you will be able to get a clear view of it from your viewing location.
• Set an alarm or get ready for the pass as it only lasts a few seconds.
• NASA expects NanoSail-D to stay in orbit through May 2011.
• If you are an astrophotographer, don’t forget, NASA and SpaceWeather.com are having an imaging contest of NanoSail-D. Find out more here.
• Most of all, get your friends and family outside with you to watch NanoSail-D and enjoy!

Artist concept of Nanosail-D in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA
Posted on by VirtualAstro

Shuttle Endeavour Will Be Visible Over UK Just After Final Launch

Credit: Adrian West

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On April 29th, 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off for the last time, delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station.

If you live in the UK you can watch the launch live on NASA TV and a number of other sites on the internet, but that’s not all you can do! You may be able to watch it fly over the UK with your very own eyes about 20 minutes later!

Yes! You can watch the Shuttle fly over the UK roughly 20 minutes after launch (launch time is currently set for 3:47 p.m. EDT – 8:47 p.m. UK Time) if the timing is right and skies are clear. It will be accompanied by its bright orange external fuel tank as it sails across the sky.

I was lucky to see and actually film this in August 2009 with the launch of STS-128 Space Shuttle Discovery.

How to see it? Go outside roughly 15 – 20 minutes after launch and you could see two bright objects similar to what the ISS looks like when it passes over, moving at roughly the same speed. These bright objects in parallel to each other will follow a similar track in the sky to what the ISS does, but it will be the Shuttle Endeavour and its separated external fuel tank!

Hope for clear skies and that the launch isn’t delayed, as this may be our last chance ever of seeing a space shuttle fly over the UK just after launch.

Checkout NASA’s listing of sighting opportunities for your area.

Good luck to the crew of the shuttle and to everyone trying to spot it in the sky on Friday!

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Observing Challenge: A Gathering of Galaxies – Hickson 44

Hickson 44 by Warren Keller

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If you turn your telescope towards Leo, you just might discover a group of galaxies which reside close to our own Milky Way – Hickson Compact Group 44. At only 60 million light years away, this diverse and interesting collection has quite a story to tell!

Some three decades ago, Canadian astronomer, Paul Hickson set about the task of completing a list of 100 galaxies clusters. But, they couldn’t be just any set of galaxies – they had to be isolated, compact and within a limited magnitude range. His purpose was to study them for unusual redshifts among their members – and to improve our knowledge of galactic evolution. From his work came the theory that perhaps all well-known galaxies once emerged from such clusters and this hypothesis also contributed mightily to our understanding of dark matter as well. What Hickson left us with is a legacy of beautiful objects that challenge not only the telescope – but the mind as well.

In this photo done by Warren Keller, you will see from 11 o’clock: NGC 3193; 3190 and 3187 at center, and 3185 at 6 o’clock. A closer look reveals two tiny galaxies PGC (Principal Galaxies Catalog) 2806871 near 8 o’clock and PGC 86788 near 5 o’clock. As you can see, this group is an interesting collection of galaxy types – from barred spiral to elliptical in structure… close enough to share material as they gravitationally interact.

While some of you may recognize the three principle players in this galactic act as the “Leo Trio”, take a closer look at barred spiral NGC 3190. It was first discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1784 and was home to two supernova events in 2002. Lurking at its heart is an active galactic nucleus (AGN), home to a super-massive black hole. While the discovery of the rare Type Ia supernova was unusual enough, adding a second similar supernova event occurring simultaneously made this galactic action even more rare. Two young x-ray emitting events, set against a record breaking amount of obscuring dust!

Perhaps the interaction with nearby NGC 3187 is the root cause? It is, after all, evolving. Studies indicate an evolutionary sequence for Hickson compact groups in which the amount of diffuse light increases with the dynamical evolution of the group. “Compact groups are associations of a few galaxies in which the environment plays an important role in galaxy evolution.” says J. A. L. Aguerri (et al). “The low group velocity dispersion favors tidal interactions and mergers, which may bring stars from galaxies to the diffuse intragroup light. Numerical simulations of galaxy clusters in hierarchical cosmologies show that the amount of the diffuse light increases with the dynamical evolution of the cluster.”

While this group of galaxies is evolving and interacting together across vast distances, you can collect them all in the same eyepiece view found about halfway between Gamma and Zeta Leonis (RA: 10h18m00.4s Dec: +21°48’44”). They are by no means easy, the faintest of which is magnitude 13, but it can be accomplished with a minimum of a 150mm telescope under dark, clear skies.

Remember, the beauty is in the challenge… and the discovery!

Posted on by VirtualAstro

Planets Party In The Morning April 28-May 1

April's Morning Conjunction Credit: Adrian West

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Set your alarm clocks for an early treat about a half an hour before sunrise on Thursday April 28 through Sunday, May 1, 2011, as there will be a planetary delight in store! Go out and with either a pair of binoculars, a small telescope, or just use your naked eyes and find an unobscured view of the Eastern horizon to see a conjunction (objects near each other in the sky) of the planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, below and to the left of the thin crescent moon.

Bright Venus will be easy to spot first, then Mercury followed by Jupiter. The real challenge is to find Mars which will be very close to Jupiter. See the above diagram for help on where each object is located.

If you are unlucky on the first morning, try again the following day for a chance to see this rare planetary occurrence.

While observing this close to the Sun take care and never look at the sun directly with your eyes and never through an optical instrument, as this will permanently damage your eyesight or blind you!

Only special purpose made solar telescopes and filters are safe for viewing the sun.