Watch Live: Commercial Antares Rocket Launches to Space Station

he Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, is seen during sunrise on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 in Virginia. NASA's commercial space partner, Orbital Sciences Corporation, is targeting a Sept. 18 launch for its demonstration cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

UPDATE: Orbital Sciences successfully launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard its Antares rocket at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This is the first time a spacecraft launched from Virginia is heading toward the International Space Station. Above is the launch video, and we’ll have a full re-cap article coming soon! The live NASA TV feed is below. (end of update)

Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft is set to become the second private spacecraft to launch to the International Space Station. Today’s historic launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia has a launch window from 10:50 AM to 11:30 AM EDT, with launch likely to occur at 0:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT) from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. You can watch it live here on NASA TV’s Ustream feed.

As of this writing, the Wallops range is currently red due to low cloud conditions and something called “distance focus over pressure,” according to the Orbital Sciences Twitter feed. However, they expect it to clear later in count, and the rocket is being fueled.

Also, if you live along the US east coast near the Virginia area, you may be able to see the launch for yourself! It won’t be as visible as the recent nighttime launch of the LADEE mission, but should still be visible to a wide area, if the skies are clear. Read our complete guide to how to view the launch here.



Live streaming video by Ustream

Here’s a timelapse of the Antares rocket heading out the the launchpad:

Advanced Satellite Blasts Off from Cape Canaveral: Launch Gallery

A United Launch Alliancee Atlas V rocet lifts off with the US Air Force’s third Advanced EHF satellite. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net.

Early this morning a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral in a gorgeous pre-dawn launch, sending the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-3) satellite for the United States Air Force to orbit. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex-41 at 4:10 am EDT (08:10 UTC) on Wednesday, September 18, 2013. Thanks to John O’Connor from nasatech.net for sharing his beautiful launch images with Universe Today.

This launch leads the way for a second launch today: the historic Orbital Sciences Antares commercial rocket carrying the first fully functional Cygnus commercial resupply vehicle to orbit from NASA’s Wallops Island Facility on a demonstration mission bound for the International Space Station.

The AEHF-3 will provide a state-of-the-art communications system for the US military and Department of Defense.

See more launches images below:

Awaiting its mission on Space Launch Complex 41, the Atlas 5 - 531/AEHF-3 stands ready as the weather slowly cleared. Credit and copyright: John O'Connor/nasatech.net,
Awaiting its mission on Space Launch Complex 41, the Atlas 5 – 531/AEHF-3 stands ready as the weather slowly cleared. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net,
As the furious vibrations shake cascades of ice off of the liquid oxygen tank the Atlas 5-531 reaches for the sky and its supersynchronous transfer orbit. Credit and copyright: John O'Connor/nasatech.net.
As the furious vibrations shake cascades of ice off of the liquid oxygen tank the Atlas 5-531 reaches for the sky and its supersynchronous transfer orbit. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net.
Halfway through the lightning wires, the Atlas 5 accelerates to its rendezvous with a supersynchronous transfer orbit. Credit and copyright: John O'Connor/nasatech.net.
Halfway through the lightning wires, the Atlas 5 accelerates to its rendezvous with a supersynchronous transfer orbit. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net.
Through a cloud on its way to orbit, the Atlas 5 - 531 vehicle and it AEHF-3 payload dapple the clouds with light....  Credit and copyright: John O'Connor/nasatech.net.
Through a cloud on its way to orbit, the Atlas 5 – 531 vehicle and it AEHF-3 payload dapple the clouds with light…. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net.
...and come out the top, amid the night, resplendent on a seething tower of dawn and thunder. Credit and copyright: John O'Connor/nasatech.net.
…and come out the top, amid the night, resplendent on a seething tower of dawn and thunder. Credit and copyright: John O’Connor/nasatech.net.

Tonight’s Harvest Moon Is For The Birds … Really!

The moon provides the perfect backdrop for watching birds migrate at night. Observers with spotting scopes and small telescopes can watch the show anytime the moon is at or near full. Photo illustration: Bob King

Tonight’s the Harvest Moon, the full Moon closest to the fall equinox. A perfect time to catch a big orange Moon on the horizon AND the annual fall bird migration. Every September and October anyone with a small telescope or spotting scope magnifying 30x can enjoy the sight of one bird after another flying over the cratered lunar landscape. It’s so easy.

Point your telescope at the Moon and watch for dark silhouettes to flutter across its face. Because the angle of the full Moon’s path to the horizon is very shallow in September and October, the time difference between successive moonrises is only about 20-30 minutes instead of the usual 50-60. That means you’ll catch both moonlight and bird flight on successive nights without having to stay up late.

The Harvest Moon rises over Lake Superior in Duluth, Minn. When you’re out enjoying this year’s full moon on Wednesday and Thursday nights, watch for the dark band you see in the photo. That’s the Earth’s shadow. It’s visible for about 15-20 after sunset and topped by the pink-tinged Belt of Venus, where the atmosphere is still reflecting reddened sunlight. Credit: Bob King
The Harvest Moon rises over Lake Superior in Duluth, Minn last September. When you’re out moon and birdwatching, look for the dark band below the rising moon. That’s the Earth’s shadow. It’s visible for about 15-20 after sunset and topped by the pink-tinged “Belt of Venus”, where the atmosphere is still reflecting reddened sunlight. Credit: Bob King

Many birds migrate at night both because it’s cooler and to avoid predators that could otherwise pick them off in a daylight run. Identifying the many warblers, blackbirds, sparrows, vireos, orioles and other species that fly across the moon while we sleep may be next to impossible for anyone but an expert, but seeing them is easy.  Two night ago for fun, I counted a dozen birds in the five-minute interval around 10 o’clock through my 10-inch telescope at low power (76x). Assuming they continued to fly by at a steady rate, I could potentially have spotted 144 birds in just an hour’s time.

Two of my favorite migrating birds: the winter wren (left) and chestnut-sided warbler. Credit: Bob King
Two of my favorite migrating birds: the winter wren (left) and chestnut-sided warbler. Credit: Bob King

As you might suspect, most of those birds crossed the Moon from north to south (about two-thirds) with the other third traveling either east to west or northeast to southwest. Only one little silhouette flapped back up north in the ‘wrong’ direction.

According to the Chipper Woods Bird Observatory, located in Indianapolis, most nighttime migrators begin their flight right after sunset and continue until about 2 a.m. Peak time is between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Bird typically migrate at altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 feet, but on some nights, altitudes may range from 6,000 and 9,000 feet. I could tell the high ones from the low ones by their size and sharpness. Nearby birds flew by out of focus, while distant ones were sharply defined and took longer to cross the moon.

Check out this animated wave of bird migration after sunset on Aug. 27, 2013 made with NEXRAD. Birds are visible funneling down both shores of Lake Superior and moving south of Duluth, Minn (city at center). Credit: NWS
Check out this animation showing a wave of bird migration after sunset on Aug. 27 made with NEXRAD. Birds are visible funneling down both shores of Lake Superior and moving south of Duluth, Minn (city at center). Credit: NWS

While birders may continue to use the moon night birding, they now have a new tool – NEXRAD or NEXt-generation of Weather RADar. About 150 NEXRAD sites were set up in the 1990s to track weather and storm systems across the U.S. When precipitation gets pinged by the radar’s pulse it reflects back a signal that identifies it as rain, snow or whatever. Included in the information is the material’s speed and direction of travel. NEXRAD works equally well on meteorite falls, birds and even insects. While storm activity typically shows up as familiar blotches of yellow, orange and red, birds appear as fine stipplings.  By compiling NEXRAD loops, during particularly heavy migration times, you can actually watch swarms of birds wing their way south. Click HERE for a map of all U.S. NEXRAD locations, each of which links to current radar maps.

On the less technological side, watching birds pass across the Moon in a small telescope is a very pleasant activity reminiscent of meteor shower watching. At first you see nothing, then blip! a bird (meteor) flies by. You wait another minute and then suddenly two more appear in tandem.  Both activities give you that delicious sense of anticipation of what the next moment might hold.

The best time to watch the nighttime avian exodus is around full Moon, when the big, round disk offers an ideal spotlight on the birds’ behavior, but anytime between waxing and waning gibbous phase will work. It’s an enchanting sight to see Earth’s creatures streak across an alien landscape, and another instance of how a distant celestial body “touches” Earth in unexpected ways.

Proof! – Frogs Jump at Chance to Board Rockets to Space from NASA Wallops during Antares booster Rollout

NASA Photographer discovers living proof that Frogs are leaping towards the on ramp for rocket ships bound for Earth orbit and beyond at NASA’s Wallops Island, VA, launch pads during rollout of the Antares rocket on Sept 13, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

WALLOPS ISLAND, VA – Have you seen the NASA frog? The one that became famous worldwide last week following the historic Moon Shot of the LADEE mission from NASA Wallops Island in Virginia?

The one that the inexplicably appeared in a single photograph from a NASA Wallops remote camera when the pressure wave from the Minotaur rockets exhaust sent it hurtling skywards?

Perhaps you are an unbeliever? And think the frog photo was photoshopped?

Well after a thorough investigation, Universe Today has uncovered undeniable proof that NASA’s resident frogs are indeed jumping at the chance to make history again and leap aboard the next rocket headed to space from NASA Wallops on Sept 18.

How do I know this?

Well on Friday the 13th of September, I was on site at NASA Wallops for a photo shoot of the lengthy rollout of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket to Launch Pad 0A – and the famous frog was a topic of endless conversation in between our gorgeous views of Antares moving along the road to the launch pad atop the Transporter Erector vehicle.

See my frog and rollout photo gallery herein.

Antares rocket arrives at on ramp to launch pad with cool new signs directing traffic to launch pads for trips to the Moon and the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket arrives at on ramp to launch pad with cool new signs directing traffic to launch pads for trips to the Moon and the International Space Station. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Nary a frog was to be found anywhere all day and night along the 1 mile rollout route.

Finally, after much delay the Antares rocket was raised and erected firmly atop the launch mount.

And then at last the great frog discovery was made.

Close up of frog hiding near the Antares launch pad and apparently eager to jump aboard.    Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Close up of frog hiding near the Antares launch pad and apparently eager to jump aboard. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

And of course it took a woman, a NASA photographer named Jamie, to do a man’s job – finding and corralling that frog and fearlessly holding the critter in front of all the guys, including me.

Antares rocket begins rollout atop transporter erector to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Island Facility, VA., on Sept. 13, 2013.  Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket begins rollout atop transporter erector to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Island Facility, VA., on Sept. 13, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

My photos are the proof that the mysterious origin of NASA’s apparently space loving resident frogs has been solved.

Jamie discovered the frog lurking inside a telescope dome used to protect NASA’s launch pad cameras during liftoff.

Antares rocket begins rollout atop transporter erector to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Island Facility, VA., on Sept. 13, 2013.  Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket begins rollout atop transporter erector to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Island Facility, VA., on Sept. 13, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

She found the frog hiding inside the dome to evade the ever present security patrols on the lookout for intruders. Where is the NSA when you need them?

And quite clearly these are intelligent frogs – eager to blast off to the High Frontier in pursuit of science.

Why?

Because for the past few weeks these space loving frogs have been reading the new pair of signs installed by the launch pad gates right in front of the on ramps directing traffic to the Minotaur and Antares rockets headed to the Moon and the International Space Station.

They were just waiting for the right moment to hop aboard.

Antares rocket rolls up on on ramp at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket rolls up on on ramp at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Everything remains on target for the Sept. 18 blastoff of Orbital Sciences Antares commercial rocket carrying the first fully functional Cygnus commercial resupply vehicle to orbit from NASA’s Wallops Island Facility on a demonstration mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

“The weather forecast remains at 75% chance of “GO” with favorable conditions,” said NASA Wallops test director Sarah Daugherty at a news media briefing at Wallops today.

“The launch could be widely visible along the East Coast from New York City to South Carolina.” – Weather permitting

Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Learn how and where to view the Antares launch by reading my “How to see the Antares Launch” story.

NASA Television coverage of the Antares launch will begin at 10:15 a.m. on Sept 18 – (www.nasa.gov/ntv).

Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Stay tuned to Universe Today for complete coverage of the Antares/Cygnus Orb-D1 mission to the ISS and my continuing Antares and LADEE mission reports from on site at NASA’s Wallops Launch Pads in sunny Virginia – reporting for Universe Today.

Ken Kremer

Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket raised at NASA Wallops launch pad 0A bound for the ISS on Sept 18, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft after rollout to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility Facility, VA.,on Sept. 13, 2013. Blastoff is slated for Sept. 18, 2013 at 10:50 a.m. EDT.  LADEE launch pad 0B stands adjacent to right of Antares.  Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft after rollout to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility Facility, VA.,on Sept. 13, 2013. Blastoff is slated for Sept. 18, 2013 at 10:50 a.m. EDT. LADEE launch pad 0B stands adjacent to right of Antares. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

…………….

Learn more about Cygnus, Antares, LADEE, Curiosity, Mars rovers, MAVEN, Orion and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations

Sep 17/18: LADEE Lunar & Antares/Cygnus ISS Rocket Launches from Virginia”; Rodeway Inn, Chincoteague, VA

Oct 3: “Curiosity, MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars – (3-D)”, STAR Astronomy Club, Brookdale Community College & Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ, 8 PM

Oct 8: LADEE Lunar & Antares/Cygnus ISS Rocket Launches from Virginia”; Princeton University, Amateur Astronomers Assoc of Princeton (AAAP), Princeton, NJ, 8 PM

Seaside panoramic view of Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft after rollout to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops at the Virginia Eastern Shore  on Sept. 13, 2013. Blastoff for the ISS is slated for Sept. 18, 2013 at 10:50 a.m. EDT Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Seaside panoramic view of Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft after rollout to Launch Pad 0A at NASA Wallops at the Virginia Eastern Shore on Sept. 13, 2013. Blastoff for the ISS is slated for Sept. 18, 2013 at 10:50 a.m. EDT Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

Win a Copy of Homer Hickam’s “Crescent”

Crescent, by Homer Hickam.

Homer Hickam’s latest series of books depicts life on the Moon in the next century. But it’s not a utopia. “Crescent,” the second book in the trilogy, includes battles against bioengineered beings and the hard life of mining helium-3. This series is written for young adults, but adults will enjoy the engaging characters, too.

You can read our full review and interview with Homer Hickam here.

Universe Today has four copies of “Crescent” to give away.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Friday, September 20, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.

Book Review: ‘Crescent’ By Homer Hickam

Crescent, by Homer Hickam.

You probably know Homer Hickam from his book “Rocket Boys” and the movie, “October Sky.” But Hickam’s repertoire of 15-plus books range from fiction to nonfiction, covering multiple topics beyond space flight and building rockets.

His most recent series – the Helium-3 trilogy of life on the Moon set 120 years into the future — is science fiction written for young adults. But adults with a penchant for science fiction seem just as taken with these books and their engaging characters.

Find out how to win a copy of “Crescent”

“I like to say I’m like Robert Heinlein, in that I write all my books for everybody!” Hickam told Universe Today by phone in a recent interview.

The idea of writing for a younger audience, he admits, wasn’t his own.

“I was asked to write a series for young adults,” he said, “and I had never had really written for that age group before. I figured it would be a challenge to write something that would be of interest to them, but I kind of took the easy way out by projecting the story 120 years into the future where I could make young adults think, feel and do pretty much what I wanted them to do! Hopefully I created characters that young adults will enjoy.”

Hickam has succeeded. The first book in the Helium-3 trilogy, “Crater” was published in 2012, and the newest, called “Crescent” was published this summer. Both books have been well received by young adult readers, and as mentioned, by adults, too.

The protagonists in the series are young adults themselves, which means there’s a lot of room for growth, discovery and coming of age.

Crater Trueblood is a 19-year-old miner of helium-3 on the Moon who has been forced to become a soldier in the ongoing war against the Crowhoppers. Crowhoppers are bio-engineered humans that are trained for battle and trained to kill. During a battle, Crater captures one of the Crowhoppers, a female named Crescent. Instead of killing her, as she expects and wants, Crater brings her to Moontown and finds he enjoys being with her.

Bring in Maria Medaris, the granddaughter of the richest man on the Moon, Colonel Medaris (a descendant of the character Jack Medaris from Hickam’s 1999 book, “Back to the Moon.” Maria and Crater have a history together, with a complicated relationship. But they end up defending Crescent when she’s falsely accused of murder; then Crater and Crescent escape into the lunar wilderness to avoid Crescent’s imprisonment and to survive must defend themselves from both the Moontowners and a band of Crowhoppers sent to capture or kill them. They must make hard decisions of what is worth fighting for.

Hickam says all his fiction books are character-driven, but he takes every chance he can to include scientifically accurate information.

“It’s very important to me to have scientifically accurate details,” Hickam said. “But where I put in technical details, it is primarily to advance the plot or for the character to grow – in other words, I’m not writing a textbook.”

But of course, there’s also speculation within the story, such as the gillie, a computer that is a synthetic, semi-sentient life-form.

“Nobody has created that yet,” Hickam said, “but it’s nothing I’ve invented out of whole cloth, as some scientists are looking to create a bio-computer.”

But that leads to contemplation of what do you do with a lifeform that is a computer.

Additionally, Hickam’s depiction of life on the Moon in the next century certainly isn’t of a utopia.

“I think that 100 years in the future we’ll probably be surprised about what is life is going to be like then,” Hickam said. “What I’ve done is take technology of today and imagine what it is going to be like 120 years in the future, with some bumps in the road. I don’t see any kind of nirvana or utopia coming –and we’d probably be all pretty bored if that happened! I think advances will come in biology and technology fields, and that is going to raise a host of moral questions for all of us.”

For example, Crescent is a genetically engineered human that is made to look ugly and fearsome as well as being a trained killer.

“So what do we do with humans that look scary, or that act even scarier?” Hickam pondered. “For those who haven’t read the book, think about what if you had someone who loved nothing more to help you, take care of you, cook for you, do everything for you. Everyone says, oh yes, that’s great. But you do know you are talking about wanting a slave. We are going to be able to create helpers, and when we do that, the moral questions for the human race is going to be huge.”

Of all the characters in this series, Hickam says he’s most intrigued by Maria.

“To me Maria is a fascinating character, and we’re still not sure about her and how she’s going to end up,” he said.

And how is the series going to play out? Hickam turned in his transcript for the third book in the trilogy in early September, but gave us no hints of what’s to come.

“The third one is supposed to wrap it all up,” he said with a laugh, “but really, there’s no way to wrap it all up!”

Tomorrow, we’ll talk more with Hickam about his journey from rocket scientist to writer and his views of the current state of space exploration.

Sleek GOCE Spacecraft Will Have Uncontrolled Re-entry into Earth’s Atmosphere

GOCE in orbit. Credit: ESA

The sleek and sexy-looking GOCE spacecraft has been mapping Earth’s gravity for over four years, but soon its xenon fuel will run out and the satellite will end up re-entering our atmosphere. But no one can say for sure when or where the 1-ton satellite will fall.

The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer has been orbiting Earth at super-low orbits, mapping out variations in Earth’s gravity with extreme detail. Launched in March 2009, the GOCE spacecraft was designed to fly low and has spent most of its mission roughly 500 km below most other Earth-observing missions, at an altitude of 255 km (158 miles), but has recently been at the lowest altitude of any research satellite at 224 km (139 miles).

With its sleek, aerodynamic design, some have called it the ‘Ferrari of space,’ but we’ve just called it sexy, like a satellite straight out of a James Bond movie.

And the satellite has delivered with unique results of Earth’s ‘geoid’ — precise measurements of ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice dynamics, greatly improving our knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s internal structure. The mission has also been studying air density and wind in space. Its data also produced the first global high-resolution map of the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle, called the Mohorovicic, or “Moho” discontinuity.

Mission managers predict that in mid-October 2013 the spacecraft will run out of fuel and the satellite will begin its descent towards Earth. There will be no remaining fuel to guide its re-entry, and while most of GOCE is predicted to disintegrate in the atmosphere, several parts might reach Earth’s surface. Experts predict as much as 25% of the spacecraft will survive reentry, as many parts are made of advanced materials, such as carbon-carbon composites.

But when and where these parts might land cannot yet be predicted, ESA says.

As the re-entry time nears, better predictions will be made. Re-entry is expected to happen about three weeks after the fuel is depleted.

ESA says that taking into account that two thirds of Earth are covered by oceans and vast areas are thinly populated, the danger to life or property is very low.

Recently, other larger satellites have made uncontrolled re-entries, such as NASA’s 6-ton UARS spacecraft and Germany’s 2.4-ton ROSAT in 2011 and the 13-ton failed Russian Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt in 2012.

About 40 tons of human-made space debris reach the ground per year, but the spread and size mean the risk of an individual being struck is lower than being hit by a meteorite.

An international campaign will be monitoring the descent, involving the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. The situation is being continuously watched by ESA’s Space Debris Office, which will issue re-entry predictions and risk assessments.

ESA says they will keep the relevant safety authorities permanently updated.

Additional info: ESA, BBC

Is There Really a Planet X?

Is There Really a Planet X?

Have you heard there’s a giant planet in the Solar System headed straight towards Earth?

At some point in the next few months or years, this thing is going to crash into Earth or flip our poles, or push us out of our orbit, or some other horrible civilization destroying disaster.

Are these rumours true?

Is there a Planet X on a collision course with Earth?

Unlike some of the answers science gives us, where we need to give a vague and nuanced answers, like yes AND no, or Maybe, well, it depends…

I’m glad to give a straight answer: No.

Any large object moving towards the inner Solar System would be one of the brightest objects in the night sky. It would mess up the orbits of the other planets and asteroids that astronomers carefully observe every night.

There are millions of amateur astronomers taking high quality images of the night sky. If something was out there, they’d see it.

These rumours have been popping up on the internet for more than a decade now, and I’m sure we’ll still be debunking them decades from now.

What people are calling Planet X, or Nibiru, or Wormwood, or whatever doesn’t exist. But is it possible that there are large, undiscovered objects out in the furthest reaches of Solar System?

Sure.

Astronomers have been searching for Planet X for more than a hundred years. In the 1840s, the French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier calculated that another large planet must be perturbing the orbit of Uranus. He predicted the location where this planet would be, and then German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle used those coordinates to discover Neptune right where Le Verrier predicted.

The famed astronomer Percival Lowell died searching for the next planet in the Solar System, but he made a few calculations about where it might be found.

A young Clyde Tombaugh with one of his famous homemade telescopes. (Credit : NASA/GSFC).
A young Clyde Tombaugh with one of his famous homemade telescopes. (Credit : NASA/GSFC).
And in 1930, Clyde William Tombaugh successfully discovered Pluto in one of the locations predicted by Lowell.

Astronomers continued searching for additional large objects, but it wasn’t until 2005 that another object the size of Pluto was finally discovered by Mike Brown and his team from Caltech: Eris. Brown and his team also turned up several other large icy objects in the Kuiper Belt; many of which have been designated dwarf planets.

We haven’t discovered any other large objects yet, but there might be clues that they’re out there.

In 2012, the Brazilian astronomer Rodney Gomes calculated the orbits of objects in the Kuiper Belt and found irregularities in the orbits of 6 objects. This suggests that a larger object is further out, tugging at their orbits. It could be a Mars-sized object 8.5 billion km away, or a Neptune-sized object 225 billion km away.

A false-color, visible-light image of Comet ISON taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
A false-color, visible-light image of Comet ISON taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
There’s another region at the edge of the Solar System called the Oort Cloud. This is the source of the long-period comets that occasionally visit the inner Solar System. It’s possible that large planets are perturbing the orbits of comets with their gravity, nudging these comets in our direction.

So, feel free to ignore every single scary video and website that says an encounter with Planet X is coming.

And use that time you saved from worrying, and use it to appreciate the amazing discoveries being made in space and astronomy every day.

Carnival of Space #319

Carnival of Space. Image by Jason Major.
Carnival of Space. Image by Jason Major.

Another week, another Carnival of Space! This week’s CoS is hosted by our pay Ray Sanders at his “Dear Astronomer” blog.

Click here to read Carnival of Space #319.

And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to [email protected], and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, 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 an email to the above address.

Cometary Collisions Could Have Created Life On Earth

Water, ammonia, methanol and carbon dioxide could have come to Earth from cometary sources, according to a new study. Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The energy of comets smashing into Earth billions of years ago could have generated life out of the building blocks of life that those extraterrestrial objects brought, according to new experiments published in a peer-reviewed study.

The finding comes after a team “shock compressed” an icy slush similar in composition to that found on comets, which are sometimes called “dirty snowballs” because they are a mixture of ice and rock. The compression, which researchers say is similar in intensity to comets hitting the Earth, generated amino acids – considered the basic bits of life.

“Our work shows that the basic building blocks of life can be assembled anywhere in the Solar System and perhaps beyond,” stated Zita Martins, a co-author of the paper who is with Imperial College London’s department of Earth science and engineering.

“However, the catch is that these building blocks need the right conditions in order for life to flourish. Excitingly, our study widens the scope for where these important ingredients may be formed in the Solar System and adds another piece to the puzzle of how life on our planet took root.”

An object entering a planet's atmosphere. Credit: Imperial College London
An object entering a planet’s atmosphere. Credit: Imperial College London

Whether life arose on Earth, or was imported from other locations in the Solar System or universe, has been a hot-button topic for decades. Learning the answer not only has implications for our own planet, but also for understanding how likely it is that life exists in other Solar System planets and moons — not to mention moons or planets in other star systems.

The new experiment — which the researchers say uncovers evidence of a “cosmic factory” process for starting life — saw the team at the University of Kent and the Imperial College using a gas gun to send a projectile into an ice combination similar to what one would find a comet. After the impact, the researchers saw amino acids forming.

The work builds on research initially done by Nir Goldman, a scientist with the Lawrence Liverpool National Laboratory, who predicted the results based on simulations in the laboratory’s supercomputer. Goldman found that comets could have imported life’s building blocks (ammonia, methanol, carbon dioxide and water). Then, as they smashed into Earth, the energy produced could be enough to jump-start life.

The building blocks of proteins are molecules called amino acids. Most types of amino acids can exist in two different forms, one that is 'left-handed' and the other as 'right-handed.' Credit: NASA
The building blocks of proteins are molecules called amino acids. Most types of amino acids can exist in two different forms, one that is ‘left-handed’ and the other as ‘right-handed.’ Credit: NASA

“This process demonstrates a very simple mechanism whereby we can go from a mix of simple molecules, such as water and carbon-dioxide ice, to a more complicated molecule, such as an amino acid,” stated Mark Price, a co-author and physicist from the University of Kent.

“This is the first step towards life. The next step is to work out how to go from an amino acid to even more complex molecules such as proteins.”

You can read the research paper, which was published Sept. 15, on Nature Geoscience.

Sources: Imperial College London and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory