Universe Today

December 11, 2012December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Two Asteroids Will Buzz Past Earth on December 11

Four computer generated views of Asteroid Toutatis based on Goldstone radar imagery. Via NASA

A newly discovered small asteroid named 2012 XE54 and a long-studied giant space rock named Toutatis will buzz past Earth during the next 24 hours, and astronomers are already watching the skies. While there is no danger of either hitting Earth, scientists have much to learn from both. Asteroid 2012 XE54 was discovered over the weekend on December 9 and it will safely pass between the Earth and the Moon’s orbit at a distance of about 226,000 km (141,000 miles) or about .6 lunar distances. Closest approach will be just a few hours after this article was posted, at 10:10 UTC on Dec. 11. But already an interesting event has already happened with this 28-meter-wide asteroid: it was eclipsed by Earth’s shadow. This is quite a rare event, and was visible to astronomers.

This animation shows the Sun and the Earth as observed from the asteroid 2012 XE54. If this eclipse occurs, the asteroid will be in Earth’s shadow. Animation via Pasquale Tricarico

Pasquale Tricarico of the Planetary Science Institute had predicted that the asteroid would pass through the Earth’s shadow, creating an asteroid eclipse, an event that is similar to an eclipse of the full Moon by Earth’s shadow. At 01:22 UTC on December 11 the eclipse began, and it left Earth’s shadow at 02:00 UTC. Those watching the asteroid noted that the asteroid “disappeared” from its track, and then reappeared after leaving Earth’s shadow.

“In two images taken at 01:30:16 and 01:31:18, 60sec exposure, 2012 XE54 appeared as a very faint and long track, then… nothing. In the following images there is no visible track. Wonderful!” wrote Elia Cozzi from the New Millennium Observatory, posting in the mpml asteroid research group message board.

We hope to have images of the event when they become available.

4179 Toutatis, with a shape that has been described as a “malformed potato” will pass at a large distance of 6.9 million kilometers (4.3 million miles) away from Earth, or more than 18 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

It is a biggie, though at 4.46 kilometers (2.7 miles) long and 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide, and is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid because it makes repeated passes by the Earth, about every four years. In comparison, the asteroid that is thought to have destroyed the dinosaurs was approximately 10 km (6 miles) wide.

It’s closest pass will be covered by the Slooh Space Camera on Tuesday, December 11th, with several live shows on Slooh.com, free to the public, starting at 20:00 UTC (12 PM PST / 3 PM EST, find international times here — accompanied by real-time discussions with Slooh President, Patrick Paolucci, and Astronomy Magazine columnist, Bob Berman.

At its maximum brightness, Toutatis might be barely visible through binoculars, but should be very bright through Slooh telescopes at its being tracked.

“We will be tracking Asteroid Toutatis live from two observatory locations – Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa and Arizona,” said Patrick Paolucci, President at Slooh.

Astronomers are interested in this returning asteroid to try and figure out what the asteroid is made of. Also by refining a model of the asteroid’s rotation, they’ll get a better idea of its composition, thereby gaining a greater understanding of the early solar system.

Lance Benner from JPL said that this asteroid is tumbling slowly, but with a complex motion.

“It’s a very peculiar rotation state,” Benner said. “It rotates very slowly and it tumbles in a manner somewhat similar to the way a football tumbles if you screw up a long pass.”

Sources: Slooh, Earth-Sky blog, JPL Small Body database, Planetary Science Institute

December 10, 2012December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Memorable Space Tweeps of 2012

To space Tweeps, Twitter is so much more than just a news service. It’s a community, a spot where everyone can showcase their interests and form professional bonds with each other.

The most prominent space-themed Twitter accounts of 2012 somehow transcended their original purpose, too. A NASA Mars Curiosity account ended up hobnobbing with comedian Steve Martin, and a space-station-passing service suddenly found itself in bit of a Twitter controversy.

Here are 10 of some of the most memorable Twitter accounts from this year. Yes, there’s a lot of Mars reflected here, but the entities quoted below explore all over the Universe.

@astro_andre

Dutch astronaut André Kuipers spent the first half of 2012 orbiting Earth. From his perch aboard the International Space Station, he participated in the historic SpaceX docking in May and finished 50 experiments. But rather than dwell on these achievements, he spent his tweeting time in space showing his gorgeous pictures of Earth. Maybe that old Apollo phrase about going to space and discovering Earth still has resonance today.

@BadAstronomer

Phil Plait is a good scientist-cum-journalist to follow in general, because his tweets constantly show his love of the universe. (“Embiggen!” he would perhaps shout at this point.) What made him stand out in 2012, though, was his willingness to use his immense Internet fame to showcase the work of others, such as his frequent Tweeting and posting of great space images and timelapse videos, or helping to ‘kickstart’ new projects and help them get off the ground, such as the Uwingu astronomy startup. He shows that Twitter most definitely has altruistic use.

@chrislintott

Chris Lintott demonstrated how to handle a situation when a close, beloved colleague passes away. The co-presenter of The Sky At Night was among the first official voices giving word of Sir Patrick Moore‘s death, and he retweeted messages of remembrance from colleagues and ordinary people. Nicely done, during what was a difficult time.

@claratma

Hard to believe Clara Ma is a mere 15 years old when reading tweets like this. The Kansas-based teenager named the Mars Curiosity rover. This year, she has been graciously fielding interview requests from journalists, and messages of support from NASA employees, ever since the rover made it to Mars in August.

@Cmdr_Hadfield

OK, I’ll admit my bias here: I’m Canadian. I’ve been watching Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield since he was selected 20 years ago. But in the Twittersphere, he’s made an impact. My fellow journalists publicly speak about his work, with respect. His tweets showing his astronaut training are favourited and retweeted by people all over the world. And as the first Canadian to command the International Space Station next year, Hadfield will be a force to watch in 2013.

@MarsCuriosity

Three NASA employees are behind the “hive mind” of @MarsCuriosity. The official feed for the Curiosity mission skyrocketed to fame in 2012, receiving tweets from celebrities ranging from Britney Spears to the aforementioned Steve Martin. In this case, happily, “official” doesn’t always mean “staid.” The Twitter account has been a bevy of jokes and cheerful updates in between the standard scientific results.

@NASAVoyager

At 35 years and counting, the two NASA Voyager spacecraft have ventured into the newer field of social media. The accounts received more attention as Voyager 1 reached the edge of our solar system in 2012. It’s hard to summarize solar and interstellar physics in just 140 characters, but this official NASA account does it quite well.

@SarcasticRover

Nothing says pop culture as seeing your catchphrase — “Let’s Do a Science!” — repeated ad nauseum by planetary scientists on Twitter. The brainchild of Jason Filiatrault, this account is a parody of the official Mars Curiosity Twitter and depicts a rover angrily making its way around Mars after being ordered there by unfeeling humans. Besides wry observations of Martian life, the rover broadcasts its point of view on recent discoveries in a unique way.

@SpaceX

Not often that a corporate account uses four exclamation marks in a row, but the space geeks would argue this is justified. SpaceX made headlines and history in 2012 when the Dragon spacecraft berthed with the International Space Station — a first for a private spacecraft. SpaceX’s Twitter not only broadcasts mission news, but also seeks out mentions of the company and adds commentary.

@twisst

Just before the International Space Station passes by overhead, @twisst gives you a heads-up that you’ll be able to see it. This popular account’s service was briefly shut down in 2012 due to Twitter’s concerns about the duplicate accounts required to make the service work. But a few tweaks later, @twisst returned — to the delight of its thousands of followers.

December 10, 2012September 9, 2018 by Nancy Atkinson

How to Train for Long-Duration Spaceflight, with Chris Hadfield

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield prior to his world-famous Expedition 34/35 mission in 2013. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Chris Hadfield getting dressed for work – “with a little help from my friends,” he said.

On December 19, 2012, a trio of Expedition 34 crewmembers are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and head towards their home in space for six months, the International Space Station. Among the crew is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who for over two years has been training for this flight. During that time, Hadfield has been sharing his training experiences through Twitter and Facebook, letting the public get an inside look at what it takes to prepare for a long-duration spaceflight. Some of this training – much of it, in fact – is not pretty or glamorous or easy. But it will get you to one of the most unique destinations that humans have ever gone.

With Hadfield’s help, we’re going to share some of his training experiences and insights from the past two years as we wait for his launch in ten days. Hadfield is now in quarantine in Kazakhstan, making final preparations for his flight with crewmates Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko.

“Enemas and Barf Bags – the less glamorous side of spaceflight 🙂 From today’s medical briefings in quarantine,” Tweeted Hadfield on December 9, 2012.

“When you first become an astronaut,” Hadfield said earlier this year from his office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, “your training is like a big pyramid. Initially, it is like the bottom of the pyramid and is very broad-brush, where you cover a lot of topics but don’t get into super-detail. Then you start getting more and more detail on specific things like systems, specialties, and robotics, and then start getting deeper and deeper into each of them.”

“But then, when you get assigned to a flight, you review all those things and then start focusing on things that a pertinent to your increment, and when you get closer to the flight you start putting everything together and do simulations where you have to know the things that you really need to know,” Hadfield explained, adding that this is similar to studying at any university, and then going out into the real world….except that the stakes are much higher in space, and your life can depend on your training.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 34 Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency conducts a “fit check” dress rehearsal inside the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft Dec. 7, 2012. Credit: NASA

“The training starts with a lot of theory and classroom and powerpoint and exams through simulations and practical things,” Hadfield said. For example, the morning we talked with him, he had spent an hour learning how to repair the water processing and urine purification systems on the ISS, then went on to inventory management of food, learning how to keep track and store the food. The next day, he was have a “day in the life” simulation where he and Marshburn would spend a day as if they were on the ISS, practicing everything from their daily planning conference and getting their the daily uplink messages, to sampling the indoor atmosphere, fixing broken equipment, and doing inventory.

“We’re going from theoretical to practical,” Hadfield said.

“I’m studying for my final 7 exams to qualify for spaceflight,” said Hadfield on November 5, 2012.”

On top of the general training is the specific training for the science and various payloads that will be part of their expedition. That training is often very specific.

“With some we have to get quite hands on, like doing a cardio ultrasound where we the technician, and others where we just have to monitor the power systems,” Hadfield said. “It all blends together and as you get closer to the top of the pyramid, it gets very focused on what you need to know.”

“The Final Sim – the biggie, 8 hours in the Soyuz where they throw everything at us. We’re ready!” said Hadfield on November 27, 2012.

Hadfield is a veteran of two previous space flights on the space shuttle but this will be his first long-duration flight on the ISS.

“Both times I thought, wow, I wish I could stay,” Hadfield said. “To leave earth for awhile, change your zip code for awhile and really leave Earth; I was jealous of that experience. Now after a lot of lucky coincidences and a lot of hard work I get to be one of those who stays for an extended period off the planet. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“4 Flags over Kazakhstan – I was proud to raise the Maple Leaf, now flying above our Quarantine here in Baikonur,” Tweeted Hadfield on December 10, 2012.

And there’s a bit of Canadian pride that goes along with this. Hadfield was the first Canadian to operate the robotic Canadarm in space in 1995 and on his second flight in 2001 Hadfield made the first Canadian spacewalk as he attached Canadarm2 to the International Space Station.

And now, in another first for a Canadian, Hadfield will take command of the ISS for the second half of his mission, lead a crew of two Americans and three Russians during the final three months.

“Russian crew poster. Happy to be cast as Tommy Lee Jones,” said Hadfield on November 29, 2012.

“Astronaut Glamour Shot – white underwear, black socks, Snoopy helmet & leather slippers. The ensemble screams ‘cool'” Tweeted Hadfield on October 31, 2012.

Video: Chris Hadfield Suits-up and Signs-off on his final Soyuz Qualification exam

Video: School is never out for an astronaut – Chris Hadfield in Star City, Russia. Translation: “We are walking to work—to school—at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia.”

Additional articles in this series:
How to Train for Long Duration Space Flight with Chris Hadfield
How to Train for a Mission to the ISS: Medical Mayhem
How to Train for a Mission to the ISS: Eating in Space
How to Train for a Mission to the ISS: The Soyuz

December 10, 2012January 4, 2016 by Astronomy Cast

Astronomy Cast Ep. 279: The Hubble Constant

When Edwin Hubble observed that distant galaxies are speeding away from us in all directions, he discovered the reality that we live in an expanding Universe. Hubble worked to calculate exactly how fast this expansion is happening, creating the Hubble constant – which astronomers continue to refine and reference in their research.

Click here to download the episode.

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

“Hubble Constant” on the Astronomy Cast website, with shownotes and transcript.

And the podcast is also available as a video, as Fraser and Pamela now record Astronomy Cast as part of a Google+ Hangout:
Continue reading “Astronomy Cast Ep. 279: The Hubble Constant”

December 10, 2012December 29, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Carnival of Space #279

This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Brian Wang at Next Big Future.

Click here to read Carnival of Space #279

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.

December 10, 2012December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Astronomer Giovanni Sostero, 1964-2012

Giovanni Sostero, 1964-2012. Image courtesy of the Remanzacco Observatory

With sadness, we learned of the death of amateur astronomer Giovanni Sostero last Friday. Universe Today readers will remember Giovanni as a member of the team of astronomers from the Remanzacco Observatory in Italy, whose outstanding work we frequently feature, especially for their observations of comets, asteroids and supernovae. Tragically, Giovanni was just 48 years old and passed away due to complications following a heart attack.

Giovanni was credited with the discovery of several supernovae, and Asteroid 9878 Sostero (1994 FQ) was named after him to honor his astronomical observations. His work was published in several professional astronomical journals and he was a leading and active member of the Associazione Friulana di Astronomia e Meteorologia, based in Friuli, Italy, and was an honorary member of the Astronomical Observatory of Visnjan in Croatia.

Not only did he work hard behind the eyepiece, but he was very active in public outreach about astronomy.

Giovanni’s closest colleagues were his co-astronomers at the Remanzacco Observatory, Ernesto Guido and Nick Howes. Both have graciously penned their remembrances of Giovanni for Universe Today, so please read on to get a true sense of not only how much Giovanni contributed to the world of astronomy, but also his unique personality. He will be greatly missed and we at Universe Today send our condolences to his family and friends.

From Ernesto Guido
Italy:

Over the past eight years, I had the privilege to undertake astronomy projects working closely with Giovanni Sostero. In fact our collaboration and friendship started at the beginning of 2005. At that time Giovanni was already an accomplished amateur astronomer known both nationally and internationally for its expertise, his scientific rigor and for his overwhelming passion for the comets. For my part, I was then moving the first steps as a young amateur astronomer. Eager to do my part, I dearly wanted to be a part of any team with the best names in contemporary astronomy and for these past 8 years was lucky enough to meet Giovanni along my own personal road.

Born in Udine in 1964, Giovanni was for many years President of the Italian astronomy association AFAM of Remanzacco. He was coordinator of the comet section of UAI (Unione Astrofili Italiani) and one of the leaders of CARA Team (Comet AfRho Research Group). He began his collaboration with the UAI Comet section in 1983 (the year of perihelion passage of 22P/Kopff), and subsequently participated to the International Halley Watch watching the 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and 1P/Halley.

His passing is a great loss for all those who loved him and for the world of astronomy. It is impossible to list here the many discoveries, articles and all contributions he made to the world of professional and amateur astronomy, not only to the field of comets.

One need only recall the 11 supernovae discovered by him in the years 2005-2009, a nova in the galaxy M31 in 2000 (the first discovery by amateur means) together with dear friends of Remanzacco Observatory, the discovery of dozens of asteroids and the observation and follow-up of hundreds of comets and Near Earth Asteroids (NEOs). In the last two years, we had embarked on a new partnership and friendship with the English amateur astronomer Nick Howes. We both agreed that we could get wonderful results together with Nick, but a cruel fate took Giovanni away too soon.

It will be impossible to fill the void he leaves, but the best way to honour him will be to continue on the road we had taken together to try shed some more light via our research on the objects he loved so much, the comets.

Giovanni was a great person, a great astronomer and the best of friends. I will miss him immensely!

Comet Garradd (C/2009 PI) as it passes by the globular cluster M92 in the constellation Hercules, was taken remotely from the Tzek Maun Observatory in New Mexico by the team of Giovanni Sostero, Ernest Guido and Nick Howes.

From Nick Howes,
UK:

I first encountered the remarkable Giovanni Sostero and his long time friend and collaborator Ernesto Guido in 2010, after the successful imaging of Comet 103P in support of the NASA AOP program. I was using the 2m Faulkes Telescopes a lot for cometary imaging, and after we got chatting, onlline, we decided to collaborate as a team working on both the Faulkes scopes and also their own observatory in Italy for ongoing cometary research projects. His knowledge of the skies was truly staggering, as was his knowledge of comets in general. I learnt so much from working with him, a kind, generous and informative individual with a phenomenal sense of humour.

You only have to look at the over 1880 NASA ADS citations he has for his work, combined with several supernova discoveries and an asteroid named after him, to realise that not only the amateur community, of which we are all proud members, but the professional astronomical community, respected and loved this man.

The reaction on the social media sites and comet mailing lists has been universal, one of shock and deep sadness, that we have lost such a wonderful mind, and such a great person. I valued his friendship greatly, his mentoring, his help and passion for astronomy were invaluable, and words can’t express the deep sadness I think we all feel. The team at Faulkes…well we’re all in deep shock… as we had great plans for this year, with the ESA comet 67P mission project, our plans to track comet ISON and comet Panstarrs L4, but Ernesto and I will continue, and aim to honour his name with many great new discoveries.

You can read more words of condolences for Giovanni here.

December 10, 2012April 26, 2016 by Jenny Winder

Remembrances and Reflections: Sir Patrick Moore 1923 – 2012

Sir Patrick Moore. Credit: sirpatrickmoore.com

Astronomers, both professional and amateur, throughout the world, were saddened yesterday to hear of the death of Sir Patrick Moore. He was the reason many of them became interested in the stars in the first place. For 55 years, from 26 April 1957 until his final broadcast on 3 December 2012, he was our monthly guide to the stars, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest-serving TV presenter of the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history, The Sky at Night.

He was born Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, at Pinner, Middlesex on 4 Mar 1923 and later moved to Sussex. Heart problems during his youth lead to him being educated at home. When he was 6 he was given a copy of The Story of the Solar System by GF Chambers which began his life long passion for astronomy and 5 years later, at age 11, he joined the British Astronomical Association. By age 14 he was asked to run a small local observatory in East Grinstead.

At the age of sixteen he lied about his age in order to join the Royal Air Force and from 1940 until 1945 he served as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command, reaching the rank of flight lieutenant. It was during the war that his fiancée, a nurse called Lorna, was killed by a bomb in London. He never married, saying later: “there was no one else for me … second best is no good for me … I would have liked a wife and family, but it was not to be.” He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1945.

After the war he began teaching and built his own 12½ inch reflector telescope in his garden and began to observe the moon. In 1952 wrote his Guide to the Moon, the first of over 100 books he was to write in his lifetime, all typed on his 1908 Woodstock typewriter. His detailed maps of the moon’s surface were eventually used by Nasa as part of the preparations for the moon landing.

On 26 April 1957, at 10:30 pm, he presented the first episode of The Sky at Night, which was scheduled to run for only three months. During his 55 years as presenter he only missed a single episode and from 2004 the programme was broadcast from his home as arthritis meant he was unable to travel to the studios any longer.

He was Director of the newly constructed Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland from 1959 until 1968 when he returned to England to live at Farthings in Selsey. He covered all the Apollo missions for television reported on the Voyager and Pioneer programmes and in 1966 was the only amateur astronomer to be elected a member of the International Astronomical Union. The Caldwell catalogue of astronomical objects was compiled by him and asteroid 2602 Moore was named in his honour.

He was keen pianist and accomplished xylophone player and composer, a chess player, golfer and cricketer. He travelled extensively to all seven continents, including Antarctica and claimed that he was the only person to have met the first man to fly, Orville Wright, the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, and the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. In 2001, he was knighted for “services to the popularisation of science and to broadcasting” and became the only amateur astronomer ever to be appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society.

In an interview in 2008, he said: “In astronomy, amateurs have always played a major part, and they still do. Amateurs do things professional astronomers don’t want to do, haven’t time to do or can’t do. And the average amateur knows the sky a great deal better than the average professional. So, amateurs discover comets, novae and so on.”

He never had any formal training himself and was keen to support and promote the real contribution that amateur astronomers can make to science. He made a point of responding to all letters delivered to his house and delighted in helping to encourage anyone who showed an interest in the stars. He famously had no time for conspiracy theorists, UFOlogists or astrologers. He gave lectures, tours and public appearances, seemingly to anybody who asked. though he held many views that I will kindly call ‘old fashioned’ and move on, he was happy for people to visit his observatory at his beloved home in FSelsey, which became effectively an open house and science centre. When the news of his death broke tributes poured in from friends and colleagues across the UK and around the world, many feeling they had lost, not just the man responsible for sparking their interest in astronomy, but a mentor and friend, many had stories of his generosity to share.

British amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (center), with co-presenter Chris Lintott (left), and the astrophysicist guitarist Brian May (right). Credit: Steve Elliot.

Chris Lintott, Sir Patrick’s co-presenter on the Sky at Night said “Sir Patrick dedicated his life to talking about astronomy at any opportunity – not out of a desire to make a name for himself or to further an agenda, but because he thought the world would be a better place if he did so.”

Linitott told Universe Today that even though Moore was based in the UK, his appeal was international.

“I remember being at the IAU and finding that astronomers from all over the world were queuing up to thank him for sparking their interest,” Lintott said via email. “He also brought amateurs and professionals together, treating everyone as an equal.”

In a statement, musician, astrophysicist and another “Sky at Night” co-presenter Brian May said called Moore a “dear friend and a kind of father figure to me.” adding, “Patrick will be mourned by the many to whom he was a caring uncle, and by all who loved the delightful wit and clarity of his writings, or enjoyed his fearlessly eccentric persona in public life. Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one.”

Another presenter, Paul Abel, gave an interview about Sir Patrick this morning, and you can hear the audio here.

The theme tune for Sky at Night is the first movement from Pelléas et Mélisande,’ At the Castle Gate’ by Sibelius. When I heard of his death I posted the video in tribute to him and many commented that after the first few bars they expected to hear Sir Patrick’s distinctive voice wishing them a ‘Good evening’, I think that is true of a generation of astronomers. Thank you Sir Patrick.

More about Sir Patrick here

December 9, 2012December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Sir Patrick Moore Dies at Age 89

Sir Patrick Moore, one of the world's greatest astronomy popularizers. He wrote more than 70 books and was the host of the long-running BBC TV series "The Sky at Night".

Astronomer, author and television personality Sir Patrick Moore has died. He was 89. A statement from friends and staff from the long-running BBC television show “The Sky at Night,” said Moore “passed away peacefully” at his home in in the UK. He had been hospitalized last week and after “it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy.”

Moore presented “The Sky At Night” for over 50 years, making him the longest-running host of the same television show ever. He also wrote dozens of books on astronomy.

Moore was said to be “an inspiration to generations of astronomers,” and was on “The Sky at Night” right up until the most recent episode.

“His executors and close friends plan to fulfil his wishes for a quiet ceremony of interment, but a farewell event is planned for what would have been Patrick’s 90th birthday in March 2013.”

Chris Lintott, co-presenter and co-author with Moore, told Universe Today that even though Moore was based in the UK, his appeal was international.

December 9, 2012April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Curiosity Gets a Sister – What Should She Do ? Scientists Speak

Image caption: Seeing Double – Future Martian Sisters. NASA just announced plans to build and launch a new Mars science robotic rover in 2020 based on the design of the tremendously successful Curiosity rover which touched down safely inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. This mosaic illustrates an imaginary Red Planet get-together of Curiosity and her yet to be constructed Martian sister. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer

Curiosity will apparently get a sister after all and she’ll be born in 2020 – rising from the ashes of a near death experience.

The good news concerning approval of a future NASA Mars rover was announced this week by John Grunsfeld, NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA HQ, at the 2012 annual meeting of the AGU (American Geophysical Union) held in San Francisco.

What should Curiosity’s younger sister do? There are a multitude of great ideas, but a paucity of money in these very tough budget times – foremost among them is to gather and return the first ever Martian soil samples to Earth. What should the science goals be especially with regards to sample cache/return?

So, I asked these questions to Grunsfeld and leading Mars scientists, including Steve Squyres, Ray Arvidson and Jim Bell, the science team and camera leaders of NASA’s wildly successful Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Opportunity is nearing the 9th anniversary of her Red Planet touchdown – and is exploring the most scientifically bountiful terrain yet of her entire mission at this very moment.

The design for the new Mars rover, let’s call it MSL 2, will be largely based on NASA’s hugely successful Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover and the breathtaking rocket powered ‘Sky Crane’ landing architecture she so elegantly employed for touchdown barely 4 months ago on Aug. 6, 2012.

Grunsfeld and the researchers weighed in to Universe Today with their thoughts on this – “Will the 2020 Mars rover be focused on astrobiology and the search for life? Or, other goals like sample return or future human visits?”

“That question will ultimately be determined by the Science Definition Team,” Grunsfeld told me. “Historically the driving question behind our Mars exploration has been ‘are we alone in the universe?’ that includes searching for signs of conditions supportive of past and/or present life on Mars.”

Steve Squyres, of Cornell University in New York, says that “sample return is the next logical step” in Mars exploration.

“Simple… it should collect and cache a well-chosen set of samples for eventual return to Earth,” Squyres told me. “Doing so was the clear top priority of the recent planetary decadal survey.”

Squyres led the planetary decadel survey for the National Research Council (NRC) and is the scientific Principal Investigator for the Spirit and Opportunity MER rovers.

Image caption: Artists Concept for Mars Sample Return mission. Credit: NASA

“The recently announced 2020 rover has the potential to be directly responsive to the recommendations of the recent planetary decadal survey. The highest priority large mission identified by the Mars community, and indeed by the broader planetary community, in the decadal was a rover that would collect and cache a suite of samples for eventual return to Earth. The 2020 rover, which will be based on the highly capable MSL design, clearly can have that capability if it is appropriately equipped,” Squyres elaborated.

“The National Research Council planetary decadal survey documented the US planetary science community’s consensus views on future priorities for planetary exploration. The 2020 rover mission will be consistent with those priorities only if it collects and caches a suite of samples for eventual return to Earth,” Squyres told Universe Today.

Although retrieving and returning pristine samples from the Red Planet’s surface has long been the top priority for many researchers like Squyres, that ambitious goal would also be expensive and likely require a sequential series of flights to accomplish. But it is doable and would enable scientists on Earth to utilize every one of the most powerful science instruments at their disposal to help solve the most fundamental mysteries of all, like; ‘How did the Solar System form’, ’Did life ever exist on Mars’ and “Are We Alone?’

Ray Arvidson, of Washington University in St. Louis and deputy Principal Investigator for the MER rover, said this to Universe Today:

“For the 2020 rover I would frame the rationale and purpose as:

“*The surface area of Mars is equivalent to the surface area of Earth’s continents. The more we look the richer the geologic record relevant to ancient climatic conditions (e.g., the rover bed gravels found by MSL and the new clay hunting grounds Opportunity is exploring). Thus another MSL class rover and payload to a new site of paleo-environmental interest would be wonderful. Imagine trying to unravel Earth’s history by exploring three locations (MER+MSL) on the continents,” Arvidson informed me.

“*Given the rich, complex nature of the geologic record another MSL class rover exploring a new location will definitely help us narrow down the best place to go for sample return.”

“*For the 2020 rover include some engineering tests that will lead to a lower risk sample return mission. This could be what measurements to do to decide on which samples to acquire and keep, could be how to drill, handle, and cache, etc.”

Jim Bell, of Arizona State University and team leader for the MER Pancam cameras also feels that sample return is the top priority.

“I think it’s important that the 2020 rover adhere to the planetary science community’s stated goals for the next flagship-class mission to Mars–that it make significant progress towards a robotic Mars sample return’” Bell told me. “This was the judgment of the recent National Academy of Science’s Planetary Decadal Survey–representing the consensus of more than 1600 professional planetary scientists worldwide. The simplest way to implement that would be to make the 2020 rover a caching rover–able to store well-selected samples for potential later return to Earth by another mission.”

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to send a new MSL-class rover to Mars, and speaking with my Planetary Society President hat on, I think the public will be really excited to follow another mission as well.”

“Mars exploration is incredibly popular, and represents the best aspects of American engineering, innovation, and scientific exploration. That mission, and the continuing discoveries from Curiosity, Opportunity, and other missions, will help get us closer to answering age-old questions like, “are we alone?” Exciting!” Bell said.

By reutilizing the now proven MSL designs, NASA should be able to restrain and accurately estimate the development costs while simultaneously retiring a lot of the unknown risks associated with the construction and testing of MSL 1.

At the AGU briefing, Grunsfeld said that the 2020 rover will cost about $1.5 Billion, plus or minus $200 million, and fits within the president’s NASA budget request for 2013 and going forward. Curiosity cost about $2.5 Billion over the course of a 10 year development span.

“This mission concept fits within the current and projected Mars exploration budget, builds on the exciting discoveries of Curiosity, and takes advantage of a favorable launch opportunity,” says Grunsfeld.

The exact nature and actual mass of the 2020 rover’s science instruments will be decided by the Science Definition Team and also depends on the actual budget allocation received by NASA.

The surprising decision to fund MSL 2 comes despite the Obama Administrations cancellation earlier this year of NASA’s participation in a pair of missions to Mars, jointly proposed with the European Space Agency (ESA) – the 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter and the 2018 ExoMars rover. ESA has now forged a new alliance with Russia to carry out Mars exploration. NASA will fund instruments on both spacecraft.

In February 2012, the Obama Administration cut the planetary science budget by 20% and NASA was forced to withdrawn from the two joint Mars missions with ESA – as outlined earlier here and here.

So, I asked Grunsfeld, “Will the 2020 mission be international with participation by ESA or Roscosmos?”

“Yes, it will be international. Details will be worked out in the planning phase,” Grunsfeld replied.

Image caption: Artist concept shows Earth return capsule with Red planet samples during rendezvous in Mars orbit. Credit: NASA

The 2020 launch window is next most favorable window after 2018 and would permit a higher weight of landed science instruments compared to Curiosity.

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who represents the area that is home to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has worked to reverse the budget cuts, applauded the announcement of “the new robotic science rover set to launch in 2020.”

Schiff issued a statement that said, “While a 2020 launch would be favorable due to the alignment of Earth and Mars, a launch in 2018 would be even more advantageous as it would allow for an even greater payload to be launched to Mars. I will be working with NASA, the White House and my colleagues in Congress to see whether advancing the launch date is possible and what it would entail.”

Now it’s up to NASA to formulate a well defined and realistic plan that the politicians will support. The specific payload and science instruments for the 2020 mission will be openly competed following established processes for instrument selection. A science definition team will be appointed to outline the scientific objectives for the mission.

Stay tuned here for continuing updates on Curiosity and the future of Mars exploration and more.

** Here is your chance to do something positive & simple – and ‘Save Our Science’!

Cast your vote for Curiosity as TIME magazine Person of the Year. Vote now and avoid the long lines at the polling booth – before it’s too late. You only have until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 12 to cast your vote online.

Ken Kremer

…..
Learn more about Curiosity’s groundbreaking discoveries and NASA missions at my upcoming free presentation for the general public at Princeton University.

Dec 11: Free Public lecture titled “Curiosity and the Search for Life on Mars (in 3 D)” and more including the Space Shuttle, Orion and SpaceX by Ken Kremer at Princeton University and the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton (AAAP) in Princeton, NJ at 8 PM – Princeton U campus at Peyton Hall, Astrophysics Dept. Students welcome.

Image Caption: Panoramic mosaic shows gorgeous Glenelg terrain where Curiosity is now touring in search of first rocks to drill into and sample. The eroded rim of Gale crater and base of Mount Sharp seen in the distance. This is a cropped version of the wider mosaic as assembled from 75 images acquired by the Mastcam 100 camera on Sol 64 in October 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

December 8, 2012December 23, 2015 by Jason Major

X-ray Burst May Be the First Sign of a Supernova

GRB 080913, a distant supernova detected by Swift. This image merges the view through Swift’s UltraViolet and Optical Telescope, which shows bright stars, and its X-ray Telescope. Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler

The first moments of a massive star going supernova may be heralded by a blast of x-rays, detectable by space telescopes like Swift, which could then tell astronomers where to look for the full show in gamma rays and optical wavelengths. These findings come from the University of Leicester in the UK where a research team was surprised by the excess of thermal x-rays detected along with gamma ray bursts associated with supernovae.

“The most massive stars can be tens to a hundred times larger than the Sun,” said Dr. Rhaana Starling of the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy. “When one of these giants runs out of hydrogen gas it collapses catastrophically and explodes as a supernova, blowing off its outer layers which enrich the Universe.

“But this is no ordinary supernova; in the explosion narrowly confined streams of material are forced out of the poles of the star at almost the speed of light. These so-called relativistic jets give rise to brief flashes of energetic gamma-radiation called gamma-ray bursts, which are picked up by monitoring instruments in space, that in turn alert astronomers.”

Powerful gamma ray bursts — GRBs — emitted from supernovae can be detected by both ground-based observatories and NASA’s Swift telescope. Within seconds of detecting a burst (hence its name) Swift relays its location to ground stations, allowing both ground-based and space-based telescopes around the world the opportunity to observe the burst’s afterglow.

But the actual moment of the star’s collapse, when its collapsing core reacts with its surface, isn’t observed — it happens too quickly, too suddenly. If these “shock breakouts” are the source of the excess thermal x-rays (a.k.a. black body emission) that have been recently identified in Swift data, some of the galaxy’s most energetic supernovae could be pinpointed and witnessed at a much earlier moment in time — literally within the first seconds of their birth.

“This phenomenon is only seen during the first thousand seconds of an event, and it is challenging to distinguish it from X-ray emission solely from the gamma-ray burst jet,” Dr. Starling said. “That is why astronomers have not routinely observed this before, and only a small subset of the 700+ bursts we detect with Swift show it.”

More observations will be needed to determine if the thermal emissions are truly from the initial collapse of stars and not from the GRB jets themselves. Even if the x-rays are determined to be from the jets it will provide valuable insight to the structure of GRBs… “but the strong association with supernovae is tantalizing,” according to Dr. Starling.

Read more on the University of Leicester press release here, and see the team’s paper in the Nov. 28 online issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society here (Full PDF on arXiv.org here.)

Inset image: An artist’s rendering of the Swift spacecraft with a gamma-ray burst going off in the background. Credit: Spectrum Astro. Find out more about the Swift telescope’s instruments here.