The blue star near the center of this image is Zeta Ophiuchi, a runaway star plowing through the constellation Ophiuchus. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
Lots of folks seem to be up in arms about the “new” sign in the zodiac, Ophiuchus, and the news that all the star signs are no longer in sync with the actual constellations. Of course, *most* of us already knew that news is centuries old, and that the zodiac has no effect whatsoever on our lives and it never has (most readers of Universe Today, anyway!) Now for some real news about Ophiuchus: NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE has found a massive, runaway star, called Zeta Ophiuchi that is plowing through a cloud of space dust in Ophiuchus. The result is a brilliant bow shock, seen here as a yellow arc in this stunning new image. Continue reading “The Real News about Ophiuchus: There’s a Runaway Star Plowing Through It”
Looking for the orbiting NanoSail-D just got more exciting! NASA and Spaceweather.com have teamed up to offer prizes for the best amateur astronomy image of the now-orbiting and unfurled NanoSail-D solar sail. NanoSail-D unfurled the first 100-square-foot solar sail in low-Earth orbit on Jan. 20.
To encourage observations of NanoSail-D, Spaceweather.com is offering prizes for the best images of this historic, pioneering spacecraft in the amounts of $500 (grand prize), $300 (first prize) and $100
(second prize).
The contest is open to all types of images, including, but not limited to, telescopic captures of the sail to simple wide-field camera shots of solar sail flares. If NanoSail-D is in the field of view, the image is eligible for judging.
The solar sail is about the size of a large tent. It will be observable for approximately 70 to 120 days before it enters the atmosphere and disintegrates. The contest continues until NanoSail-D re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.
NanoSail-D will be a target of interest to both novice and veteran sky watchers. Experienced astrophotographers will want to take the first-ever telescopic pictures of a solar sail unfurled in space.
Backyard stargazers, meanwhile, will marvel at the solar sail flares — brief but intense flashes of light caused by sunlight glinting harmlessly from the surface of the sail.
NanoSail-D could be five to 10 times as bright as the planet Venus, especially later in the mission when the sail descends to lower orbits. The NanoSail-D satellite was jointly designed and built by NASA engineers from the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
To learn more about the NanoSail-D imaging challenge and contest rules, satellite tracking predictions and sighting times, visit this page about NanoSail-D. (not much info there yet as I write this….)
There’s a new observing app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad, called TeleCalc. Enter in two data points about your telescope (aperture and focal ratio) and two about the eyepiece (focal length and diameter) the program calculates angular field of view, best eyepiece magnification, resolution (Dawes, Rayleight), exit pupil, limiting stellar magnitude and light gathering power.
TeleCalc is available in eight languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese. Search “TeleCalc” in iTunes to download it or find it on the iTunes store.
Thanks to developer Fabio Rendelucci who has given Universe Today 3 free TeleCalc apps to give away.
The first 3 people to answer the following question will be sent a code for a free TeleCalc app:
To find the magnifying power of any telescope, divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the what other telescope piece?
35 hours of exposure time by R. Jay GaBany resulted in this deep, detailed view of NGC 891. Credit: R. Jay Gabany. Click for larger version.
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This image is a “first light” for noted amateur astronomer R. Jay GaBany’s new observatory, and it might be the deepest, most detailed view of the iconic edge-on spiral galaxy NCG 891. This first photograph from his new observatory in California includes almost 35 hours of exposure time! “As a result, hundreds of small, much more distant galaxies can be seen in the image as well as very small scale structures across the galaxy’s edge,” Jay wrote us. If you go to Jay’s website, Cosmotography.com, you can see larger versions where you can see very faint dust clouds, called cirrus, that have never been imaged within NGC 891 at this scale.
“Last fall, I moved my remote observatory from the south central mountains of New Mexico, where I have been taking pictures for the past five years,” Jay said, “to high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, between Yosemite and King’s Canyon National Parks, in the east central part of California….For me, the first picture included many test exposures taken to insure my instruments were functioning correctly. As a result, I chose a familiar subject so I could spot problems quickly. Luckily, I had very few challenges and my new remote observatory is now operating both smoothly and reliably!”
NGC 891 is located in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It’s easily visible with a small telescope this time of year and is a favorite subject for astrophotographers. “However, no image of this galaxy (to my knowledge) has gone as deep as this picture,” Jay said.
Also, Universe Today would like to send our congratulations to Jay for being recognized by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and Sky & Telescope Magazine, as he was awarded the Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award for his work with Dr. David Delgado and his team of professional astronomers! The award is given annually to an amateur astronomer from North America who makes outstanding contributions to scientific research.
Jay was cited as being one of the world’s leading amateur astrophotographers for the past decade, “who has single-handedly, through his dedicated and careful work, spawned a new research direction in the exploration of galaxy evolution via low-surface-brightness imaging of galaxy halo substructure,” the AAS press release said. “GaBany has devoted hundreds of hours working with professional astronomers to make deep images that reveal faint tidal streams and rings in the outer halos of galaxies, indicative of recent and ongoing galaxy interactions with dwarf satellites, supporting studies of galaxy formation.”
Is it ever possible to find yourself in a situation where you see the hands of a clock freeze? Nnnnnnnnnn….
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There is a story told about traveling at the speed of light in which you are asked to imagine that you begin by standing in front of a big clock – like Big Ben. You realize that your current perception of time is being informed by light reflected off the face of the clock – which is telling you it’s 12:00. So if you then shoot away at the same speed as that light – all you will continue to see is that clock fixed at 12:00, since you are moving at the same speed that this information is moving. And so you discover that at the speed of light, time essentially stands still.
While there are a number of things wrong with this story – as it happens, one correct thing is that if you were able to travel at the speed of light you would experience no passage of time – although there are several reasons why this is probably an impossible situation to find yourself in.
But nonetheless, if you were able to travel at light speed and not experience the passage of time – then you would have no time available to reassess your situation – indeed there would be no time available for your neurons to fire. So, you might well leave Earth with the image of the clock fixed on your retina, but since your brain has stopped working, this has nothing to do with the information carried in the light beam you are moving along with. Your retina is never refreshed with a new image as long as you stay at the speed of light.
Some insight into special relativity is gained by considering the context of someone who stayed back on Earth. If your light speed trip was aimed at a mirror at Alpha Centauri (4.3 light years away) – then from their perspective, it takes you 8.6 years to go there and bounce back. This is true even though you leave and return with an image of 12:00 stuck on your retina and rightly announce that (from your perspective) no time has passed since your departure.
But moving at light speed and experiencing no passage of time is probably an impossible scenario for we mass-challenged beings. Relativity has it that you possess a proper mass, a proper length and a proper time – which persist regardless of your velocity. If you could survive the G forces to get up to such speeds, then you could happily coast at 99.95% of the speed of light and check your pulse against your watch to find your heart still beating at 72 beats per minute – just like it did back on Earth.
It’s only when you check back with Earth that you see that something remarkable is happening. Moving at 99.5% of the speed of light gives you a time dilation factor of around 10. So while someone back on Earth will still measure your trip duration at about 8.6 years – for you it will only be around 10 months. And with a remarkably good telescope you might look back to Earth and see a distorted Big Ben, red-shifted and running slow on the way there and then blue-shifted and running very fast on the way back.
At speeds of less than 10% of the speed of light (0.1c or 30,000 km/sec) time dilation is miniscule, but from 99% speed of light up it increases asymptotically towards infinite.
One of the reasons that probably makes the experience of light speed/time freeze unobtainable is that time dilation keeps increasing the faster you move. For example, at a speed of 99.99995% of the speed of light you get a time dilation factor of about 1,000. So even if you have a spacecraft with an infinite power source capable of seemingly infinite velocities – you will keep arriving at your destination before your speedometer makes it all the way from 99.99999(etc)% of the speed of light to c = 1.0.
This is perhaps how we will populate the universe – using difficult-to-imagine investments of energy, coupled with the principle of time dilation to cross vast distances. The trick is not to get homesick, because after covering such distances you can never go back – unless it is to meet your very, very, very great grandchildren.
(I have cheated a bit by ignoring any periods of acceleration and deceleration within the journeys described here).
Japan’s H-IIB rocket blasts off with the Kounotori2 cargo resupply transporter at 2:37:57 p.m. on January 22, Japan Standard Time, (12:37:57 a.m. EST) from the remote island launching base at Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. Kounotori2 is loaded with crucial supplies destined for the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: JAXA. Watch 2 Launch Videos Below. Japanese video captures exquisite receding view of the Earth’s curvature and Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) separation during climb to orbit.
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A Japanese rocket successfully blasted off early this morning (Jan. 22) on a vital mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The launcher carried the Kounotori2 – which means ‘White Stork’ in Japanese – cargo resupply vessel. Kounotori2, also dubbed HTV2, is stocked with over 3800 kilograms (8000 pounds) of crucial science experiments, research gear, food and provisions for the six person international crew living aboard the Earth orbiting outpost.
Liftoff of the unmanned H-IIB rocket from Launch Pad No. 2 at the Tanegashima Space Center occurred earlier today at 2:37:57 p.m. on January 22, local Japan Standard Time (12:37:57 a.m. EST), from a remote island rocket base located in southern Japan.
Watch 2 Videos of the launch below. Especially be sure to view the Japanese version (interspersed with English) which captured dramatic rear-looking video of the receding Earth and its curvature and the separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) – during the ascent to orbit.
The launch was flawless in all respects. The Japanese Space Agency – JAXA – confirmed that the Kounotori2 cargo carrier separated from the launch vehicle as expected at about 15 minutes and 13 seconds after liftoff.
Blast off of the 186 foot tall rocket had been delayed two days by poor weather. By the time of Saturday’s launch, the weather had cleared with a wind speed of 8.3 meters/second from the north-west and the temperature was 10.6 degrees Celsius according to JAXA.
The H-IIB is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen with four strap-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs) powered by polybutadiene. The SRB’s were jettisoned as planned about two minutes into the flight (see video).
Rendezvous at the ISS is scheduled to take place on Jan. 27.
After the HTV2 arrives in close proximity, astronauts on board will manually dock the cargo ship to the station. Using the stations Canadian built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, the Expedition 26 crew of Cady Coleman and Scott Kelly from the US and Paolo Nespoli from Italy will grapple HTV2 and berth it to the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module.
Japanese Space Agency – JAXA – HTV Launch Video. In Japanese – interspersed with English
Video Caption: The H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 2 with the KOUNOTOR 2 (HTV 2) cargo transporter onboard launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 2:37:57 p.m. on January 22, Sat., Japan Standard Time, (12:37:57 a.m. EST) and is bound for the International Space Station (ISS). KOUNOTORI 2 translates as ‘White Stork’ in Japanese.
HTV Launch with NASA Commentary
HTV1 in flight to the ISS. The HTV, or KOUNOTORI, is an unmanned cargo transporter to be launched by the H-IIB launch vehicle. It is designed to deliver up to six tons of supplies including food, clothes, and experiment devices to the ISS in orbit at an altitude of about 400 kilometers and return with spent equipment, used clothing, and other waste material. Credit: NASA HTV2 weighs 16,061 kilograms (35,408 pounds) and measures 10 meters long by 4 meters wide (33 feet by 13 feet). The vehicle can deliver both internal and external cargo to the station. In addition to Japanese equipment, the freighter is also loaded with over 2200 kg of experiments and supplies from NASA and Canada including both pressurized and unpressurized items.
The H-II Transfer Vehicle 2 (Kounotori 2) during media day at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan on Nov. 25, 2010. Vehicle is fully assembled. Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
This was the second launch of the HTV cargo carrier which was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The maiden launch occurred in September 2009 and was a test flight to demonstrate the autonomous and remotely-controlled rendezvous capabilities while also delivering cargo and supplies to the ISS.
Japan expects to construct and launch about one HTV per year with the capability to ramp up production to two vehicles per year if necessary and if the Japanese government approves funding.
JAXA is evaluating the possibility to convert the HTV into a vehicle capable of flying humans to space.
China, the other Asian superpower, has already established a human spaceflight program.
China has successfully launched three manned capsules to space and is vigorously moving forward with plans to orbit a manned space station.
After the forced retirement of the Space Shuttle later this year, NASA will be completely dependent on commercial companies and foreign governments to launch all of its future cargo requirements to the ISS.
More HTV 2 launch and launch processing photos below from JAXA
Hubble images of the Omega Centauri starfield from 2002, left, and from 2009, right.
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Classification is key to all sciences, but can often cause debate. Within astronomy, fierce debates have raged over the definition of a planet, both on the low-mass end, as well as the high-mass end. A recent paper explores definitions on a larger scale, pondering the definition of a galaxy, particularly, what separates the smallest of galaxies, the dwarf galaxies, from star clusters.
A working definition for dwarf galaxies was proposed in 1994 based on the brightness of the object in question as well as it’s size. For brightness, the cutoff was taken to be an absolute magnitude (MB) of -16. The size would need to be “more extended than a globular cluster.”
As with many definitions, they seem to work initially, but as new technology became available, objects were discovered around the cutoff line, blurring the distinction. These objects, which were first discovered in the late 90’s, are generally referred to with names like “ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals” (dSphs) and “ultra compact dwarfs” (UCDs). Regarding these small fragments, a 2007 study noted that they may “contain so few stars that they can be fainter than a single bright star and contain less stellar mass than some globular clusters”.
To help reconsider the definition of a galaxy, the authors looked at several commonly used criteria that have been applied (often inconsistently) to these questionable cases previously. This included requirements that the system be gravitationally bound, which would keep stellar streams and other ejected objects from being considered galaxies in their own right. Obviously, most galaxies will slowly bleed away stars due to random interactions, giving rise to hypervelocity stars which will leave the galaxy, so the team proposes a threshold that the galaxy have a “relaxation time” greater than the age of the universe. This would allow dSphs and UCDs to be considered galaxies, but would keep out objects that have generally been considered globular clusters.
Another proposed constraint is based on the size of the object. The team proposes a cutoff where the effective radius be greater than or equal to 100 parsecs. This cutoff would exclude dSphs and UCDs.
The types of stars is another consideration proposed since this can be used to achieve somewhat of an understanding of the history of the object. While clusters usually form in a single instance, galaxies are generally considered to have their own, internal machinations leading to complex stellar populations. Thus, the presence of multiple populations of stars. This would include dSphs and UCDs, but may allow some globular clusters to slip in as well since studies have shown that some of our more massive globular clusters in the Milky Way have interacted with gas clouds, triggering star formation which was absorbed by the clusters.
Dark matter is another criteria that is examined. Since galaxies are proposed to form within dark matter halos and be intrinsically tied into them, the requirement that dark matter be present would fit well with the theory. However, this criteria also poses many difficulties. Firstly, measuring the presence of dark matter in small objects is a challenging task. It is also questionable as to whether or not dSphs and UCDs would contain dark matter as a general rule since their formation is not well understood and the possibility remains that they may have been ejected from our own galaxy during formation and recoalesced, possibly without a dark matter halo.
The last possible criteria is much along the same lines as the nebulous definition for planets that they dominate the local gravitational field. The team considers the possibility that objects would be required to have stellar satellite systems as globular clusters of their own. This would include some dwarf galaxies, but may exclude others.
Even with many of these criteria, classification will still be a treacherous issue. Objects like Omega Centauri may fit some definitions but not others. According to the paper’s lead author, Duncan Forbes, “many amateur astronomers know Omega Cen as massive star cluster, some professional astronomers regard it as a galaxy. This is a stellar system that could be upgraded or downgraded by this exercise, depending on your point of view.”
To help gather opinions on the topic, the authors have set up an online survey to gather opinions on this definition and hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion by collective wisdom. This poll is open to the general public and results will be presented at a future astronomical conferences allowing participants to help take part in the astronomical process. Forbes hopes that this public interaction will help garner public interest in much the same way as the Galaxy Zoo project has.
We have a solar sail! As we reported on the 19th, the little cubesat that was thought to be lost has now been found, and now today, Friday, Jan. 21, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center confirmed that the NanoSail-D deployed its 100-square-foot polymer solar sail in low-Earth orbit and is operating as planned. The sail actually deployed late on Jan. 20, and it was quite interesting to see how ham radio operators were helping the engineers monitor the critical beacons sent out by the spacecraft — with communications also being sent back and forth via Twitter. The video above is from Henk Hamoen (@PA3GUO on Twitter) who operates a ham radio station in the Netherlands. The NanoSail-D sends an beacon packet every 10 seconds, which contains data about the spacecraft systems operation, and Hamoen and others were able to help make sure things were going as planned.
Twenty-five years ago, the world watched in horror as the space shuttle Challenger blew up before our eyes on that cold January 28,1986. Touched by the tragedy, a musician named Stephen Kay wrote a song within two days of the accident in tribute to the seven crewmembers who died. But he couldn’t find any way to get the song out to the public. “You have to remember that this was 25 years ago,” Kay wrote on his website. “There was no Internet to speak of (not like it is now); no YouTube, personal websites were in their infancy, no FaceBook or MySpace, no blogs etc. – none of those various avenues to release it yourself and promote it yourself.” So, the song was put on the shelf for nearly a quarter century. But recently, when Kay realized the 25th anniversary of the accident was approaching, he used every bit of modern technology he could to bring the song back to life, and created a video to go with it. This heartfelt, moving video has been a labor of love for Kay, to honor the brave men and women of Challenger Mission STS-51L.
