Posted on by Steve Nerlich

Astronomy Without A Telescope – Life In Cosmic Rays

Lightning and Thunder
Lightning

We all know that astronomy is just plain awesome – and pretty much everything that’s interesting in the world links back to astronomy and space science in one way or another. Here I’m thinking gravity, wireless internet and of course ear thermometers. But wouldn’t it be great if we could ascribe the whole origin of life to astronomy as well? Well, apparently we can – and it’s all about cosmic rays.

Three key contenders for how it all started are:

1) Deep ocean vents, with heat, water and lots of chemistry churning away, enabled the random creation of a self-replicating crystalline compound – which, being self-replicating, rapidly came to dominate an environment of limited raw materials. From there, because it was imperfectly self-replicating, particular forms that were slightly more efficient at utilizing those limited resources came to dominate over other forms and yada, yada;

2) Something arrived on a comet or asteroid. This is the panspermia hypothesis, which just pushes the problem one step back, since life still had to start somewhere else. A bit like the whole God hypothesis really. Nonetheless, it’s a valid option; and

3) The Miller-Urey experiment demonstrated that if you zap a simple mix of water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen with an electric spark, roughly equivalent to a lightning bolt in the early Earth’s prebiotic atmosphere, you convert about 15% of the carbon present in that inorganic atmosphere into organic compounds, notably 22 amino acid types. From this base, it’s assumed that a self-replicating molecule came to be and from there… well, see point 1).

Additional support for the Miller-Urey option comes from the analysis of ‘old’ genes, being genes which are common to a wide diversity of different species and are hence likely to have been passed down from a common early ancestor. It’s found that these old genes preferentially code for amino acids that can be produced in the Miller-Urey experiment, being the only amino acids that would have been available to early Earth organisms. Only later did a much larger set of amino acids become available when subsequent generations of organisms began to learn how to synthesize them.

Nonetheless, Elykin and Wolfendale argue that the available spark energy generated in a average lightning storm would not have been sufficient to generate the reactions of the Miller-Urey experiment and that an extra factor is needed to somehow intensify the lightning in early Earth’s atmosphere. This is where cosmic rays come in.

An electron air shower produced by a high energy cosmic ray particle.

While many cosmic rays are generated by solar activity and most don’t penetrate far into the atmosphere, high energy cosmic ray particles, which generally originate from outside the solar system, can create electron air showers. These arise from a cosmic ray particle colliding with an atmospheric particle producing a cascade of charged pions, which decay into muons and then electrons – resulting in a dense collection of electrons showering down to two kilometers or less above the Earth’s surface.

Such a dense electron air shower could initiate, enhance and sustain a high energy lightning storm and the researchers propose that, perhaps when the early solar system was drifting past some primeval supernova event over four billion years ago, this was what started it all.

Awesome.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Spying on a Hubble Telescope Look-Alike

Keyhole 11 satellite, imaged in orbit about 600 km (360 miles) away. Image courtesy Ralf Vandebergh.

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Amateur astronomer Ralf Vandebergh from the Netherlands is becoming well-known for his ability to capture images of the space shuttle, space station and other satellites in low Earth orbit. Recently, he tried his hand at something a little more distant: The Keyhole 11-4 satellite, which orbits at about 600 km (360 miles) above the Earth. The KH-11 series of satellites was the first American spy satellite to utilize optical digital imaging, and create a real-time optical observation capability for reconnaissance of other countries. There were about 10 of these satellites, launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office between December 1976 and 1990. These satellites are about same shape as the Hubble Space Telescope – a cylinder with solar arrays on each side, but a little bigger: according to Wikipedia, the KH 11’s are thought to be about 19.5 meters (63 feet) long, while Hubble is 13.1 meters (43.5 ft) long. Hubble’s orbit is similar, at about 353 miles (569 kilometers), but a big difference is that while Hubble is pointed out towards space, the KH 11’s are pointed back at Earth, looking at the happenings of humans.

Ralf emailed me with this newest image, and said, “Although we are too high in latitude in the Netherlands to see the known Hubble telescope, I did the following comparable observation,” adding that he was surprised to have captured clearly the body with some detail and signs of solar panels.

“‘High res’ images may sound questionable, but realize that we speak of a category object in range 600 km altitude, and you will understand that the recorded resolution is less than the images obtained on objects as the Space Shuttle and the ISS in almost halfway its orbital altitude,” Ralf said.

Ralf’s observations of the KH 11 satellite were obtained “in steady air in the night of May 23, 2010.”

Not much else is known about the KH 11 satellites, but only a couple of them are still operational. A US CIA employee went to prison for selling the technical manuals on these satellites to the Soviet Union.

Although no ‘official’ info is out there about the KH 11’s, they are believed to resemble the Hubble Space Telescope in size and shape because the satellites were shipped in similar containers. Also, a NASA history of the Hubble said that one of the main reasons for switching Hubble from a 3-meter main mirror to a 2.4-meter design “would lessen fabrication costs by using manufacturing technologies developed for military spy satellites.”

Just what can these satellites see on the ground? Assuming a 2.4-meter mirror, the theoretical ground resolution with no atmospheric degradation and 50% Modulation Transfer Function would be roughly 15 cm (6 inches), but actual resolution would be worse due to effects of the atmosphere.

So, Ralf was spying on the spies!

Check out his webpage on the KH 11 observation, which includes a “movie” of a KH 11 flare.

Thanks again to Ralf Vandebergh for sharing his very unique images!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Carnival of Space #155

This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Brian Schmidt over at Backseat Driving.

Click here to read the Carnival of Space #155.

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, let Fraser know if you can be a host, and he’ll schedule you into the calendar.

Finally, if you run a space-related blog, please post a link to the Carnival of Space. Help us get the word out.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

First Ever Video of NASA’s ‘Ice Team’

NASA has released, for the first time, video of the final inspection of a space shuttle before launch. The Final Inspection Team, also known as the “Ice Team,” performs a walkdown of Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A during space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-132 launch countdown on May 14, 2010. The six-member team walks on every level of the pad’s fixed service structure, inspecting the shuttle, external fuel tank, solid rocket boosters, pad structure and ground equipment for signs of ice buildup, debris or anything else that might be amiss prior to launch. As part of the inspection, photos are taken and transmitted to the launch team for review.

A videographer for NASA was included as a member of the team to capture the first-ever up close, high-definition video of this important and hazardous inspection process.

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: May 28-30, 2010

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It’s a green “Corn Moon” weekend and time to get out of the house and enjoy the night sky! Enjoy sharing “Moon Illusion” with friends or simply spotting bright features with easy optics. In the mood to kick back and stargaze? The learn more about the constellation of Leo and what to look for when skies are bright. If you’re ready for a challenge, then try your hand at a few bright galaxies by holiday’s end. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the backyard….

May 28, 2010 – Today, we begin by saluting the 1930 birth on this date of Frank Drake, father of Project Ozma and formulator of the ‘‘Drake Equation,’’ used to estimate the number of technological civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. Dr. Drake also worked with Carl Sagan on the plaques placed aboard Pioneers 10 and 11, which greet any visitors the probes might encounter. Also remember Rudolph Leo B.Minkowski on this 114th anniversary of his birth. Minkowski studied spectra and contributed to the discovery of more than half of the planetary nebulae now known. Along with Walter S. Baade, Minkowski separated supernovae into spectral types and identified optical counterparts for early radio source galaxies.

Tonight is the ‘‘Full Flower Moon.’’ Earth is awakening again! Agricultural literature refers to it as the ‘‘Full Corn Planting Moon,’’ or the ‘‘Milk Moon.’’ No matter what it’s named, Moonrise is majestic to watch. Participate in a Lunar Club Challenge and do some outreach work by demonstrating ‘‘Moon Illusion’’ to someone. We know it’s purely psychological and not physical, but the fact remains that the Moon seems larger on the horizon. Using a small coin held at arm’s length, compare it to Luna as it rise, and then again as it seems to ‘‘shrink’’ as it moves up! You’ve now qualified for extra credit.


Try using colored or Moon filters to look at the many surface features that throw amazing patterns across its surface. If you have none, a pair of sunglasses will suffice. Look for things you might not ordinarily notice, such as the huge streak emanating from crater Menelaus, the pattern projected from Proclus, or the bright tiny dot of little-known Pytheas north of Copernicus. It’s hard to miss the blinding beacon of Aristarchus! Check the southeastern limb, where the edge of Furnerius lights up the landscape.. or how a nothing crater like Censorinus shines on the southeast shore of Tranquillitatis, while Dionysus echoes it on the southwest. Could you believe Manlius just north of central could be such a perfect ring, or that Anaxagoras would look like a northern polar cap? Although it might be tempting to curse the Moon for hiding the stars when it’s full, there is no other world outvthere that we can view in such detail – even if you just look with your eyes!

May 29, 2010 – Today we begin with the 1794 birth on this date of Johann Heinrich von Madler who, along with Wilhelm Beer, published the most complete map up to that time of the Moon, Mappa Selenographia. How fitting it is then, that we should have the bright Moon tonight! Before the Moon rises, take a look at the constellation of Leo and its brightest stars.

Our first destination is 85 light-year-distant Regulus. As the 21st brightest star in the night sky, 1.35-magnitude Alpha Leonis is a helium star about 5 times larger and 160 times brighter than our own Sun. Speeding away from us at 3.7 kilometers per second, Regulus is also a multiple system whose 8th magnitude B companion is easily seen in small telescopes. Regulus B is also a double, with a magnitude 12 dwarf companion of uncertain type. There’s an additional 13th magnitude star in this grouping, but it’s probably not associated with Regulus, since the ‘‘Little King’’ is moving toward it and will be very close to it in 800 years.


About a fist-width northeast of Regulus is 2.61-magnitude Gamma Leonis. Algieba is a very fine double star, but difficult to see at low power, since the 90 light-year distant pair is bright and close. Separated by about twice the diameter of our own Solar System, the gap between Algieba and its companion is slowly widening! Another two finger-widths north is 3.44-magnitude Zeta. Aldhafera is about 130 light-years away and also has an optical companion—35 Leonis. Remember this binocular pair, because they’ll lead you to galaxies later! Before we leave, look east for 3.34-magnitude Theta. Mark this one in your memory, because Chort and 3.94-magnitude Iota to the south serve as markers for a galaxy hop! Last is easternmost 2.14 magnitude Beta. Denebola is the ‘‘Lion’s Tail’’ and has several faint optical companions.

May 30, 2010 – Today we begin with the 1423 birth of Georg von Peuerbachon this date, a follower of Ptolemy’s astronomy. Georg calculated eclipses; observed Halley’s Comet before it was so named; and created astronomical instruments. Following Georg nearly half a millennium later was Hannes Alfven, born in 1908. Alfven’s life work was plasma and its electric and magnetic forces. Lastly, we have Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov, who was born in 1934. Leonov was the first man to climb out of a spacecraft (the Voskhod II ) and into space. He was the first true ‘‘astrophotographer’’ as he filmed for 10 minutes while orbiting!

Tonight’s study is for mid- to large-aperture telescopes. Begin by heading west about a fist-width from Regulus and identify 52 Leonis. Our mark is 1.5 degrees south. At lower power, you’ll see a triangle of galaxies.


The largest and brightest is M105 (RA 10 47 49 Dec +12 34 54). This dense elliptical galaxy appears evenly distributed, but the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed a huge mass within the core equal to about million suns. The companion elliptical to the northeast— NGC 3384—reveals a bright nucleus and an elongated form. The faintest of this group— NGC 3389—is a receding spiral; larger scopes will see ‘‘patchiness’’ in structure.

Continue another degree south and enjoy another galactic pair. The widely spaced M96 (RA 10 46 45 Dec +11 49 10) and M95 (RA 10 43 57 Dec +11 42 12) belong to a galaxy grouping called Leo I. The dusty spiral—M96—will appear as a silver oval, with a nucleus much sharper than its faint spiral arms. M96 hosted a supernova as recently as 1998. To its west, you’ll discover a beautiful barred spiral—M95—a prime target of the HST. Visually, we enjoy M95 for its unique ring-like arms and unmistakable barred core, but the HST was looking for Cepheid variables to help determine the Hubble constant. Although we don’t need a space telescope to view this group of galaxies, we can appreciate taking a 38-million-light-years journey from our own backyard!

Until next week? Dreams really do come true when you keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome photos are (jn order of appearance): Frank Drake (archival image), Full Moon courtesy of NASA, Leo courtesy of NASA, Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov (archival image), M105 and M95 – Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Amateur Astronomer Images X37-B Space Plane in Orbit

X37-B spaceplane captured in orbit in May 2010 by UT reader Brent 'Bozo.'

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Even since amateur astronomers picked up on the orbit of the Air Force’s secret X37-B space plane, others have been trying to capture images of the mini-space shuttle look-alike. So far, images have been just streaks or dots, but Universe Today reader Brent (a.k.a. HelloBozos) was actually able to image the plane in some detail. “This is the first I know of or have seen an actual photo taken of the X37-B Air Force Space Plane in some detail, while in orbit!” Brent said in an email. He tracked the X37-B manually with his telescope’s handcontroller, and he used a CanonT1i prime focus on a 2 inch diagonal. “This image was taken on 5-26-2010 at 9:48 pm EST, Orlando, Florida, USA. It crossed from the southwest to the northeast, crossing next to Mars and headed to the handle of the Big Dipper on a 71 degree pass.”

Below, Brent also captured a flare of the X37-B.

Flare from the X37-B spaceplane, captured by Brent.

Brent says on the colored photo, “you can make out the main wings, a rear canard, and what I dub the “Fly Swatter’ solar panel.”

Close up version of the image of the X37-B by Brent.

Brent said he tracked the X37-B from the information on HeavensAbove.com. Spaceweather.com also has tracking info, plus other images submitted by readers.

Thanks to Brent for sharing his images. Nice — and fast — shooting! And this isn’t the first time Brent was keeping his telescope’s eye out for the X37-B. He also shot the launch in good detail, even from 60 miles away. The volume is cranked on this one:

Posted on by Matt Williams

How Many Earths Can Fit in Jupiter?

Jupiter compared to Earth. Image credit: NASA

Jupiter is known as the “King of the Planets”, and for good reason. For one, it is the largest planet in the Solar System, and is actually more massive than all the other planets combined. Fittingly, it is named after the king of the Roman pantheon, the latinized version of Zeus (the king of the Olympian gods).

Compare that to Earth, which is the largest of the terrestrial planets, but a tiny marble when compared to the Jovian giant. Because their disparity in size, people often wonder many times over Earth could be squeezed in Jupiter’s massive frame. As it turns out, you could it do many, many times over!

Size and Mass Comparison:

To break the whole size discrepancy down, Jupiter has a mean radius of 69,911 ± 6 km (60217.7 ± 3.7 mi). As already noted, this is roughly 2.5 times the mass of all the planets in the Solar System combined. Compared this to Earth’s mean radius of 6,371.0 km (3,958.8 mi), and you could say that Earth fits into Jupiter almost 11 times over (10.97 to be exact).

Rough visual comparison of Jupiter, Earth, and the Great Red Spot. Approximate scale is 44 km/px. Credit: NASA/Brian0918/ Wikipedia Commons
Rough visual comparison of Jupiter, Earth, and the Great Red Spot. Approximate scale is 44 km/px. Credit: NASA/Brian0918/ Wikipedia Commons

And as already noted, Jupiter is more massive than all the other planets in our Solar System – 2.5 times as massive, that is. In fact, Jupiter weighs in at a hefty 1.8986 × 1027 kg (~4.1857 x 1027 lbs), or 1898.6 billion trillion metric tons (2.092 billion trillion US tons).

Compare that to Earth, which has a mass of 5.97 × 1024 kg (13.1668 × 1024 lb) – 5.97 billion trillion metric tons, or  6.5834 billion trillion US tons. Doing the math, we then come to the conclusion that Jupiter is approximately 317.8 times as massive as Earth.

Volume Comparison:

However, figuring for radius is only useful is you are planning on stacking the Earths end to end across the middle of the gas giant. And comparing their masses doesn’t give you a sense of size, seeing as how the planets are widely different in terms of their density.

Jupiter/Earth comparison. Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard/Tdadamemd
Jupiter/Earth comparison. Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard/Tdadamemd

To know how many Earth’s could truly fit inside in three-dimensions, you have to consider total volume, which you can calculate using the simple formula of 4/3 x Pi x radius2.

Doing the math, we find that Jupiter has a volume of 1.43 x 1015 km³ (1,430 trillion cubic km; 343 trillion cubic mi) while Earth has a volume of 1.08 trillion km3 (259 million mi). Divide the one by the other, and you get a value of 1299, meaning you could fit almost 1300 Earth’s inside Jupiter.

In short, the king of the planets is much, much, MUCH bigger than the planet we call home. Someday, if we ever hope to live around Jupiter (i.e. colonize its moons), we will be able to appreciate just how big it is up close. Until then, these impressive figures will have to suffice!

We’ve written many articles about Jupiter for Universe Today. Here’s Ten Interesting Facts About Jupiter, Jupiter Compared to Earth, What is the Diameter of Jupiter?, and How Much Bigger is Jupiter than Earth?

If you’d like more information on Jupiter, check out Hubblesite’s News Releases about Jupiter, and here’s a link to NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide to Jupiter.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast just about Jupiter. Listen here, Episode 56: Jupiter.

Sources:

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Which of the Planets is Closest to the Sun?

Mercury as Never Seen Before
Mercury as Never Seen Before

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Were you wondering which of the planets is closest to the Sun? The answer is planet Mercury. At an average distance of only 57.9 million km, Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than any other planet.

Just to give you a comparison, Venus orbits the Sun at an average distance of 108.2 million km. And Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.6 million km. So you can see that Mercury is much closer, taking only 88 days to complete an orbit around the Sun.

So, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. And then Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun, and Earth is the third closest planet to the Sun.

The distance of Mercury to the Sun is actually an average. Mercury follows an elliptical orbit around the Sun. Sometimes it’s much closer, and other times it’s much further. At its closest point, called perihelion, Mercury is only 46 million km from the Sun. And then at its most distant point in orbit, called aphelion, Mercury gets out to 69.8 million km from the Sun.

And just for comparison, the planet furthest from the Sun is Neptune, with an average distance of 4.5 billion km from the Sun.

We’ve written many articles about distances in the Solar System. Here’s an article about the distance to the Sun, and here’s an article about how far all the planets are from the Sun.

If you’d like more information on Mercury, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide, and here’s a link to NASA’s MESSENGER Misson Page.

We’ve also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast all about Mercury. Listen here, Episode 49: Mercury.

Posted on by Fraser Cain

How Many Earths Can Fit in the Sun?

Earth Compared to the Sun. Image credit: NASA
Earth Compared to the Sun. Image credit: NASA

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So, how many Earths can fit in the Sun? The answer is that it would take 1.3 million Earths to fill up the Sun. That’s a lot of Earths.

The Sun makes up 99.86% of the mass of the Solar System. And it’s the giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn which make the most of that remaining .14% of the Solar System.

If you’d like to do the calculation yourself, here are your numbers. The volume of the Sun is 1.412 x 1018 km3. And the volume of the Earth is 1.083 x 1012 km3. So if you divide the volume of the Sun by the volume of the Earth, you get 1,300,000.

Of course, the Sun is a fairly average sized stars. There are some enormous stars out there. For example, the red giant Betelgeuse has a radius of 936 times the radius of the Sun. That gives it hundreds of millions of times more volume than the Sun.

And the largest known star is VY Canis Majoris, thought to be between 1800 and 2100 times the radius of the Sun.

We’ve written many articles about size comparisons for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the Moon compared to Earth, and here’s an article about Saturn compared to Earth.

If you’d like more info on the Sun, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on the Sun, and here’s a link to the SOHO mission homepage, which has the latest images from the Sun.

We’ve also recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about the Sun. Listen here, Episode 30: The Sun, Spots and All.

Posted on by Fraser Cain

What Galaxy is the Earth In?

What galaxy is Earth in? We're in the Milky Way

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Were you wondering what galaxy is the Earth in? You’ll probably recognize the answer: it’s the Milky Way Galaxy.

If you go to a dark spot, away from the bright city lights, and look up, you should be able to see the Milky Way as a cloudy band stretching across the sky. It really does look like spilt milk spread across the sky. But if you take a telescope and examine it more closely, you’ll see that the clouds are actually the collective light from thousands of stars.

Since we’re embedded inside the Milky Way, we’re seeing our home galaxy edge-on, from the inside. To get a better idea, grab a dinner plate and take a look at it edge on, so you can’t see the circular shape of the galaxy. You can only see the edge of the plate.

The Milky Way is an example of a barred spiral galaxy. It measures approximately 100,000 light years across and it’s only 1,000 light years thick; although, it’s more thick at the core where the galaxy bulges out. If you could fly out of the Milky Way in a rocket and then look back, you’d see a huge spiral shaped galaxy with a bar at the center. At the ends of this bar, there are two spiral arms which twist out forming the structure of the Milky Way.

The Earth is located in the Solar System, and the Solar System is located about 25,000 light-years away from the core of the galaxy. This also means that we’re about 25,000 light-years away from the outer edge of the Milky Way. We’re located in the Orion Spur, which is a minor arm located in between the two major galactic arms.

If you’d like more information on the Milky Way, check out NASA’s Starchild info on the Milky Way, and here’s more info from the WMAP mission.

We’ve written many articles about the Milky Way for Universe Today. Here’s an article with facts about the Milky Way, and here is a map of the Milky Way.

We’ve also recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about the Milky Way. Listen here, Episode 99: The Milky Way.