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.
Craters at the north pole of the Moon. Red mean fresh craters and green means anomalous craters. Credit: NASA
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It’s no longer a question of if there is water on the Moon; now it is how much. Scientists using the Mini-SAR instrument on India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft have detected water ice deposits near the moon’s north pole. Mini-SAR, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 2 to15 km (1 to 9 miles) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it is estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice.
“The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon,” said Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. “The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.”
During the past year, the Mini-SAR mapped the moon’s permanently-shadowed polar craters that aren’t visible from Earth. The radar uses the polarization properties of reflected radio waves to characterize surface properties. Results from the mapping showed deposits having radar characteristics similar to ice. Fresh crater, Main L, 14 km diameter, 81.4° N, 22° E. Credit: NASA
“After analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit,” said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.
The results are consistent with recent findings of other NASA instruments and add to the growing scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found on the moon. Previously, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper discovered water molecules in the moon’s polar regions, while water vapor was detected by NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS.
Mini-SAR and Moon Mineralogy Mapper are two of 11 instruments on Chandrayaan-1. The Mini-SAR’s findings are being published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Here are some spaceship pictures. You can make any of these pictures into your computer desktop wallpaper. Just click on an image to enlarge it, and then right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Background”.
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This is a picture of the Apollo 17 landing module “Challenger”. When this picture was taken, Challenger had already descended to the surface of the Moon, and the astronauts had completed their lunar excursions. This is just before the lunar module docked to the orbiting command module.
Homecoming at Kennedy
Here’s a picture of the space shuttle Endeavour landing at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The shuttle deploys a chute like this to slow it down once it’s on the runway. This wrapped up mission STS-118, where Endeavour and its crew of astronauts flew up and fixed the Hubble Space Telescope.
Discovery's Dawn
Here’s a picture of the space shuttle Discovery as it rolled out to its launch pad. The shuttle is mated to its fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building, and then carried slowly out to the launch pad.
Beginning the Journey Home
Here’s an image of the space shuttle’s Endeavour’s cargo bay. This photo was taken after the Tranquillity module had already been removed from the shuttle and attached to the International Space Station.
Above the Clouds
In this photograph, you can see the space shuttle Discovery hitching a ride on the back of a specially modified Boeing 747 carrier. When the shuttle lands in California, NASA uses this aircraft to carry it back to Florida.
Here are some space shuttle pics. You can turn any of these images into your computer desktop wallpaper. Just click on an image to enlarge it. Then right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Background”.
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Here’s a photo of the aft of the space shuttle Atlantis, including its 3 main engines. The space shuttle do a flip as part of every mission, so astronauts on board the International Space Station can examine the shuttle to see if it was damaged during launch.
Awaiting the Mission
This is a picture of the space shuttle Atlantis waiting on the launch pad, in preparation for mission STS-129 to visit the International Space Station.
Endeavour Brings Tranquility
Here’s a photo of the space shuttle Endeavour rising up to dock with the International Space Station. This image was taken as part of mission STS-130, when Endeavour delivered the Tranquility module.
Shuttle Engine Out Test
This is a model of the space shuttle being tested in a wind tunnel. It was used by engineers to figure out what would happen if the space shuttle lost an engine during the launch.
Lighting Up the Night
Here’s a time lapse photo of the space shuttle Discovery blasting off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. You can see how the bright rocket glare lights up the surroundings.
We have written many articles about the space shuttle for Universe Today. Here’s an article about how you could get a space shuttle of your own, and here’s an article about the space shuttle Columbia.
One of the oldest questions for mankind is how the Earth was formed. However, no one has an exact answer. First by the best estimates it occurred over 4 billion years ago before any life appeared. So there are no eyewitness accounts and other pieces of evidence. The best we can do is look at the geologic record and the stars to get our answers. While we may not have the entire picture we have a good idea and it all starts with how stars are born.
Just like the formation of the Earth and other planets stars take a long time to be be born. Stars are essentially formed from clouds of gas in space. We know these as nebulas. You can basically consider them to be star forges. Over time gravity causes the atoms of gases and space dust to start coming together and gathering. Over time this gather of gases gains more mass and with it stronger gravity. This is a process that can take millions of years. In time the gravity causes the gases, mainly hydrogen to fuse in a nuclear reaction and a star is formed.
The formation of the Earth occurred after this intial phase happened for our Sun. After the Sun was formed we know from observations and other indirect evidence that there were left over gases and heavier elements. The gravity of the Sun helped to flatten these left overs into a disk and start to fuse them together. This created the planetesimals and planetoids which would later make up the planets. Over time these planetesimals would collide creating even bigger masses. It was in this method that the Earth was eventually formed.
Now we need to know that fusion eventually creates heavier elements such as carbon and iron. These elements were to compose a significant part of young Earth. The pressure and heat from radioactive decay of elements and the aftershocks of massive collisions caused the Earth to be molten. Over time the surface of the Earth cooled and became the Crust. However the molten layers that remained became our mantle and the core. The currents of this massive underground ocean of magma cause volcanic activity that released gases. These would lead to the creation of the atmosphere and the oceans starting the water cycle.
The formation of the Earth was only the beginning and we still see the Earth changing year by years through erosion and plate tectonics. However in learning more about the formation of the Earth we are able to better understand what makes life possible on our planet.
If you enjoyed this article there are several others on Universe Today that you will enjoy. There is a great article on plate boundaries and an interesting piece on early Earth.
You can also find some great resources online. There is a great web page on the University of Oregon web site that goes into detail about the formation of the Earth. You can also look at the Hadean page on the Smithsonian website. It talks about the Hadean period the period of geologic time when the Earth was formed.
You can also listen to Astronomy Cast. Episode 108 is about the life of the Sun.
Artist impression of LCROSS approaching the Moon. Credit: NASA
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Almost five months ago, the LCROSS spacecraft had an abrupt end to its flight when it impacted a crater on the Moon’s south pole. But that was only the beginning of the work of principal investigator Tony Colaprete and the rest of the science teams, who have since been working non-stop to get their initial results out to the public. Look for a flood of ‘water on the Moon’ news to be announced at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference this week.
“The data set from LCROSS is a lot more interesting that we thought it would be,” said Colaprete, speaking on a “My Moon” webcast, sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. “A big part of our time has been making sure the data is properly calibrated. That takes a lot of time and effort, but the other side of the equation is understanding all the stuff you don’t understand in the data, and there was a lot we didn’t initially understand.”
The LCROSS team will present six papers, 11 posters and several oral sessions at the LPSC.
While the results are still under embargo, Colaprete was able to discuss the basics of what the science teams have found. LCROSS impact site. Credit: NASA
One surprise for the teams was the low “flash” produced by the impact of the spacecraft. “We didn’t see a visible flash, even with sensitive instruments,” Colaprete said. “There was a delayed and muted flash and the impactor was essentially buried, with all the energy apparently deposited at a depth. So it is very likely that there were volatiles in the vicinity.”
The second surprise was the morphology of the impact plume. “We had reason to believe there would be high angle plume,” said Colaprete. “But we had a lower angle plume. We had a signal of a debris curtain in the spectrometers in LCROSS all the way down in the four minutes following the impact of the Centaur stage. That was corroborated with DIVINER measurements with LRO (a radiometer on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.) They were able to make some great observations of the ejecta cloud with DIVINER, and we had good signals with our instruments all the way down to impact.”
Most surprising, Colaprete said, was all the “stuff” that came up from the impact. “Everyone was really excited and surprised about all the stuff that we threw up with the impact.”
The LRO spacecraft was able to be tilted in orbit so the LAMP (Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project) instrument could observe impact plume. It observed a plume about 20 km tall, and observed a “footprint” of a plume up to 40 km above the Moon’s surface.
“They saw vapor cloud fill the ‘slit’ of the spectrometer’s observations at about 23 seconds after impact and it remained there through the entire flyby,” Colaprete said. “What that corresponds to is a hot vapor cloud of about 1000 degrees that was observed.” A closer view of the moon as the LCROSS spacecraft approaches impact. Credit: NASA
Two exciting species found in the cloud were molecular hydrogen and mercury. “What is fantastic about that, is that there was an article written a couple of decades ago, regarding the possibility of mercury and water at the poles, and they said don’t drink the water!”
Colaprete said observing molecular hydrogen is spectacular because normally it doesn’t stay stable even at 40 Kelvin. The teams are still speculating how it was trapped and what form it was in. They found about 150 kg of molecular hydrogen in the plume.
All the elements found in the plume must be coming from cometary and asteroidal sources, Colaprete said. They also found water ice, sulfur dioxide, methane, ammonia, methanol, carbon dioxide, sodium and potassium. “We haven’t identified everything yet, but what we’re seeing is similar to what you would see in an impact of a comet, like what happened with the Deep Impact probe, which is exciting and surprising. The mineralogy in the dust itself that we kicked up corresponds to what was seen by M Cubed instrument, and also what we see in chondrite asteroids.”
One of the most pleasing aspects of this scientific process, Colaprete said, was the different teams being able to verify what other teams were finding.
“The concentration of hydrogen we saw in the regolith was higher than expected,” Colaprete said. “We ran the numbers again, and we said, ‘Oh, we can’t wiggle out of this answer.’ Then the PI for the LEND (Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector on LRO, which can acquire high-resolution neutron datasets) instrument confirmed that their numbers were entirely consistent with what we got. It was surprising because it wasn’t what we expected. But that is why you make measurements.”
“This should be a fun year as we pull this all together, and get it released to the public so we can get a lot more neurons looking at this,” Colaprete said. “I think this will really change our understanding of the Moon and how we think about it.”
What better place to look for dark matter than down a mine shaft? A research team from the University of Florida have spent nine years monitoring for any signs of the elusive stuff using germanium and silicon detectors cooled down to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. And the result? A couple of maybes and a gritty determination to keep looking.
The case for dark matter can be appreciated by considering the solar system where, to stay in orbit around the Sun, Mercury has to move at 48 kilometers a second, while distant Neptune can move at a leisurely 5 kilometers a second. Surprisingly, this principle doesn’t apply in the Milky Way or in other galaxies we have observed. Broadly speaking, you can find stuff in the outer parts of a spiral galaxy that is moving just as fast as stuff that is close in to the galactic centre. This is puzzling, particularly since there doesn’t seem to be enough gravity in the system to hold onto the rapidly orbiting stuff in the outer parts – which should just fly off into space.
So, we need more gravity to explain how galaxies rotate and stay together – which means we need more mass than we can observe – and this is why we invoke dark matter. Invoking dark matter also helps to explain why galaxy clusters stay together and explains large scale gravitational lensing effects, such as can be seen in the Bullet Cluster (pictured above).
Computer modeling suggests that galaxies may have dark matter halos, but they also have dark matter distributed throughout their structure – and taken together, all this dark matter represents up to 90% of a galaxy’s total mass.
An artist's impression of dark matter, showing the proportional distribution of baryonic and non-baryonic forms (this joke never gets old).
Current thinking is that a small component of dark matter is baryonic, meaning stuff that is composed of protons and neutrons – in the form of cold gas as well as dense, non-radiant objects such black holes, neutron stars, brown dwarfs and orphaned planets (traditionally known as Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects – or MACHOs).
But it doesn’t seem that there is nearly enough dark baryonic matter to account for the circumstantial effects of dark matter. Hence the conclusion that most dark matter must be non-baryonic, in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (or WIMPs).
By inference, WIMPS are transparent and non-reflective at all wavelengths and probably don’t carry a charge. Neutrinos, which are produced in abundance from the fusion reactions of stars, would fit the bill nicely except they don’t have enough mass. The currently most favored WIMP candidate is a neutralino, a hypothetical particle predicted by supersymmetry theory.
The second Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Experiment (or CDMS II) runs deep underground in the Soudan iron mine in Minnesota, situated there so it should only intercept particles that can penetrate that deeply underground. The CDMS II solid crystal detectors seek ionization and phonon events which can be used to distinguish between electron interactions – and nuclear interactions. It is assumed that a dark matter WIMP particle will ignore electrons, but potentially interact with (i.e. bounce off) a nucleus.
Two possible events have been reported by the University of Florida team, who acknowledge their findings cannot be considered statistically significant, but may at least give some scope and direction to further research.
By indicating just how difficult to directly detect (i.e. just how ‘dark’) WIMPs really are – the CDMS II findings indicate the sensitivity of the detectors needs to bumped up a notch.
As with last week’s Universe Puzzle, something that cannot be answered by five minutes spent googling, a puzzle that requires you to cudgel your brains a bit, and do some lateral thinking.
Which is the ‘odd one out’? And why?
aragonite, diamond, ice, olivine
This is a puzzle on a “Universal” topic – astronomy and astronomers; space, satellites, missions, and astronauts; planets, moons, telescopes, and so on.
So “ice” is certainly one answer (it’s the only one-syllable word), but not, perhaps, the best answer!
If you think the answer to this puzzle is a cline, rather than a single choice, then try this:
What is the best order to arrange these four in? And why?
Of course, the order they are already in is OK (alphabetical); but is it the best?
aragonite, diamond, ice, olivine
There are no prizes for the first correct answer – there may not even be just one correct answer! – posted as a comment (the judge’s decision – mine! – will be final!), but I do hope that you’ll have lots of fun.
Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on Wednesday at this same post to find the answer. Good luck!
Update: Answer now posted below
Odd one out: aragonite
This is the only one not yet found beyond the Earth. It’s also the only one which is definitely the result of biological processes (although it can be produced by non-biological ones too).
Cline: there are several good answers, and it is difficult to choose among them.
For example: aragonite, diamond, ice, olivine … found on Earth only, found on Earth and in meteorites only, found/detected in the solar system only, only one detected beyond the solar system.
Are you looking for a great pair of binoculars for kids – but want optics good enough for demanding adults? Then you really need to check out the Celestron 12X25 UpClose binoculars for astronomy . These mighty little midgets have a whole lot going for them, including a great view at a moment’s notice.
When I first picked up a pair of Celestron 12X25 binoculars, I wasn’t expecting very much. After all, we’re talking about a pair of binoculars that when folded in their case are small enough to easily fit in your jacket or jeans pocket comfortably. What could something that small really do? As always, I give every product I test the benefit of the doubt and I was about to find out. Thanks to the generosity of OPT, several pairs of these were donated to benefit our children’s binocular observing program at the Observatory and it was time to hand them out along with the other binoculars we traditionally use. As the kids inspected their binoculars, I inspected mine, too. Since my binocular experience tends toward astronomy, I wasn’t overly familiar with the roof prism design and I was curious. Could something so small really be of practical use? And, what’s more, could something that inexpensive be of lasting quality? Well, for a person that’s usually the one giving lessons, I was about to get one.
Hands on, you’re not grabbing on to cheap plastic construction. These are binoculars that will survive an accidental drop and come back for more. The Celestron 12X25 UpClose binoculars are solidly made with a rubberized overcoating that will resist denting, ambient dew and moisture and provide a sure grip for all size hands. Their swivel open action is firm, but not stiff, and holds the interpupillary distance exactly where you need it. I was also surprised to find that they had a right eye diopter, as well as a central focus wheel. Now, it was time for me to give lessons as I explained to my students how to “personalize” binoculars for their own vision:
Hold the binoculars near your eyes, but don’t cram them up against them. Spread the binoculars apart until the center of each lens matches comfortably with the distance between each pupil of your eyes.
Locate the focusing ring called the right eye diopter and close your left eye. Choose a focal point by where you will be doing most of your viewing. For example, a bright star if you’re doing astronomy or a distant tree if you’re doing nature studies. Now, slowly turn the diopter until what you see on the right side comes into focus.
With both eyes open, use the center focus wheel to fine tune the image and you’re ready to go!
Because roof prism binoculars aren’t particularly well suited to astronomy, the 2.1 mm exit pupil left something to be desired, but the 10 mm of eye relief was quite comfortable with enough focus travel to match every eyesight need in the group. At 9 ounces (255.15 grams) in weight, the Celestron 12X25 UpClose binoculars are very easy for an adult to hold steady with one hand and absolutely the perfect weight for a child. Despite their diminutive size, you can “feel” that you’re holding on to a real pair of binoculars… and they perform like it, too. While the 25 mm (0.98 inch) objective lens isn’t going to gather in light like the Hubble Space Telescope, it does give very satisfactory views of brighter astronomy objects such as the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, magnitude 6-7 star clusters and more. The 12X magnification factor is also very satisfactory, offering enough resolution to pick apart brighter stars in clusters and distinguish individual larger craters on the Moon. While the kids raced all over the night sky with them, I just kinda’ stood there and grinned… Thinking of what sweet little wide angle spotters they’d make for those of us who need just a little “help” with certain star fields at times.
In order to be fair, I also used the Celestron 12X25 UpClose binoculars for what they were designed for – terrestrial use. During the winter months, I have a thing about feeding the local birds and identifying each visiting species. With a close focus of 14 feet (4.27 meters), these exceptional little binoculars allow me just the right amount of distance to enjoy the “up close” views of the outdoor bird feeder from my indoor easy chair – yet still be able to tell a nuthatch from a chickadee in a more distant tree. The images are crisp and clean with no spurious colors or reflections even in bright natural light situations. As for artificial light situations? Well, they are definitely fun enough to turn a large tabby cat into a stalking tiger. (silly kitty… there’s glass between you and those birds.)
All in all, the Celestron 12X25 UpClose Binoculars are absolutely perfect for a child and a compact and useful tool for adults. Because they are “real” binoculars, your kids will respect them for their quality and performance. And, because they are Celestron, you can be assured of rugged durability – backed up by a Lifetime No-Fault Warranty. Put a pair into your son or daughter’s hands and let their imaginations fly. Give them to your grandkids. The only way they could harm them is to lose them!
So stay away from mine…. 😉
Many thanks to OPT for their generous donation and providing the binoculars for review. See this link for purchase information. You can also purchase them for a similiar price from other premium worldwide Celestron dealers such as Optics Planet (US), Hands-On Optics (US), Picstop (UK), Telescopes.com (US), and Canadian Telescopes (CA) .
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NASA Shuttle managers Mike Moses and Mike Leinbach at post landing press briefing at KSC. Credit: Ken Kremer
For my farewell from the Cape (for now) and STS 130 coverage, please check out this cool video of the STS 130 Night Landing which took place exactly 1 week ago on Sunday night, Feb 21.
It’s been a pleasure and an honor to work as a team for Universe Today; Nancy Atkinson and Ken Kremer reporting live from the Kennedy Space Center – informing all our readers about the remarkable deeds by the STS 130 and ISS astronauts & cosmonauts. As well as all the hardworking folks at NASA and the ISS partners from ESA, Russia, Canada and Japan without whom nothing would happen.
This home video is taken from the 2nd story of the viewing stand located at the shuttle landing runway, formally known as the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). This is as close as any observers are permitted other then a few key NASA runway and photography personal situated slightly closer to the strip.
The video is courtesy of my friend Matt at Spacearium, and shot as Nancy and myself were standing next to him. This is really a pleasure to present to you because its exactly the sights and sounds of what we all experienced – LIVE from KSC !
[/caption]In fact, if you look carefully at the beginning and you’ll see the top NASA Shuttle managers – Mike Moses and Mike Leinbach – standing about 20 feet in front of us just as Endeavour comes into view for touchdown. At the very end you’ll catch a glimpse of us motley (but thrilled) crew of photo journalists.
The threatening rain showers scooted by, the winds calmed and the totally socked in cloud deck miraculously thinned out. Amazingly, it turned into a perfect evening for a landing.
Abruptly and with absolutely no forewarning, Endeavour’s twin sonic booms shocked the daylights out of us spectators near the runway, announcing her impending arrival at runway 15 in about 3 ½ minutes. Her sweeping 234 degree left turn approach from the north and above the Atlantic Ocean was fully masked under the cover of darkness until the final moments.
Suddenly, I caught first sight of the swiftly descending and barely visible phantom beauty as she swooped down from the sky at the far end of the runway barely above the tarmac. Only her magnificent fuselage, tail and braking drogue parachute were illuminated. In mere seconds she passed directly in front of us. Her wheels touched down as she sped along and disappeared down the far end of the runway, with just her tail in view at night above the tree line traveling from the northwest to the southeast.
Launch Director Mike Leinbach summed up the sentiments of many, saying “I got to watch a lot of the folks out on the runway tonight just kind of stand there and look up at Endeavour and think about the majesty of that ship and it’s next to last flight. There’s a whole series of ‘lasts’ coming up. The people fall in love with the machines. It’s going to be hard to let them go. But we’ve been given our direction. We’re mature about it and adult about it and we’re professional about it. So we’re going to process and fly that last mission. And move on.”
Only 4 Space Shuttle flights remain in the manifest.
If you can, try and take the opportunity to witness one of the final launches before these magnificently capable vehicles are prematurely retired at the peak of their capability later this year.
During the two week flight, the STS 130 crew brought aloft and installed the Tranquility habitation module and the Cupola observation dome. Tranquility houses critical ISS life support systems. The Cupola possesses 7 spectacular windows and has exceeded its pre-flight billing by affording dazzling vistas of the earth below and the cosmos above.
Backdropped against vistas of Earth below, Mission Specialist Robert Behnken works inside the newly-installed cupola. Image credit: NASA
The station is now 98 percent complete by volume and 90 percent complete by mass. The station itself exceeds 800,000 pounds and the combined weight with the shuttle exceeds 1 million pounds for the first time.
Earlier STS 130/ISS and SDO articles by Ken Kremer
Nancy Atkinson (Universe Today Senior Editor, right) and Ken Kremer at the KSC Press center reporting for Universe Today on the STS 130 and SDO missions. We stand in front of the beautiful Project Constellation murals. Credit: Ken Kremer
