Posted on by Fraser Cain

Some Parts Need More Protecting from Radiation

Pete Conrad’s self portrait. Image credit: NASA. Click to enlarge.
Picture this: An astronaut, on the Moon, hunched down over a rock, hammer in hand, prospecting. Suddenly, over his shoulder, there’s a flash of light on the sun.

The radio crackles: “Explorer 1, come in. This is mission control.”

Explorer 1: “What’s up?”

Mission Control: “There’s been a solar flare, a big one. You need to take cover. The radiation storm could begin in as little as 10 minutes.”

Explorer 1: “Roger. I’m heading for the Moon Buggy now. Any suggestions?”

Mission control: “Yes. Make sure you protect your hips.”

Protect your hips?

That’s right. Protecting the hips may be a key to surviving solar storms. Other sensitive areas are the shoulders, spine, thighs, sternum and skull.

Why this odd list of body parts? The bones in these areas contain marrow — the “blood factory” of the body. Delicate bone marrow cells are especially vulnerable to solar storms; a major dose of solar protons coursing through the body could wipe them out. And without these blood-forming marrow cells churning out a steady stream of new blood cells, a person would run out of blood in as little as a week. A bone marrow transplant would be required–stat!–but they don’t do those on the Moon.

So to survive a solar radiation storm, your first priority must be to protect your bone marrow.

With NASA sending people back to the Moon by 2018, the issue of surviving solar radiation storms is more important than ever. Outside the protection of Earth’s magnetic field and with virtually no atmosphere overhead, an astronaut walking on the lunar surface is exposed to the full brunt of solar storms.

The best solution is to take cover, to get back to a radiation shelter. But if shelter is too far away to reach in time, wearing a spacesuit with extra radiation shielding over these key marrow-rich areas — shoulders, hips, spine, etc. — could mean the difference between living and dying.

“Bulking up the entire spacesuit with extra shielding might not be practical,” says Frank Cucinotta, NASA’s Chief Scientist at the Johnson Space Center, “because then the spacesuit would be too cumbersome.” Astronauts have to be able to walk, hop, bend over, reach for objects and tools. Too much shielding would make these simple moves impossible–hence the idea of selective shielding:

A layer of a plastic-like material called polyethylene only 1 cm thick could prevent acute radiation sickness. “For all but the worst flares, this would be enough to keep the astronaut’s blood system intact,” Cucinotta says. If as few as 5% of those marrow cells survive, the bone marrow will be able to regenerate itself, and the person will survive, no transplant required.

An astronaut, so shielded, might still develop long-term health problems: cancer, cataracts and other maladies. “No spacesuit can stop all solar protons,” explains Cucinotta. But if the blood supply survives, the astronaut will too, long enough to worry about the long term.

At the moment, this idea of designing a spacesuit to selectively shield the astronaut’s bone marrow is just that: an idea. Cucinotta says that many strategies are being considered for protecting the astronauts on the Moon. But the response to the idea of selective shielding has been positive, Cucinotta says. It might work.

If the idea catches on, post-Apollo spacesuits would look a little different, with beefy shoulders, wide hips, and bulbous helmets, among other things. Fashions change, sometimes for the better.

Original Source: Science@NASA Article

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Launcher Caused Cryosat Failure

Russian Rokot carrying the Cryosat satellite. Image credit: ESA. Click to enlarge.
Following the failure of the Rockot launch vehicle during the CryoSat mission on 8 October 2005, the Russian Failure Investigation State Commission led by the Space Forces Deputy Commander Oleg Gromov announced the clearance of the launch vehicle for future use including launches for the Russian Ministry of Defence.

According to the analysis of the State Commission, the reason for the failure has been unambiguously identified: The failure occurred when the flight control system in the Breeze upper stage did not generate the command to shut-down the second stage’s engines. A set of measures is now being implemented to prevent a re-occurrence of the incident.

A detailed briefing of the findings of the State Commission to Eurorocket and its customer ESA will take place on 3 November 2005. A Eurorockot Failure Review Board will review the conclusions of the State Commission and will release its findings in the near future.

Original Source: ESA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

When Did the Earth’s Core Separate from its Shell?

Our planet. Image credit: NASA/JPL. Click to enlarge.
New research allows geologists to estimate the time at which the Earth’s core separated from its rocky outer shell.

A paper in this week’s Nature [26 October 2005] shows how the problem can be resolved by considering the effect of a giant impact with the Earth.

Previous research, using two different types of radioactive ‘clocks’ (hafnium-tungsten and uranium-lead), appeared to give conflicting core formation times of about 35 and 80 million years, respectively, after the origin of the solar system.

The collision of a Mars-sized object with the Earth is thought to have contributed to the last ten percent of the Earth’s mass, as well as forming the Moon.
“The explanation may be that the hafnium-tungsten clock represents the initial phase of core formation, whereas the uranium-lead clock, that gives a younger age, has been reset by the upheaval introduced by the giant impact.”
Professor Bernie Wood

Professor Bernard Wood, who completed this research while at Bristol University, and Professor Alex Halliday from Oxford University, propose that the impact would have also changed the conditions of core formation.

They put forward a model that explains the discrepancy between the two isotope clocks if the effects of the oxidation state of the mantle are taken into account.

Professor Wood said: “The explanation may be that the hafnium-tungsten clock represents the initial phase of core formation, sometime before 35 million years after the origin of the solar system, whereas the uranium-lead clock, that gives a younger age of about 80 million years after the origin of the solar system, has been reset by the upheaval introduced by the giant impact.”

The impact could have produced an oxidation state under which a sulphur-rich metal formed – of which the core is now composed. This oxidation state would have readily allowed lead to dissolve, effectively resetting the uranium-lead clock and resulting in the younger age.

Original Source: University of Bristol News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Student-Built Satellite Launches

Kosmos 3M launcher blasting off. Image credit: ESA. Click to enlarge.
SSETI Express, a low Earth orbit spacecraft designed and built by European university students under the supervision of ESA’s Education Department, was successfully launched this morning at 08:52 CEST from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Russian Kosmos 3M launcher. At 10:29 CEST this morning, the ground control centre at the University in Aalborg (DK) received the first signals from the satellite.

SSETI Express (SSETI being the acronym for Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative) is a small spacecraft, similar in size and shape to a washing machine (approx. 60×60 x90 cm). Weighing about 62 kg it has a payload of 24 kg. On-board the student-built spacecraft were three pico-satellites, extremely small satellites weighing around one kg each. These were deployed one hour and 40 minutes after launch. In addition to acting as a test bed for many designs, including a cold-gas attitude control system, SSETI Express will also take pictures of the Earth and function as a radio transponder.

The challenge has been for the 23 university groups, working from locations spread across Europe and with very different cultural backgrounds, to work together via the Internet to jointly build the satellite.

The Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative, which provides the framework for the mission, was launched by ESA’s Education Department in 2000 to get European students involved in real space missions. The initiative aims at giving students practical hands-on experience and encourage them to take up careers in space technology and science, thereby helping to create a pool of talented experts for the future.

Since its creation, SSETI has developed a network of students, educational institutions and organisations to facilitate work on various spacecraft projects. More than 400 European students have made an active, long-term contribution to this initiative, either as part of their degree course or in their spare time. In addition, many hundreds more have been involved in or inspired by SSETI.

SSETI students are currently working on two other satellite projects:

* SSETI ESEO: The European Student Earth Orbiter, a 120kg spacecraft designed for Ariane 5, planned for launch in 2008.
* A study for a European Student Moon Orbiter – timeframe 2010-2012. The orbiter will conduct experiments on its way to the Moon as well as when lunar orbit is achieved.

Original Source: ESA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Prometheus’ Ripples in the Rings

Ripples in Saturn’s F ring caused by Prometheus’ gravity. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI. Click to enlarge.
This mosaic of 15 Cassini images of Saturn’s F ring shows how the moon Prometheus creates a gore in the ring once every 14.7 hours, as it approaches and recedes from the F ring on its eccentric orbit.

The individual images have been processed to make the ring appear as if it has been straightened, making it easier to see the ring’s structure. The mosaic shows a region 147,000 kilometers (91,000 miles) along the ring (horizontal direction in the image); this represents about 60 degrees of longitude around the ring. The region seen here is about 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) across (vertical direction). The first and last images in the mosaic were taken approximately 2.5 hours apart.

Each dark channel, or “gore,” is clearly visible across more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) of the ring and is due to the gravitational effect of Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across), even though the moon does not enter the F ring. The channels have different tilts because the ring particles closer to Prometheus (overexposed, stretched, and just visible at the bottom right of the image) move slower with respect to the moon than those farther away. This causes the channels to shear with time, their slopes becoming greater, and gives the overall visual impression of drapes of ring material. The channels at the right are the youngest and have near-vertical slopes, while those at the left are the oldest and have near-horizontal slopes. This phenomenon has not previously been detected in any other planetary ring system, but computer simulations of the system prove that the disturbance is caused by a simple gravitational interaction. The eccentric orbit of Prometheus is gradually moving so that the moon will eventually come even closer in its closest approach to the eccentric F ring. Scientists calculate that its perturbations of the F ring will reach a maximum in December 2009.

The images in this mosaic were taken using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 13, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn. The resolution in the original images, before reprojection, was 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .

Original Source: NASA/JPL/SSI News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Binocular Telescope Sees First Light

Large Binocular Telescope, positioned on the 3190-meter high Mount Graham in Arizona. Image credit: Max Planck Institut for Astronomy. Click to enlarge.
The two mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) have produced their first scientific images of space. The event, known among astronomers as”first light’, is a major milestone in the launch of the largest and most modern single telescope in the world. The LBT will be able to see more clearly and more deeply into the universe than any of its predecessors. Led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, five German institutes participated, garnering a total of 25 percent of the observation time. Among them were the Max Planck Institutes for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, and for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, as well as the Landessternwarte (state observatory), part of the Centre for Astronomy in Heidelberg.

The Large Binocular Telescope, positioned on the 3190-meter high Mount Graham in Arizona, is one of the most prominent scientific-technical projects in modern astronomical research. Its name describes it well: it has two giant mirrors, each of them with a diameter of 8.4 metres. They are mounted onto the same surface, and focussed, like field glasses, at the same time on distant space objects. The surface of the mirrors is polished with extreme precision, down to one 20 millionth of a millimetre. If an LBT mirror were enlarged to the size of Lake Constance in the Alps – just slightly larger than the area of New York City – the”waves’ on the lake would be only one-fifth of a millimetre high. In spite of their size, each of the two mirrors”only’ weighs 16 tonnes. A classical telescope, on the other hand, at the dimensions of the LBT, would have thick mirrors weighing some 100 tonnes. It would be impossible to construct such a large classical telescope.

By combining the optical paths of the two individual mirrors, the LBT collects as much light as a telescope whose mirrors have a diameter of 11.8 meters. This is a factor of 24 larger than the 2.4 metre mirrors of the Hubble Space Telescope. Even more importantly, the LBT has the resolution of a 22.8 metre telescope, because it uses the most modern adaptive optics, superimposing pictures with an interferometric procedure. The astronomers are thus able to compensate for the blurring caused by air turbulence, and see into the universe much more clearly than Hubble.

Professor Thomas Henning, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and Dr Tom Herbst, a scientist in the German consortium, both agree that”The LBT will open completely new possibilities in researching planets outside the solar system and the investigation of the furthest – and thus youngest – galaxies.’

Professor Gerd Weigelt, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, says that”The first LBT pictures give us an idea of what kind of fascinating picture quality we can expect.’ Although in the beginning, the pictures are”only’ being collected with one of the two main mirrors, they are already showing an impressive view of the distant Milky Way. One of them is of an object in the constellation Andromeda called NGC891, a spiral galaxy 24 million light years away, which, from the earth’s perspective, we can only see from the side. According to Professor Reinhard Genzel, the Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching,”The object is of particular interest to astronomers, because it also sends out a lot of x-rays’.”This radiation was created by a large number of massive stars whose lives come to an end with spectacular supernova explosions – a kind of cosmic fireworks.’
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The pictures were created using a high-tech Large Binocular Camera (LBC), developed by Italian partners in the project. The camera and telescope work together like a giant digital camera. Thanks to the particularly large field of view, very efficient observations are possible – for example, the creation and development of distant galaxies with weak light.

But the LBC camera is just the first of a whole line of high-tech instruments with which the LBT will be equipped in the future.”A telescope without instruments is like an eye without a retina,’ says Professor Hans-Walter Rix, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. The scientist, a member of the LBT project for many years, adds that”a telescope like the LBT only becomes an powerful observatory in combination with powerful measuring instruments that are equipped with sensitive detectors.’

German partners especially participated in the development and construction of the instruments, and thus were able to secure for themselves 25 percent of observation time. Scientists, technicians, and electricians from the LBT-Beteilungsgesellschaft (LBT participation group) built the control software LUCIFER 1 and 2, which makes it possible to gather infrared pictures and spectra of heavenly objects. Dr Immo Appenzeller of the Landessternwarte Heidelberg calls it”important for detailed investigations of a great number of galaxies at different stages of development.’

Professors Matthias Steinmetz and Klaus Strassmeier, the Directors of the Astrophysics Institute in Potsdam, explain that”the PEPSI instrument is a particularly high resolution version of what is called an Echelle spectrograph. With it, we can conduct particularly effective investigations of the structure and dynamics of the surface of stars.’ At the Institute, the Acquisition, Guiding, and Wavefront sensing units are being built, which are responsible for the exact tracking of the telescope, as well as for mirror adjustments.

The LINC-NIRVANA instrument has also been built to ensure that the LBT and its instruments stay at full effectiveness. The LINC-NIRVANA, built in co-operation with Italian partners, is the heart of the LBT. It brings the light from two main mirrors to a single focal plane and corrects for picture interference due to the earth’s atmosphere. The highest demands are being placed on the optical, electronic, and mechanical components, because when being used in the infrared spectrum, parts of the LINC-NIRVANA must be cooled to minus 196 degrees in order not to be”blinded’ by heat radiation around it. In this field of”cryotechnology’, scientists and technicians from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy have shown great expertise.

Because of the impressive first pictures, the astronomers now know that more than 20 years of planning, development, and construction have paid off, and that the 120 million dollar project is on the way to offering new insights into the cosmos. This was indeed the goal of the people who initiated German participation in the project, among them Professor Günther Hasinger (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, formerly of the Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam) and Professor Steven Beckwith (formerly of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy). But it is not only the scientists who have participated in the project for such a long time that will profit from the LBT’s observations. Now, students and future scientists at all the partner institutes will have the chance to analyse LBT data and initiate new observation projects.

Original Source: Max Planck Institute News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

No Winner at the Elevator Competition

61 metre cable hung from a crane. Image credit: Spaceward Foundation. Click to enlarge.
NASA and the Spaceward Foundation announced the results of the 2005 Beam Power Challenge and Tether Challenge. Eleven teams competed in the two competitions over the weekend at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. Although no team claimed this year’s prizes, historic firsts were achieved.

In the Beam Power Challenge, teams had to build robotic climbers that could scale a 200-foot cable powered only by the beam from an industrial searchlight. The team that lifted the most mass in a certain time would win the $50,000 prize. Although no team made it to the top of the cable, Team SnowStar from the University of British Columbia achieved the first beam-powered climb of approximately 20 feet. The University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team had the farthest beam-powered climb, approximately 40 feet.

“What happened this weekend is akin to the Wright brothers’ first powered flight,” said Spaceward Foundation founder, Metzada Shelef. “We hope these short climbs will be the first in a series of much longer climbs toward future space elevator concepts. The ingredients are there to make some great future achievements.” The Spaceward Foundation is NASA’s partner in this Challenge program.

In the Tether Challenge, teams had to create high-strength, low-weight tethers, which were stretched to their limits in a head-to-head, single-elimination competition. The Centaurus Aerospace Team produced the strongest tether. But to claim the $50,000 prize, the strongest team tether had to beat the house tether, constructed from the best commercially-available material, by a margin of 50 percent. Centaurus fell just short.

“The diversity of the teams, representing small businesses, university students, and enthusiastic hobbyists, and the range of their technical solutions, exceeded my expectations” said NASA’s Centennial Challenges program manager, Brant Sponberg. “This is especially impressive when you realize the teams had only six months to prepare. Even if a space elevator is never built, these are fundamental technologies with important applications both within and outside space exploration.”

The prizes for next year’s Beam Power Challenge and Tether Challenge will be $200,000 each, including the unclaimed $50,000 purses from this year. The competitions will increase in difficulty, as the teams will have to provide their own power beam, and the house tether will probably increase in strength.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program promotes technical innovation through a novel program of prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation’s ingenuity to make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration and NASA goals.

The Centennial Challenges program is managed by NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. The Spaceward Foundation is a public-funded, non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the cause of space access in educational curriculums and in the public mindshare.

For information about the Centennial Challenges program on the Web, visit: http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov or http://www.spaceward.org

Original Source: NASA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Venus Express Nearly Ready to Launch

Venus Express on top of its launcher. Image credit: ESA. Click to enlarge.
Following the announcement of the Venus Express launch delay due to particulate contamination found in the launcher fairing where the spacecraft was installed, ESA staff and industry teams have started an inspection of the spacecraft. This recovery ‘investigation procedure’ has so far revealed a spacecraft in good status.

Having been removed from the Soyuz rocket, the upper composite, consisting of the Venus Express spacecraft attached to the Fregat upper stage and all housed in the rocket fairing, was transported to the Baikonur cosmodrome’s Upper Composite Integration Facility in the early morning of Sunday 23 October. On Monday 24 October the fairing was removed and engineers started the inspection to assess the status of the spacecraft.

The scenario is so far very encouraging, as only fairly large particles, pieces of the insulating material initially covering the launcher’s Fregat upper stage, have been found on the body of the spacecraft. These have been easy to identify by naked eye or with UV lamps, and are being carefully removed with tweezers, vacuum-cleaners or nitrogen gas airbrushes, according to size.

In the next couple of days the inspections and cleaning of Venus Express will continue, focussing on the instrument optics and apertures. After this step, Venus Express will be ready for the electric tests, routine checks that precede the final cleaning done just before the encapsulation with the fairing. The upper composite will then be complete again and will be ready for re-integration with the launcher.

ESA and Starsem, the company responsible for the Soyuz-Fregat launcher, are merging the results of their parallel investigations and recovery measures to define a new launch date in the shortest time frame. The ESA Project team is confident that Venus Express will be launched well within the launch window, which closes on 24 November this year.

Original Source: ESA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

What’s Up This Week – October 24 – October 30, 2005

NGC 204. Image credit: Todd Boronson NOAO/AURA/NSF. Click to enlarge.
Monday, October 24 – With the Moon well out of the way, the return of dark skies favours having a look at an incredible southern galaxy in Sculptor – NGC 253.

Located about one third the way between Alpha Sculptor and Beta Ceti, NGC 253 was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 during a comet search. As the brightest member of the “Sculptor Group”, this large and beautiful galaxy is also one of the closest outside our “Local Group” and will be readily apparent in binoculars for southern observers. Mid-to-large telescopes will be delighted with its many bright knots and dark obscured areas. For more northern observers, wait until the constellation is at its highest to catch a glimpse of this awesome 7th magnitude southern study.

Today in 1851, another astronomer was busy at the eyepiece as William Lassell discovered Uranus’ moons Ariel and Umbriel. Although this is far beyond backyard equipment, we can have a look at the blue/green planet. Now around magnitude 5.5, Uranus can be spotted in even small binoculars, but it will be harder to find it than it will be to see it! Start in Aquarius northeast of Sigma while waiting on Sculptor to rise…

Tuesday, October 25 – And who was watching the planets in 1671? None other than Giovanni Cassini – because he’d just discovered Saturn’s moon Iapetus. Before dawn this morning, look for Saturn about half a fist-width below below the Moon. You just might catch Iapetus very close to the rings.

If you feel like another planet challenge, then head towards open western horizons because Mercury is also making a dim appearance. About a half hour after sunset, go out and start with Venus. Using binoculars, identify Antares less than a handspan lower to the west. Scan directly below Antares for this elusive planet so near the horizon.

Today is the birthday of Henry Norris Russell. Born in 1877, Russell was the American leader in establishing the modern field of astrophysics. As he namesake for the American Astronomical Society’s highest award (for a lifetime contribution to the field), Mr. Russell is the “R” in HR diagrams, along with Mr. Hertzsprung. This work was first used in a 1914 paper, published by Russell.

What is an H-R diagram? Like people – stars grow up and age. But unlike humans, they are all very different in terms of size and weight at their beginnings. Massive stars live short lives and put out a lot of light. Low mass stars are very dim but continue to glow for billions of years. Our Sun is low mass star, but in the end it will do what most stars do – swell up to enormous size. It will turn red, expend its fuel, then expire. What’s left will be a very small white dwarf – glowing mostly by stored up heat. H-R diagrams pull all these factors together – young stars, old stars, bright stars, and dim stars.

Let’s look at Antares. It’s a relatively old, massive star – very bright and destined to end brilliantly. Or Markab – an aging blue dwarf soon to become a red giant. Now look at Deneb. It’s a supermassive blue giant shining as brightly as some globular clusters – yet fated to create another supernova remnant in Cygnus within 100 thousand years… Take a look at Enif – a spectral class K orange supergiant radiating with as much light as 7000 suns – yet it burns fast and is cooler than Sol. How about Polaris? Hotter than Sol, it’s another star about to enter a glorious retirement. Thankfully, our Sun is right in the middle of the wonderful H-R diagram!

Wednesday, October 26 – Tomorrow Neptune ends its retrograde, or westward, journey across the sky and will slowly begin to travel east. At 8th magnitude, it’s within binocular range and can be found west of Theta Capricornii.

Tonight let’s go hunting for the “Blue Snowball”. It’s proper name is the NGC 7622 and you find it around five degrees due east of Omicron Andromedae. At magnitude 9, this one challenges binocular users and presents the same problems as locating the M57 – low power will show you something – but not what it is. In a telescope, the “Blue Snowball” is almost as large as the “Ring” nebula.

Thursday, October 27 – This morning, look for the crescent Moon as it visits in Leo and makes a grand appearance with Regulus.

For those of you with larger telescopes who are looking for a real challenge, try your hand at roughly 10th magnitude comet C/2005 E2 McNaught. Now cruising just southwest of star 62 Sagittarius, look for what appears to be a faded and unresolved globular cluster.

Something a bit brighter? Then try your hand at asteroid 89 Julia. At magnitude 9.4, you’ll find it around 600 light seconds away just north of Beta Andromedae. You’ll find excellent locator charts at Heaven’s Above.

Friday, October 28 – Today in 1971, Great Britain launched its first satellite. For our friends in Russian, you will have a chance to see the Moon occult Sigma Leonis on this universal date. Please check with IOTA for more details.

Within the next 24 hours, Mars and Earth come will come the closest for this year. At some 43 million miles away, it doesn’t appear much like the size of the Full Moon, does it? Every two years we pass each other in our orbit around the Sun, and although we aren’t as close as we were in 2003, it will be another 13 years before we’re this near again.

Don’t leave your telescope inside. Don’t worry if you only use binoculars or just your eyes. Mars is simply superb right now and you cannot miss it’s ruddy color. For many of you, one of the largest and most easily spotted features, Syrtis Major, will now be in plain view. Appearing much light a deep, dark triangle, look closely for the lighter oval of Hellas Basin towards the pole. Still, others may see Mare Cimmerium, looking much like an antler – or Mare Erythraerum whose “fingers” reach toward Chryse. No matter where you are, wait until Mars is well risen for the very best views and enjoy!

Saturday, October 29 – On this night in 1749, French astronomer Le Gentil was at the eyepiece of an 18′ focal length telescope. His object of choice was the Andromeda Galaxy, which he believed to be a nebula. Little did he know at the time, his descriptive notes also included the M32, a satellite galaxy of the M31. It was the first small galaxy discovered and it would be another 175 years before they were recognized by Edwin Hubble as such.

Perhaps where you live, tonight will also be celebrated as “trick or treat”. If so, why not give your tricksters a real treat and view the Andromeda Galaxy? Be sure to take the time to look for both the M32 and M110 – both are fine galaxies in their own right. If skies are too light, put bright Alberio in the eyepiece!

Sunday, October 30 – Tonight let’s head toward an early evening study as we take a look at the departing M57. Located almost centrally between Beta and Gamma Lyrae, the “Ring” will appear as an out-of-focus “star” in the populated field for binoculars and resolve into its namesake for even the smallest of telescopes. This round shell of gas surrounding an expiring star will make a excellent conversation piece for any “Halloween” party.

Before you leave, take another look at Mars. Still a week away from opposition, right now is the best time to let it rise high to catch a stable look at the surface features.

I would also like to thank Jeff Barbour for his input this week. We’re all just a little bit closer… Under the stars! Until next week? May all your journeys be at light speed… ~Tammy Plotner

Posted on by Mark Mortimer

Book Review: Year of the Comets

In the 1990’s two great spectacles arrived for the heaven watchers, comet Hyakutake and then comet Hale-Bopp. They separately graced the night time magnificence with their displays of light; their leading dirty snowball and following millions of kilometres of fairy tale, sparkling, shiny powder. Transitory in nature, they’ve come to be more a light show than the portenders of the future they once were thought to be. Yet in all their beauty, they also represent an element of the mystery of the universe. Where do they come from? What are they made of? What causes them to cyclically reappear?

Jan DeBlieu doesn’t answer these questions in her book, nor does she even try. At most she’s drawing a corollary between the great unknowns of the universe and the great unknowns of our own being. She makes this connection when two significant events happen at about the same time in her life. One, of course, is the arrival of the comet Hyakutake. The other is her husband succumbing to depression. Neither were wholly explicable. Neither were predetermined. Both were just short transitions through her life, but she writes about both of them in a light, vivid, soul searching style that presents her grasping to understand the nature of each.

Much as a sad wind blows by leaving a person wondering and reflective, reading this book leaves a person questioning and curious. There are many joys of nature. But to fully appreciate joys, we need sorrow. This is the nature of our being and Jan presents this counterpoint throughout her book. Sweet memorable times with her husband contrast with painful accusations and trying moments. Bright sparkling clusters and supernova remnants strongly contrast against the black background of the universe. Searching for knowledge may only lead us to more questions and a greater feeling of ignorance. Yet, as DeBlieu shows, time continually moves on, things change and we need to enjoy what we can.

Normally writing one book is challenging. DeBlieu seems to make an easy time of writing three books within one cover. For one, she’s a neophyte astronomer/cosmologist who’s all agog over the beauty, complexity and ever changing lights of the night sky. For another, she’s a wife learning to deal with a loved one suffering a challenging disorder. Last, she’s writing an autobiography of her own times, her sadness, her joys and her impressions from living. Each of these three get combined into a bright, emotional sharing of herself with her readers.

The astronomical and cosmological lore within the book are up to date and pertinent. I particular like the presentation of free will. A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon can effect the weather around the world. Is it then possible that we are doing the same to the weather of the universe by flinging probes like Pioneer into the nether reaches of space? For the most part, each concept presented does lend itself to the other stories within. Sometimes they don’t but this doesn’t unduly disturb the flow.

Nevertheless, the topics change quickly. In a brief span of the text, that is two pages, DeBlieu discusses the value of drugs in combatting depression, the power of light to draw baby sea turtles and the dark matter that keeps the Milky Way spinning. If this quick flip from one subject to another makes reading enjoyable for you, this is a book for you.

No one can say that their life is better than another’s. Even during difficult times, there’s lots to keep a sense of wonder in one’s heart and a smile on one’s face. All we need do is keep a proper perspective. In Year of the Comets Jan DeBlieu gives us her perspective of her own life; the things that made her smile and those that kept her going even when so much was not going well. Share some of your own time with her memories and take pleasure in the wonders of astronomy.

Review by Mark Mortimer

Read more reviews online, or purchase a copy from Amazon.com.