Posted on by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout: Nov 28, 2018: David Eicher’s “Mission Moon 3-D”

Hosts:

Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain)
Dr. Paul M. Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter)
Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier )
Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org)

This week we are joined by David Eicher, co-author with Dr. Brian May of Mission Moon 3-D: A New Perspective on the Space Race. During David’s appearance, we will be giving away three copies of the book which is co-published with the MIT Press and the London Stereoscopic Association.

David Eicher is one of the most widely recognized astronomy enthusiasts in the world. He has been Editor in Chief of Astronomy magazine for the past thirty-five years. Eicher is the author or editor of 21 books on science and history. In 2014, he wrote and edited, along with Brian May and astronomer Garik Israelian, Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space, and in 2016 edited the follow-up volume, Starmus: Discovering the Universe. In 1990, the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet, 3617 Eicher, for Eicher in recognition of his service to astronomy. He has spoken to and inspired many science and business groups around the world, including at Harvard University, the Starmus Festival and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Dave was president of the Astronomy Foundation, the telescope industry and astronomy outreach group, from 2011–2017.

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The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest.

Posted on by Susie Murph

Astronomy Cast Ep. 507: From Fiction to Fact : Ion Drive

Ion engines are a mainstay of science fiction, featured in both Star Trek and Wars. But this is a very real technology, successfully used on several missions out there in the Solar System right now. How do they work and what are the limits?

We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST / 20:00 PM UTC. You can watch us live on AstronomyCast.com, or the AstronomyCast YouTube page.

Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast!

If you would like to support Astronomy Cast, please visit our page at Patreon here – https://www.patreon.com/astronomycast. We greatly appreciate your support!

If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site here and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions!

Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are specific ways you can help:
* Donate! (Streamlabs link) https://streamlabs.com/cosmoquestx
* Buy stuff from our Redbubble https://www.redbubble.com/people/cosmoquestx
* Volunteer for our Hangout-a-thon either to promote, provide a
giveaway, or to come on as a guest https://goo.gl/forms/XSm1yi0PKOM166m12
* Help us find sponsors by sharing our program and fundraising efforts through your networks
* Become a Patreon of Astronomy Cast https://www.patreon.com/astronomycast
* Sponsor 365 Days of Astronomy http://bit.ly/sponsor365DoA
* A combination of the above!

Posted on by Evan Gough

Hubble’s First Picture After Returning to Service. The Telescope is Fully Operational Again with Three Working Gyros

Hubble's first image after returning to service is of a field of galaxies in the constellation Pegasus. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Shapley (UCLA)
Hubble's first image after returning to service is of a field of galaxies in the constellation Pegasus. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Shapley (UCLA)

The Hubble Space Telescope is a hero in the astronomy world. And when it suffered a malfunctioning gyro on October 5th, it took a heroic effort on the part of the Hubble team to get it working again. Now we have Hubble’s first picture after its return to service.
Continue reading “Hubble’s First Picture After Returning to Service. The Telescope is Fully Operational Again with Three Working Gyros”

Posted on by Matt Williams

InSight Deploys its Solar Cells, Prepared for Surface Operations on Mars!

The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA's InSight lander, took this picture of the Martian surface on Nov. 26, 2018. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Yesterday, NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander reached Mars after a seven months journey. NASA broadcast the landing live, showing the mission control team eagerly watching as the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere and began the nail-biting entry, descent and landing (EDL) process.

At exactly 11:52:29 am PST (2:52:59 pm EST) mission controllers received a signal via the Mars Cube One (MarCO) satellites that the lander had successfully touched down. About a minute later, InSight began to conduct surface operations, which involved the deployment of its solar arrays and prepping its instruments for research.

Continue reading “InSight Deploys its Solar Cells, Prepared for Surface Operations on Mars!”

Posted on by Evan Gough

Some of the Stars in this Cluster are Almost as Old as the Universe Itself While Others Formed in a Second Generation. It Looks Young and Old at the Same Time

Hubble captured this image of star cluster NGC 1866 with its Wide Field Camera 3. It's an unusual cluster full of both old and young stars. The orange/red stars are older stars, and the blue stars are younger stars. Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Hubble captured this image of star cluster NGC 1866 with its Wide Field Camera 3. It's an unusual cluster full of both old and young stars. The orange/red stars are older stars, and the blue stars are younger stars. Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Star clusters are not rare. They’re one of the most common arrangements of stars in the Universe. But star cluster NGC 1866, as seen in this image from Hubble, is different than its brethren. Most clusters are populated by stars the same age, BUT NGC 1866 is like an all-ages club.
Continue reading “Some of the Stars in this Cluster are Almost as Old as the Universe Itself While Others Formed in a Second Generation. It Looks Young and Old at the Same Time”

Posted on by Matt Williams

InSight Lander Touches Down! Begins Mission to Unlock the Secrets of Mars

Artist's impression of the InSight Lander commencing its entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase to Mars. Credit: NASA
Artist's impression of the InSight Lander commencing its entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase to Mars. Credit: NASA

On of May 5th, 2018, NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base atop an Atlas V rocket. Over the next seven months, the mission traveled some 458 million km (300 mi) to Mars for the sake of studying its deep interior and learn how this planet – and all the other terrestrial planets of the Solar System (like Earth) – formed.

At 11:47 am PST (2:47 pm EST), after a seven month journey, NASA’s InSight Lander entered the Martian atmosphere to begin the entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase of its mission. Over the course of the next five minutes, the mission controllers at NASA-JPL watched eagerly as the spacecraft went through the careful process of conducting a textbook landing.

Continue reading “InSight Lander Touches Down! Begins Mission to Unlock the Secrets of Mars”

Posted on by Tammy Plotner

Messier 72 – the NGC 6981 Globular Cluster

Messier 72 and Messier 73. Credit: Wikisky

Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the globular cluster known as Messier 72.

During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noticed the presence of several “nebulous objects”  while surveying the night sky. Originally mistaking these objects for comets, he began to catalog them so that others would not make the same mistake. Today, the resulting list (known as the Messier Catalog) includes over 100 objects and is one of the most influential catalogs of Deep Space Objects.

One of these objects is Messier 72, a globular cluster about 54,570 light years away in the direction of the Aquarius constellation. Originally discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain a few years prior, Messier would go on to include this star cluster in his catalog. Located in close proximity to Messier 73, this globular cluster is one of the smaller and fainter Messier objects in the night sky. Continue reading “Messier 72 – the NGC 6981 Globular Cluster”

Posted on by Matt Williams

The Earth’s Wandering Poles Could Have Caused the Ice Age

Artist's impression of ice age Earth at glacial maximum. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Ittiz

Earth’s last great ice age, known as the Quaternay Glaciation, began roughly 3.2 million years ago. This period was characterized by the expansion of ice sheets out of Antarctica and Greenland, as well as the fluctuation of the Laurentian ice sheet, which covered most of Canada and the United States. The retreat of this glacier is responsible for the creation of millions of standing bodies of water across North America, including the Great Lakes.

While the causes of ice ages have been attributed to a combination of astronomical cycles, atmospheric conditions, ocean currents and plate tectonics, a complete explanation has been lacking thus far. However, according to a new research findings by a team of Rice University geophysicists, Earth’s last ice age may have been caused by shifts in the Earth relative to its spin axis that caused its poles to wander.

Continue reading “The Earth’s Wandering Poles Could Have Caused the Ice Age”

Posted on by Matt Williams

Name Change Alert! SpaceX’s BFR is Now Just Called “Starship”

In September of 2016, Musk treated the world to an early sneak-peak at his proposed super-heavy launch vehicle. Previously known as the Mars Colonial Transporter, the renamed Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) was the centerpiece to Musk’s long-term vision of conducting commercial trips to orbit, to the Moon, and even to Mars. Since that time, the mission architecture and even the name of the system have changed a few times.

For example, in September of 2017 – during a presentation titled “Making Life Interplanetary” – Musk presented the world with an updated design of launch system, which had been renamed the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) and the Big Falcon Spacecraft (BFS). And just recently, Musk announced the system will henceforth be known as the “Starship”, and its rocket the “Super Heavy“.

Continue reading “Name Change Alert! SpaceX’s BFR is Now Just Called “Starship””