Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween Astrophoto: The Witch Head Nebula

Halloween Astrophoto: The Witch Head Nebula:

The Witch Head Nebula, taken on October 24, 2013. Credit and copyright:  ftherrmann2012 on Flickr.
The Witch Head Nebula, taken on October 24, 2013. Credit and copyright: ftherrmann2012 on Flickr.
Boo! Here’s a great shot of the Witch Head nebula, so named because it resembles the profile of a wicked witch. This nebula’s ‘official’ name is IC 2118, and it is just a cloud of interstellar gas and dust — nothing to be afraid of! The eerie shape is sculpted in part by radiation from the supergiant star Rigel, the brightest star of Orion. In fact, Rigel illuminates the nebula by reflecting off the dust grains, making it glow. Inside the nebula, young stars are being born.  This image was taken last week by ftherrmann2012 on Flickr — who was obviously thinking ahead to Halloween! You can see an infrared image of this same nebula taken by the WISE spacecraft.
You can see more great images on Universe Today’s Flickr group page (click here to access, or see the new “Photos” tab at the top of our page) and feel free join the group and upload any astronomical images you have taken.

Happy Halloween from all of us here at Universe Today!
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What Are The Odds Of Spotting A Milky Way Supernova From Earth?

What Are The Odds Of Spotting A Milky Way Supernova From Earth?:

Artist illustration of supernova.  Credit: NASA
Artist illustration of supernova. Credit: NASA
An exploding star in our home galaxy might be visible to Earth in the next 50 years, astronomers say in a new calculation of the odds of a nearby supernova.
This explosion would be too faint to prove a hazard to Earthlings, and in fact it may not even be visible with the naked eye in the starry sky. Its heat signature, however, would be seen in the right kind of camera as long as we could swing a telescope there fast enough.
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SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis

SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis:


The SpaceX Dragon capsule is snared by the International Space Station's Canadarm 2. Credit: NASA
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is snared by the International Space Station’s Canadarm 2. Credit: NASA
SpaceX — the maker and operator of the Dragon spacecraft that runs periodic cargo flights to the International Space Station — has signed a contract to research, develop and test Raptor methane rocket engines at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi.
The California-based company plans to use the E-2 test stand at Stennis, which is able to support both vertical and horizontal rocket engine tests. (Here are some more technical details from NASA on its capabilities.)
“We have been talking with SpaceX for many years about working at Stennis Space Center, and I am pleased to officially welcome them to our Mississippi family. I hope this is just the beginning of their endeavors in our state,” stated U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) in response to the news. A press release from his office said the presence of the private space company would boost jobs in the region.
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Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet

Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet:

This illustration compares our Earth with the newly confirmed lava planet Kepler-78b. Kepler-78b is about 20 percent larger than Earth, with a diameter of 9,200 miles, and weighs roughly 1.8 times as much as Earth. David A. Aguilar (CfA)
Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet
This illustration compares our Earth with the newly confirmed lava planet Kepler-78b. Kepler-78b is about 20 percent larger than Earth, with a diameter of 9,200 miles, and weighs roughly 1.8 times as much as Earth.
David A. Aguilar (CfA)
A newly verified planet found in data from the Kepler mission delivers on the space telescope’s task of finding Earth-size planets around other stars. The new planet, called Kepler-78b, is the first Earth-sized exoplanet discovered that has a rocky composition like that of Earth. Similarities to Earth, however, end there. Kepler-78b whizzes around its host star every 8.5 hours at a distance of about 1.5 million kilometers, making it a blazing inferno and not suitable for life as we know it.
“We’ve been hearing about the sungrazing Comet ISON that will go very close to the Sun next month,” said Andrew Howard, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Institute for Astronomy. “Comet ISON will approach the Sun about the same distance that Kepler-78b orbits its star, so this planet spends its entire life as a sungrazer.”
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round

New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round:

Dark Energy
New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round
The Hubble Space Telescope image of the inner regions of the lensing cluster Abell 1689 that is 2.2 billion light?years away. Light from distant background galaxies is bent by the concentrated dark matter in the cluster (shown in the blue overlay) to produce the plethora of arcs and arclets that were in turn used to constrain dark energy. Image courtesy of NASA?ESA, Jullo (JPL), Natarajan (Yale), Kneib (LAM)
We keep saying dark matter is so very hard to find. Astronomers say they can see its effects — such as gravitational lensing, or an amazing bendy feat of light that takes place when a massive galaxy brings forward light from other galaxies behind it. But defining what the heck that matter is, is proving elusive. And considering it makes up most of the universe’s matter, it would be great to know what dark matter looks like.
A new experiment — billed as the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world — spent three months searching for evidence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which may be the basis of dark matter. So far, nothing, but researchers emphasized they have only just started work.
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Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image

Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image:

A Hubble Space Telescope image of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image
A Hubble Space Telescope image of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Remember that planet discovered near Alpha Centauri almost exactly a year ago? As you may remember, it’s the closest system to Earth, making some people speculate about how quickly we could get a spacecraft in that general direction. Four light years is close in galactic terms, but it’s a little far away for the technology we have now — unless we wanted to wait a few tens thousands of years for the journey to complete.
Meanwhile, we can at least take pictures of that star system. The Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new picture of Alpha Centauri’s sister star, Proxima Centauri. While Proxima is technically the closest star to Earth, it’s too faint to be seen by the naked eye, which is not all that surprising given it is only an eighth of the sun’s mass. Sometimes, however, it gets a little brighter.
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Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It

Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It:

A partially eclipsed setting Sun as seen from Dallas, Texas on May 20th, 2012. This weekend's eclipse will offer U.S. East Coast residents a similar sunrise view. (Credit: Jason Major/Lights in the Dark).
Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It
A partially eclipsed setting Sun as seen from Dallas, Texas on May 20th, 2012. This weekend’s eclipse will offer U.S. East Coast residents a similar sunrise view. (Credit: Jason Major/Lights in the Dark).
It’s almost upon us. The final eclipse of 2013 occurs this coming weekend on Sunday, November 3rd. This will be the fifth eclipse overall, and the second solar eclipse of 2013. This will also be the only eclipse this year that features a glimpse of totality.(...)
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Weekend Comet Bonanza!

Weekend Comet Bonanza!:

Color image of Comet ISON on October 27, 2013. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.
Color image of Comet ISON on October 27, 2013. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.
Astrophotographers were out in full force this weekend to try and capture the bonanza of comets now visible in the early morning skies! You’ll need a good-sized telescope to see these comets for yourself, however, but with the Moon now waning means darker skies and better observing conditions. Above is an absolutely gorgeous image of Comet ISON taken by Damian Peach. See below for more images of not only Comet ISON, but also Comet Encke, Comet Lovejoy and Comet LINEAR — now in outburst.
In fact, one of our “regular” contributors, John Chumack, captured all four comets in one morning, on Saturday October 26!
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‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say

‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say:

Artist's conception of a comet exploding in the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. Credit: Terry Bakker
‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say
Artist’s conception of a comet exploding in the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. Credit: Terry Bakker
Speak about destruction. A comet slammed into Earth’s atmosphere 28 million years ago and basically killed everything with fire below, leaving a huge deposit of yellow silica glass in its wake, a team of astronomers say.
The evidence — a black pebble found by an Egyptian geologist within this vast tract of glass — is believed to be a part of the comet’s nucleus or heart and not just an ordinary meteorite. The team says this could be the first hard evidence, so to speak, of a comet striking Earth.
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Fluorescent and Starry: New Zinger Space Images From Chandra’s X-Ray Archives

Fluorescent and Starry: New Zinger Space Images From Chandra’s X-Ray Archives:

Composite image of NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy 22 million light years from Earth. At least eight supernova have exploded in this galaxy in the past century, including three spotted by Chandra (purple). Optical data is also visible in red, yellow and cyan from the Gemini Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs
Composite image of NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy 22 million light years from Earth. At least eight supernova have exploded in this galaxy in the past century, including three spotted by Chandra (purple). Optical data is also visible in red, yellow and cyan from the Gemini Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs
You know that moment when you’re flipping through old digital pictures (on your computer or phone or whatever) and you realize there are some pretty awesome ones in there that you should share on social media? The Chandra X-Ray Observatory team also decided to plumb THEIR archive of astrophysical image magic, and came up with several beauties. Such as the one above this text.
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Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count

Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count:

A  night sky over the Isle of Wight that is bright with the Milky Way and green airglow. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell.
Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count
A night sky over the Isle of Wight that is bright with the Milky Way and green airglow. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell.
Here’s a beautiful view of the Milky Way arching through the sky over the Isle of Wight, an island just off the south coast of England, known for having limited light pollution. This gorgeous image was taken by photographer Chad Powell. You can see more of Chad’s work on his website or his Facebook page.
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Four Comets Haunt the Halloween Dawn! Here’s How to See Them

Four Comets Haunt the Halloween Dawn! Here’s How to See Them:

No fewer than four bright-ish comets greet skywatchers an hour before the start of dawn. From upper left counterclockwise: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Encke, C/2012 X1 and ISON. Credits: Gerald Rhemann, Damian Peach, Gianluca Masi and Gerald Rhemann
No fewer than four bright-ish comets greet skywatchers an hour before the start of dawn. From upper left counterclockwise: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Encke, C/2012 X1 and ISON. Credits: Gerald Rhemann, Damian Peach, Gianluca Masi and Gerald Rhemann
Get your astronomical trick-or-treat bags ready. An excursion under the Halloween morning sky will allow you fill it in a hurry — with comets! We’ve known for months that ISON and 2P/Encke would flick their tails in the October dawn, but no one could predict they’d be joined by Terry Lovejoy’s recent comet discovery, C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and the obscure C/2012 X1 (LINEAR). The last surprised all of us when it suddenly brightened by more than 200 times in a matter of days. Almost overnight, a comet found on precious few observing lists became bright enough to see in binoculars. Now comet watchers the world over are losing sleep to get a glimpse of it.
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New Space Station Instrument Raises Windy Science From The Dead

New Space Station Instrument Raises Windy Science From The Dead:

A false-color image of ocean wind speeds generated by NASA's  QuikScat satellite in 1999. Fast wind speeds are shown in orange, and blue ones are slow. The white shows where the wind is blowing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A false-color image of ocean wind speeds generated by NASA’s QuikScat satellite in 1999. Fast wind speeds are shown in orange, and blue ones are slow. The white shows where the wind is blowing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Here’s a cool example of a satellite recycling project. NASA used to have a probe called QuikSCAT that took a look at ocean wind speeds — including hurricanes, storms and typhoons. After 10 years of loyal service, the satellite failed in 2009 and a full replacement looked expensive. Now, however, spare parts for QuikSCAT are going to be used on the International Space Station for a low-budget fix (which the agency says will work just fine).
The parts are old — they are from the 1990s — but incredibly, they are functional. NASA also added some newer, commercially available hardware to make ISS-RapidScat fit in the space station as well as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will bring it to orbit in early 2014.
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Catastrophic Impacts Made Life on Earth Possible

Catastrophic Impacts Made Life on Earth Possible:

Further studies show that meteorite impacts may have created the right environments for life to develop
Meteorite impacts can be destructive, but they may have created the right environments for life to develop
How did life on Earth originally develop from random organic compounds into living, evolving cells? It may have relied on impacts by enormous meteorites and comets — the same sort of catastrophic events that helped bring an end to the dinosaurs’ reign 65 million years ago. In fact, ancient impact craters might be precisely where life was able to develop on an otherwise hostile primordial Earth.
This is the hypothesis proposed by Sankar Chaterjee, Horn Professor of Geosciences and the curator of paleontology at the Museum of Texas Tech University.
“This is bigger than finding any dinosaur. This is what we’ve all searched for – the Holy Grail of science,” Chatterjee said.
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Sunday, October 27, 2013

What If Earth Was Threatened by An Asteroid Strike? Astronaut Panel Brings Up Ideas To Search, Deflect These Threats

What If Earth Was Threatened by An Asteroid Strike? Astronaut Panel Brings Up Ideas To Search, Deflect These Threats:
Computer generated simulation of an asteroid strike on the Earth. Credit: Don Davis/AFP/Getty Images
What If Earth Was Threatened by An Asteroid Strike? Astronaut Panel Brings Up Ideas To Search, Deflect These Threats
Computer generated simulation of an asteroid strike on the Earth. Credit: Don Davis/AFP/Getty Images
“If we get hit 20 years from now, that’s not bad luck. That’s stupidity.”
That’s what former NASA astronaut Ed Lu has to say about asteroids and our efforts to search for them. He delivered those comments at a panel discussion today at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. He and several other astronauts spoke on behalf of the Association of Space Explorers (which, as the name implies, consists of astronauts, cosmonauts and the like.)
We guess that as astute readers of our publication, you know that a planetary threat from asteroids (and comets) exists. And there’s certainly more we can do; when that 17-meter asteroid blasted Russia earlier this year, Lu said most space agencies learned about it from social media!
So what’s being done about these threats? Here’s a roundup of the panel discussion’s information and some related information.

ALMA Warms Up the View of the Coldest Place In the Universe

ALMA Warms Up the View of the Coldest Place In the Universe:
boomerang
Where is the coldest place in the Universe? Right now, astronomers consider the “Boomerang Nebula” to have the honors. Located about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus, this pre-planetary nebula carries a temperature of about one degree Kelvin – or a brisk, minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit. That makes it even colder than the natural background temperature of space! What makes it more frigid than the elusive afterglow of the Big Bang? Astronomers are employing the powers of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to tell us more about its chilly properties and unusual shape. (...)
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Jupiter Bound Juno snaps Dazzling Gallery of Planet Earth Portraits

Jupiter Bound Juno snaps Dazzling Gallery of Planet Earth Portraits:
This false color composite shows more than half of Earth’s disk over the coast of Argentina and the South Atlantic Ocean as the Juno probe slingshotted by on Oct. 9, 2013 for a gravity assisted acceleration to Jupiter. The mosaic was assembled from raw images taken by the Junocam imager. Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo
Juno Portrait of Earth
This false color composite shows more than half of Earth’s disk over the coast of Argentina and the South Atlantic Ocean as the Juno probe slingshotted by on Oct. 9, 2013 for a gravity assisted acceleration to Jupiter. The mosaic was assembled from raw images taken by the Junocam imager. Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo
See below a gallery of Earth from Juno
During a crucial speed boosting slingshot maneuver around Earth on Oct. 9, NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno probe snapped a dazzling gallery of portraits of our Home Planet over the South American coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. See our mosaics of land, sea and swirling clouds above and below, including several shown in false color.
But an unexpected glitch during the do or die swing-by sent the spacecraft into ‘safe mode’ and delayed the transmission of most of the raw imagery and other science observations while mission controllers worked hastily to analyze the problem and successfully restore Juno to full operation on Oct. 12 – but only temporarily!
Because less than 48 hours later, Juno tripped back into safe mode for a second time. Five days later engineers finally recouped Juno and it’s been smooth sailing ever since, the top scientist told Universe Today.
“Juno is now fully operational and on its way to Jupiter,” Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton told me today. Bolton is from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio, Texas. (...)
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Friday, October 25, 2013

Planck Enters Retirement Shortly; This Picture Shows Just Some Of Its Views

Planck Enters Retirement Shortly; This Picture Shows Just Some Of Its Views:
A March 2013 picture of the Shapley Supercluster from the European Space Agency's Planck observatory. ESA describes it as
A March 2013 picture of the Shapley Supercluster from the European Space Agency’s Planck observatory. ESA describes it as “the largest cosmic structure in the local Universe.” Credit: ESA & Planck Collaboration / Rosat/ Digitised Sky Survey
With two days left before Planck switches off forever, the European Space Agency re-posted this beautiful image the telescope recently assisted in taking. It shows the Shapley Supercluster, which ESA describes as the biggest cosmic structure in our neighborhood.
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How to See This Season’s “Other” Comet: 2P/Encke

How to See This Season’s “Other” Comet: 2P/Encke:
Comet 2P/Encke as imaged by Damian Peach on October 12th. (Credit: D. Peach)
Comet 2P/Encke as imaged by Damian Peach on October 12th. Taken with a 20″ CDK telescope and a FLI Proline PL11002 Colr CCD camera; LRGB: L: 6×2 minutes, RGB exposure: 1×2 minutes.  (Credit: D. Peach)
2013 may well go down as “The Year of the Comet.” After over a decade punctuated by only sporadic bright comets such as 17P/Holmes, C/2011 W3 Lovejoy and C/2006 P1 McNaught, we’ve already had two naked eye comets visible this year by way of C/2012 F6 Lemmon and C/2011 L4 PanSTARRS. And of course, all eyes are on Comet C/2012 S1 ISON as it plunges towards perihelion on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, November 28th.
But there’s an “old faithful” of comets that’s currently in our solar neighborhood, and worth checking out as well.(...)
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A Colorful Art Project You Can Only Do In Space

A Colorful Art Project You Can Only Do In Space:
On Expedition 27 in May 2011, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman participated in the Auroral Oval Spiral Top experiment. Credit: NASA
On Expedition 27 in May 2011, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman participated in the Auroral Oval Spiral Top experiment. Credit: NASA
Wow! That was our reaction to seeing this picture (and others) of a light show aboard the International Space Station. After confirming with NASA that the images circulating lately on social media are real, we were directed to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who co-ordinated this experiment.
The work is called “Auroral Oval Spiral Top” and was done in the Kibo module on May 12, 2011, JAXA said. This was the second version of the experiment, which initially ran April 30, 2009 during Expedition 19.
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Astrophoto: Hubble in the Bubble

Astrophoto: Hubble in the Bubble:
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, seen in the Hubble Palette. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, seen in the Hubble Palette. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
Here’s a beautiful look at the Bubble Nebula, taken by astrophotographer Terry Hancock using what’s known as the “Hubble Palette,” — imaging in very narrow wavelengths of light using various filters. This allows very subtle details to be revealed, things that the human eye cannot see. Terry has been working on this one for a while — since mid-August — but the results are spectacular!
Terry took images from his “DownUnder Observatory” in Fremont, Michigan. He explains the image and techniques he used:
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Proposed Balloon Ride Would Let You See The Blackness Of Space

Proposed Balloon Ride Would Let You See The Blackness Of Space:
Artist's conception of World View's planned balloon mission some 19 miles (30 kilometers) up. Credit: World View Enterprises Inc.
Artist’s conception of World View’s planned balloon mission some 19 miles (30 kilometers) up. Credit: World View Enterprises Inc.
Doesn’t that look fun? A startup company is proposing to send customers 19 miles (30 kilometers) into the air via balloon, where they can linger for two hours and look at the curvature of the Earth and experience a black sky. While it’s not high enough to qualify as a spaceflight, the listed ticket price may be a little more affordable for space enthusiasts: $75,000.
Don’t get too excited yet — the project appears to be in very early stages, and no “first flight” date is listed yet. But there are some interesting notes for those looking for space and science experience in the company.
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There Are Now Officially Over 1,000 Confirmed Exoplanets!

There Are Now Officially Over 1,000 Confirmed Exoplanets!:
More than 1,000 exoplanets have been confirmed and cataloged (PHL @ UPR Arecibo)
More than 1,000 exoplanets have now been confirmed and cataloged (PHL @ UPR Arecibo)
It was just last week that we reported on the oh-so-close approach to 1,000 confirmed exoplanets discovered thus far, and now it’s official: the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia now includes more than 1,000! (1,010, to be exact.)
21 years after the first planets beyond our own Solar System were even confirmed to exist, it’s quite a milestone!
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