Space for the Earthbound

The Horsehead Nebula (Equine Elegance)

2010-08-24T03:01:00.002-06:00

The Horsehead Nebula, located in the constellation Orion, is one of the most easily recognizable and most photographed nebulae in the sky. Found just below Alnitak, the left star of the three stars that define Orion's belt, the Horsehead is a dark nebula. A dark nebula is an extremely dense interstellar cloud, so dense that light from surrounding stars will not pass through the cloud. It is within the inner regions of dark nebulae that stars are born.

Photo Credit and Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT

The Horsehead, or as it is also called Barnard 33, is visible to us due the bright nebula IC 434 behind it. The pinkish/red glow typically associated with the Horsehead is caused by hydrogen gas ionized by Sigma Orionis, a bright star that is close by. The bright spots seen in the base of this magnificent nebula are stars preparing to emerge.

Approximately 1500 light years away, the Horsehead Nebula was first identified in 1888 on photographic plate B2312 by Williamina Fleming, who was working at the Harvard College Observatory as an assistant to Edward Charles Pickering.

The Hubble Space Telescope Institute, in 2001, conducted a public survey on which formation in the heavens people would most like the Telescope to observe for its eleventh Birthday - the Horsehead Nebula was the runaway winner. Over 5,000 registered their votes online, including astronomers, both amateur and professional, teachers and students.

Many amateur astronomers and astrophotographers use the Horsehead Nebula as a test for their detection skills and equipment quality. This nebula can be difficult to find and will require at the least a high-end amateur telescope. Fortunately for those of us who do not possess professional equipment, others do and are willing to share the beauties of our night sky!

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Perseids (August's Annual Meteor Shower)

2010-08-08T00:12:00.015-06:00

August is upon us and that means it's time once again for the Perseid meteor shower.

Animation Credit: NASA MSFC

The Perseids are without a doubt one of the most popular meteor showers of the year for stargazers, largely due to the fact that the shower occurs in August. The peak date for the Perseids is Thursday, August 12, 2010. As the new moon for August is on the 10th this year, it should prove to be a very exciting shower. This is one of the longest meteor showers of the year, beginning July 17 and lasting until August 24. Even if your weather is unfavorable for meteor viewing on the peak date, there are plenty of chances to catch these "shooting stars" before the shower ends.

The full moon this year falls on the last day of the shower, August 24. Although a full moon will diminish meteor viewing to a slight degree, the full moon of August will be the most distant moon of the year. This distance makes the August moon the smallest of the year. Very definitely a plus for night sky watchers!

The best viewing for the Perseid meteor shower is as far from city light pollution as possible. Look to the northeast after midnight in the Northern Hemisphere. The best viewing will come in the hours closest to the dawn. The Perseids are named as such because they appear to come from the constellation Perseus, which at this time of year is just a bit to the east of the constellation Cassiopeia.

The meteors seen during the Perseid shower are actually debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle as it continues on its 130-year orbital path around the Sun. Although the meteors appear to be fairly large to the naked eye, the debris causing them is generally about the same size as a grain of sand; however, a few may be similar in size to a marble or a pea. This stream of debris is known as the Perseid cloud and the majority of the dust within this cloud is approximately one thousand years old. There is also within this cloud a fairly new filament of dust left by Swift-Tuttle in 1862. Meteors originate from this filament at a much higher rate than from the rest of the debris stream.

Activity from the Perseid meteor shower was first recorded in the Chinese annals, which state that in the year 36 AD "more than 100 meteors flew thither in the morning". This August shower is also known as the "tears of St. Lawrence", since there is an abundance of meteors at the time of the festival in Italy for St. Lawrence on August 10.

The peak of the shower on August 12 should show, under optimal conditions, somewhere around 60 meteors per hour. The first hourly count, also called the ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate), was provided in 1839 by E. Heis from Münster, Germany. Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quételet of Brussels, Belgium, is credited with the actual discovery of the shower. In 1835, Quételet reported the activity that appeared to be emanating outward from the constellation Perseus.

So, grab a lawn chair or a blanket, find a nice, dark location and relax and enjoy the show! Binoculars can be helpful in locating faint meteors and tails but the best viewing is done with just your eyes. These meteors move extremely fast, traveling at speeds of up to 133,200 mph (60 kps) and many could be missed while using any visual aids.

Photo Credit: Nick Ares

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Trifid Nebula (Greenhouse in the Sky)

2010-03-24T06:00:00.023-06:00

Within the nebula-rich constellation of Sagittarius lies the Trifid Nebula (M20 or NGC 6514). The word trifid means 'divided in three'. This stellar nursery has been a favorite of amateur astronomers for years, as it is a bright, colorful object when viewed through a small telescope.

Photo Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, J. Rho (SSC/Caltech)

The nebula was first observed by Charles Messier in June 1764; the hazy, glowing object was listed as simply M20 in the Messier Catalogue. The English astronomer John Herschel, while observing the nebula some 60 years later, noticed the dust lanes that seem to separate the cloud into three separate lobes. Herschel then named the nebula Trifid.

Trifid, unlike most nebulae, is actually a rare combination of three different types of nebulae, in addition to open star clusters.

In the upper left corner of Trifid is a reflection nebula. Reflection nebulae, as the name implies, are dust clouds that merely reflect the light that is emitted by nearby stars. These nebulae tend to be light and wispy, somewhat similar to the airiness of a mare's tail cloud. As these reflection nebulae are not dense, stars can be seen through the cloud's dust. Star formations have been known to develop within reflection nebulae.

The area that appears orange in the picture above and pink in the pictures below, is an emission nebula. Emission nebulae are clouds made up of ionized gas. A hot star emitting high-energy photons close to a nebula is one of the most common sources of ionization. The emission nebula within Trifid is an H II region, an area that has shown recent star formation.

The bands seen within Trifid are dark nebulae. Dark nebulae are so dense that light from surrounding stars and other nebulae cannot be seen through the cloud that makes up the nebula. These clouds which make up dark nebulae are the breeding ground of new stars and planets.

This combination of three different star-breeding nebulae within Trifid is akin to a greenhouse. Over time, many new stars will undoubtedly emerge from this hotbed of stellar activity.

Photo Credit: ESO

To the left of the "heart" of Trifid is a finger-like cloud formation (seen clearly in the two lower pictures) which points to the star that powers the nebula. This gas protrusion from the cloud is a well-defined example of an "EGG", or evaporating gaseous globule. The white spot at the tip of the "finger", resembling a star, is actually an extremely dense knot of gas; so dense that it is able to avoid being obliterated by the massive radiation put out by Trifid's central star.

Photo Credit: Hunter Wilson

Just half a degree south of Trifid is the Lagoon Nebula, another favorite of astrophotographers, also located in the constellation Sagittarius.

*** Note: Although the colors are markedly different between the top and two bottom pictures, these are all pictures of the Trifid Nebula. The color variances are due to a number of factors, including the equipment used for taking the photographs and filters that may have been applied during the taking of the pictures.

For Help Locating This Object in the Sky: Use the Interactive Messier Map in the upper right hand corner. Objects are listed numerically. Click on the object you wish to view (ex. The Crab Nebula is M1) and a map will be displayed showing that object's location.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Dumbbell Nebula (Expanding Planetary Nebula)

2010-03-21T06:00:00.009-06:00

In 1764, Charles Messier discovered the first planetary nebula - the Dumbbell Nebula (M27 or NGC 6853). Located in the constellation Vulpecula, the Dumbbell, being a very bright planetary nebula, is easily visible when viewed through binoculars or amateur telescopes. This is the type of nebula that will be produced by our Sun when it runs out of the nuclear fuel that makes up its core, estimated to occur in 5-8 billion years.

Photo Credit: Joe & Gail Metcalf, Adam Block, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Planetary nebulae, unrelated to our solar system's planets, were designated as such due to the similarities they appear to share with the giant planets when seen through smaller telescopes. These nebulae have a relatively short life span; only in the tens of thousands of years as compared to the typical lifetime of a star, generally several billions of years. The estimated age of the Dumbbell Nebula is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 years, just a baby in space time.

The Dumbbell was formed when its central star, similar to our own Sun, began running low on the hydrogen that is necessary to fuel its life. As the hydrogen is depleted, the star begins burning other gases within its nuclei, including oxygen, helium and carbon. The stellar core is compacted and the outer layers begin to expand. During unstable periods, the star may eject these layers completely. What is left in place of the original core is a white dwarf star. The white dwarf in the Dumbbell is the largest known white dwarf in the solar system.

The newly-formed white dwarf star is small but extremely hot due to nuclear burning. The energy from this nuclear burning radiates away from the star, causing the ejected layers, or shells, to fluoresce. The Dumbbell's shell is expanding outward at roughly 17 miles per second, as found by Bohuski, Smith and Weedman in 1970. This expansion will continue for billions of years until all of the energy has been depleted, leaving a black dwarf in place of the star.

For Help Locating This Object in the Sky: Use the Interactive Messier Map in the upper right hand corner. Objects are listed numerically. Click on the object you wish to locate (ex. The Crab Nebula is M1) and a map will be displayed showing that object's location.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Charles Messier (the Comet Ferret)

2010-03-17T06:00:00.016-06:00

In a rather ironic turn of events, an astronomer who was interested solely in finding comets compiled a list of objects in space that hindered his search for them. "Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles" ("Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters"), also known as the Messier Catalog, would become one of the most well-known and widely-used references for future astronomers.

Charles Messier painting by Ansiaume, Circa 1770

Born in Badonviller, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France on June 26, 1730, Charles Messier (sharl meh-SYAY) was the tenth of twelve children of Françoise B. Grandblaise and Nicolas Messier. By the time Charles was eleven, his father and half his siblings had died. Charles' 24-year old brother, Hyacinthe, a curator with the Navy, took over the care of his younger brother.

When Hyacinthe was away, Charles was playing in the house and fell through a window, breaking his femur, the long bone of the thigh. Charles found himself under the care of a neighboring farmer until his brother returned. Seeing how this injury had impaired Charles for physical work, Hyacinthe took the boy out of school and took over his education, focusing on administrative and methodical work.

The appearance of the Great Comet of 1744, a spectacular six-tailed comet, sparked young Charles' interest in astronomy. A solar eclipse seen from his hometown four years later further fueled Charles' desire to explore the "great beyond".

In 1751, Charles traveled to Paris and took employment with Joseph Nicolas Delisle, French Naval astronomer. Delisle had returned to Paris after spending a little over 20 years in Saint Petersburg, where he created and ran the school of astronomy. By 1753, Charles had become a highly competent observer; his first documented observation was that of the Mercury transit in May of 1753.

Although Comet Halley was not expected to return until 1758, Charles began searching for the comet sometime in 1757. Delisle had erroneously calculated the expected path of the comet and Charles tried in vain to find the comet until August 14, 1758. At that time, he located and telescopically followed a comet until November of the same year. Comet De la Nux had been previously discovered on May 26, 1758.

While conducting his search for Comet Halley, Charles came across a comet-like configuration in the constellation Taurus. Although not a comet, this object became the first entry in the Messier Catalog - the Crab Nebula (M1). As an avid comet hunter, Charles began listing deep-sky objects that might be mistaken for comets. That list grew in time to total 110 objects, including 13 comets Charles is credited as having discovered.

Notice de mes comètes (Notes on my comets) is a manuscript written by Charles, describing in detail 44 comets that he observed between the years of 1758 and 1805.

Nicknamed Comet Ferret by King Louis XV, Charles added 38 objects to his catalogue during an extremely productive seven-month search for comets in 1764. Among the objects included were the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Swan Nebula (M17). Comet Ferret outdid himself five years later when, on March 4, he determined the positions of four new entries:

the Orion Nebula (M42 and M43)
the Beehive Cluster (M44)
the Pleiades (M45)

Messier's original catalogue, published in 1774, contained only 45 objects. By the time of the last publication in 1781, the list had grown to 103 objects. From 1921 to 1966, evidence was discovered by astronomers and historians of an additional seven deep-sky objects, M104 through M110, that are now accepted as "official" Messier objects by astronomers.

Great Comet of 1744

Charles Messier received a great deal of recognition for his unparalleled work in the field of astronomy. He received a fellowship to the Royal Society, a foreign member election to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, an election to the French Academy of Sciences and, in addition, was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor.

Messier died April 12, 1817 at the age of 86, two years after suffering a debilitating stroke.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Lagoon Nebula (Home of Bok Globules)

2010-03-12T14:23:00.013-07:00

Located in the constellation Sagittarius is a vast interstellar cloud known as the Lagoon Nebula (M8 or NGC 6523). Being relatively close to Earth, at approximately 5,700 light years away, the Lagoon Nebula is a favorite among amateur astrophotographers. This rich region in the sky contains numerous objects that can be easily seen with home telescopes. The Trifid Nebula (M20) is found only half a degree north of the Lagoon. With a high-powered telescope, you may be able to discern the remote globular cluster NGC 6544 one degree southeast of the Lagoon.

Photo Credit: Hunter Wilson

French astronomer Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de la Galaisière is credited with discovering the Lagoon in 1747; however, it appears that John Flamsteed noted the nebula as early as 1680, as did Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1746.

As with many other nebulae, the Lagoon appears pink in time exposure color photos but is gray when viewed with the naked eye or binoculars and smaller powered telescopes. This is due to our human eyes not being able to process colors very well at low light levels. A nebula or light-pollution filter is needed to bring out the full complexity of this star-forming nebula.

Here are some outstanding photos of the Lagoon taken by amateur astrophotographers, including information on the equipment used for the majority of the pictures. Why these are considered amateur is beyond me, several of these shots rival those taken by professionals.

Located within the Lagoon are several Bok globules, dark clouds comprised of dense dust and gas where star formations sometimes begin. Discovered by Dutch-American astronomer Bart Jan Bok in the 1940's, these clouds have been described as "similar to insects' cocoons", giving birth to new stars and star clusters. While still somewhat of a mystery, Bok globules continue to be studied intensely.

The Lagoon Nebula is home to a rather massive structure resembling a pair of funnels or tornadoes, caused by heated and ionized gases emitted from O Herschel 36, the hot star pouring out ultraviolet light seen in the lower right corner of the picture below.

Photo Credit: A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA) and NASA

For Help Locating This Object in the Sky: Use the Interactive Messier Map in the upper right hand corner. Objects are listed numerically. Click on the object you wish to locate (ex. The Crab Nebula is M1) and a map will be displayed showing that object's location.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Sombrero Galaxy (A Hat in the Sky)

2010-03-07T06:00:00.012-07:00

Approximately 29 million light years away, in the constellation Virgo, lies an absolutely spectacular sight, the Sombrero Galaxy (M104 or NGC 4594). This unbarred spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on with its dark, enclosing ring, arced central bulge and bright nucleus, does indeed resemble a Sombrero.

Photo Credit: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The dark band that looks like the brim of a Sombrero is a dust lane, consisting mostly of hydrogen gas and dust. The majority of star formations in the galaxy occur within this circle of matter.

With an apparent relatively bright magnitude of between +8.0 and +9.0, a small telescope (4-inch) is needed to view the galaxy; it is a bit too dim to be seen with the naked eye. A pair of good quality 7x35 binoculars should reveal some of the features of this hat-shaped galaxy. A large telescope is required for seeing the dark band of the dust lane.

Although discovered by French astronomer Pierre François André Méchain in March of 1767, the Sombrero Galaxy was not added to Messier's official list until 1921. Charles Messier had made a hand-written note regarding this discovery but it was Nicolas Camille Flammarion, who upon finding Messier's personal list, ultimately saw to the galaxy being included in the Messier Catalogue.

A supermassive black hole has been detected by astronomers in the core of the Sombrero Galaxy, calculated at a mass of more than 1 billion suns, making the Sombrero's black hole one of the most massive that has been measured within any of the nearby galaxies.

For Help Locating This Object in the Sky: Use the Interactive Messier Map in the upper right hand corner. Objects are listed numerically. Click on the object you wish to locate (ex. The Crab Nebula is M1) and a map will be displayed showing that object's location.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Williamina Fleming (From Maid to Astronomer)

2010-03-03T14:34:00.012-07:00

On May 15, 1857, Robert and Mary Walker Stevens brought Williamina Paton Stevens into this world in Dundee, Scotland. Mina, as she was known to those close to her, would later in her life make an impact in the world of astronomy.

Williamina Fleming Circa 1890's

Little is known of Williamina's early life in Scotland. She became a student teacher at the age of 14 while attending public school in Scotland. She continued teaching until her marriage to James Orr Fleming on May 26, 1877. A little more than six months after the marriage, James and Williamina set sail for America, settling in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after their arrival in the States, James abandoned his newly pregnant wife.

With family and friends thousands of miles and an ocean away, Williamina needed a way to support herself and her unborn child Edward, who would be born in the fall of 1879 during a trip back to Scotland. She found employment as a maid for Edward Charles Pickering, who happened to be the director of Harvard College Observatory.

Pickering, unhappy with the work of one of his male assistants, proclaimed that his maid could do a better job than the assistant was doing. Thus began the Scottish teacher's new vocation. Williamina, while working at the Observatory, proved Pickering was far more correct than even he could have imagined when making that statement.

Williamina was part of a team responsible for cataloguing stars in what would become the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra. In the nine years spent on the project, she catalogued in excess of 10,000 stars. She is credited with the discovery of 59 gaseous nebulae, 10 novae and over 310 variable stars, 222 of which were listed in the 1907 publication A Photographic Study of Variable Stars. Regarding the publication, a British astronomer stated, "Many astronomers are deservedly proud to have discovered one...the discovery of 222...is an achievement bordering on the marvellous."

In 1888, while working with Harvard plate B2312, Williamina discovered the Horsehead Nebula (also known as IC-434) in a photo taken by William Pickering, brother of Edward. She described this bright nebula as having " a semicircular indentation 5 minutes in diameter 30 minutes south of Zeta [Orionis]."

Williamina and William did not receive due credit for this discovery for years. JLE Dreyer, who compiled the first Index Catalogue, removed Williamina's name from objects listed as discovered by Harvard. Credit was given to simply "Pickering", whom most people took to mean Edward Charles. By the time the second Index Catalogue was published by Dreyer in 1908, Williamina and several of her associates were well known enough to finally receive the credit they deserved.

Williamina Fleming and the "computers"

Williamina's duties at the Observatory were expanded and she found herself in charge of the "computers", a rather large group, numbering in the dozens, of young women employed to identify stars on the plates and then calculate the positions of those stars. She was also responsible for editing all of the publications that the Observatory issued. Her work proved to be so exemplary that in 1898, she was appointed curator of astronomical photographs by Harvard Corporation, the first such appointment held by a woman.

In recognition of her outstanding contribution to astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society made Williamina an honorary member in 1906, making her the first American woman to hold such a position. Wellesley College appointed her honorary fellow in astronomy soon thereafter. Shortly before her death on May 21, 1911 from pneumonia, Williamina was awarded the Guadalupe Almendaro medal by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.

Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming - astronomer extraordinaire!

Article Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Meteor Showers (A Condensed Listing)

2010-02-15T06:00:00.015-07:00

There are dozens of meteor showers each and every year. Listed here are several of the annual showers, including viewing dates, Peak dates and the Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR). In a nutshell, the ZHR is the number of meteors per hour you could expect to see in optimal conditions: new moon and no clouds, away from city light pollution. These numbers are not however a guarantee. Some showers with a high ZHR can be disappointing for several years and then put on a spectacular show. Showers with a low ZHR will occasionally astound viewers with a massive display. The thing is, you just never know!

Photo Credit: Nigel Cooke

Quadrantids (QUA)
Jan. 1 - Jan. 5, Peak Jan. 3, ZHR - 120
The first meteor shower of the year, the Quadrantids is one of the best and also one of the shortest.The peak of this winter shower lasts only a few hours. Although thisshower typically produces in excess of 100 meteors per hour at itspeak, the cold and overcast conditions of January keep most watchers indoors. Recently NASA teams took extreme measures to get decent views of this quick shower: they took an airplane to the Arctic Circle and rose above the clouds for viewing.

Alpha Centaurids (ACE)
Jan. 28 - Feb. 21, Peak Feb. 8, ZHR - 6
Although a very weak shower in terms of meteors per hour, with its over three-week duration, chances are good that on a cold, clear night a brilliant "shooting star" will be seen.

Gamma Normids (GNO)
Feb. 22 - Mar. 22, Peak Mar. 13, ZHR - 8
This rather small shower comes from the rather small constellation Norma, located in the Southern Hemisphere. Situated between Scorpius and Centaurus, the constellation's name is Latin for normal. The Latin word refers to a right angle, quite appropriate considering the constellation resembles a carpenter's square.

Lyrids (LYR)
Apr. 16 - Apr. 25, Peak Apr. 22, ZHR - 15
The Lyrids are a fairly steady shower, averaging 10 meteors per hour. On occasion the Earth will pass through a thicker part of the dust trail of Comet Thatcher. What then follows is a meteor storm. During one such storm in 1982, viewers were treated to 90 Lyrids per hour. The best time for viewing this shower is during the darkest hours before dawn.

Eta Aquariids (ETA)
Apr. 19 - May 28, Peak May 5, ZHR - 60
The outbound particles of Halley's comet produce this rather lengthy shower, best seen in the Southern Hemisphere. This shower is noted for producing a very high percentage of meteors with visible trains, almost 50%, making the Eta Aquariids the strongest annual shower in the Southern Hemisphere. For a week around the peak date, over 30 meteors may be seen per hour.

Alpha Capricornids (CAP)
Jul. 3 - Aug. 15, Peak Jul. 30, ZHR - 4
A low rate shower best seen from the Southern Hemisphere.What makes this shower stand out is its bright, vividly colored fireballs that frequently fragment while in flight. This is an ideal shower for the patient photographer.

Perseids (PER)
Jul. 17 - Aug. 24, Peak Aug. 12, ZHR - 60
The Perseids are undoubtedly the most well-known in the Northern Hemisphere, largely due to the time of year in which this shower occurs. The ZHR has fluctuated wildly in the last twenty years, most likely due to the reappearance of Swift-Tuttle, the parent comet of the Perseids. In 1991 and 1992, the ZHR was reported to be over 400 per hour.

Orionids (ORI)
Oct. 2 - Nov. 7, Peak Oct. 21, ZHR - 20
Produced by the inbound particles from Halley's comet, this shower has remained fairly consistent in the past twenty years. The Orionids can be seen equally well from both hemispheres; however, viewers in the Southern Hemisphere generally see twice the number of meteors per hour as those in the north.

Draconids (GIA)
Oct. 6 - Oct. 10, Peak Oct. 8, ZHR - Varied
Parented by the periodic comet Giacobini-Zinner, the hourly rate is impossible to predict. In both 1933 and 1946, this shower's ZHR was in the thousands. In 1998, viewers in Japan and eastern Asia were treated to over 500 meteors per hour, as reported by the Nippon Meteor Society.

Leonids (LEO)
Nov. 14 - Nov. 21, Peak Nov. 17, ZHR - Varied
This shower is quite noted for bright, different colored meteors that leave long-lasting trains. Composed of particles from the Comet Temple-Tuttle, this shower produces brilliant displays when the comet is close to Earth, often becoming meteor storms. In one of the most magnificent storms in recorded history, over one hundred thousand meteors fell per hour east of the Rocky Mountains in North America in 1833.

Geminids (GEM)
Dec. 7 - Dec. 17, Peak Dec. 13, ZHR - 120
Relatively new in space time, the Geminids were first noted only 150 years ago. The parent object, asteroid 3200 Phaethon, was discovered in 1983 by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. High hourly rates and yearly reliability make this a shower of choice among seasoned meteor watchers. It is thought that this shower is producing more meteors each year and is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Two artists' portrayals of the Leonid Meteor Showers in 1866 and 1833, respectively

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights)

2010-02-09T15:55:00.013-07:00

It makes no difference whether you call this incredible light display the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights - the show is still the same! A wispy, undulating canvas in the sky.

In 1621, Pierre Gassendi, a French astronomer, philosopher, mathematician and scientist, was the first to give a name to this "otherworldly" phenomenon. Aurora - for the Roman goddess of dawn, and Borealis - the name the Greeks gave to the North Wind, which they called Boreas.

Photo Credit: Senior Airman Joshua Strang, USAF

As the name implies, these light shows are seen in the Northern Hemisphere. The light shows seen below the equator are the Aurora Australis. These displays are also known as polar auroras, or aurorae. The closer you are to one of the poles, the better your chance of seeing this breathtaking spectacle. They are more apt to be seen around the time of the equinoxes, usually March 20th and September 22nd. As with viewing meteor showers, the best time to see the lights is at new moon. The less moon from the sky, the better view for your eye.

Here is a fantastic video display put together by a Youtube user, having over 70 pictures in a 3:12 display. There are some absolutely amazing photos in this collection. In two of the shots, meteor streaks can also be seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GThxWmmvvk&NR=1

The best places for seeing the Aurora Borealis are areas close to the northern pole; Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia. Sightings in the lower 48 states do occur, but not with near the frequency of those in higher latitudes. In one very extreme event during 1958, the Aurora Borealis was reported to be seen as far south as Mexico City.

Aurorae are typically a night event, with the best viewing in the 3 to 4 hours around the midnight hour, although they can be seen at all hours from dusk to dawn. Daytime viewing is extremely rare, except in Svalbard, an archipelago north of the European mainland in the Arctic Ocean. During the 2 and a half month period around the Winter Solstice, occurring December 21st or 22nd of each year for the Northern Hemisphere, Svalbard remains dark enough during the daytime that the auroral oval is easily seen overhead at the noon hour.

In what is believed to be the most spectacular auroral event in recent history, enough geomagnetically induced current was produced by an auroral storm in 1859 for two telegraph operators to carry on a conversation between Boston and Portland, Maine, for about two hours without the then required use of batteries. Recorded from the operator in Boston: "My current is very strong at times, and we can work better without thebatteries, as the aurora seems to neutralize and augment our batteriesalternately, making current too strong at times for our relay magnets.Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by thistrouble."

While our technology for land communications has drastically improved in the last 100+ years, being very close to this kind of electric power can still wreak havoc on electronics or battery operated appliances and gadgets. But in the end, the show is worth the price of admission.

For a scientifically detailed and concise description of Aurora go here.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Laika (First Dog in Orbit)

2010-02-08T18:34:00.004-07:00

Before man left Earth's gravitational field to begin exploring the reaches of outer space, our canine companions were sent up to pave the way for human astronauts. A three-year old Russian stray found wandering the streets of Moscow was the first canine selected for an orbital space mission. Laika, whose name in Russian means "Barker", was a female mongrel weighing between 11 and 13 pounds. Given many nicknames by Russian personnel, the American Press adopted the moniker "Muttnik", to go along with the craft in which Laika had been chosen to go into orbit: Sputnik 2.

Laika in Sputnik 2, 1957

Sputnik 2 had not been designed to be retrievable and Laika's death was a foregone conclusion. Prior to the launch, Laika was taken home by one of the Russian scientists for some playtime with his children. Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky has written, "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."

While seemingly cruel to send Laika to her death, scientists felt it was a necessary precursor to sending humans into space as it was believed back then that humans would survive neither the launch itself nor travel in outer space.

To prepare Laika for the small confines of Sputnik 2's miniscule cabin, she was kept in smaller and smaller cages for up to twenty days at a time. She spent time in centrifuges that simulated a rocket's acceleration during launch. She was placed inside machines that mimicked noises that would be heard inside the spacecraft. For feeding purposes, Laika learned to eat a high-nutrition gel, which would become her food while in orbit.

Prior to Sputnik 2's launch on November 3, 1957, sensors were placed on Laika's body for monitoring of her bodily functions. Before the launch, the mongrel's heartbeat registered at 103 beats per minute. This rate more than doubled to 240 beats per minute (4 beats every second) at the time of early acceleration. It took three hours for Laika's pulse rate to return to a normal 102 beats per minute, whereas in early ground tests it had taken roughly an hour to do so. This is a good indication of the stress that Laika was under. Tests have shown that she was, however, eating her food.

Upon reaching orbit, the "Block A" core did not separate from Sputnik 2 as had been intended. This equipment malfunction caused the thermal control system to stop operating correctly. As a by-product of the equipment failure, thermal insulation was also torn loose, bringing the temperature in the cabin of the spacecraft to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Signs of life within the cabin were no longer detectable after between five and seven hours into the flight.

Although it had been previously reported that Laika died from lack of oxygen, or had been euthanised before the oxygen ran out, the true cause of her death was finally made public in 2002: overheating along with stress, according to Dr. Dimitri Malashenkov. Laika's time in orbit did however prove to scientists that it was entirely possible for a human occupant to survive a launch into orbit and withstand weightlessness, thus paving the way for the men and women that continue to explore space to this day.

A monument to Laika was unveiled by Russian officials in April of 2008 close to the Moscow military research facility which was in charge of Laika's preparation to become the first canine in orbital space. Quite appropriately, it shows the dog standing atop a rocket in what looks to me like the palm of a hand. You did well, our furry friend!

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Moon o' Lakes (Saturn's Moon Titan)

2010-02-02T16:34:00.024-07:00

Titan, the largest of Saturn's at least 62 moons, has intrigued scientists for years, largely due to the many similarities that Titan shares with Earth. Over the last 20 years, scientists have speculated about lakes made of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan's surface. While no large seas have been indicated by data received from Cassini, what appear to be many large lakes near both the north and the south poles have been revealed.

The only known moon in the solar system larger than Titan is Ganymede, one of the many moons of Jupiter. The diameter of Titan is roughly one and a half times that of Earth's moon. Although less in mass than Mercury, Titan is larger in volume.

The Cassini spacecraft began its orbit of Saturn in 2004. Until 2009, the northern hemisphere of Titan was unseen by Cassini, being covered by the darkness of winter. Saturn's rotation around the sun is equivalent to 29 1/2 Earth years. Upon the change of the seasons and with the return of light, Cassini captured this image: reflected sunlight from one of Titan's lakes near Saturn's northern pole.

"This one image communicates so much about Titan -- a thick atmosphere, surface lakes and an otherworldliness," says Bob Pappalardo, Cassini project scientist, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It's an unsettling combination of strangeness yet similarity to Earth. This picture is one of Cassini's iconic images."

Cassini scientists were able to confirm the presence of liquid in Titan's largest lake in the Southern Hemisphere, Ontario Lacus, in 2008. Although encouraging, scientists still wanted very much to prove the existence of liquid in the Northern Hemisphere, which has larger basins outnumbering those in the Southern Hemisphere. While processing the original image from Cassini on July 10, 2009, Katrin Stephan was the first to see what is called a glint, also referred to as a specular reflection.

Cassini continues to explore Titan. Its last flyby, dubbed "T66", was on January 28th. Cassini took almost seven years to reach Saturn. The unmanned probe reached Saturn in 2004 with the mission due to end in 2008. NASA has stated that the exploration of the Saturn system will last until 2017. Hopefully, we will continue learning all about the wonders of Saturn and Titan for many more years to come.

Methane lakes dotting the surface of Titan's Northern Hemisphere

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Native American Moon Names

2010-01-29T17:13:00.011-07:00

Tonight, January 29th, brings us the brightest and largest full moon we will see during this year - 2010. With clear skies you will be able to easily see many of the moon's features. And if you have a telescope, the view will be amazing.

In Native American culture there is a name for each full moon for each month of the calendar year. Our wonderful Indian tribes, several hundred years ago, defined the seasons by naming each full month for any given month. These moon names were for the entire month in which that full moon occurred. And being that there were many different tribes of Indians, many of these moons go by more than one name.

January - Wolf Moon
With the temperatures below zero and dealing with heavy snowfall, the wolves found it difficult to find food. They would howl from hunger outside of the Indian villages. This moon is also known as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule.

February - Snow Moon
Typically, the heaviest snows would fall in February, hence the name. As hunting would become very difficult with the heavy snows, this moon was also called the Hunger Moon.

March - Worm Moon
After the heavy snows of February the ground began to soften, allowing for the return of the earthworm, which in turn brought back the robins. Northern tribes referred to this as the Crow Moon because the cawing of the crows signified that winter was at a close. This one is also known as the Crust Moon, so described by the thawing of the snow during the daytime and the freezing of it at night.

April - Pink Moon
Wild ground phlox, which is pink in color, covered the land. There are several other names for this moon - the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and, for tribes living in coastal regions, the Fish Moon, as this was the time that shad swum upstream for spawning.

May - Flower Moon
April showers brought May flowers and now the flowers are everywhere. This is also called the Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon.

June - Strawberry Moon
This is the peak season for picking strawberries. In Europe this is called the Rose Moon.

July - Buck Moon
For young buck deer, this is when their new antlers push through the skin, covered in velvet. This moon is also known as the Thunder Moon as this is the season when thunderstorms occur most often. And this moon is also called the Hay Moon.

August - Sturgeon Moon
Named for the time when the sturgeon, the large fish of the Great Lakes, are most easily caught. Several tribes call it the Full Red Moon because the moon appears reddish through a sultry haze as it rises. This moon is also called the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon.

September - Harvest Moon
Due to this moon typically falling closest to the Autumnal Equinox, farmers could work their fields and harvest their crops by moonlight. The major staples of the Indian diet - beans, squash, corn, wild rice and pumpkins, are ready for harvest.

October - Hunters' Moon
The leaves have fallen and the deer have gotten fat. As the fields were cleared in the prior month, wild game is easier to see and hunt, making for a bountiful Thanksgiving.

November - Beaver Moon
Beaver traps, which ensured warm furs to survive the long, cold winters, were set out in November before the waters froze. This is also called the Frosty Moon.

December - Cold Moon
This is when the winter cold really begins to set in. Often this moon is called the Moon Before Yule. And with the night now being quite long with the moon visible for more hours than during the summer, this moon is also referred to as the Long Night Moon.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters)

2010-01-28T23:59:00.019-07:00

The Pleiades (M45 or NGC 4472) is the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky, along with being one of the closest star clusters. This cluster is found at the shoulder of the bull in the constellation Taurus. The Pleiades were used by the ancient Greek sailors as a type of weather forecast: if the Pleiades were visible it was a good time to set sail; if the Pleiades were not visible, most likely a storm was coming. The conjunction of the cluster with the sun in the spring signified the beginning of the summer sailing season, while the opposition in the fall signified the end of the sailing season.

The Pleiades star cluster consists of over 400 mostly faint stars, along with the 6 to 15 brighter stars seen well with the naked eye during good viewing conditions. There are also several nebulae within the star cluster. These nebulae are blue in color indicating reflection nebulae, which reflect the light of bright stars near or within the nebulae. The reflection nebula seen at right is most likely part of the dust in a molecular cloud and is not actually related to the Pleiades; these two bodies are simply crossing each other in the sky, like two ships in the night. It is estimated that the Pleiades star cluster will survive for roughly another 250 million years. Gravitational interactions with the spiral arms of the galaxy and giant molecular clouds will cause the demise of this most impressive star cluster.

The Seven Sisters are the daughters of the Titan Atlas, who held up the sky, and the sea-nymph Pleione, the protectress of sailing. The daughters were Maia (the eldest), Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope (which is a double star) and Merope (the youngest). Their half-sisters include the Hyades, Calypso, Hyas and the Hesperides.

The only one of the seven sisters to marry a mortal was Merope, who wed Sisyphus and bore him several sons. The other six sisters all consorted with gods. Zeus sired four children with three of the sisters. Poseidon was father to three children from two of the sisters and Ares fathered a child with one sister.

Atlas joined one of his brothers and several other Titans in a war against the Olympic gods. Two of Atlas’ brothers, after weighing the odds, betrayed the battling Titans by siding with the Olympians. The Titans were defeated and Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the edge of the Earth and hold the heavens upon shoulders.

One day while strolling the Boeotian countryside, the Pleiades were spotted by Orion, the great hunter. Orion was immediately taken by the incredible beauty of the seven sisters and pursued them across the earth for seven years. Zeus took pity on the sisters on behalf of Orion’s relentless pursuit of them and changed them into doves, giving them a place in the heavens and putting them again under their father’s watchful eye. When Orion was later placed in the heavens, he was set in a position to be behind the Pleiades, forever chasing the lovely ladies he couldn’t catch while mortal.

The Pleiades painted by Elihu Vedder 1885

The star cluster: Notice the two bright stars at the far left side, midway. These are the mother and father, Pleione and Atlas, from top to bottom, forever keeping an eye on their daughters.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower (First Shower of the Year)

2010-01-17T02:12:00.009-07:00

The Perseid meteor shower is without a doubt the most well-known meteor shower of the year. With the Perseid shower occurring in August, many people are able to lay out under the sky at night and enjoy watching the “shooting stars” blaze a trail across the sky. August 12th, the peak night of the shower, has always been a date that is marked on my calendar.

Photo Credit: hanz_222

A much lesser known shower is the Quadrantids. Peaking this year in the early morning hours of January 3rd, this shower produces more than 100 meteors per hour. With such an awesome display and an impressive per hour count, why aren’t the Quadrantids as well-known as the Perseids?

Weather is very definitely a factor. In much of the United States, the first part of January is rainy and snowy, basically being overcast. Put cold on top of that and not many people are willing to bundle up and go stare at the sky for a couple of hours, even if they’re lucky enough to get a clear sky. Oh, how I am hoping for a clear sky!

Another factor is the shortness of the shower. Unlike the Perseids, the Quadrantid shower lasts only a few hours. Prof. A.C.B. Lovell wrote in his classic book Meteor Astronomy, “useful counts of the Quadrantid rate were made in [only] 24 Januaries out of a possible 68 between 1860 and 1927. … The maximum rate appears to have occurred in 1932 (80 per hour) although the results are influenced by unfavorable weather.”

To view the Quadrantids shower, find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). In the early part of January the Big Dipper is positioned so that the “bowl” is up, with the “handle” pointing down. Look below the handle to see the point of origin for the shower.

The meteor shower became known as the Quadrantids because of its emanation from a now obsolete constellation called Quadrans Muralis (the Mural Quadrant) located on some 19th-century star atlases near the point of meeting between Hercules, Draco and Boötes (which to me has always looked like a kite flying, fairly easy to pick out).

If weather (or cold) is a deterrent for you, you don’t have to miss the first meteor shower of the year. Tune into SpaceWeather Radio for a live audio stream from the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar. When a Quadrantid passes over the facility, you will hear a “ping” caused by the radar’s powerful transmitter echoing from the meteor’s ion trail. During the shower’s peak, the soundtrack is guaranteed to entertain.

Look to the sky an hour or two before sunrise to watch this phenomenal sight. January 3rd will be a date I mark on my calendar in the future. Happy skygazing!

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Spectacular Nebulae

2010-01-16T23:52:00.015-07:00

A Nebula, from the Latin word for cloud, is a large cloud of plasma, interstellar hydrogen gas and dust. Nebula was long-used as a generic term for any extended cloud-like mass prior to the invention of the telescope. The first working telescopes were invented in the Netherlands in 1608 by Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen and Jacob Metius. Galileo and Isaac Newton both made major contributions to the improvement of earlier telescopes. The telescope enabled us to correctly identify objects such as star clusters and galaxies from actual nebulae.

Nebulae are typically classified as either bright or dark. Bright nebulae must be fairly close to nearby stars to glow. Dark nebulae require a brighter backdrop, such as a star cluster, to be visible. One of the most well-known dark nebulae is the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion. There is also what is known as a reflection nebula, which is simply a dark nebula that reflects the light of nearby stars.

Nebulae are not just incredibly beautiful formations in the sky. They play a very important role in the evolution of the galaxies. Nebulae can be involved in both the birth and the death of stars.

Stars are extremely dense objects and if a nebula is to be a star’s origin the dust particles and gas that make up the nebula must unite and be concentrated into a small “ball” of matter. Gravity pulls the gas and dust inward until the core of the nebula heats up and begins to rotate. This condensed material is what will become stars. A nebula can contain a large number of newly formed stars, causing a dark nebula to radiate with the light. A perfect example of this is the Cone Nebula, which is currently an active star formation.

One type of star death causes a planetary nebula, named as such because these nebulae are rounded and resemble planets. An aging star running low on hydrogen will begin to burn helium and swells to massive proportions. After the surface cools, this “red giant” is unstable. The outer layers of the star are thrown off, forming a planetary nebula. The core is a bluish-white color due to extremely high temperatures. It is the heat from this core that causes the nebula to glow. The Eskimo Nebula, discovered in 1787 by William Herschel, is an excellent example of a planetary nebula.

When a high-mass star dies, it will die not as a red giant but as a supernova. It this case, the star collapses inward on itself. The gas coming back into the inner layer of the star gets so super-heated that it is bounced back out in a major explosion, forming a visible nebula. The most studied supernova is the Crab Nebula, discovered by Arab and Chinese astronomers in 1054. The supernova became so bright that for 23 days it was visible even during the day. It remained visible to the naked eye for approximately two YEARS.

The Hubble Telescope has been instrumental in helping us to better understand nebulae, along with the outer reaches of space we didn’t even know existed many years ago. Imagine what will be learned over the next hundreds or thousands of years as technology continues to improve and expand our horizons.

The following is a small collection of nebulae from the NASA archives.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Orion (The Great Hunter)

2010-01-15T16:55:00.015-07:00

Orion, the Hunter, is one of the largest and most easily identifiable constellations in the sky. Once you spot the three stars in Orion's belt, the rest of the constellation is easy to make out. Orion's belt is often referred to as the "Three Kings". The three stars that make up Orion's belt are, from left to right; Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

Rigel, the large blue-white supergiant at Orion's left knee, is the sixth brightest star in the sky. Betelgeuse, at Orion's right shoulder, is a variable red giant with a diameter larger than the orbit of Mars. Betelgeuse is one of the 20 brightest stars in the sky.

Orion was the son of Poseidon (King of the Sea) and the Gorgon Euryale. Orion, like most of Poseidon's children, was a man of massive proportions. Orion fell in love with Princess Merope of Chios, daughter of King Oenopion. Oenopion would not give his consent for a marriage between Orion and Merope, despite Orion clearing the island of wild beasts and presenting the spoils of the chase to Merope.

Orion attempted to gain possession of Merope by force, enraging Oenopion who, after getting Orion drunk, blinded him. He then cast Orion out on the seashore. Following the sound of the Cyclops' hammer, Orion reached Lemnos. There he met Hephaestus, the lame smith-god, who took pity on the blinded hunter and gave him one of his men, Cedalion, to take him to the abode of the sun.

With Cedalion guiding Orion from his shoulders, the two made their way to the east meeting Helios, the sun-god. Orion's sight was restored when the healing rays of the sun hit his eyes at dawn. With his vision back, Orion then traveled to Crete, where he hunted with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto. Orion was a skilled and arrogant hunter. During the hunt with Artemis and Leto, Orion threatened to kill every beast on Earth.

Gaia (Mother Earth) was infuriated with Orion's threat and sent a giant scorpion to kill him. In one version of the story, Orion was stung and killed by the scorpion. Orion and Scorpius, the constellation of the scorpion, are at opposition in the sky. As Scorpius rises in the east, Orion escapes the horizon in the west. When Orion rises in the east, he is chasing Scorpius to the west. Never shall the two meet in the sky to do battle.

Orion hunts eternally in the night sky with his two dogs, the constellations Canis Major (Big Dog) and Canis Minor (Little Dog), at his heels.

The spectacular Horsehead Nebula is found within the constellation Orion.

Between October 20th and 22nd of each year the Orionid meteor shower peaks. In the Northern Hemisphere, the peak rate is 20 meteors per hour. Viewers in the Southern Hemisphere are treated to a peak rate of 40 meteors per hour.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Andromeda (Peril by the Sea)

2010-01-14T21:03:00.001-07:00

Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of King Cepheus and the incredibly vain Queen Cassiopeia. On one occasion Queen Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter Andromeda was even more beautiful than the Nereids, the alluring sea-nymph daughters of Poseidon, the God of the Sea.

Perseus and Andromeda by Pierre Mignard (1679)

The Nereids became outraged by this proclamation and demanded revenge. Poseidon, to appease his vengeful daughters, sent flood waters along with the sea monster Cetus, to destroy King Cepheus' kingdom. Cetus wreaked havoc along the coastline; death and destruction followed in his wake. Desperate to protect his land and people, Cepheus sought the help of Ammon, the Oracle of Zeus.

Ammon told Cepheus that the only way to stop the brutal devastation of his kingdom was to sacrifice his virgin daughter Andromeda to the sea monster Cetus. Andromeda was then chained to a rock on the coast of Jaffa (modern day Tel Aviv) to atone for the boastful sins of her mother Cassiopeia.

Andromeda, shackled, alone and terrified, saw Cetus approaching through roiling sea waters and began to scream. The sea monster had its maws opened to consume the sacrificial virgin when Perseus arrived riding the winged horse Pegasus, after beheading the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus swooped down from the sky holding the head of Medusa with her face toward Cetus. The sea monster was turned to stone upon seeing the head and perished, sinking forever to the depths of the sea.

Andromeda had been previously promised to Phineus but due to the heroic rescue by Perseus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia readily agreed to a marriage between Perseus and Andromeda. Their marriage produced seven sons and one daughter.

Andromeda was placed in the constellations of the Northern sky by Athena. She is surrounded by her father Cepheus, her mother Cassiopeia, her husband Perseus and the winged horse that made the marriage possible - Pegasus. The sea monster Cetus is always close by but Pisces, the constellation of fishes, protects and keeps Andromeda out of harms way.

The constellation Andromeda boasts, as befitting her mother, the Andromeda Galaxy, a spectacular galaxy close enough to be seen by the naked eye. Close is a relative term here, being that the galaxy is 2.5 million light years away, giving it the distinction of being the most distant object visible without the need for a telescope. The Andromeda galaxy is larger than the Milky Way, while the Milky Way contains more dark matter and is most likely more massive.

Andromeda Galaxy by clownfish33

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Pegasus (The Horse for Battles)

2010-01-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

Pegasus, a Northern constellation and the 7th largest in the sky (even though only half of the horse is depicted), is quite unique among the constellations. Within Pegasus is the star 51 Pegasi, a Sun-like star that was the first found to have a planet orbiting it. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the exoplanet’s discovery in 1995, with confirmation coming from Drs. Geoffrey Marcy and Paul Butler. The planet, 51 Pegasi b, informally goes by the name Bellerophon, very fitting when the mythology of Pegasus is considered.

Medusa painting by Caravaggio 1595-1596

Medusa, as a young Princess was quite beautiful. Poseidon (King of the Sea) fell in love with Medusa and seduced her in Athena’s temple. This enraged Athena and to exact revenge Athena turned Medusa’s long, lustrous hair into animate serpents and made Medusa’s face so terrible to behold that anyone who saw Medusa’s face would be turned instantly to stone.

Perseus was sent, in a test of his skill and courage, to find and kill the Gorgon Medusa. He was expected to return with Medusa’s head to prove he had accomplished the task. Using a magical mirror provided by Athena, Perseus was able to behead Medusa without looking directly at her and being turned to stone.

Pegasus had been conceived in the union of Poseidon and Medusa before Medusa was turned into a Gorgon. Pegasus and his brother, Chrysaor, sprang from the neck of Medusa upon her beheading. Pegasus left his mother’s body and flew to Mount Helicon in Boeotia, home of the Muses.

A singing contest between the nine daughters of Pierus and the nine Muses caused Mount Helicon to rise heavenward with sheer delight. As advised by Poseidon, Pegasus kicked the ground with his hoof to stop the mountain from continuing to rise. To the joy of the Muses, his hoof opened up Hippocrene (horse’s fountain) which was the inspiring well of the Muses.

Bellerophon, a great hero and slayer of monsters, found himself in need of Pegasus. King Iobates sent Bellerophon on a nearly impossible mission to slay Chimera, a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent.

Painting by Mary Hamilton Frye, 1914

Polyeidos, the Lycian seer, told Bellerophon to sleep in the Temple of Athena in order to obtain the services of Pegasus. In a dream, Athena presented Bellerophon with a golden bridle to help him ride Pegasus. When Bellerophon awoke, the golden bridle was there at his side. Polyeidos told Bellerophon that to capture Pegasus, he must approach Pegasus while the horse was drinking from the well Pierene. Using the golden bridle, Bellerophon mounted Pegasus and flew to fight the Chimera.

Bellerophon defeated the Chimera from above by shooting arrows into her back. He then went on to defeat Solymi and the Amazons. These conquests caused Bellerophon to feel that he was entitled to fly to Mount Olympus, realm of the Gods. Zeus, angered by Bellerophon’s arrogance, sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, sending Bellerophon falling back to Earth. Bellerophon, blinded and crippled by the fall, lived the rest of his life shunned; alone and in disgrace.

Pegasus continued alone to Mount Olympus and was taken in by Zeus to transport his lightning bolts and thunder, common weapons of Zeus. Zeus then immortalized Pegasus by putting him in the constellations to forever be enjoyed.

Pegasus is featured in many of the Greek mythological tales of the constellations. Another great tale with Pegasus as an important factor is the story of the constellation Andromeda.

For Help Finding Pegasus in the Sky: See the Northern Autumn, Southern Spring constellation map by Jim Kaler and Stan Wyatt.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Cassiopeia (The Price of Vanity)

2010-01-13T19:44:00.001-07:00

Many of the constellations have heroic or tragic tales associated with them. Cassiopeia is one of those constellations but differs from most of the constellations for one reason; vanity, plain and simple, is what earned Cassiopeia a place in the heavens. An interesting bit of trivia: the only husband-and-wife constellations couple in the sky are Cassiopeia and her husband Cepheus.

Queen Cassiopeia was an extremely beautiful woman. She was the mother of Andromeda, who was equally beautiful. Cassiopeia boasted that both she and Andromeda were more beautiful than even the Nereids. The Nereids were the sea-nymph daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, was the wife of the sea-god Poseidon.

The sisters implored Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia for her vanity. Poseidon released his sea monster Cetus to demolish the coast of King Cepheus’ country Aethiopia (not to be confused with modern-day Ethiopia). To stop this attack by Cetus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia chained their virgin daughter Andromeda to a rock to be given as a sacrifice. The hero Perseus rescued, and later married, Andromeda.

As punishment for her vanity, Cassiopeia was chained to her throne and sent to the heavens to revolve around the Pole Star. Because the circumference around the Pole Star is such a short distance, Cassiopeia is one of the few constellations that is visible year-round. And because of the path it follows, Cassiopeia is “upside-down” part of the year. Very unbecoming for the vain woman, who took great pride in her hair.

Cassiopeia is positioned between Perseus and Cepheus in the Northern sky. The constellation is identifiable by its “W” shape. The 5 stars making the constellation easily identifiable are; Caph (for the elbow or palm), Schedar (the breast), Cih (the girdle), Rucha (the thigh) and Segin (the right knee). When these stars are viewed in their order, Queen Cassiopeia is seen as sitting up, with the elbow or palm held in the air because of the chain binding the Queen to her throne.

Within Cassiopeia are two Messier objects, Messier 52 (NGC 7654) and Messier 103 (NGC 581). Both of these open clusters are easily seen using binoculars. Messier 103 is pictured here.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

Cygnus (Swan in the Sky)

2010-01-13T00:11:00.001-07:00

The Southern Hemisphere has the Southern Cross. In the Northern Hemisphere we have the Northern Cross, or Cygnus, the Swan. Cygnus is actually more distinctive and quite a bit larger than the Southern Cross.

Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation, is at the tail of Cygnus. Deneb, a super-giant, is the most distant of all the first-magnitude stars. Albireo is at the head of Cygnus. Albireo is actually two stars that give off a distinctive blue and amber glow. It is easy to see the graceful, long neck and wings stretched out in flight while looking up at Cygnus.

Cygnus is home to many nebulae. The Veil Nebula is a breathtakingly light, wispy nebula; unlike planetary nebular that are circular in shape, the Veil Nebula spreads so thin that stars can be seen through it. The North American Nebula, complete with the shape of the Gulf of Mexico, is near Deneb.

Zeus is well-known for taking many shapes in his seductions. Disguised as a swan, Zeus seduced Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus. Out of this union came Clytemnestra and her sister Helen of Troy, along with Castor and Pollux. As Leda had lain with both her husband and Zeus, there will always be questions regarding the fatherhood of the offspring.

Many stories abound about the swan and Cygnus remains an enigma, free to roam the night sky.

Author Resource: Written by Starr Hendon

All About the Planet Mercury

2010-01-12T00:19:00.004-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest of the rocky terrestrial planets in our solar system. Named after the Roman God of commerce, travel and thievery, the planet is a harsh world of extreme temperatures about which relatively little is known. Mercury orbits the Sun at a distance of 46-70 million km and passes within 77.3 million km of the Earth at its closest pass. It takes the small planet just 88 Earth days to complete an orbit round the Sun and 58 days to complete one rotation, a very slow rotation compared with the other planets, only Venus is slower.

Mercury’s structure is typical of that of a terrestrial planet, containing a core, a mantle and then a rocky outer crust. Mercury is the second densest planet in the Solar System, right behind Earth. Mercury’s core is larger in comparison to the diminutive size of the planet giving it the high density. It is believed that at some point in its history Mercury was struck by a planetesimal, stripping away much of the mantle and crust and leaving the planet with a relatively large core.

The surface of Mercury is unforgiving and harsh. It is quite similar to that of the Moon, pockmarked with craters and the remains of meteorite impacts. With no erosion to wear them down the craters last for millions of years. In sunlight temperatures can reach 450 degrees C and drop as low as -170 degrees C at night. The huge fluctuations are due to Mercury’s distance to the Sun and its lack of a real atmosphere. The gravity on the planet is not strong enough to retain a permanent atmosphere and so much of it is lost to the solar winds. There is evidence of ice on Mercury, despite its extreme heat. There are deep craters at the poles of the planet which never see sunlight and so are permanently cold enough for layers of ice to form.

Exploration of Mercury has been slow compared to the other planets. The planet is the hardest to reach by spacecraft as the speed required is extremely high, given its closeness to the Sun. This is combined with the fact that any spacecraft looking to orbit Mercury would be acted upon by the Sun’s gravity. Probes must use an excessive amount of fuel to brake so as not to overshoot Mercury. Landing on the planet is also tricky because of the lack of atmosphere meaning that parachutes and aerobraking are unlikely options. Mercury is not considered a strong candidate for terraforming and colonisation either because of the extreme temperature fluctuations. Mars and Venus as well as some of the gas giant’s moons are seen as more likely options.

Despite the relative difficulties of sending probes to Mercury there have been some observations made from its orbit. The Mariner 10 probe was the first to arrive in March 29th 1974. Mariner 10 did not orbit Mercury, but the Sun instead and used Venus’s gravity to slingshot a path to Mercury. Mariner 10 would fly by Mercury twice more in 1975, photographing 45 percent of the surface. The mission led to the discovery of the Earth-like magnetic field and the surface details of the planet, showing extensive amounts of meteorite impact. The second mission to Mercury, MESSENGER, is currently en-route and will enter orbit in 2011.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Stansted parking and Gatwick hotels.
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Century's Longest Solar Eclipse

2010-01-12T00:00:00.003-07:00

Patna, July 20 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is upbeat about watching the total solar eclipse Wednesday along with scientists from across the world at Taregana village, one of the best places in India to view the celestial spectacle.

“I am really upbeat to watch the total solar eclipse along with astro-physicists, scientists and researchers … a lifetime opportunity,” Nitish Kumar said here Monday.

The engineer-turned-politician stressed that the state government would provide all facilities to scientists and others coming to Taregana to study and view the century’s longest solar eclipse.

The chief minister, along with a team of top officials, visited Taregana, about 35 km from here, Sunday to review the preparations.

The total eclipse, starting a little after sunrise, is expected to last three minutes and 48 seconds at Taregana. According to the NASA forecast based on satellite imagery, the sky over the region is likely to be less cloudy than others along the path of the total solar eclipse. So it may offer one of the best views of the celestial phenomenon.

Taregana already has an ancient connection with astronomy, having been one of the two places used by 6th century Indian astronomer-mathematician Aryabhatta for his celestial studies.

Hundreds of scientists, researchers and astro-tourists from across the world are expected to arrive in the Bihar village ahead of the total solar eclipse. These include scientists from US space agency NASA, Britain, Italy, Germany, France, as well as from the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation has decided to set up a special counter at Taregana to provide all possible facilities. The departments concerned have been assigned the tasks of setting up temporary public toilets, repairing the road, providing round-the-clock power supply as well as bringing out a pamphlet on the village.

The state government is also providing a pair of special goggles at a minimal price to view the eclipse.

Courtesy: Sindah Today

Asteroids – Giant Balls of Light Streaking Across the Sky

2010-01-11T23:45:00.003-07:00

By Julie Hammel

Astronomy is one of the most exciting sciences due to numerous celestial phenomena that are simply awesome and beautiful to see. Not only that, the universe as a whole is a mysterious fact that may never be fully explained by science. There are new discoveries such as the existence of distant galaxies and black holes that are constantly revealed by space exploration programs. The reason why we are so fascinated by these celestial objects is because many of them pose as threats to our human existence. Whatever cataclysm that occurs far away can cause destruction to our planet.

Most of these strange occurrences happen in extremely long distances from Earth and are too far away to cause a catastrophe. However, there are some that are relatively near to us. Among these are the asteroids which are large rocks, having a diameter that can reach miles. These celestial objects have become the talk of the town by astronomers, soothsayers, and the public due to fears that if just one of them strikes us, the human race will be wiped out. Scientists are still looking for evidence that support the theory about the extinction of dinosaurs caused by huge asteroid impacts.

It is very important to separate the facts from fiction regarding asteroids. By virtue of popular culture as represented by science fiction books and movies, one of the wildest ideas is that these space objects are allegedly used by aliens to dominate our world. Certain forms of extraterrestrial life are suspected to be found in impact zones, spawning a strange epidemic and causing havoc to humans. However, the most popular concept is asteroids hitting Earth and using our latest technological advances to avert the said disaster.

In order to allay our fears, the scientific community is always conducting research on the nature and composition of these celestial bodies. Their studies have helped us understand the truth about asteroids. These are actually debris that can range from a golf ball up to gigantic rocks as large as continents. Since they have no particular orbits unlike planets and moons, they can and have many times actually struck our planet. Nevertheless, the ones that have penetrated our Earth’s atmosphere are called meteorites and these are typically small. Some are known as meteors because they have been thoroughly burned and have totally turned to dust. The chances of a direct hit from a giant asteroid are relatively small, but astronomers are not taking this fact for granted. By using giant telescopes that are strategically placed in different sites around the world, they constantly observe the heavens for tell-tale signs of asteroids that may stray into a dangerous collision path with our planet.

Another fact is that an asteroid belt exists between Mars and Jupiter. This is where most asteroids come from. Astronomers have separated these into classes based on their material composition and proximity to the said planets. Those that are the nearest to Mars belong to the Class S, while the ones that are closest to Jupiter are known as Classes C, D, and V. The latter classes are called Centaur asteroids and they have particular material compositions and are known to drift the vast space from Jupiter to Uranus. To gain a first-hand look at these celestial behemoths, scientists have sent space probes to fly near them. The asteroid called Ida was observed by the probe Galileo from a distance of approximately 1,000 miles and was found to have its own moon. Some probes have actually landed on asteroids and have sent amazing photographs for us to enjoy.

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Getting to Know Galileo

2010-01-11T23:38:00.004-07:00

By MaryLou Driedger

Getting to know Galileo was an unexpected pleasure on my recent trip to Italy. I learned many new things about Galileo, as I walked the streets of the cities where he lived and worked. Galileo is perhaps the world’s most famous astronomer and physicist.

The Museum of Science in Florence has a large display of telescopes some of them 400 years old created by Galileo and other early astronomers. One can only marvel at the persistence of these scientists. They had to scrounge around for suitable building materials and were often ridiculed for their scientific ideas. Galileo wrote a book called The Starry Messenger in which he describes his discovery of The Milky Way and the four moons of Jupiter. He presented the original bound copy to Cosimo Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany along with the first telescope he invented. That copy of the Starry Messenger and the telescope are both displayed in the Museum of Science in Florence. My favorite item in the museum was a grocery list. It’s a page from one of Galileo’s notebooks on which he’s listed the supplies for a scientific experiment having to do with optics. Interspersed in that list he has scribbled words like chickpeas, rice, pepper and sugar, obviously grocery items he needs. Even people working on groundbreaking discoveries need to be concerned about the more mundane aspects of everyday life.

The experiment Galileo is perhaps most famous for is one he conducted at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo, who was born in Pisa, gathered a group of scholars together to watch as he dropped a heavy cannon ball and a lighter musket ball off the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove that both fall at the same speed. We visited the Leaning Tower on a cold, rainy day and although we did not climb to the top of the tower to try to recreate Galileo’s experiment we did go inside the nearby cathedral. We saw a large, ornate brass lamp that inspired Galileo to invent the pendulum. Galileo was sitting in church one Sunday when he was a student at the University of Pisa. During the service he watched that lamp swinging back and forth and that’s what prompted him to begin a study of pendulums.

One place we didn’t get to visit in Florence, because it is in the process of being restored, was the home where Galileo lived under house arrest for the last decade of his life after being condemned by the Catholic Church for insisting the sun and not the earth was the centre of the solar system.

At the Pitti Palace in Florence I saw Susterman’s portrait of Galileo prominently displayed along with the likenesses of other famous citizens. We visited the Santa Croce Cathedral where I took photographs of the tomb where Galileo is buried. It’s nice to know that while he ended his life as a prisoner Galileo is being properly honored now for the contributions he made to the scientific world.

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All About the Planet Venus

2010-01-11T20:48:00.004-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Named after the Roman Goddess of love, the planet Venus is the second furthest from the Sun. It has been referred to as Earth’s twin planet due to its remarkably similar size. Venus is also a rocky planet with a gaseous atmosphere, however it differs from Earth in a number of crucial ways.

Venus is the closest planet to Earth and the brightest object in the night sky, with the exception of the moon, and has been referred to as both the Morning and Evening Star due to its luminosity. Venus is most striking for its thick atmosphere which covers the entire planet and obscures the view of the surface from space and Earth. The hidden surface of the planet was the subject of much curiosity and speculation before the myths were dispelled by probes and exploratory spacecraft. Science fiction writers in particular pondered what what be on the surface of Venus, speculating about possible life on the surface.

However, numerous probes sent to the planet would remove any lingering doubt over the possibility of life on Venus. The surface temperature averages at around 460 degrees C with the atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth’s, the same as that found 1km under the oceans. The extremely high temperature is caused by a runaway greenhouse effect. Venus’ atmosphere is predominantly composed of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulphur dioxide. Heat from the Sun becomes trapped and the planet gets warmer and warmer, to the point it is at today.

At its closest Venus passes 41.8km away from Earth, takes 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun and 243 days to complete one rotation. Venus’ orbit is the closest of any planet to being circular, with an eccentricity of less that 0.01. The extremely slow rotation of Venus makes it stand out from the other planets, taking much longer to complete. Venus also spins in the opposite direction to Earth. Venus has no moons.

Venus has been the subject of a lot of the initial ideas of colonisation by Man of the Solar System. The discovery of the conditions on the surface seemed to all but rule out any human settlement on the surface, the extreme temperature and pressure would make life impossible. There has been some talk, however, of possible colonisation of Venus’ atmosphere. 50km above the surface the conditions are much more favourable and Earth-like. Floating cities filled with human-breathable air would float in the dense atmosphere, at that height the atmospheric pressure is the same as that of Earth and temperatures range from 0-50 degrees. A different approach could be to artificially cool Venus using giant mirrors or manipulating dust clouds. In just a few decades the planet would cool significantly enough to give conditions similar to Earth on the surface.

Venus is an interesting planet given its similar properties to Earth. It is also a living example of what a runaway greenhouse effect can do to a planet. The excessive CO2 content in the atmosphere has massively heated the planet beyond what it would be otherwise, a stark reminder of what could eventually happen to Earth.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Stansted parking and Gatwick hotels.
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All About the Planet Earth

2010-01-11T20:06:00.003-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Earth is unique among all known planets, ones native to our Solar System or otherwise. It is the only planet that has liquid water on the surface and is also the only world containing life. Earth is the third planet out from the Sun and is the densest and largest of the four rocky terrestrial planets.

Formed at the same time as the rest of the Solar System the Earth would accrue enough mass to maintain an atmosphere, composed chiefly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. It is believed that the Earth collided with another planetesimal early in its history, the remains of this collision would form the Moon. Earth’s moon is its only natural satellite with its gravitational effects having great effects on the planet. The Earth was also just the right distance from the Sun for liquid water to form on the surface, filling the oceans and eventually covering 71% of the planet’s surface.

Half a billion years after the formation of the planet the first self-replicating molecules were formed, and by a process of natural selection would go on to evolve into all life as we know it. The impact of life has been significant on the Earth, the oxygen in the atmosphere and the ozone layer are attributed to early plant life. The ozone layer protects the surface from many harmful rays from the Sun and has allowed colonisation of the land by multicellular organisms. Life would go on to evolve intelligence and humans. We are still the only known life in the universe, and most likely the only intelligent forms of life within millions of light years.

The Earth is almost a perfect sphere, with a slight bulge at the equator due to its rotation. The planet is mostly composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, sulfur, nickel, calcium and aluminum. The planet is formed from a mostly iron core, a molten mantle and a thin rocky crust, much like the other rocky planets. The surface of Earth is split into several continental plates which all move around on the surface. This geological activity gives rise to earthquakes, mountains, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Similar to Mars, the Earth has polar caps with ice at the Northern and Southern tips. The Earth has a strong magnetic field, which deflects much of the solar wind and protects the Earth from the harmful radiation. The Earth is tilted on its axis, meaning that some areas are closer to the Sun that others during orbit. This tilt gives rise the seasons.

The human population of Earth is expanding at an ever increasing rate and many concerns are being raised about the treatment of the planet and how long it will be until the finite resources are consumed. A lot of human activity is now going into finding alternative power sources and environmentally friendly methods of industry. The evolution of humans has been the first time in over four billion years that one species has had such a negative impact on the well-being of the rest of the planet.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.
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All About the Planet Mars

2010-01-11T19:29:00.003-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is named after the Roman God of war. The planet is a distinctive shade of red and is the last of the rocky terrestrial planets. Mars is substantially smaller than Earth and Venus but larger than Mercury. The planet has been the subject of intense speculation about the existence of extra terrestrial life with evidence of water on the surface at the polar ice caps. While recent robotic explorations have shown that the presence of life is unlikely it has still not been conclusively ruled out.

Mars has a thin atmosphere, much thinner than Earth’s. It is kept this way by the solar winds stripping atoms from the top layer, Mars’s atmosphere lacks a magnetosphere to protect it. The surface pressure of the Martian atmosphere is less than one percent of that found on Earth. Despite the sparseness of the atmosphere however, it extends 5km higher than Earth’s due to lower gravity. Mars has a relatively low mass and the surface gravity is just 38 percent of Earth’s.

Mars is home to the largest mountain in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. It is three times higher than Mount Everest and the result of substantial volcanic activity with shallow slopes covering a massive area. Mars is also home to many other interesting geographical features such as canyons and valleys. Many of these features are attributed to running water, although it has been proved to no longer exist it is thought that at one time Mars may have had rivers on its surface. The Phoenix lander has found ice under the surface of the planet and Mars is the most water-rich location outside Earth that we have found so far.

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Demios, both with irregular shapes. They are thought to be captured asteroids and the orbit extremely close to the planet. It is not fully understood how the moons have come to orbit Mars, however it is believed that Phobos is a relatively recent capture as it follows an unstable orbit and will collide with the Red Planet in around 50 million years.

Mars has been extensively explored by robotic spacecraft and probes by the USA, Russia, Europe and Japan. Probes began exploring Mars even before Man had landed on the Moon with the first flyby occurring in 1964. The Soviets were the first to successfully land objects on the planet, but they lost contact soon after arrival. In 1976 the NASA probes Viking 1 and 2 made it to the surface of Mars, spending several years there. They provided many images and helped to map the surface. The most recent probe to land on Mars is the Phoenix Lander. It arrived in May 2008 and began investigating the Martian soil, finding conclusive evidence of water ice. Phoenix landed much closer to the pole than any other spacecraft.

There are many future missions planned to Mars and in 2004 President George W. Bush announced that NASA’s vision for space exploration would be to launch a manned mission to the planet. NASA administrators believe that they will have successfully landed a man on Mars by 2037. Mars has been the subject of serious talk of eventual colonisation, as it is seen as the most suitable for life and the most habitable environment in the Solar System outside Earth. Mars has many of the elements needed for life present in its soil and with a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere it is thought that with some terraforming that algae may be able to survive at the poles. Terraforming Mars is an area that is being looked into as a future destination for civilisation once the increasing heat of the Sun makes Earth uninhabitable.

Mars is a charismatic planet, inspiring countless works of fiction and a massive amount of speculation about the secrets it may hold. It has been a characteristic of our space exploration that many of the early romantic ideas of conditions on the surface have been dispelled and the planet has been found to be lifeless and largely barren. Martian thinking is now turning towards finding out its past and planning for its future.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.
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All About the Planet Jupiter

2010-01-11T18:44:00.005-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System and is the innermost of the gas giants. Named after the Roman King of the Gods the planet is located beyond the asteroid belt. Jupiter orbits between 740 million and 778 million km from the Sun and is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. It is the fourth brightest object in the sky behind the Moon, Sun and Venus and has an extremely fast rotation period, completing one every ten hours. The planet takes eleven years to complete an orbit of the Sun.

Jupiter is quite unlike Earth and its neighbours as it is mostly composed of gases rather than heavier elements. Jupiter is two and a half times more massive than all the other planets put together and is about as large as a planet of its type can grow. If it were to take on more mass the diameter would actually decrease from the increased gravity. If it were 75 times larger then it would be able to fuse hydrogen and become a star, this has lead some astronomers to label the planet as a failed star. However despite its humble status as a planet Jupiter does create a substantial amount of its own heat, generating more than it receives from the Sun.

The atmosphere of Jupiter is made of many distinctive bands of gas and light elements. Different areas of the planet have been shown to rotate at different speeds, and there are many storms present. The most notable storm on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot. This giant anomaly on the surface of the planet is larger than Earth and is a storm that has been raging ever since we first discovered the planet. Jupiter is peppered with similar storms and recently three large grey ones merged into one storm, similar to the red spot.

Jupiter has only been explored by automatic deep-space probes, there is no surface to land on and there have been no landings on any of its moons yet. The first probe to fly-by Jupiter was the Pioneer 10 in 1973. Pioneers 10 and 11 would gather a multitude of images and date about the planet, detecting the magnetic field and radiation belts. In 1979 Voyagers 1 and 2 passed Jupiter followed by Ulysses in 1992. The only probe to orbit Jupiter is the Galileo spacecraft, which reached the gas giant in 1995. The craft stayed in orbit for seven years, releasing an atmospheric probe in July 1995. The probe descended into Jupiter and sent back data for 57 minutes before it was crushed by the pressure. Eventually Galileo was sent into the planet in order to prevent it crashing into and contaminating any of Jupiter’s moons.

Jupiter has 63 moons, some of which are among the largest objects in the Solar System. The four largest are Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa, known as the Galilean moons after their discoverer Galileo. The moons of Jupiter are among the most interesting bodies in the Solar System with some striking geological activity and possible sites for life. The moon Europa may be the site of a liquid ocean underneath its icy crust and is a place that scientists are extremely interested in exploring. The moons of Jupiter are not as cold and lifeless as they may be otherwise due to tidal flexing providing friction on the inside of the planet and keeping them active. Io is the most geologically active body in the Solar System with over 400 volcanoes, Ganymede is the largest non-planet and Callisto is considered a possible site for extra-terrestrial microbial life.

Jupiter is not as openly considered for colonisation as our nearby planets Mars and Venus. The giant planet does however offer an inviting location for a stepping stone into the outer Solar System. Its many moons could make good places for colonies and may even provide economic benefits through mining. The future will see further missions to the moons to look for signs of life and liquid oceans.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.
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All About the Planet Saturn

2010-01-11T18:24:00.005-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Saturn is the most visually striking planet in the Solar System. It is the second largest gas giant behind Jupiter and is surrounded by a spectacular series of rings. Saturn is the sixth furthest planet from the Sun at 1,400 million km away and is named after the Roman God Saturnus. The rings are made from icy particles and dust, Saturn has around 60 moons as well as the only moon with a stable atmosphere, Titan.

Saturn has a small core made from ice and rock with the rest of the planet being chiefly hydrogen and helium. There are thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen and liquid hydrogen and helium layers surrounding the core before the gaseous outer layers.

The inside of Saturn can reach extremely hot temperatures, with the interior temperature of 11,700 degrees C thought to be due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism of gravitational compression. The atmosphere of Saturn is not as strikingly active as the one on Jupiter, but it does display some of the same characteristics. The gases have a banded appearance and there is evidence of cloud layers and storms.

The rings of Saturn initially were a great source of confusion for early astronomers, lacking the high-powered telescopes to identify them. Galileo thought that Saturn was three bodies, but was lost for an explanation as to why the outer two would disappear only to reappear again later. It took until 1655 for Christiaan Huygens to correctly identify Saturn’s rings. The rings are mainly composed of water ice and they extend from 6,630km to 120,700km from the surface.

The origin of the rings is not known for certain, with theories that they are the remnants of a moon ripped apart by tidal forces or a leftover material from Saturn’s formation both being considered.

Saturn has been visited by probes during the 80s and more recently in 2004. In 1980 and 1981 the Voyager probes, 1 and 2, both performed fly-bys of the gas giant on their way out of the Solar System. They provided high quality images of the planet and its rings.

Voyager 1 flew close to Titan, obtaining more data about the atmosphere on the moon. The main probe to gather data about Saturn and its satellites was the Cassini-Huygens probe which reached the planet in July 2004. The probe gathered a lot of data on Titan including details of its lakes, coastlines and other geographical features.

The craft then released the Huygens lander which became the first craft to land on a moon other than our own. Cassini would also go on to discover liquid water erupting from geysers on the surface of Enceladus, another of Saturn’s moons.

Titan dominates Saturn’s moons, making up 96% of their mass. Titan is unique among the moons of the Solar System as it has an extremely thick atmosphere, not dissimilar to the one found on Venus. The atmosphere of Titan, however, has a reverse effect of Venus as it has an anti-greenhouse effect which cools the surface where Venus’s atmosphere has heated the surface to scorching effect.

The Cassini-Huygens probe discovered the liquid methane lakes on Titan, the first stable bodies of liquid found on any extra-terrestrial body. There are weather systems similar to Earth in effect on Titan with rain and high winds all present. The average surface temperature is between -179 and -290 degrees C, with atmospheric pressure higher than Earth and much lower gravity.

Despite its low temperatures Titan is compared to early Earth with its high amount of organic chemical activity. The moon is thought to be one of the most likely places in the Solar System to find alien life.

The nature of gas giants means that they don’t lend themselves well for direct colonisation or human visits. However in Saturn’s case it may prove that Titan is an excellent place for a future colony if the low temperature and high pressures can be overcome.

Any human landing on the planet-facing side of the moon would also be treated to some of the most spectacular views in the Solar System, with Saturn and its rings taking up a large portion of the sky.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.
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All About the Planets Uranus and Neptune

2010-01-11T03:00:00.008-07:00

By Patrick Omari

Uranus and Neptune are known as the ice giants, huge blue planets located in the outer Solar System. They are similar to Jupiter and Saturn in that they are predominantly composed of gases and ice but differ in many key areas. While still dwarfing the inner planets the ice giants are smaller than the other gas giants. Due to their distance from Earth they were the last planets to be discovered, Uranus in 1781 and Neptune in 1846.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and orbits between 3,004,419,704 km and 2,700,938,461 km from the star. It has 27 known moons as well as a faint ring system. Uranus takes 17 hours to complete a rotation and 84 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun. The planet is named after the Greek God of the sky, the father of Saturn and grandfather of Jupiter.

What makes Uranus different from any other planet in the Solar System is that the axis is tilted onto its side. The tilt of Uranus is 97.7 degrees, meaning that the pole is facing the Sun, making its day/night cycles and seasons entirely different to any of the other planets. Each pole of Uranus gets 42 years of light followed by 42 years of darkness. What caused this extreme tilt is not known for sure but is thought to be due to a large planetary body striking the ice giant.

Uranus is composed of three layers, a rocky core, an icy mantle and an outer layer of gaseous hydrogen and helium. Uranus is the coldest planet in the Solar System, despite being closer to the Sun than Neptune. The lowest temperature ever recorded on Uranus was -224 degrees C, just 49 Kelvin. Why Uranus doesn’t emit as much of its own internal heat as other planets is not known for sure, but it has been speculated that the internal structure of the planet blocks much of the heat from the core from reaching the surface.

Neptune is the second ice giant, the eighth planet from the Sun orbiting at a distance of around four billion km. Neptune takes 164 years to orbit the Sun and takes 16 hours to complete one rotation, giving the planet short days and extremely long years when compared to Earth. After Pluto’s demotion from planet status Neptune has become the furthest planet from the Sun.

The structure of Neptune is similar to Uranus with its atmosphere making up around 10 percent of its mass, slowly becoming more solid as you reach the core where temperatures sit at around 5000 Kelvin. The atmosphere is scattered with clouds that form in the upper layers, believed to made of ammonia, ammonium sulphide, hydrogen sulfide and water. Neptune has a ring system, but it is much less prominent than Saturn’s.

Neptune has a much more active weather system than Uranus with many clouds and storms. The planet exhibits many similar features to those found on Jupiter, including its own great dark spot. The winds are thought to even reach speeds of up to 600 m/s, near supersonic speeds. The great dark spot was discovered in 1989 by the Voyager 2 probe. There are many other similar but smaller storms present on Neptune.

The ice giant has many moons but only one is large enough to be spherical, Triton, which orbits in the opposite direction to Neptune’s orbit, a unique property among the moons of the Solar System. Because of this it is believed that Triton is a captured body from the Kupier belt, a huge asteroid belt surrounding the Solar System. Pluto is one of the largest objects in the belt, bodies present in the Kuiper belt are known as Plutinos.

The ice giants are the least explored planets in the Solar System, Voyager 2 visited in the late 80s gathering images and scientific data. Neither planet is considered a high priority for human visitation or colonisation due to their immense distances from Earth. Their moons do not lend themselves well to settlements and the Saturnian and Jovian moons have much more to offer.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.
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The First Man to Enter Outer Space - Yuri Gagarin

2010-01-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

By Shawna S. Ruppert

Yuri Gagarin trivia should be interesting to anyone who has an interest in the space race, astronomy, or the various space programs of the world, as he stands in the category of the most important explorers and pioneers of outer space. Full name Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, he was a cosmonaut who lived from 1934-1968. Although American's frequently think of Neil Armstrong as the greatest explorer of outer space, it needs to be remembered that he was only the first on the moon. A Yuri Gagarin quiz would reveal that Gagarin was the person who completed two, perhaps even more significant firsts, he was the first person to ever travel to outer space, and to orbit the earth, two events which would pave the way not only for Armstrong, but also for all future space exploration.

An interesting point of Yuri Gagarin trivia is that he was incredibly short for a full grown Russian Man, measuring only 5'2" tall when full grown. This was something that actually turned into an advantage for Gagarin. He learned to fly during high school but them proceeded to military flight training, and his small size allowed him to fit with more comfort and more maneuverability into some of the extremely cramped quarters in certain planes. He began flying in the Soviet Airforce as a pilot of a MiG 15. His entry into the cosmonaut program was due to his being able to fit in the tiny Vostok cockpit, and due to his incredible physical and mental toughness.

Gagarin became a worldwide hero after his venture into space. He would tour the world to discuss the flight, and quickly rose in the ranks of the Air Force as the greatest hero the people of the time had. Gagarin was a Colonel by 1963, but was held back from active duty in space flight due to the politicians and commanders of the military's fears about losing the popular face of their efforts. He was scheduled to be the backup pilot for Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, but after Komaraov's flight killed him, the authorities chose to protect Gagarin and prevented him from flying the mission.

Gagarin was killed in 1968 in a routine flight in a MiG-15, a plane he was certainly familiar with. There have been conflicting reports and theories that would be part of any Yuri Gagarin quiz which attempt to explain the accident, ranging from poor weather reports to other planes passing too close to Gagarin's flight path.

Masters of Trivia is a website dedicated to trivia games and quizzes that cover several different areas of interest. The various trivia questions available on the site can be easily accessed and played by going to http://www.mastersoftrivia.com

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Why is Neptune Blue?

2010-01-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

By Elena Athanasiou

Our First Close-Up View of Neptune

Though Neptune is so far away from the Earth that it only looks like a tiny faraway star when observed with binoculars, we have discovered that this planet is actually a startlingly brilliant blue celestial object upon closer inspection. When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989 (twelve whole years after it was originally launched from Earth in 1977), we got our first glimpse of the planet, revealing it to be a brilliant blue. So, what gives Neptune its blue color? We must first clarify what we are actually seeing and we also must know exactly what to analyze to discover the answer.

What We Are Actually Seeing

When we see the planets in the night sky, we are actually viewing the light from the sun that is reflecting off of them. Therefore, we can ascertain that we are seeing reflected sunlight off of Neptune. But, why does this reflected light appear blue and not yellow like the sun's light normally looks?

Where Do We Look?

The answer to why Neptune is blue lies within Neptune's atmosphere, which merges into its liquid mantle. More specifically, we must examine the components of its outer atmosphere to find out the solution to our question. What do the high cloud tops of Neptune's atmosphere reveal?

Unveiling Neptune's Atmosphere

There are three major gases that make up Neptune's atmosphere: hydrogen, helium, and methane (along with trace amounts of water and ice particles). While hydrogen and helium make up about 99% of its atmosphere, it is the remaining roughly 1% of methane that is important. The presence of methane is why Neptune appears blue.

What Does This Methane Do?

These icy methane particles in the clouds take the red and orange light waves and absorb them, leaving the blue light waves to escape and reflect outward to our eyes. This is how the sunlight is reflected off of Neptune's atmosphere and appears blue.

Conclusion

Why is Neptune blue? We've seen that after the sun's light reaches Neptune, the methane in the atmosphere of Neptune absorbs the red end of the spectrum's light waves, allowing only the blue light to be reflected back towards Earth.

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