The Horsehead Nebula (Equine Elegance)

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)

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)

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)

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

The Lagoon Nebula (Home of Bok Globules)

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)

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

Meteor Showers (A Condensed Listing)

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 this shower typically produces in excess of 100 meteors per hour at its peak, 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)

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 the batteries, as the aurora seems to neutralize and augment our batteries alternately, making current too strong at times for our relay magnets. Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by this trouble."

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)

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)

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

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 Quadrantid Meteor Shower (First Shower of the Year)

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

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

All About the Planet Mercury

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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