tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25603707232349853602024-02-19T20:05:52.763-05:00Steve's Astro cornerThis is a fun place where I share my adventures and love of Astronomy. Enjoy!!!Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-75925065144703630572011-05-16T21:54:00.003-04:002011-05-17T05:17:42.465-04:00It Is Carnival Time!!!Welcome to the 197th Carnival of Space where bloggers far and wide come together and blog about all things space. I have the privilege of hosting this fine event this week. If you have a blog that just needs to get out and see some people then by all means send Brian Wang an e-mail <a href="mailto:carnivalofspace@gmail.com"><b>Here</b></a>. Submit your blog You can even volunteer to host the Carnival of Space. That's enough of the Housekeeping stuff Lets get to the Carnival!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYloCPfk4ZqRctmmfZCHtzViDhijUYN018ES-7onlYu1pZIBmlVVRowkad2MicdgfoS5EhJiNoT_olMO6mFp4ZDS-SeGKW4poRC2VGV15VKAbo3AmPjH0jEDqg49MYWmH_TModjhKR4lx/s1600/black+hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYloCPfk4ZqRctmmfZCHtzViDhijUYN018ES-7onlYu1pZIBmlVVRowkad2MicdgfoS5EhJiNoT_olMO6mFp4ZDS-SeGKW4poRC2VGV15VKAbo3AmPjH0jEDqg49MYWmH_TModjhKR4lx/s320/black+hole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>F<span style="font-size: small;">irs</span>t up is the far thinking blog , <b><span style="font-size: large;">Crowlspace</span></b>. Adam ponders aliens living within Black holes. New thinking and novels of the past point to a maybe. So what about us? Could we travel to a black hole and live there too? It could happen but chances are we would never know about it. Tough getting the news out of a black hole... And with all that time dilation going on in a black hole, would it be possible to buy a vacation time-share?Adam lays it all down <b><a href="http://crowlspace.com/?p=1118">here at the Crowlspace</a></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha40j-jV0WbIvzouP5iyE_a-LBgFXvhCMZk4cmxE7BePTNDjbOGmEskg9GPk-Id75PXzUQzgtmquYsITtlIaLHPsHqv53h6Q9SABLLuv5CCIQah_wcsy820kFiBVmTDRe4zPBqvzgHg1Jr/s1600/nbf10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="69" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha40j-jV0WbIvzouP5iyE_a-LBgFXvhCMZk4cmxE7BePTNDjbOGmEskg9GPk-Id75PXzUQzgtmquYsITtlIaLHPsHqv53h6Q9SABLLuv5CCIQah_wcsy820kFiBVmTDRe4zPBqvzgHg1Jr/s320/nbf10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Now walk this way to <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Next Big Future<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Brian Wang (our overlord here at the Carnival) has a trifecta this week with three very good articles about: a new engine that delivers the same power with less radioactive material. <a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/05/nasa-plans-test-of-advanced-nuclear.html"><b>Click Here</b></a>, to</span></span> Roger Longstaff, engineer at Reaction Engines Ltd (REL), said that the company intends to test its amazing "pre-cooler" technology in June, 2011.<a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/05/skylon-spaceplane-builders-will-test.html"> <b>Click Here</b></a> and last but not least... NASA has selected a mission to Saturn's Moon for Discovery Program Development. The Titan Mare Explorer, or TiME, would perform the first direct inspection of an ocean environment beyond Earth by landing in, and floating on, a large methane-ethane sea on the cloudy, complex moon. <a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/05/saturns-moon-titan-explorer-mission.html"><b>Click Here</b></a> Brian's blog is always full of new on the edge the cutting edge stuff. After every read I am glad I live in these times. I can hardly wait for the Next Big thing!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKuHR0JqiCOzvIRP-fm-9x1P5DpFgHvmHXMic2aFnaVzej4EDtbUhv_wGPd6vqEsOkNLo7Z4XrDggvBRCWhnEA2LGkEEV0xsJEpCrrqc0gtRIGomKRo-sRPmK0TAQ96b56aWlrXjt9NfX/s1600/shuttle_launch3_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKuHR0JqiCOzvIRP-fm-9x1P5DpFgHvmHXMic2aFnaVzej4EDtbUhv_wGPd6vqEsOkNLo7Z4XrDggvBRCWhnEA2LGkEEV0xsJEpCrrqc0gtRIGomKRo-sRPmK0TAQ96b56aWlrXjt9NfX/s200/shuttle_launch3_small.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Speaking of waiting, How about the wait on the Endeavour's launch. I have more than a few friends that have been waiting to make a beeline down south and catch the last launch of Space Shuttle, Endeavour.They are on the way! <b><span style="font-size: large;">The Space Writer</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">'<b>s Ramblings</b></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b>Carolyn Collins Petersen, muses on the scrubbed launch of Endeavour; next launch attempt is May 16th. And good luck to the crew as they take<span style="font-family: inherit;"> another </span>exciting journey. For a great read as always follow <a href="http://thespacewriter.com/wp/2011/05/16/launch/"><b>This Link</b></a> to the Space writer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7JYwKmujpkV53PF2k9aRT8HtM5NLrxq0MoB4UuVWkHoW4jtMADtiSeMZMLSw2JeLO1cpWXA_MLjYxaiW8ZPFy5NJ9VgNvEczTbJXFo8g7NR99vv_YCxAYVynmUh3fEmxP5thhOHlEn9L/s1600/beagle-2-atmos-entry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7JYwKmujpkV53PF2k9aRT8HtM5NLrxq0MoB4UuVWkHoW4jtMADtiSeMZMLSw2JeLO1cpWXA_MLjYxaiW8ZPFy5NJ9VgNvEczTbJXFo8g7NR99vv_YCxAYVynmUh3fEmxP5thhOHlEn9L/s1600/beagle-2-atmos-entry.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beagle 2 art</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my favorite blogs is the very classic and classy </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Vintage Space.</b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Your host, Amy Shira Teitel </span>takes a look at two Mars landers that disappeared: NASA's Mars Polar Lander and the ESA's Beagle 2. Engineers were able to determine the root cause of the loss of MPL and revive the mission years later as the Phoenix lander. The fate of Beagle 2, however, remains a mystery. These two missions are a prime example of the importance of thorough testing and telemetry collection on an interplanetary spaceflight.<a href="http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/a-tale-of-two-landers/"><b>Take a look Here</b></a> I love this blog as I have grown up with the space race of the 50's-60's to the modern day hunts for other worlds. Thanks Amy for writing it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH8B1RD8xg4odivIZrAZ9hnWYWEXMdmqW88CU9us0M5lhc_PRT3WWvON4J_-dpoKKI-i8Xi6bou_jl2kuCrdNRlWLEGRsruqztgUGqeXmwUTd6QIuCVwWShyphenhyphenWMh5DokrHuSp_y8hfVLCt/s1600/header-bg-drops.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH8B1RD8xg4odivIZrAZ9hnWYWEXMdmqW88CU9us0M5lhc_PRT3WWvON4J_-dpoKKI-i8Xi6bou_jl2kuCrdNRlWLEGRsruqztgUGqeXmwUTd6QIuCVwWShyphenhyphenWMh5DokrHuSp_y8hfVLCt/s400/header-bg-drops.gif" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Weird Warp</b></span> takes another look trying to make heads or tales out of the elevated methane issue on Mars. Deep fractures have been found around the giant Isidis impact basin on Mars. This area called NiliFossae is of interest to scientists because telescopes on Earth measured an increase in methane in Mars’s atmosphere over this area. This could mean life or it could be geological. Some of these incisions are up to 500 m deep and probably formed at the same time as the basin formed. For the scoop <a href="http://www.weirdwarp.com/2011/05/3626/"><b>go to Weird Warp</b></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNULh1ETmdYxc4DGvoOzlCdjEoVtiH2Ow9L7BNR_5vrl24Y1sq_i8XOT01OA0kffGXG6tGXxGpTqWMpSJc35qAGhaeY-GbS1-QhSJzvjnv59yXbKJMYdFD2Uo9cvsZKj6_ZOU0D6-D1SZ/s1600/urban+astro+image.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNULh1ETmdYxc4DGvoOzlCdjEoVtiH2Ow9L7BNR_5vrl24Y1sq_i8XOT01OA0kffGXG6tGXxGpTqWMpSJc35qAGhaeY-GbS1-QhSJzvjnv59yXbKJMYdFD2Uo9cvsZKj6_ZOU0D6-D1SZ/s200/urban+astro+image.gif" width="200" /></a><br />
For a great look at how they build them South African style the <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Urban </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Astronomer </b><span style="font-size: small;">Last </span></span>weekend saw the tenth outing of South Africa's premier Astronomy and Amateur Telescope Making expo. <span class="sites-text-secondary">Allen Versfeld the</span> Urban Astronomer was there to see the sights and chat to the regulars. <a href="http://www.urban-astronomer.com/Urban-Astronomer-Updates/myscopex2011experience"><b>Go Here</b></a> for a great look at great skill.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jzLUY4hUxYmDfnWg1WCAUz3nUokWZu75J8aBIXAqTQ-6dsUwCz5R9_hSAvHU759-uMD8o7gQZQIjoU2iQqdmUVoj7OLwqdTKCWvv3ZOoxsSHTRDQJt6vuKfQFIhs9X-_c2HtpuXA541B/s1600/homepage_widget-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jzLUY4hUxYmDfnWg1WCAUz3nUokWZu75J8aBIXAqTQ-6dsUwCz5R9_hSAvHU759-uMD8o7gQZQIjoU2iQqdmUVoj7OLwqdTKCWvv3ZOoxsSHTRDQJt6vuKfQFIhs9X-_c2HtpuXA541B/s200/homepage_widget-copy.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
Over at the Armagh Planetarium's Blog site <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Astronotes</b></span> the discussion is about NASA’s Space Shuttles have become a familiar sight in their thirty years of service, but there have been other shuttle designs which never left the ground. Some were ingenious alternative concepts to the vehicle<br />
which is shortly to be retired, some were potential replacements and <br />
there was even a couple of foreign competitors. <a href="http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/10-shuttles-which-never-flew.html"><b>take a look Here</b></a> at Armagh Planetarium's blog examination of space shuttles that never were.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVIIVORiBhshNz70EW8Yilyz6dTrf_kyt_lTwTdiZp1a8Hkghve4pF4mAAogD4qPzauUBG59E3dxtLWhQK6h21uEGXCqkI3-oZr0CA23IjtMku02l83O3CltMnTO_0yInFV76Oy3Vywsq/s1600/vega+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVIIVORiBhshNz70EW8Yilyz6dTrf_kyt_lTwTdiZp1a8Hkghve4pF4mAAogD4qPzauUBG59E3dxtLWhQK6h21uEGXCqkI3-oZr0CA23IjtMku02l83O3CltMnTO_0yInFV76Oy3Vywsq/s200/vega+art.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Now for something completely different... <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vega 0.0</b></span> takes us to the classroom as we learn a thing or two about how to gauge the brightness of minor planets, asteroids. You know, those tumbling crazy shaped chunks of space gravel! This post explains how to calculate the absolute magnitude for asteroids and other minor bodies. sharpen your pencil and <b> <a href="http://www.vega00.com/2011/05/la-magnitud-absoluta-en-asteroides-y.html">head for Vega</a></b>. Take a translator with you or use the one provided. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs8WggHNsepArI9f32nkE4U2VTtXfdFPe6YV5Ke_NdXNcANeP-iZhMYyNLiAKWNPkAYMTowTaasLjryI27MO-jhoMMlM180Z6bXTgQ5-w_R5AdHFmfaD1K9tzgyaoY8BThzawSJKelouF/s1600/blog_big_header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="33" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs8WggHNsepArI9f32nkE4U2VTtXfdFPe6YV5Ke_NdXNcANeP-iZhMYyNLiAKWNPkAYMTowTaasLjryI27MO-jhoMMlM180Z6bXTgQ5-w_R5AdHFmfaD1K9tzgyaoY8BThzawSJKelouF/s400/blog_big_header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>We all know the Crab Nebula was formed when a star blew up way back in 1054 and has been getting bigger and bigger. <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Chandra Blog</b></span> has been keeping an eye on this explosion in the making. A new Chandra movie shows changes in the Crab from September 2010 to April 2011. <a href="http://chandra.si.edu/blog/node/277"><b>The Chandra blog can be found Here</b></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4KAah8FkEt_PKM7OhtSMpVJJi-jtcpBtzimAWUgcvDCvJLDtri2o36PHPZUz-puW3NnZUUkpV5tKjk0bvvZEpPJZYzRVR6ZZZBE0BJakb453k1HOf24Xb2MDl9rIa_uZTuN-IFo36-aU/s1600/starryCritters_300_6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4KAah8FkEt_PKM7OhtSMpVJJi-jtcpBtzimAWUgcvDCvJLDtri2o36PHPZUz-puW3NnZUUkpV5tKjk0bvvZEpPJZYzRVR6ZZZBE0BJakb453k1HOf24Xb2MDl9rIa_uZTuN-IFo36-aU/s200/starryCritters_300_6.png" width="200" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Starry Critters</span> </b>is last offering of this very exciting Carnival and Starry Critters does not disappoint. You need to <a href="http://www.starrycritters.com/a-glance-over-a-starry-shoulder/"><b>check out Here</b> </a>what Hubble is cooking with a look at images of the Meat Hook galaxy and friends <b> </b>Hubble never ceases to amaze. Starry Critters explores three new galactic images from Hubble; NGC 4214, NGC 5774, and NGC 2442, the Meathook Galaxy<b>.</b><br />
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Thanks for taking a look at the carnival this week<b>. </b>After My Darling Daughter Meghan is wed in June things will be less crazy at the Astrocorner.<br />
Until next time,<br />
Keep looking Up!<br />
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Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-40411241541148173852011-04-15T18:16:00.003-04:002011-04-16T09:13:28.824-04:00Shades of Galileo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK69snzKDC4nI_jF2CfOw35i-zA2CdYEXRz8UcKr8AI4vFI82kyTsA92NHFbPx6rM4tY96tsS1JflokRz-AgdcLIZfUV0v8dgcizhicSh3wMSm2DgwGy4FWi2ryyEqeMGvVcxvnLvS8nRg/s1600/Galileo..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK69snzKDC4nI_jF2CfOw35i-zA2CdYEXRz8UcKr8AI4vFI82kyTsA92NHFbPx6rM4tY96tsS1JflokRz-AgdcLIZfUV0v8dgcizhicSh3wMSm2DgwGy4FWi2ryyEqeMGvVcxvnLvS8nRg/s200/Galileo..jpg" width="163" /></a></div>When you have a bit of time on your hands, you start looking for stuff to do and lately Galileo has been on my mind. So let's test the new Galileo scope I just built on Saturn! The scope was a gift from the Cincinnati Observatory Center because I do so much out reach for any and all things astronomy. Whether it is for the COC or the Cincinnati Astronomical Society or various other agencies near the Queen City, I work hard to bring astronomy into the reach of the public. The Galileo scope, birthed out of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, is a plastic telescope with remarkable lenses for the cost (about $25.00). I built it to the 25X power <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5t9bGeb_r9G612xJNlLPxkVCzCEMNj00oO-a-ZYtEMYIQ78TIiC4nDu6SMXwNb-PZd49ne4w0z9R_tEowOYxtKH-N4d4zSqGz5G2Ey0QLIkLr_tPLSOMUKVYjP7PTRMqU_q42HJdP_rl/s1600/Galileo+scope.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5t9bGeb_r9G612xJNlLPxkVCzCEMNj00oO-a-ZYtEMYIQ78TIiC4nDu6SMXwNb-PZd49ne4w0z9R_tEowOYxtKH-N4d4zSqGz5G2Ey0QLIkLr_tPLSOMUKVYjP7PTRMqU_q42HJdP_rl/s320/Galileo+scope.jpg" width="320" /></a>configuration. The scope is a 50 mm objective Refractor. It boasts a modest light gathering ability. I knew Saturn was still a nice target and it was then my quest started to take shape. I thought about what Galileo saw when he first turned his scope to this ringed beauty in the year of 1610. It was hardly a ringed anything. What he saw in his tiny scope was a planet that had moons on either side of it or maybe it was three planets together. So there is my goal of sorts to see if my little scope of about the same power and light gathering could deliver a ringed planet or maybe with some luck and a wink from the sky gods the famed triple planet that Galileo saw in his first glimpse.<br />
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I did not have a 1610 mount on me at the time. Actually no one cared enough to write down or draw Galileo's first mount so no body knows what he used. I imagine it would have been simple and somewhat effective. Remember he wanted to get eyes on the sky as quick as possible. If that was sufficient for the father of modern astronomy... So not to be under done I sloughed off the go to mount and opted for a super cheap spindly camera tripod. I would say this equaled the stick and string setup? that captured Jupiter and his four big moons and Saturn to boot. We were ready for the night to descend and gaze upon its wonders.<br />
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This night was also a celebration of a birthday for our number two child of the family. He and his wife brought their ever so inquisitive daughter, Holly. Now Holly walked right up to me on the deck and ask: Paw paw what is that? (pointing at the telescope) Holly is 2 years old and knows where the Moon is which I think is great. She pointed toward the Moon and said The Moon! to which I said do you want to see the Moon in the telescope? She said yes and got up on my lap as I centered the Moon in the field of view. Oh yeah this would be the very first look through a telescope for her how exciting well for me any way!. I said OK look and she did with both eyes into the eyepiece which as you might guess does not work too good. So I had her cover one of her eyes and then look with the "working" eye. she did and what did she see?.... She said I see my eye! She was looking at the reflection of her eye in the eyepiece. Hey she's 2! what did you expect?We all got a good chuckle.<br />
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The sky was darkening and the stars started to creep into view now that <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZovhIMbWusfCVlSNxW8kamGuxMAzphzQpcvcr58Wm5xu5nxwY1E-jEyY-vjMGHVzeTi8XTo7MpzI_SSv7JOIIHcWOembEJJub0NNbXbn8jPDx2fJOQftx10s0XLLB5UgwFBU-5_Zu6JLI/s1600/a40d64dadb057dbb09f0b44313336848.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZovhIMbWusfCVlSNxW8kamGuxMAzphzQpcvcr58Wm5xu5nxwY1E-jEyY-vjMGHVzeTi8XTo7MpzI_SSv7JOIIHcWOembEJJub0NNbXbn8jPDx2fJOQftx10s0XLLB5UgwFBU-5_Zu6JLI/s320/a40d64dadb057dbb09f0b44313336848.jpg" width="223" /></a>the sun had given way. and there it was in all of its glory Saturn. I took time to bring the scope to rest upon this distant gas giant. I took care to slide the end in to focus his black beauty and WOW there it was... Saturn but not the ringed one . I was the three planet variety and I started to try and get the scope refocussed but every time I did it the scope would sharpen to reveal three points of light just like Galileo saw 201 years ago! What makes this such a great thing in my book is the coincidence of looking through a Galileoscope to see the same exact site that Galileo saw those many nights ago. I can just imagine the awe and marveling at this wondrous thing called Saturn. And now some 400 years later the same awe and wonder comes from almost everyone that steps up to take a peak at Saturn. That's why when you show Saturn to someone for the first time, Galileo lives on through that Wow that comes out of their mouths. Definitely shades of Galileo...<br />
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Until next time,<br />
Keep looking up!<br />
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Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-56872809018744365562011-03-19T08:56:00.361-04:002011-03-19T15:04:50.624-04:00The Carnival of Space 189 is Now Open Come One, Come All!<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwz3VJNB7kqZKgcFVlbeA9n1BB3EhSJ9KWzmAWcFhgWsnPouJ2YiOCusjUGpaVb9wg-1oxRR-fW1-YewPr0Umu5L7iNOsvJFPquAsc2UnX7QMR4Vmz1LG-wi1MJ2V52BKgU8o8Wfuivtg/s1600/Ferris+wheel+by+MerlinsMan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwz3VJNB7kqZKgcFVlbeA9n1BB3EhSJ9KWzmAWcFhgWsnPouJ2YiOCusjUGpaVb9wg-1oxRR-fW1-YewPr0Umu5L7iNOsvJFPquAsc2UnX7QMR4Vmz1LG-wi1MJ2V52BKgU8o8Wfuivtg/s200/Ferris+wheel+by+MerlinsMan.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The Carnival of Space is a weekly event hosted by a blogger of any and all things space. Welcome to Steve's Astro-corner. Get ready to be wowed and awed by what you see and read and in some cases by what you hear. Today I am presenting for your pleasure, a fine assortment of blogs submitted to Brian Wang of the Next Big Future Blog . He rides herd on the dozens of space blog sites that send their blogs to the Carnival every week. If by chance, you own a blog that you wish to share with the world and in the process meet some really great people with a deep love for space "stuff" then by all means send your URL and a bit about the blog in an email to <b>carnivalofspace@gmail.com</b> and you will be added to the editorial circulation list. <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/12019/carnival-of-space/"> Previous episodes can be found here</a>. So with all that said, let's step in to the carnival and enjoy the show!</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VE_sVF-4jv5MCFcaX47hLs5IO28-b5kb6xe_FOpzo94ZcaBjOv5_AonbaX6UQP4So_j2TuHcOab2sddzw_jkQ8CGd3whYE4ooKyZrIJMBEoBFkNXnPtssrXRsjtA6FlkVE1xG0asYcoI/s1600/Universe+today+badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VE_sVF-4jv5MCFcaX47hLs5IO28-b5kb6xe_FOpzo94ZcaBjOv5_AonbaX6UQP4So_j2TuHcOab2sddzw_jkQ8CGd3whYE4ooKyZrIJMBEoBFkNXnPtssrXRsjtA6FlkVE1xG0asYcoI/s1600/Universe+today+badge.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The first blog we come to is the always well written blog <span style="color: #3333ff;">UniverseToday </span>with senior editor, Nancy Atkinson submitting. This week Nancy shares the before and after shots of the terrible earthquake and Tsunami that rocked Japan last week. The post can be found <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/84042/satellite-photos-before-and-after-of-japans-earthquake-tsunami/">Here.</a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(as a side note) I personally wish the people of Japan a speedy and safe recovery from the collection of calamities that have struck this country.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56vfba9H9x9LzEl32EWYgFFNl7VXN7aZ6JnzB1XoCbgzPfT6iJ_UbKZQJbFx3SOco3BJeT5kHD7DHNthglgFGtKluCuUS4u3H7oziyxZK0jWZt44ufuerG4RdUCOMKT2C9EAtctoRH441/s1600/space-badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56vfba9H9x9LzEl32EWYgFFNl7VXN7aZ6JnzB1XoCbgzPfT6iJ_UbKZQJbFx3SOco3BJeT5kHD7DHNthglgFGtKluCuUS4u3H7oziyxZK0jWZt44ufuerG4RdUCOMKT2C9EAtctoRH441/s1600/space-badge.jpg" /></a></div>After that dose of reality a little escape to the movies might be in order and Ian O'Neill of the Discovery Space News website has the ticket. Ian says "Despite the bad press, I really enjoyed 'Battle: Los Angeles.' It is, after all, just a movie about war, aliens and mankind's desire not to be exterminated without a fight." Check out his movie review at <a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/in-praise-of-yes-you-heard-me-battle-los-angeles-110312.html">Discovery</a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDV-vK__ZO3k3div7YwzNkfGtbeWbm4WVxhLQxSM2qrojZo3Dyui9-KZXYRaG_P_9i4i-PrK-1prlOnP1Wehpjz14aYKe2mPxjvBtkRYvrgXoSItLVhtZOJfA2n_rPvxhraGU4Ct6roc8c/s1600/Urban+badge.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDV-vK__ZO3k3div7YwzNkfGtbeWbm4WVxhLQxSM2qrojZo3Dyui9-KZXYRaG_P_9i4i-PrK-1prlOnP1Wehpjz14aYKe2mPxjvBtkRYvrgXoSItLVhtZOJfA2n_rPvxhraGU4Ct6roc8c/s200/Urban+badge.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Next in our quest for all things space we have Allen Versfeld and his Blog: Urban Astronomer. <a href="http://www.urban-astronomer.com/Urban-Astronomer-Updates/hubblestrengthenscasefordarkenergy">Here</a>, Allen discusses how New observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope have refined our measurements of the expansion of the universe. These new figures strengthen the case for Dark Energy by eliminating a competing theory. Sounds like a team of scientists just got sacked! ouch that always stings when it is your research. I feel their pain. I just knew the Ether was a sure thing...</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="announcementsPostTimestamp" id="afterPageTitleHideDuringEdit"></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzd-Zu10dHcA3WhJen8rcnZ2TQSMSzoWRWLTT2QQjugBE6Wx3BxLIoCFJbm9ols8dRPMSMMdQLaPS6djAjtOKAb1oszE0T2G5dXeWtmcgLCKZs5rU4tL9_AyJWW9vLPgjCrPPH7lV0VUX_/s1600/nbf6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzd-Zu10dHcA3WhJen8rcnZ2TQSMSzoWRWLTT2QQjugBE6Wx3BxLIoCFJbm9ols8dRPMSMMdQLaPS6djAjtOKAb1oszE0T2G5dXeWtmcgLCKZs5rU4tL9_AyJWW9vLPgjCrPPH7lV0VUX_/s320/nbf6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On to our next big thing and that is Next Big Future. Brian Wang, the thinking man's Thinking Man sorts out, In space it is relatively easy to move quite large space rocks using solar sails, ion drives and other means. There are a lot of space rocks and a survey could be done to select the rocks that would have to be moved with the least amount of effort. Then once each asteroid is moved into place they would be locked into place. It could be easier to gather asteroids to make desired shapes instead of digging out a larger asteroid. Different sized asteroids could be used from 500 kg, to tons up to asteroids that are 100 to 1000 meter across. Brian is amazing! I would love to hang out with him but I am afraid my head would explode. His thought provoking article can be found <a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/sheparding-asteroids-into-desired.html">Here</a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsAlYfm6eZ1hPHzHQ8D0EL6yQD9K69qGT10ealYoKTsZRO0z9_bI3dn5Z_pUnTj4X-fwS-XR0PGol2oNvwn9VpHwlb4QIXTSZwro1pDsD4VZdAcRRTr8wziHQmOs2PEQV_YUNGiJXk240/s1600/Moon_Orbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsAlYfm6eZ1hPHzHQ8D0EL6yQD9K69qGT10ealYoKTsZRO0z9_bI3dn5Z_pUnTj4X-fwS-XR0PGol2oNvwn9VpHwlb4QIXTSZwro1pDsD4VZdAcRRTr8wziHQmOs2PEQV_YUNGiJXk240/s200/Moon_Orbit.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On to Ian Musgrave of Astroblogger fame Ian tackles the Super Moon issue. Is it the bringer of death and carnage or is it just another full moon that just so happens to be at Perigee? Ian sheds some light on this well written piece. Yes, I slipped a pun in there... Go <a href="http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2011/03/is-march-19th-full-moon-extreme-super.html">Here</a> for all things Super Moon.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://www.vega00.com/">Vega 0.0</a></b></span> Fran Sevilla of Vega 0.0 delivers big with an Introduction to the comoving coordinates in cosmology. This is number 16 in a series so you might have some catching up to do there but as always a fascinating read. This Blog is in Spanish but have no worries if you scroll down on the right side you will find the Google translator application. translate it to the language of your choice and enjoy getting your head around our ever expanding universe. Check this blog out... <a href="http://www.vega00.com/2011/03/introduccion-la-cosmologia-16-las.html">Here</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGABmDK75HXM3QjL0Y5FFF2V-dIxn9T0BwemJXif7NrTGHWC4Q49rBEM5udigC1NMp4Yj_kIcf9_oHQkqCYJ7kvuGLILbMvZUCj82xXZBqcoOuDnwNkcp_sRnT9ZebTl7H6qa5Pxr4AEZ5/s1600/merc-model-makers-1960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGABmDK75HXM3QjL0Y5FFF2V-dIxn9T0BwemJXif7NrTGHWC4Q49rBEM5udigC1NMp4Yj_kIcf9_oHQkqCYJ7kvuGLILbMvZUCj82xXZBqcoOuDnwNkcp_sRnT9ZebTl7H6qa5Pxr4AEZ5/s200/merc-model-makers-1960.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Time to get retro and when it comes to retro space there are few better than Amy Shira Teitel and her blog: Vintage Space. This time around Amy takes a look back at some of NASA's "trial and error" testing methods in selecting the ultimate shape for the Mercury capsule. This is a real trip down memory lane. These were some exciting times for space travel. Did I mention dangerous too? When I'm the test pilot the last thing I really want to hear the aerospace engineers say is: "Well... let's try this." Read all about the trial and tribulations of the US mercury program <a href="http://vintagespace.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/not-exactly-rocket-science/">Here</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGPaIYsw5XIPkJ5aov5s4AUk6DZGhHg_Q_uSGUidyvxuU_vmZSUrtWbr8q1CLdO70h_mxXslg2OzhscrYIVaS2P6vgNSTylM9R1vK8ErKvE5R-9TJ3pcptMTFreJ_NT1Ack814eyXitri/s1600/aartscopeblog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGPaIYsw5XIPkJ5aov5s4AUk6DZGhHg_Q_uSGUidyvxuU_vmZSUrtWbr8q1CLdO70h_mxXslg2OzhscrYIVaS2P6vgNSTylM9R1vK8ErKvE5R-9TJ3pcptMTFreJ_NT1Ack814eyXitri/s200/aartscopeblog2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Peter Lake of Astroswanny takes opportunity to video some of my favorite Space stuff; that being the fascinating world of cataclysmic variables. Astroswanny has been logging some telescope time on FS Aur as part of Dr Vitaly Neustroev's research project. Peter has created a great little video that shows off some of the odd behavior of this cataclysmic variable. Peter is one of those citizen scientists doing real science on behalf of a full time scientist doing research. Now that is something to hang your hat on Peter! Get an eyeful ---> <a href="http://aartscope.blogspot.com/2011/03/fs-aur-video.html"> Here</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATcSCCSqFMEGkzGnrJUa0xU-AMr1reoP88wxweQ-MYIMTQgO1XDlDMqgfZkrYLG6LJE3VUh6jDxuY5kSFNnUr1jCuJG003x5Dw9bRN4Pcs5cEVPxd39eMb8U6r7Q4l5LEyn7Qf1Wmkglq/s1600/wierd+science+badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATcSCCSqFMEGkzGnrJUa0xU-AMr1reoP88wxweQ-MYIMTQgO1XDlDMqgfZkrYLG6LJE3VUh6jDxuY5kSFNnUr1jCuJG003x5Dw9bRN4Pcs5cEVPxd39eMb8U6r7Q4l5LEyn7Qf1Wmkglq/s200/wierd+science+badge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>J P Skipper of Weird Sciences discusses Atlantis and the possibility it did exist but they built their empire on some very shaky ground. Lots of underwater mapping to look at and some leaps to make but hey that's what it takes sometimes to make that big discovery. Check out the hang out of Atlas and his kin at <a href="http://weirdsciences.net/2011/03/04/ancient-atlantis-or-something-else/">Weird Sciences</a><br />
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Steve Nerlich over at Cheap Astronomy has a treat for your ears and mind. Steve delves into the unravel the whole density wave spiral arm story. Take a listen and then think about that! Pick up what Steve is putting down right <a href="http://www.cheapastro.com/podcasts/CA109_ArmsAroundTheGalaxy.mp3">Here</a> . I really don't have a logo to post for Steve because he is frugal or I would!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaNk5q-NPbxg9P_EEepqlusMYPIBQ9ev0_cIScEGQhuS2CAJcujIffVX4pQrj3sH3Bx0e7CeN10PupyPk7sgt5pzrqAOL15l6qTLw3LGzPqil6ZOrUzr8D5mpFqazy0AvW24SXboqjJQB/s1600/wierd+warp+badge.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaNk5q-NPbxg9P_EEepqlusMYPIBQ9ev0_cIScEGQhuS2CAJcujIffVX4pQrj3sH3Bx0e7CeN10PupyPk7sgt5pzrqAOL15l6qTLw3LGzPqil6ZOrUzr8D5mpFqazy0AvW24SXboqjJQB/s320/wierd+warp+badge.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />
How can our universe (or the one we are in at the moment) exist at the same time as another one? Would the other universe be a mirror image of this universe or would it have the same stuff in it but the stuff act differently from what we are experiencing now? Those are some very good questions and for the answers or some answers. Go to the venerable Sage of Warp Chris Dann and his Blog <a href="http://www.weirdwarp.com/2009/06/are-there-other-universes-just-beyond-our-fingertips/">Weird Warp</a> for the skinny.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRQgzglcvPmH-JkO-Wnlp_kGNC7WFmHsAZywTT8FyMHloitmIsYf5W9EmZstp_BKadO2nW9P6cdSORPaR7z6lBSHRmNPMziPKfhmArdaj-5mBes5eZMqRde_vjdtteBO-lfyEgVyx9ETN/s1600/space+writer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRQgzglcvPmH-JkO-Wnlp_kGNC7WFmHsAZywTT8FyMHloitmIsYf5W9EmZstp_BKadO2nW9P6cdSORPaR7z6lBSHRmNPMziPKfhmArdaj-5mBes5eZMqRde_vjdtteBO-lfyEgVyx9ETN/s200/space+writer.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The Space writer (Carolyn Collins Petersen) muses on the events of 25 years ago, when observations of Comet Halley were at their peak. It is very hard to believe that it has been that long since the Halley experience was upon us. I am that old ... Read a great story by a great writer over at <a href="http://thespacewriter.com/wp/2011/03/15/halleys-comet/">The Space Writer</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja48Z-GDKoElwGR__dADuWPWVcP-KTll-xHOa6Vu04ctG60GslY3W7uvE0Gq5mQFDSpS3LA39HxgB0Rel9pdcvc6IrXo2B0fgfOXMEX-H5PVUvl7RiLt7sHFhk1r0PwlNJIgnOGaRxSR2b/s1600/we+are+all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja48Z-GDKoElwGR__dADuWPWVcP-KTll-xHOa6Vu04ctG60GslY3W7uvE0Gq5mQFDSpS3LA39HxgB0Rel9pdcvc6IrXo2B0fgfOXMEX-H5PVUvl7RiLt7sHFhk1r0PwlNJIgnOGaRxSR2b/s320/we+are+all.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>For a series of videos presented by the blog: We are all in the gutter, go <a href="http://weareallinthegutter.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/from-earth-to-the-edge-of-the-universe-i/">here</a>, <a href="http://weareallinthegutter.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/from-earth-to-the-edge-of-the-universe-ii/">here </a>and <a href="http://weareallinthegutter.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/from-earth-to-the-edge-of-the-universe-iii/">here</a><br />
This week They've been showcasing a series of videos about the Universe made by astronomers in Portsmouth. Three have been posted here with two more to be seen at this site.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpgJpoklmQnsKUY8NGKwpxsMo28040Wm3yJ4DhleDSQNBrVbfmxuvrTxjPE_cYRQq7W4gusnheGX1lpsdiXLcS3IyDZf5jGhMz196zQqtxPcnI8abdgnxt7FiliINa_gU9BVR5_mWMRkN/s1600/21st.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpgJpoklmQnsKUY8NGKwpxsMo28040Wm3yJ4DhleDSQNBrVbfmxuvrTxjPE_cYRQq7W4gusnheGX1lpsdiXLcS3IyDZf5jGhMz196zQqtxPcnI8abdgnxt7FiliINa_gU9BVR5_mWMRkN/s200/21st.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Dr. Bruce Cordell has been perusing the latest data from the Kepler mission and finds the mission seems to suggest Earths are 'Relatively Scarce'. Are we the only ones? no Galactic pen pals? Dr. Cordell is leaning in that direction. Find out all about it at Bruce's <a href="http://21stcenturywaves.com/2011/03/13/latest-data-from-nasas-kepler-mission-suggests-earths-are-relatively-scarce/">21st Century Waves</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdja6EbhlvoKsE4cOkXL0cIyFGYffwiSZ4g3JphJH78kHXWUc8j2lz3nUOgW2vvzIiMB-eJjU10k2WMIYOqSI8dGPyCBgKZMYQ7gTitvoirvOeWMuk1UOdmyQHvohuUdftdmmGC7TI80o/s1600/chandra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="27" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdja6EbhlvoKsE4cOkXL0cIyFGYffwiSZ4g3JphJH78kHXWUc8j2lz3nUOgW2vvzIiMB-eJjU10k2WMIYOqSI8dGPyCBgKZMYQ7gTitvoirvOeWMuk1UOdmyQHvohuUdftdmmGC7TI80o/s320/chandra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A simple sentence can sometimes say a whole lot. So when you read Einstein's work was crucial to virtually every aspect of modern physics, what does that make you think? To wade out into those waters is none other than the Chandra Blog I guess Chandra was super busy way up in space taking some killer x-ray images so Megan Watzke stepped in to say happy birthday to Albert Einstein. He would have been 132 on March 14th. check out this short muse <a href="http://chandra.harvard.edu/blog/node/266">Here</a><br />
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Lastly, I offer for your enjoyment the witty repartee of Steve's Astrocorner as he takes a look at the Sun with a filter of course and ponders the latest study going about solar cycles. You can look at the Sun talk<a href="http://steves-astrocorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-is-up-with-sun.html"> Here</a><br />
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I knew if I was ever going to get "witty repartee" and my blog in the same sentence I was going to have to do it my self . With That my friends is the end of Carnival 189 I hope you enjoyed it. As I leave you. I just wanted to say happy birthday to the Cincinnati Astronomical Society as they celebrate 100 years of astronomical excellence.<br />
Until next time,<br />
Keep looking up!<br />
SteveTSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-88919593631234929652011-03-13T12:23:00.001-04:002011-03-13T12:29:27.473-04:00What is Up With The Sun?<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT7QZPce-AkIj1Uz7oOFP8FLn4jcmTxM4QG9W2PZQJgj30t5YN5EIWVt1wB2oE7kyXxcIug8rLRxVt_x9I-HsUq7fHnyEWner8PxjStV6tpfkI155WE9ikQsvPMCpz4WO6PwGI8QtT049/s1600/coronal+loops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT7QZPce-AkIj1Uz7oOFP8FLn4jcmTxM4QG9W2PZQJgj30t5YN5EIWVt1wB2oE7kyXxcIug8rLRxVt_x9I-HsUq7fHnyEWner8PxjStV6tpfkI155WE9ikQsvPMCpz4WO6PwGI8QtT049/s320/coronal+loops.jpg" width="320" /></a>Have you noticed the Sun has been in the news a lot lately? The reason is the current cycle is finally starting to wake up and send out more flares and solar storms. I am happy about it and my solar filter is happy as well. It finally gets to come out of the box and play! Its recent turmoil is particularly newsworthy because the Sun was very quiet for a super long time. Astronomers had a tough time explaining the extended solar minimum. New computer simulations imply that the Sun's long quiet spell resulted from changing flows of hot plasma within it.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Sun is made of plasma, not liquid solid or gas. Plasma contains negative electrons and positive ions which flow freely. Flowing plasma creates magnetic fields, which lie at the core of solar activity like flares, eruptions, and sunspots. The Sun contains huge streams of plasma kind of like our Earth's ocean currents. Those plasma currents affect solar activity. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Sun also operates in cycles... many cycles. In one of the cycles the Sun's activity rises and falls on 11 year increments. At its most active, called solar maximum, dark sunspots are scattered on the Sun's surface and frequent eruptions, explosions you name it send billions of tons of hot plasma into space. If the plasma collides with Earth, it can disrupt communications and electrical grids and short out satellites.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">During solar minimum, the Sun calms down and both sunspots and eruptions are rare. The effects on Earth, while less dramatic, are still significant. the solar wind that blows through the solar system weakens, and add to that the Sun's magnetic field weakening and more cosmic rays reach us from interstellar space. This is not a good thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D44PATm3l_zrjTfpftohKjnnFEnPUJoUzhhB_frgwXmK-mkdhiNgDxVrOcQRlC6aWcHK1-VctpzuN4q8eNFP2PlQ8rjqQkhdpWyyhkeNskzUoQbmr5YOErBHOd45ORkqaMBTOAMZoLbo/s1600/cycle+24+first+spot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D44PATm3l_zrjTfpftohKjnnFEnPUJoUzhhB_frgwXmK-mkdhiNgDxVrOcQRlC6aWcHK1-VctpzuN4q8eNFP2PlQ8rjqQkhdpWyyhkeNskzUoQbmr5YOErBHOd45ORkqaMBTOAMZoLbo/s320/cycle+24+first+spot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The most recent solar minimum had an unusually long number of quiet and spotless days: 780 days during 2008-2010. Can you say wow? In a typical solar minimum, the Sun goes spot-free for about 300 days, making the last minimum the longest since 1913.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The last solar minimum had two major characteristics, one being no sunspots and the other a weak polar magnetic field. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The team studying this phenomena used computer simulations to model the Sun's behavior over 210 activity cycles spanning some 2,000 years. He specifically looked at the role of the plasma rivers that circulate from the Sun's equator to higher latitudes. These currents flow much like Earth's ocean currents: rising at the equator, streaming toward the poles, then sinking and flowing back to the equator. At a typical speed of 40 miles per hour, it takes about 11 years to make one loop.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A team of scientists discovered that the Sun's plasma rivers speed up and slow down like a malfunctioning conveyor belt. They find that a faster flow during the first half of the solar cycle, followed by a slower flow in the second half of the cycle, can lead to an extended solar minimum. The cause of the speed-up and slowdown likely involves a complicated feedback between the plasma flow and solar magnetic fields. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This study is trying to make sense of this wandering current of plasma flow."It's like a production line - a slowdown puts 'distance' between the end of the last solar cycle and the start of the new one," says Team member Munoz-Jaramillo.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The ultimate goal of studies like this is to predict upcoming solar maxima and minima - both their strength and timing. At the moment predicting minimums is still not a reality. The sun has an endless multiple feed back system, so making predictions will take some time get right. Watching these plasma flows and measuring strength of poles etc will allow science to get a better picture of when these cycles might begin and end. Until then, we are using the 11 year plan give or take a couple of years!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next time,</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-87976009604290548162011-03-06T07:59:00.003-05:002011-03-06T11:09:25.073-05:00Dr. Jim Elliot: Discoverer, Teacher, Mentor and Friend (1943-2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DulB9Yulxk-tk2DYR3vQROSMPKx40tKUep0iD6VKJqz8-btpF0_Ry-3QDXO1aHvx-7yfUc8BLBIbKFUG-kQISzAunkPEqyvuQzFY1ciRgTmnx3dRsJItui7xY-47_-C1L0KJsGbKZKHN/s1600/elliot_james.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9Y8ifcRFtq0oZT69SmZ9nG3eM49pxjqGGMNFMxpEWN8UHnS04OiDBAC7sVo5czDIe2fMev1hXlHZW9VvkZeQXOdC8HdzaPoyuvvoRd-mAazXrg3c_9MZkyefWzF9wOqLkw6KpRA9-5S4/s1600/Jim+Elliot+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9Y8ifcRFtq0oZT69SmZ9nG3eM49pxjqGGMNFMxpEWN8UHnS04OiDBAC7sVo5czDIe2fMev1hXlHZW9VvkZeQXOdC8HdzaPoyuvvoRd-mAazXrg3c_9MZkyefWzF9wOqLkw6KpRA9-5S4/s320/Jim+Elliot+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Once in a lifetime someone crosses your path with the perfect combination of life skills, knowledge and passion. Jim Elliot was such a person. James Ludlow Elliot was born in 1943 and received his S.B. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1965 and his Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1972. Before returning to MIT in 1978, he was a postdoc and faculty member in the Astronomy Department of Cornell University where as a part of a team in 1977, discovered the rings around the planet Uranus. Their team watched as Uranus appeared to blink several times passed the planet then blinked the same amount of times. At first it was a very big surprise to the group. Their first answer was that the equipment had malfunctioned. They later (after careful analysis) realized the blinking was caused by a band of rings surrounding the planet. These rings are very dark and narrow, unlike Saturn's, which are bright. Voyager II sent back many pictures that clearly show these rings. Elliot was also part of a </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDVS6focAYG4hb1GbnAspRxCX_TkuVrFpF3WRHf6rpbb3xjBcX2eqv-8hd3K0MhyphenhyphenNIg3-5bqP-AiSTZqS6sbNzaPXKvNMOkrLB2VCPkvuh7EspANhaE-Mz104m0lGbkbivDH5U3S_e530/s1600/uranus-moons-color.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDVS6focAYG4hb1GbnAspRxCX_TkuVrFpF3WRHf6rpbb3xjBcX2eqv-8hd3K0MhyphenhyphenNIg3-5bqP-AiSTZqS6sbNzaPXKvNMOkrLB2VCPkvuh7EspANhaE-Mz104m0lGbkbivDH5U3S_e530/s320/uranus-moons-color.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">team that observed global warming on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. Dr. Elliot ended his career as Professor of Physics and Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT, and Director of the George R. Wallace, Jr. Astrophysical Observatory. Elliot used the techniques of planetary astronomy, particularly stellar occultations, to probe planetary atmospheres and the physical properties of small bodies in the outer solar system and beyond. Of particular interest to him was Pluto, Triton, Kuiper Belt objects and extrasolar planets. Dr. Elliot was good at it too. He, along with Paul Schechter and others at MIT and Harvard College Observatory, have constructed a CCD camera for the Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. Elliot also worked with colleagues at the Lowell Observatory to build a high-speed imaging photometer for occultations (HIPO) for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To list all of the accomplishments for science that Dr. Elliot has earned would take more space than I have to type. With that said, all those accomplishments are nothing in comparison to the way he taught and nurtured the great minds that are planetary scientists today. I asked Dr. Heidi Hammel , world renown planetary scientist and the first undergrad student of Dr. Elliot for a bit of a window into the man that was James Elliot. She replied: One of Jim Elliot's gifts was this: he gave young students his trust, and thereby enabled them to do things they otherwise might never have tried. In my case, after I had graduated from MIT, he considered me a fully trained astronomer, literally. That summer, he sent me off to grad school in Hawaii with a letter stating that I was supposed to do his observations at the University's 88-inch telescope. It caused all kinds of trouble - this girl coming in who was not even yet a graduate student, saying she was supposed to use the a telescope on Mauna Kea. Why, they didn't even let graduate students use the telescopes without supervision! Jim was adamant that I do it, though; he refused to come to Hawaii. Eventually we worked out a deal that a postdoc would come with me to "supervise". It was cloudy, but that didn't matter. Jim had made his point, and I was fully empowered. I've heard many of his other students tell similar stories: sent off to who knows where with his utter confidence they were up to the challenge. And so, of course, they were. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DulB9Yulxk-tk2DYR3vQROSMPKx40tKUep0iD6VKJqz8-btpF0_Ry-3QDXO1aHvx-7yfUc8BLBIbKFUG-kQISzAunkPEqyvuQzFY1ciRgTmnx3dRsJItui7xY-47_-C1L0KJsGbKZKHN/s1600/elliot_james.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DulB9Yulxk-tk2DYR3vQROSMPKx40tKUep0iD6VKJqz8-btpF0_Ry-3QDXO1aHvx-7yfUc8BLBIbKFUG-kQISzAunkPEqyvuQzFY1ciRgTmnx3dRsJItui7xY-47_-C1L0KJsGbKZKHN/s1600/elliot_james.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">John of Salisbury wrote once: "We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours." Jim was one of the giants that John mentions. That really only scratches the surface of Jim as a Mentor. He deeply cared about people, his people in particular. Dr. Michael Person of the MIT Planetary Astronomy Lab a research scientist directly under Dr. Elliot wrote in regards to Jim's caring nature: "I echo Heidi's impression of Jim as a mentor. He was certainly a great influence in my life. A true mentor in the classic sense, those of us who apprenticed under him were fortunate enough to not only learn our craft from a master, but to</span><span style="font-size: small;"> spend years with a man who cared as much about how his students progressed in their lives </span><span style="font-size: small;">as he did in their research. As much friend as teacher and colleague, he will be sorely missed."</span><span style="font-size: small;">Anyone who ever knew Jim or studied under him could echo these comments about this great man. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Jim lives on in the people he has touched. His legacy is great for his techniques will be built</span><span style="font-size: small;"> upon as we study distant planets orbiting distant stars, or discover even more distant worlds in the far </span><span style="font-size: small;">off frozen world of the Kuiper belt. Moreover, He has shown the value of empowering students to go out </span><span style="font-size: small;">and take life by the horns and do the impossible. Those are truly great</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> words to teach and live by. </span></span><tt><tt> </tt></tt>Go peacefully into the night Jim. You have left this world in good hands.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;">Until next time,</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;">Keep looking up!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;">Steve T</div><pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt><tt>
</tt></tt></pre>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-83452768983901275542011-02-27T12:19:00.000-05:002011-02-27T12:19:46.000-05:00Dark Matter: Interperating Data Can Be a Very Hard Task for Scientists Including Galileo And Kepler<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I just finished with Galileo's Sidereal Messenger/ Kepler's Dioptics for the umpteenth time and I marvel at the discoveries made in those first few years after the invention of the telescope. Galileo got so many things right with his observations but the genius Galileo got a slew of things wrong too. Johannes Kepler the wunderkind that came up Kepler's three Laws of Planetary Motion, got his share of stuff wrong. Some cases in point with these two giants are...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdfgWvq2_ntjzwS0CQXgyyIVELLjazvjQc8TnTq2zGjPVerMTUiGxQ51QL2DP8X48OIaYarm25vHqrqX1nRwph1bD0cFZzWPgKWnHx0bA2WurNHklGdjCP47ff5AwqBmltG9ewR3jtZ-8/s1600/KeplerB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdlUCdQjzxBJdM1b_QMq3c9r3150-a2FyZ9rLKPHrRATahrUvR6e-KrCHbSBaxQuQT4KKw1rrrrmT-WhlbYVSTS0_6qgQhZZreL-Z-m6mZlfAlLgZW7XDi6GhHv2mYZQbqqZ_Af3xxP2l/s1600/Galileo+and+telescopes.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdlUCdQjzxBJdM1b_QMq3c9r3150-a2FyZ9rLKPHrRATahrUvR6e-KrCHbSBaxQuQT4KKw1rrrrmT-WhlbYVSTS0_6qgQhZZreL-Z-m6mZlfAlLgZW7XDi6GhHv2mYZQbqqZ_Af3xxP2l/s320/Galileo+and+telescopes.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Galileo was trying to figure out why the edge of the moons disk appeared smooth and the rest of the Moon</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> was littered with mountains and valleys. Galileo wrote: To this explanation may be added another, namely, that there is round the body of the Moon, just as round the Earth, an envelope of some substance denser than the rest of the ether, which is sufficient to receive and reflect the Sun s rays, although it does not possess so much opaqueness as to be able to prevent our seeing through it—especially when it is not illuminated. That envelope, when illuminated by the Sun's rays, renders the body of the Moon apparently larger than it really is, and would be able to stop our sight from penetrating to the solid body of the Moon, if its thickness were greater; now, it is of greater thickness about the circumference of the Moon, greater, I mean, not in actual thickness, but</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> with reference to our sight-rays, which cut it obliquely; and so it may stop our vision, especially when it is in a state of brightness, and may conceal the true circumference of the Moon on the side towards the Sun. This may be understood more clearly from the adjoining figure, in which the body of the Moon, A B c. is surrounded by an enveloping atmosphere, D E G. An eye at f penetrates to the middle parts of the Moon, as at a, through a thickness, dia, of the atmosphere; but towards the extreme parts a mass of atmosphere of greater depth, E B, shuts out its boundary from our sight. Galileo, using the data he had acquired, was way off base with this solution. Galileo also originally and erroneously thought Saturn was a triple system with two smaller planets on either side of the planet.</span><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdlUCdQjzxBJdM1b_QMq3c9r3150-a2FyZ9rLKPHrRATahrUvR6e-KrCHbSBaxQuQT4KKw1rrrrmT-WhlbYVSTS0_6qgQhZZreL-Z-m6mZlfAlLgZW7XDi6GhHv2mYZQbqqZ_Af3xxP2l/s1600/Galileo+and+telescopes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdfgWvq2_ntjzwS0CQXgyyIVELLjazvjQc8TnTq2zGjPVerMTUiGxQ51QL2DP8X48OIaYarm25vHqrqX1nRwph1bD0cFZzWPgKWnHx0bA2WurNHklGdjCP47ff5AwqBmltG9ewR3jtZ-8/s1600/KeplerB.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdfgWvq2_ntjzwS0CQXgyyIVELLjazvjQc8TnTq2zGjPVerMTUiGxQ51QL2DP8X48OIaYarm25vHqrqX1nRwph1bD0cFZzWPgKWnHx0bA2WurNHklGdjCP47ff5AwqBmltG9ewR3jtZ-8/s320/KeplerB.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is from the preface of Kepler's Dioptics. : For if the earth were banished from the centre of the universe, some fear lest the water should</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> leave the orb of the earth and flow to the centre of the universe ; and yet we see that in the moon, as well as in the earth, there is a quantity of moisture occupying the sunken hollows of that globe ; and although this orb revolves actually in the ether, and outside the centres not merely of the universe, but even of our earth, yet the mass of water in the moon is not at all hindered from cleaving invariably to the orb of the moon, and tending to the centre of the body to which it belongs. So Kepler thought that the Moon had water on it lots of water. Hmmm The Moon does have water but not where he said and not how much he said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That is the problem with RAW data. The interpretations are as varied as the Universe itself. That might be a little over the top but you definitely get my meaning. They can be varied using the same science available to any thinking human being. This is where Dark Matter /Dark energy comes in. Can it be explained by just baryonic sources such as Brown dwarfs, black holes and the like. Or just maybe it is non baryonic in nature? So if it is non baryonic, is it cold, warm or hot Dark matter? If it is one of those three, could the particles be neutrinos super-neutrinos or even neutralinos. or maybe weakly interacting massive particles etc. or how about theoretical partcles yet to be found? By the way it could be a combination of some or all of the above... or none of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It could be one of several gravity theories floating out there (paradox intended) Modified Newtonian dynamics ie MOND, TeVes, MOG NGT and back reaction theory etc. each one might include the some quantity of Dark Matter to shore up it's point. The latest MOG theory is stand alone in nature. there are many others out there clamoring to stay off the trash pile of dis-proven theories.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I have seen mandates that call for a solution in the next two years or science will have to reevaluate the whole Dark "stuff" scene. I have seen the Ether come up to explain some of this circa 2006? Are you kidding me? Do I have a favorite theory? Well, yes I do but my vote hardly counts. What does count is the hard working scientist of this age striving to make sense out of the many Terra-bites of information continuing to be gathered by oh so many sources. Two years is a short time to sort out all of this.One thing is for certain these next couple of years are sure to be exciting! For the many theories that will go by the way side just remember you are in some very good company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next time</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</span><br />
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</span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-6343162213729964952011-02-21T17:42:00.000-05:002011-02-21T17:42:58.377-05:00A World Record Length For Cosmic Yardstick!!!<h2 class="subtitle" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Continent-wide telescope extends cosmic 'yardstick' three times farther into universe</h2><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pZ-p3KbhHEfYNlW49n9Xd9cVKF3ISsJzNTE5-vHp7wNq-HjIp7YrC6jpDkJJQgqyZTydxgh7izeBS0N0P93PeGZilbozEok_sMAXFN4QwuiV5HSN-eG7QBNSUEGFfhPFmhtTNeMaWsxO/s1600/vlba_montage_lo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pZ-p3KbhHEfYNlW49n9Xd9cVKF3ISsJzNTE5-vHp7wNq-HjIp7YrC6jpDkJJQgqyZTydxgh7izeBS0N0P93PeGZilbozEok_sMAXFN4QwuiV5HSN-eG7QBNSUEGFfhPFmhtTNeMaWsxO/s320/vlba_montage_lo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NRAO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Now just looking at the title you have to giggle a little bit because three feet (yardstick) is well... three feet and hardly a world record. It is when we pull out the Cosmic Yardstick that things start to get real long like 450 million light years long and yes folks that is a direct measurement!Using the super-sharp radio "vision" of astronomy's most precise telescope, scientists have extended a directly-measured "yardstick" three times farther into the cosmos than ever before.This has some very important implications for the hottest fields right now namely Determining the nature of Dark Energy and extrasolar planet searches. The continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) also is redrawing the map of our home galaxy as I type and is on the precipice of delivering big in these two fields and more.The VLBA provides the greatest ability to see fine detail, called resolving power, of any telescope in the world. It can produce images hundreds of times more detailed than those from the Hubble Space Telescope. This power allows astronomers to make precise cosmic measurements with far-ranging implications for research within our own Galaxy and far beyond.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Us0wMDzU2UEARjxpPWUPMRfKbithAzsA59ozHLcGdid3sOz2m5JfWSU0Oly413tUe1U3plYqzPpTfme6T4SKyrcF3Pldh27yeqA98t_YcMtCHcY7FjpVFeaOKVmcJ-G2HOMse1zpLa2/s1600/_NGC6264+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0Us0wMDzU2UEARjxpPWUPMRfKbithAzsA59ozHLcGdid3sOz2m5JfWSU0Oly413tUe1U3plYqzPpTfme6T4SKyrcF3Pldh27yeqA98t_YcMtCHcY7FjpVFeaOKVmcJ-G2HOMse1zpLa2/s320/_NGC6264+a.jpg" width="320" /></a>Via the NRAO: New measurements with the VLBA have placed a galaxy called NGC 6264 at a distance of 450 million light-years from Earth, with an uncertainty of no more than 9 percent. This is the farthest distance ever directly measured, surpassing a measurement of 160 million light-years to another galaxy in 2009. Previously, distances beyond our own Galaxy have been estimated through indirect methods. "Our direct, geometric measurements are independent of the assumptions and complications inherent in other techniques," said James Braatz, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), who worked with Cheng-Yu Kuo, of the University of Virginia and NRAO. Fine-tuning the measurement of ever-greater distances is vital to determining the expansion rate of the Universe, which helps theorists narrow down possible explanations for the nature of Dark Energy. Different models of Dark Energy predict different values for the expansion rate, known as the Hubble Constant.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Solving the Dark Energy problem requires advancing the precision of cosmic distance measurements, and we are working to refine our observations and extend our methods to more galaxies," Braatz said. Measuring more-distant galaxies is vital, because the farther a galaxy is, the more of its motion is due to the expansion of the Universe rather than to random motions.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">REDRAWING THE MAP OF OUR GALAXY</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Another ongoing project uses the VLBA to redraw the map of our own home Galaxy. Recent work has added dozens of new measurements to star-forming regions in the Milky Way, The direct VLBA measurements improve on earlier estimates by as much as a factor of two. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This improvement significantly aids in understanding the physics of the young stars and their environments. It also has changed the map of the Milky Way, indicating that our galaxy has four spiral arms, not two, as previously thought. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Because we sit inside our galaxy, it's difficult to actually map it. These precision distance measurements are our most effective tool for learning about the structure of the Milky Way," said Mark Reid, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Earlier work by Reid and his colleagues showed that the Milky Way is rotating faster than previous estimates had indicated. That measurement in turn showed our galaxy to be more massive, equaling our neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, in mass. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Reid's team also is observing the Andromeda Galaxy in a long-term project to determine the direction and speed of its movement through space. "The standard prediction is that the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide in a few billion years. By measuring Andromeda's actual motion, we can determine with much greater accuracy if and when that will happen," Reid said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">TINY WOBBLES WILL REVEAL PLANETS</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A long-term, sensitive search of 30 stars seeks to find the subtle gravitational tug that will reveal planets orbiting those stars. The VLBA's precision can reveal a "wobble" in the star's motion through space caused by the planet's gravity. A four-year program, started in 2007, is nearing its completion.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"This study tracks stars smaller than our Sun, seeking evidence of planets the size of Jupiter or smaller," said Geoffrey Bower, of the University of California, Berkeley. "We want to learn how common it is for these low-mass stars to have planets orbiting them at relatively large distances," he added.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The project uses the VLBA along with NRAO's Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the largest fully-steerable dish antenna in the world. Together, these telescopes can detect the faint radio emission from the stars to track their motion over time. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Early results have ruled out any companions the size of brown dwarfs for three of the stars, and the astronomers are analyzing their data as the observations continue. </div>Astronomers reported on the new measurements and ongoing projects at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C. <br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So what have we got here? a possible new way to find extrasolar planets , A much bigger Milky Way Galaxy than previously thought and narrowing down the solution to the Dark Energy problem ... Not bad VLBA not bad at all . I may have a new hero!<span id="goog_1334169689"></span><span id="goog_1334169690"></span></div>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-7032667401875633022011-02-13T13:46:00.000-05:002011-02-13T13:46:04.877-05:00On The Horizon What Is The Next Big Thing?<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The decadal survey for where astrophysics and astronomy is headed for the next ten years has been here for a few months now. The dust has settled; our course is set and we are full speed ahead. 23 scientists headed by Roger Blandford, a Stanford professor put their heads together and came up with a list of needs that focus on Extra solar planet searching, researching supernovae, defining dark matter and the origin of the universe within a tight budget. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMgddZYAprTiilgtzN-txpyRIatZ39mBZvmkFBwJxCR9CBLeTTQD_33hUvNaA9NAV2Al8rPmlDLsXNKCt0wmXuwNYpMcgV_NSKSdfjnFJYnY9YLC1Ht0RZXw4WZSIJiMI4eGCG9uc4Jkl/s1600/universe_timeline.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMgddZYAprTiilgtzN-txpyRIatZ39mBZvmkFBwJxCR9CBLeTTQD_33hUvNaA9NAV2Al8rPmlDLsXNKCt0wmXuwNYpMcgV_NSKSdfjnFJYnY9YLC1Ht0RZXw4WZSIJiMI4eGCG9uc4Jkl/s200/universe_timeline.jpg" width="200" /></a>Now that is quite the tall order. Blandford , notes that astronomers are watching their budget: "The program of research that we recommend will optimize the science return for future ground-based projects and space missions in a time of constrained budgets and limited resources," he says. Astrophysics on a shoestring budget. To do this, missions for the next decade need to be multiple pronged in their data collection. This will involve some great planning and innovation for these future projects to be successful. Ten years ago little if anyone had heard of dark matter. Now the race is on to pin DM down and make it give up it's secrets. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmjjeJie91Fnl4LbmsrXaJ_ZLdKL86_PHfNoMSyMsrIqzdbDf7bFnwykUV7D3O4mNPPl8tY_wM1I8p87GYcQ_lVsZpzDWB58LT8lde8lMIXjW6CfZKwTii6nMJG-HJX03jzWqE2FMXqSF/s1600/WFIRST_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmjjeJie91Fnl4LbmsrXaJ_ZLdKL86_PHfNoMSyMsrIqzdbDf7bFnwykUV7D3O4mNPPl8tY_wM1I8p87GYcQ_lVsZpzDWB58LT8lde8lMIXjW6CfZKwTii6nMJG-HJX03jzWqE2FMXqSF/s200/WFIRST_1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">artist's conception</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The tools needed for this decade long push come in the form of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), previously known as the Joint Dark Energy Mission. The new $1 billion-plus space telescope will enable researchers to study dark energy, find Earthlike exos , and survey multiple galaxies, including the Milky Way. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbuN61biuVTLfnlf3C8ULbr65ZWAQdNiwzAVdptsF8JTbnw_g5hc0oc4bCwqX_kUnqT_Jqzy4cbhzjwJGIL-sEo04r1mV1Vh9LNOx3jSGQ8saoHu0VBBmTQV0iY70mMIJtzSB9aORT-3r/s1600/LSST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbuN61biuVTLfnlf3C8ULbr65ZWAQdNiwzAVdptsF8JTbnw_g5hc0oc4bCwqX_kUnqT_Jqzy4cbhzjwJGIL-sEo04r1mV1Vh9LNOx3jSGQ8saoHu0VBBmTQV0iY70mMIJtzSB9aORT-3r/s200/LSST.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The second front of exploration will be earth based and is named the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a massive wide-field optical scope that will also help investigate dark energy. Scientist are looking to broaden their understanding of how the first stars, galaxies and black holes formed; to unravel the physics that drive these processes, including gravity and to find the closest habitable Earth-like exoplanets so scientists can study them in greater detail.Would you believe it both top-priority telescopes are already under way.The date of operation for this wonderful scope is 2015 so far...</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ten years have gone by and we are still waiting for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to get off the ground (launch)The JWST is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014/2015. JWST will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. JWST will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. JWST's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLKit8gsxdJodY6g2GSP63nchZAPm3uhTr1Il1fvccCjkvbTc4R75CsDIM0qQQzDnYkvAGZ0tWsrCH2Zv_4eNT8oIkQXBcHs5vAYYa1m6uz7Msub2ubsyutHtp7XVReEPWM6vsmy5UtIDx/s1600/webb+telescope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLKit8gsxdJodY6g2GSP63nchZAPm3uhTr1Il1fvccCjkvbTc4R75CsDIM0qQQzDnYkvAGZ0tWsrCH2Zv_4eNT8oIkQXBcHs5vAYYa1m6uz7Msub2ubsyutHtp7XVReEPWM6vsmy5UtIDx/s320/webb+telescope.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The James Webb Space Telescope has a 6.5-meter primary mirror. and will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth. The evolution of our own Solar System will also be in the wheelhouse of this big space scope. JWST was formerly known as the "Next Generation Space Telescope" (NGST). JWST was renamed in Sept. 2002 after a former NASA administrator, James Webb. The next ten years will see three new telescopes. The Webb is a very big drain in the exploration column of NASA's budget. That may hinder funneling money into the other two projects right away. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am excited for the next ten years tight budget or not. If history is any indicator; the economy will rebound and budgets will increase. We have so much data to crunch right now from all of the many space telescopes and ground base scope doing research that we have a lot to look forward to these next few years. I parallel these time to the times of Galileo. The discoveries made with the new technology of the day (the Telescope) turned the science world on its ear and out of it modern astronomy was born. We are finding so much so fast in these hi-tech days and truly it is amazing to watch and take in.</span> It is fun to wonder what the next ten years will uncover and wonder I will. <br />
until the next time,<br />
<br />
Keep looking up!<br />
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Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-65429675331111810902011-02-06T10:36:00.004-05:002011-02-07T05:14:18.363-05:00Students (Yes Students) Discover Pulsars and More<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf9pSGF-wiLc_Qr_pamOuhvopGI90oiPi5feL1mxkcMJ0YmlsqsKk0HelVkWqckaiEzWBcv5pnEYcUUWu3Umfvj8JqvnhSOPt_Vxlo3zSwCZLCtdz56raA-tX8-6meH0cDl2nT4JT2XOH/s1600/alexhannahcasey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilf9pSGF-wiLc_Qr_pamOuhvopGI90oiPi5feL1mxkcMJ0YmlsqsKk0HelVkWqckaiEzWBcv5pnEYcUUWu3Umfvj8JqvnhSOPt_Vxlo3zSwCZLCtdz56raA-tX8-6meH0cDl2nT4JT2XOH/s320/alexhannahcasey.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Alexander Snider and Hannah Mabry in GBT Control Room,<br />
Casey Thompson on-screen, during confirmation observation.<br />
</b> CREDIT: NRAO/AUI/NSF</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Astronomical discoveries <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">have no loyalties to scientist with PHDs. Anyone with a mind can discover the grandest of things out in the universe</span>. Never has that point been more true than with the recent discovery of a rapidly spinning pulsar (30 times a second) by three high school students from Virginia and Kentucky. This rare pulsar located in Ophiuchus and above the Milky way disk was discovered by Alexander Snider, Casey Thompson and <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hannah Mabry as they sifted through data gathered by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). These students are a part of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) project, run by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, WV, and West Virginia University (WVU). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXbg1LRPOA50AwR-0hNVPTVjOpnEeCo5XScmR0_CkdQrxaGaWrunYUvgDvsDYOLrDJ6fNkDr99wUZXPAOg6KnkHeRTBKjArIki_QRk9Rxin-LBjDmJSL_xbZ6-Ue2dfZRl60PZwXTLE_7/s1600/pulsar.small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXbg1LRPOA50AwR-0hNVPTVjOpnEeCo5XScmR0_CkdQrxaGaWrunYUvgDvsDYOLrDJ6fNkDr99wUZXPAOg6KnkHeRTBKjArIki_QRk9Rxin-LBjDmJSL_xbZ6-Ue2dfZRl60PZwXTLE_7/s320/pulsar.small.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Basics of a Pulsar<br />
</b> CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span></div><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">From the NRAO press release</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">:</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The pulsar, which may be a rare kind of neutron star called a recycled pulsar, was discovered independently by Virginia students Alexander Snider and Casey Thompson, on January 20, and a day later by Kentucky student Hannah Mabry. "Every day, I told myself, 'I have to find a pulsar. I better find a pulsar before this class ends,'" said Mabry.When she actually made the discovery, she could barely contain her excitement. "I started screaming and jumping up and down."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thompson was similarly expressive. "After three years of searching, I hadn't found a single thing," he said, "but when I did, I threw my hands up in the air and said, 'Yes!'." Snider said, "It actually feels really neat to be the first person to ever see something like that. It's an uplifting feeling."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
As part of the PSC, the students analyze real data from NRAO's <a class="navig" href="http://www.nrao.edu/index.php/about/facilities/gbt"> Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT)</a> to find pulsars. The students' teachers -- Debra Edwards of Sherando High School, Leah Lorton of James River High School, and Jennifer Carter of Rowan County Senior High School -- all introduced the PSC in their classes, and interested students formed teams to continue the work.Even before the discovery, Mabry simply enjoyed the search. "It just feels like you're actually doing something," she said. "It's a good feeling."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Once the pulsar candidate was reported to NRAO, Project Director Rachel Rosen took a look and agreed with the young scientists. A followup observing session was scheduled on the GBT. Snider and Mabry traveled to West Virginia to assist in the follow-up observations, and Thompson joined online.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Observing with the students is very exciting. It gives the students a chance to learn about radio telescopes and pulsar observing in a very hands-on way, and it is extra fun when we find a pulsar," said Rosen.Snider, on the other hand, said, "I got very, very nervous. I expected when I went there that I would just be watching other people do things, and then I actually go to sit down at the controls. I definitely didn't want to mess something up."Everything went well, and the observations confirmed that the students had found an exotic pulsar. "I learned more in the two hours in the control room than I would have in school the whole day," Mabry said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Discoveries by High school students are growing. The PSC has netted three discoveries by high school students in recent years. In 2009, Shay Bloxton of Summersville, WV, discovered a pulsar that spins once every four seconds, and Lucas Bolyard of Clarksburg, WV, discovered a rapidly rotating radio transient, which astronomers believe is a pulsar that emits radio waves in bursts. But there are other programs out there that have students doing the discovering as well as students independently discovering new objects <br />
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In 1994, two students used images from the Leuschner Telescope in Berkeley, Calif., to record the first sighting of SN 1994I, a supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy. These images of SN 1994I were obtained before its discovery was reported. High school students Heather Tartara and Melody Spence requested observations of the Whirlpool Galaxy on March 29 and 31, 1994. Their request was made through the Hands-On Universe program, which allows elementary and high school students to request observations on automated telescopes. Their images captured the Whirlpool Galaxy just before and after SN 1994I began to brighten, and are some of the earliest data recorded for a supernova.The two girls wanted to take pictures of galaxy M51, or Messier 51, to try to capture a picture of the galaxy's black hole. What they ended up finding, was the supernova.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7E6vYh0jzla0oBmseuuPTdpZI9PhYuMgWvITLJHULMCupNd3v9DRv1gCek2hfbVF5K00uUzpEOvcIeXaqwx5KUKGWVFEjSd6C4txYp4RppeCE3ZS0LJESS5OnV6bOZOMv2olEFqbqRqe/s1600/Caroline+Moore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7E6vYh0jzla0oBmseuuPTdpZI9PhYuMgWvITLJHULMCupNd3v9DRv1gCek2hfbVF5K00uUzpEOvcIeXaqwx5KUKGWVFEjSd6C4txYp4RppeCE3ZS0LJESS5OnV6bOZOMv2olEFqbqRqe/s200/Caroline+Moore.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In November 2008 </span>Warwick Valley High School junior Caroline Moore <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> a freshman, was catapulted into International fame following the discovery in her backyard observatory of what has now been named Supernova 2008ha in galaxy UGC 12682. She became the youngest person in the history of astronomy to discover a supernova. This discovery earned her</span> the 2010 Jack Horkheimer/Parker Award for exceptional service in astronomy.</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I can go on and on but the important thing here is that students are engaging science and that my fiends is a wonderful thing. More importantly teachers are teaching hands on science be it in the class room or after school in a club setting . The opportunities for amateur discoveries abound. <a href="http://www.hobbyspace.com/Astronomy/astronomy2.html">Hobby Space</a> is a great website listing a huge number of organizations using Students and amateurs alike to do real science. We are talking real, hands on make a difference science. If you are a teacher, take a look and get involved. Shaping the minds of tomorrow's scientists is just about as noble an endeavor as one can have.</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</div><div class="story-detail" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-41028079756233775352011-01-30T09:00:00.000-05:002011-01-30T09:00:24.765-05:00A Little Fun With Your New Astrological Sign<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP73EDcT973xV5bOufBiBbwz-iX4A01yGo2yd76Y1VPCbzRydWwd3HAVNNfKe3butTCqPjRCGrtVyRiUWYhQuTsTmzYl5H0vNcptxh9KDayaUieGZ5d07I7Qa-AsD-GPFpHTrGyohh4cKv/s1600/New-Zodiac-Signs-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP73EDcT973xV5bOufBiBbwz-iX4A01yGo2yd76Y1VPCbzRydWwd3HAVNNfKe3butTCqPjRCGrtVyRiUWYhQuTsTmzYl5H0vNcptxh9KDayaUieGZ5d07I7Qa-AsD-GPFpHTrGyohh4cKv/s320/New-Zodiac-Signs-2011.jpg" width="320" /></a>Now I know you are a little distraught over the fact you are not what you think you are when it comes to astrological signs so I have decided to set up a one time therapy session dealing with this oh so important revelation to the astrological believing public. When I got wind of this upheaval in the whole astrological community I was shocked because all you really had to do was look at a star map and then with a few calculations figure out... Hey the Sun is not where it should be. He is visiting next door in some other signs house. Psst(whispering) astronomers have known this for a looong time. We should have said something many hundreds of years ago and we didn't and for that the scientific community surely apologizes. What the heck happened? I was born Wednesday on June the 8th so that would make me a Gemini well up until a few weeks ago that is. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There were a couple of problems for ancient astrologers when they set up this zodiacal system. There were 13 constellations in the ecliptic... always was. Astrologers may have thought 12 sounded way more cooler than 13 so they decided one of these signs has got to go. I guess they thought long and hard about it and finally tossed Ophiuchus out. So why him ? Here is my guess. Would you want your daughter to be called a snake handler? or boy for that matter? Way too much teasing going on... They knew kids were ruthless! So that is why Ophi got the pink slip. They had their 12 houses (kind of) and all was happy except... They did not count on precession. The Sun and Earth do a dance constantly of wobbling in rotation and in orbit. Gravity is a constant relentless action between objects. the two main precession problems are axial and ecliptic precession</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NTBHd-4Qj9zIVpwQd1ODdobQu8pwfntKfCRcCyj46PeAJzZDHUyCrG4xu0vnmw6mKHyxrmnPk_a8EhGEVJ_qN8P_zp8-iM_RhTjjqrJpyvOIdiB3W4Wjgq44LinOT8ax3-86VPY7VA6w/s1600/vernal.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NTBHd-4Qj9zIVpwQd1ODdobQu8pwfntKfCRcCyj46PeAJzZDHUyCrG4xu0vnmw6mKHyxrmnPk_a8EhGEVJ_qN8P_zp8-iM_RhTjjqrJpyvOIdiB3W4Wjgq44LinOT8ax3-86VPY7VA6w/s1600/vernal.gif" /></a>Axial precession is the movement of the rotational axis of an astronomical body, whereby the axis slowly traces out a cone. In the case of the Earth, this type of precession is also known as the precession of the equinoxes or precession of the equator. The Earth goes through one such complete precessional cycle in a period of approximately 26,000 years, during which the positions of stars as measured in the equatorial coordinate system will slowly change; the change is actually due to the change of the coordinates. Over this cycle the Earth's north axial pole moves from where it is now, within 1° of Polaris, in a circle around the ecliptic pole, with an angular radius of about 23.5 degrees (or approximately 23 degrees 27 arc-minutes). The shift is 1 degree in 72 years, where the angle is taken from the observer, not from the center of the circle.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Aristarchus of Samos (c. 280 BC) is the earliest known astronomer to recognize and assess the precession of the equinoxes at almost 1º per century (which is not far from the actual value for antiquity, 1.38º).The Precession (axial rotation) was later explained by Newtonian physics<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><span> </span></sup>. Being an oblate spheroid, the Earth has a nonspherical shape, bulging outward at the equator. The gravitational tidal forces of the Moon Sun apply torque as they attempt to pull the equatorial bulge into the plane of the ecliptic. The portion of the precession due to the combined action of the Sun and the Moon is called lunisolar precession. Astronomers knew way back then you could not put an immovable system into a constantly moving system and not have some problems. I guess the did not get the memo to fix their problem 2200 years ago or so another precession is ecliptical</div><div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The inclination of Earth's orbit drifts up and down. Relative to its present orbit this drift has a period of about 70,000 years. Relative to the invariable plane it has a 100,000 year period. The invariable plane represents the angular momentum of the solar system, and is approximately the orbital plane of Jupiter. To the observer the Sun now is moving through some astrological houses for just two weeks and some for as long as three months! This concrete unmoving system is having a tough time of it in the modern world.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So what will be the outcome? well I believe there will be two camps, one of which my darling daughter Meghan is camped out in and then the one I am finding a home in . My dear sweet Daughter was born in early September and that makes her a Virgo in her mind ... So much so that she decided to have a tattoo of Virgo stamped near her bikini line. When I told her she was not a Virgo but a Leo she leaps at me like a lion Hmmm. Meg roared she does not care what house the sun is in she is a Virgo! I even offered to have a red X tattooed through her Virgo tattoo. She just growled at me.... Hmmm. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As for me I started to reflect upon this transition. I was a Gemini and now I am a Taurus and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh my stars I am and have always been a Taurus . I remembered when my dad would ask me where I had been. I would tell him and he would say that sounded like a load of Bull. or even later in life when I was giving a presentation of why we need to expand our efforts to look for the Ether I was met by a score of people chanting ...Bull! OR right about now when you read this and cry Bull Hockey! Yes I am feeling quite comfortable in my new Bull digs. I think my sweet wife has known for awhile that I was full of Bull .</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next time,</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">SteveT</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-86462830164900971662011-01-29T12:22:00.000-05:002011-01-29T12:22:14.765-05:00The Carnival Is Back In Town <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Carnival of Space is back in town. Everything from space to spaceships are there and everything in between. All kinds of fascinating stuff await your perusal. The host this week is Brian Wang of Next Big Future. This is a spot to stretch your mind as you try to get your head around the next big thing in science Take a moment and check out some of the Blogs there. I have always loved a good carnival You will love this one!</span> Ready set GO! <a href="http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/01/carnival-of-space-182.html">Here</a>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-75602064836585959442011-01-23T11:31:00.004-05:002011-01-29T20:31:32.311-05:00It Is Never a Dull Moment With Cataclysmic Variables<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am in the middle of getting a presentation together for Cataclysmic Variables (CV) and thought you might like a crash course in it as well. Cataclysmic variables are binary systems that consist of an normal star and a white dwarf. They are typically small. The typical binary system is roughly the size of the Earth-Moon system - with an orbital period in the range 1-10 hrs. The companion star, a more or less normal star like our Sun, loses material onto the white dwarf by accretion. This part is kind of interesting so I will give you some background on the setup. The white dwarf was at one time a regular schlep of a star. For few billion years or so it cooked hydrogen into helium by fusion. Sadly the star eventually ran out of hydrogen so what do you do? you start fusing helium together until you wind up with a mostly carbon rich star that has ceased fusion and is just hanging out cooling down for the next billion years. While all of this was happening the star went through the red giant phase etc. So there it sits a sun like mass squished down into the size of the earth.This makes for a very dense and more to the point, a huge gravity well. Ah but what if there was a close by companion star? A regular star in most ways except for the fact that it is in an orbit with the earlier mentioned white dwarf? This scenario has the makings for a CV</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are several types of CVs</span> out there and all of them have different ways of doing their business. Let's break CVs down into some bite sized chunks. For starters there are two major types of CVs. One has a fusion dominated phase. The second has an accretion disk dominated phase.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Fusion Dominated includes </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1.Classical Novae </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2.Super Soft Sources (SSS)</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;">Classical Novae</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0DPwq-L2v3qZf1Vrf3NMZAY46YKOdN0UJl_SlHFjuwYLTSvl0AvpvZQfxP8w_rPtuQ1ZLJ96OvEm4hSJp68ljPcC-ahyphenhyphenCrHbaDD9gBF9bo6dTu-Cojrg4NiiOIRajIjfTqQn2QxO4ufs/s1600/nova.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0DPwq-L2v3qZf1Vrf3NMZAY46YKOdN0UJl_SlHFjuwYLTSvl0AvpvZQfxP8w_rPtuQ1ZLJ96OvEm4hSJp68ljPcC-ahyphenhyphenCrHbaDD9gBF9bo6dTu-Cojrg4NiiOIRajIjfTqQn2QxO4ufs/s320/nova.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A classical nova occurs when material (drawn from the companion star) accretes onto the surface of a white dwarf star's surface and thus begins an unstable thermonuclear fusion reaction. Material transfer will gradually occur between novae explosions The mass will be accreted onto the white dwarf's surface at a low rate, generating only weak X-ray emission. The nova outburst will increase the apparent brightness of the binary star system by ten thousand to a million times (an increase in stellar magnitude of 10 to 15). Can I get a Wow! there? The reason is fairly simple in that the slow build up of material causes the bottom layer to compress and finally is set off on the fusion path. At this point all of the material is fused at the same moment releasing a massive explosion of light /energy They are thought to recur, though with recurrence time scales of 10,000 years, We will just have to wait and see if it happens again. No known classical novae recurrence have been observed.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Super Soft Sources</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Super Soft Sources (or SSSs) are the new kids on the block in the family of cataclysmic variables. This CV</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> was first categorized by ROSAT observations. SSSs are objects with temperatures of between 200,000 and 800,000 K and luminosities around 10</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">38</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> ergs/s. More than 90% of their observed X-ray emission is below 0.5 keV. The leading theory is SSSs are white dwarfs with classic hydrogen fusion occurring from material accreting onto their surfaces. This could make SSSs the progenitor for Type Ia supernovae.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4zepZQpdmjGpvlPtINvx59JTQBvSjSkJRwF3IHvHkdbH8xcvptcZNliEehCEUqqCDzou12WnIjhylgRi6s7x088WoB-uGM2-5CUC0xoKJA8Jqg2ZrJID4ZHAb8bHy76__fvTJC-8hm90/s1600/SSS.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4zepZQpdmjGpvlPtINvx59JTQBvSjSkJRwF3IHvHkdbH8xcvptcZNliEehCEUqqCDzou12WnIjhylgRi6s7x088WoB-uGM2-5CUC0xoKJA8Jqg2ZrJID4ZHAb8bHy76__fvTJC-8hm90/s1600/SSS.jpg" /></a> In the white dwarf scenario, the observed black body radii is simply the size of the white dwarf star itself with nuclear fusion occurring on its surface. If accretion occurs onto the white dwarf surface at low rates, fusion will be sporadic and violent, just like classical novae type explosions. If accretion is at a high rate, the white dwarf will acquire a red-giant-like atmosphere. Continuous nuclear fusion on the dwarf star surface would be possible only for a narrow range of accretion rates of the order of 10<sup>-7</sup> solar masses per year. For relatively massive white dwarfs 0.7 - 1.2 solar masses, this raises the distinct possibility that such objects could eventually exceed the Chandrasekhar limit, making them the candidates for Type Ia supernovae. White dwarfs have a limit to how big they can be If they get larger than 1.4 solar masses they will inevitably supernova and collapse into a neutron star. That is what the Chandrasekhar limit is. That takes care of the fusion dominated side of CV's. Now let's take a look at accretion dominated CVs.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Accretion dominated CVs can be chopped up into three main categories. all of which are fascinating in their workings. They are:</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1.Dwarf Novae</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2.Polars </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3.Intermediate Polars</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dwarf Novae</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczKofGO6DOK_wGKmCXZbZ32WhjTo0dptsxif9izKKFgSMFifk_OTx6NKLoeUxXiXo5U1fC1DzdVKTtzS-7xhZpoKukKGKqaw7urhEZKB-R_MK2DJmoG7jHq_i5lPyBn5ETcw85RA4utth/s1600/Dwarf+Nova.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczKofGO6DOK_wGKmCXZbZ32WhjTo0dptsxif9izKKFgSMFifk_OTx6NKLoeUxXiXo5U1fC1DzdVKTtzS-7xhZpoKukKGKqaw7urhEZKB-R_MK2DJmoG7jHq_i5lPyBn5ETcw85RA4utth/s320/Dwarf+Nova.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dwarf novae (DN) outbursts are dimmer events than classical novae outbursts. Their peak absolute magnitudes are weaker by at least 100 times. DN are known to recur with times as short as a few weeks. DN also have short durations, lasting just a few days. Interestingly, dwarf novae also can exhibit a variety of unusual behaviors. Some occasionally exhibit long outbursts known as superoutbursts</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Polars</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyKwcHsYYwgqXtFRsBXb04FsmWSyJq1DY-w4En_CUU4Qt7AQydziu2EmAuszulIq42QUU7JQUKvc8eVkmJJMat6WRMpT8XyPxI0DmBlltnyzn71mBbFNWc439IO1N3jFJRT4eiEqh2Ehf/s1600/polar.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyKwcHsYYwgqXtFRsBXb04FsmWSyJq1DY-w4En_CUU4Qt7AQydziu2EmAuszulIq42QUU7JQUKvc8eVkmJJMat6WRMpT8XyPxI0DmBlltnyzn71mBbFNWc439IO1N3jFJRT4eiEqh2Ehf/s320/polar.jpg" width="320" /></a>In a polar system matter will overflow the Roche lobe of the companion star. However, the white dwarf possesses a strong magnetic field, which prevents the formation of a accretion disk. Instead, the overflowing material is directed by the magnetic field structure until it impacts on the surface of the white dwarf at its magnetic pole. Until impact, the material essentially free falls, thus reaching substantial velocities which are seen in the optical spectra. The collision generates a shock wave which is the source of hard (energetic) X-rays. Hard X-rays emitted in the direction of the white dwarf from the shock wave heat the local area around the pole enough for the pole to become a source of intense soft (less energetic) X-rays. Polars are generally much stronger sources of soft X-rays than hard X-rays. This is probably due to uneven matter streaming. knots in the accretion flows would most likely cause energy to also be let go deep within the atmosphere of the white dwarf. This results in more soft X-ray emission. The strong magnetic field will also tidally lock the orientation of the white dwarf relative to the companion, so that orbital and rotational periods are identical.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">X-ray emission from polar systems is entirely due to the accretion column and its impact, so in quiescent times when matter is not accreting onto the system, the entire system is much dimmer.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Intermediate Polars </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUEVd23pmPObGPjyPR6CeRREoFa4qgV3-wAxX_7yBhxx_6PpuAZ-4SOzb_su2erHfAxOlqFupXhAYtu8h03rkNzPhb1VSnYP0rti4yMM9nv11hcyQ6uQVjFNkxcdkPIzHG_7N6DOLIq2z/s1600/Inter+Polar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUEVd23pmPObGPjyPR6CeRREoFa4qgV3-wAxX_7yBhxx_6PpuAZ-4SOzb_su2erHfAxOlqFupXhAYtu8h03rkNzPhb1VSnYP0rti4yMM9nv11hcyQ6uQVjFNkxcdkPIzHG_7N6DOLIq2z/s1600/Inter+Polar.jpg" /></a></div>When a Polar has a wide separation between companions or does not have an outstanding magnetic field but still a very good one an accretion disk can and will form. When this action is found The moniker of Intermediate Polar is bestowed on the pair As material migrates inwards in the disk, it may eventually encounter a magnetic field strong enough to control the flow of material, at which point matter would instead stream from the inner edge of the disk along magnetic field lines onto the pole of the white dwarf. Such a system would therefore be expected to be a source of hard X-rays from the shock at the magnetic poles. Intermediate polars, either due to weaker magnetic fields or wider star separations, will not necessarily have orbital and spin rates locked. Observed systems have longer orbital periods than polars, which given that the systems have comparable masses verifies their wider separation.<br />
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Now if that wet your whistle for the wild world of variable stars then hop on over to the American Association of Variable Star Observers <a href="http://www.aavso.org/">here</a> and get a handle on variable stars You could even discover one! They happen all the time<br />
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Until next time <br />
Keep looking up!<br />
<br />
Steve T<br />
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</div>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-44449277697538486702011-01-17T05:39:00.000-05:002011-01-17T05:39:16.284-05:00A Glorious and Cold Night Camping with The Scouts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuXjkNR0Dn55WgRBzn5rmdEFqowICuPidzeziM0Zde0-HqO6yZXHE7DiGX2uxZVFQ8Ico1hjQHeCOZA4XQ3NrY61EheK65XeBOaSceVHK-hgk8eVJCNAia4GDWsHnoe4lybtElrXW-f9y/s1600/winter+camping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuXjkNR0Dn55WgRBzn5rmdEFqowICuPidzeziM0Zde0-HqO6yZXHE7DiGX2uxZVFQ8Ico1hjQHeCOZA4XQ3NrY61EheK65XeBOaSceVHK-hgk8eVJCNAia4GDWsHnoe4lybtElrXW-f9y/s320/winter+camping.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Troop 128 out of Milford Ohio made plans to backpack down a very scenic trail in John Bryon State Park. It was a cold crisp day and all was right with the world. The morning brought overcast skies and snow showers but to a Boyscout this was just icing on the cake for a grand day in the great outdoors.. Earlier in the month the troop had contacted the Cincinnati Astronomical Society to set up an observing session at their campsite. Now if you know anything about Midwest weather the word of the winter season in the Midwest is clouds. We do get (once in a blue moon) some nice crisp night with the winter sky blazing in all of it's glory. I said by all means we will have a program for those boys. My general rule when dealing with weather and scouts is to have a plan B in the ready. Plan A of course was the bringing out of telescopes to find and pierce a sucker hole looking for a wonder lying within the hole. For this I had two other Volunteers, telescopes at the ready. We had 20 boys on this particular Camp-out to take care of. With three scopes it was going to be a piece of cake... Right?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Not exactly... The clouds were relentless and we ended up going to plan B. In my mind There is nothing more fun than sitting around a campfire telling stories and having fun. So why not mix those two events? I had twenty boys sitting there listening to me regale about Galileo and how he took astronomy into the modern age with the telescope. The Boys were all too eager to ask questions and I fielded them all. everything from the 2012 end of the world scenario that will not happen to how we got our water on earth. It was a fun night and a memorable one for the boys. That was the pinnacle of fun for the weekend. Friday The CAS kicked off it's celebration of one hundred years in the astronomy gameand I was there to share in that oh and on Thursday I gave a presentation at the Cincinnati Observatory Center on asteroids and was able to share a peek at the moon with our visitors for a very brief moment though a sucker hole in the sky. The telescope we used was the 1842 Merz-Mahler 12 inch refractor.This is one of the oldest telescope you will ever look through. So what did you do this weekend? Get out and share the beauty that is the night sky with others You do not need a fancy telescope or a clear sky. Just share a little bit about what you have seen and say to them: Get thee to a telescope as soon as you can!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next week,</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Steve T</span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-43700669209856864502011-01-09T12:32:00.001-05:002011-01-09T12:35:30.625-05:00The Cincinnati Astronomical Society is 100 Years Old!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFqDk2ZNyDu79L0SqprYboX-_dLhvVru_2uWAz0pyrK6ewh2VDiG22F4JOVu8_tTMISdfKpy6JoGXNuvh5j8RAAXJINuETVkJ7llz_h-Hh0XLIqAVg82s7b9YUyr11hY9VhXWq14kGyHm/s1600/Cin+chamber+of+commerce.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The city of Cincinnati Ohio is ever so fortunate to have two astronomy centers that have stood the test of time and are 100 years or older; the Cincinnati Observatory Center (168 years old) and the Cincinnati Astronomical Society 100 years old this year. Both of these fine organizations share many of the same goals in education and public out reach but one hundred years ago it was not like that.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
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The Cincinnati Astronomical Society (CAS), established officially in 1911, traces its origin to probably 1909. One of America's earliest established amateur astronomical societies; it experienced two unique periods during its history. The first period, 1911 to 1941, was dominated by Dr. Delisle Setwart, the Society's founder and President, as he attempted to establish a quasi-professional observatory. The second period, 1941 to the present, was administered by 14 presidents as they guided the Society in its pursuit of classical amateur activities -- telescope making, learning astronomy, and public educational activities.</div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">1911 - 1941 </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQBgBIl2_ndR2sPAWZOurxVsg4Fzebx2AUHFg40RKTTUN1ImQTAQlkyDxB34GdA3exq6Qsopod_0IoGXUpVwl4hcraL1xC4eMgVeLF6gyFVi1AtkGK-XDnkmse1xnG5kQ7QXdeFKrmcY1/s1600/D+Stewart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQBgBIl2_ndR2sPAWZOurxVsg4Fzebx2AUHFg40RKTTUN1ImQTAQlkyDxB34GdA3exq6Qsopod_0IoGXUpVwl4hcraL1xC4eMgVeLF6gyFVi1AtkGK-XDnkmse1xnG5kQ7QXdeFKrmcY1/s200/D+Stewart.jpg" width="148" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> From 1896 to 1910, Dr. Delisle Stewart served as an assistant astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory of the University of Cincinnati. Research at the observatory during this period centered on the classical stellar measurement techniques. Stewart attempted to persuade the observatory's director to apply the then new astronomical research tool, astrophotography. Stewart's interest in astrophotography was intensified by his Harvard training and his previous two years service at Arequipa Observatory, Peru, where he photographed the southern skies. Stewart eventually lost his job over his persistent attempt to persuade the Cincinnati Observatory to adopt astrophotography.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Stewart's response to his rebuke was to establish a new astronomical society with the goal of building a new observatory dedicated to astrophotographic research. The Society's name, Cincinnati Astronomical Society, was borrowed from the original CAS, 1845-1870. This was the first professional astronomical society in America. Its telescope and assets were donated in 1870 to the city of Cincinnati. The city subsequently donation the assets to the University of Cincinnati (and its then new Cincinnati Observatory) from whence Stewart was dismissed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> An unusual event occurred in Cincinnati in 1911 that affected, initially positively but eventually negatively. Stewart's plan to establish a new observatory. The city was rightfully proud of its </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFqDk2ZNyDu79L0SqprYboX-_dLhvVru_2uWAz0pyrK6ewh2VDiG22F4JOVu8_tTMISdfKpy6JoGXNuvh5j8RAAXJINuETVkJ7llz_h-Hh0XLIqAVg82s7b9YUyr11hY9VhXWq14kGyHm/s1600/Cin+chamber+of+commerce.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFqDk2ZNyDu79L0SqprYboX-_dLhvVru_2uWAz0pyrK6ewh2VDiG22F4JOVu8_tTMISdfKpy6JoGXNuvh5j8RAAXJINuETVkJ7llz_h-Hh0XLIqAVg82s7b9YUyr11hY9VhXWq14kGyHm/s200/Cin+chamber+of+commerce.jpg" width="120" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Chamber of Commerce building that was designed by the famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson. The building received world-wide recognition for its beautifully carved, expansive, Romanesque arches. The edifice was destroyed by fire in 1911. Since Stewart was a lover of Richardson's work and the city loved its Chamber of Commerce Building, Stewart found a way to turn this disaster to his advantage. He offered to build his new observatory based on the architectural plan of the Chamber of Commerce building. The new observatory would then be faced with the Richardson granite stones that were salvaged from the destroyed building.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The citizens responded to Stewart's concept by generously donating services to transfer the huge Richardson stones to a temporary storage site and by buying bonds that were issued by CAS. Sufficient funds were acquired within three years of the fire that CAS acquired 142 acres of land in Miami Heights/Mt. Zion (the current CAS location) for the new observatory site about twenty miles west of Cincinnati. The site's principal selection criterion was its distance from the city's light pollution, a problem that then prevented the inner-city located Cincinnati Observatory from performing adequate astrophotography.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> All of the solicited funds were consumed in financing the transfer of thousands of tons of the massive Richardson stones from the original downtown site, to their temporary storage site, and finally to Miami Heights/Mt. Zion. The largest stone weighed 27,500 pounds. For the next twenty years Delisle Stewart begged wealthy Cincinnatians to purchase the remaining CAS bonds in order to raise the required funds. Finally, by the end of the 1930's, sufficient funds were obtained so that the observatory's construction could begin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The architects designed a two-story observatory building that included a large central dome and two side domes--each mounted on the end walls. The building's main floor was designed to include offices, a reception hall and museum of astronomy, a lecture hall, classrooms and the Richardson Memorial Collection. The second floor was to have a library, reading and study rooms photographic darkrooms with separate rooms for plate storage, spectroscopic and photometric laboratories, and rest rooms for the night observers. The domes were to house two large reflecting telescopes and one large refractor telescope. As with icing on a cake, the observatory would be faced with the famous Richardson granites. Assuredly this would be a magnificent facility, one in which the Cincinnati Astronomical Society and the city would be proud.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The effect of the Great Depression took its toll on CAS and its observatory. Construction of the basic outline of the building was completed, and the basement was finished to a degree that the CAS members could use the area for a meeting room. However, the Society lacked the funds to complete the project.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">1941 - Present </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivt5jAc17sX-ftpee1Se3TWM6nWlsWzY-aQE-bSX915hgTrgBicGA2ao2ZrrqF3jLdHhZ_OdTnZaxCRhyphenhyphenslnyRosxUOF2oecgLm-SNgvjbhCdzFUSmoM8JMud2ZwIbkjTzlumWO49IFNKo/s1600/Clark8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> With the death of Dr. Stewart in 1941, the Society lost its driving force. There was no one left with the ability of desire to make another effort to raise the required funds, and somehow, to complete the building. It was ironic that the Richardson arches, which had inspired the construction concept, proved to be its undoing; not a single block of granite was raised into place. The granite stones remained strewn around the observatory site, mockingly tombstone like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> For the first 32 years of its history, CAS was dominated by Dr. Delisle Stewart. Since 1941, the Society underwent a transformation from a quasi-professional society to an amateur one. From a society on the verge of extinction, it had rebounded to become a responsive, respected organization under the direction of fourteen succeeding Presidents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Those interested in reading the complete history of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society are invited to read the 132 page book A Brief History of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society , by John E. Ventre and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Edward J. Goodman. (History borrowed from CAS website) cinastro.org</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivt5jAc17sX-ftpee1Se3TWM6nWlsWzY-aQE-bSX915hgTrgBicGA2ao2ZrrqF3jLdHhZ_OdTnZaxCRhyphenhyphenslnyRosxUOF2oecgLm-SNgvjbhCdzFUSmoM8JMud2ZwIbkjTzlumWO49IFNKo/s1600/Clark8.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivt5jAc17sX-ftpee1Se3TWM6nWlsWzY-aQE-bSX915hgTrgBicGA2ao2ZrrqF3jLdHhZ_OdTnZaxCRhyphenhyphenslnyRosxUOF2oecgLm-SNgvjbhCdzFUSmoM8JMud2ZwIbkjTzlumWO49IFNKo/s200/Clark8.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now did that whet your appetite? If it did then by all means you need to mark your calendar for January </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">14th @8:00PM The CAS is kicking off it's celebration of 100 years with the History of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society and a look at the next hundred years plus a public star gaze held at the headquarters grounds located on Zion Road across from the Mitchel Memorial Forest. You will be able to take a look through one of our wonderful scopes and get a glimpse of what has made the CAS a lasting force in amateur astronomy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next time,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</span><br />
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</span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-55495282096679791662011-01-02T13:15:00.003-05:002011-01-29T12:24:15.487-05:00The Death Of a Star Can Bring Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTe0SAQXj35_ZMxQ8hVJRvAro17PX0LNW922c5D-BROmD_ktUZYygoOyfT5DjTHcURhDyQULmgvqegchI0t6NlrbLaGOJV1eAc_QX5XYdaojVDhJ-7aMYOQAWCakRGLf1uyUx4hQnuAvi/s1600/00493-Stellar-Rubble-May-Be-Planetary-Building-Blocks--This-artist.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTe0SAQXj35_ZMxQ8hVJRvAro17PX0LNW922c5D-BROmD_ktUZYygoOyfT5DjTHcURhDyQULmgvqegchI0t6NlrbLaGOJV1eAc_QX5XYdaojVDhJ-7aMYOQAWCakRGLf1uyUx4hQnuAvi/s320/00493-Stellar-Rubble-May-Be-Planetary-Building-Blocks--This-artist.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Supernovae have the ability to build the elements for life and disperse them through out their region of space. New star formations use these heavy elements and organic compounds to form the planets within its accretion disk.This action from ancient explosions of stars provided most of the elements needed to kick start life on a planet. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When the largest of stars exhaust their hydrogen fuel, they start producing energy with nuclear reactions that fuse helium into carbon. When they exhaust their helium, they fuse ever heavier elements in their cores until they have iron cores. Iron is the boundary between nuclear fission and fusion reactions, so no additional nuclear reactions will occur in the core. Gravity takes over and Boom! we have ignition</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This release of energy is enough to fuse elements on the periodic table heavier than iron and blast them into space to be recycled into the next generation of stars and planets. Supernovas are the source that create the elements needed for life on Earth. <a href="http://images.suite101.com/2269072_com_earth_sts1.jpg" title="Life on Earth Seen from Space - NASA/STS118 image"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpbQVxTPmet4bNFyOqOoNcbpld9rc_KzlNocjNPtuVnxUFuMXHlxdV4tpvnNGscVsiCV2Nw0rPttiq9kgVyx7bCTbCOYxMTiSD5kBltBXfvJmaVUMPMrf6rmn7Ux0j-DEytZLa_1D35_T/s1600/Supernovae+Crab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpbQVxTPmet4bNFyOqOoNcbpld9rc_KzlNocjNPtuVnxUFuMXHlxdV4tpvnNGscVsiCV2Nw0rPttiq9kgVyx7bCTbCOYxMTiSD5kBltBXfvJmaVUMPMrf6rmn7Ux0j-DEytZLa_1D35_T/s1600/Supernovae+Crab.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpbQVxTPmet4bNFyOqOoNcbpld9rc_KzlNocjNPtuVnxUFuMXHlxdV4tpvnNGscVsiCV2Nw0rPttiq9kgVyx7bCTbCOYxMTiSD5kBltBXfvJmaVUMPMrf6rmn7Ux0j-DEytZLa_1D35_T/s1600/Supernovae+Crab.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">A property of Earth's organic molecules could be caused by supernova, suggesting that life’s building blocks were created somewhere other than earth. Many of these building blocks, such as amino acids, sugars and other organic molecules, are chiral. Meaning: they come in two identical forms that are mirror opposites. They are asymmetrical mirror images of each other, so you cannot superimpose them on each other. They are considered right- or left-handed depending on how their atoms are arranged. On Earth, life likes to be left-handed . Left-handedness also seems to prevail throughout the cosmos, according to studies of meteorites. Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory believe supernovas are the reason. </span></div><div class="relatedinfo related-right" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">When a star collapses, it ejects all kinds of particles including electron antineutrinos, which are right-handed. Nuclear astrophysicist like Richard Boyd and his colleagues suggest these particles would interact with right-handed nitrogen atoms inside amino acid molecules. </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This interaction would convert the nitrogen into carbon, thereby destroying the righty amino acid molecules. The left-handed nitrogen would be left alone mostly which means left-handed amino acids would be dominant. That could explain their abundance on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RwGIBV0uTH7vrkDKnBHQX6njgofa_BHWVAazYCinwzmVFAtbDPIcaeeYXOJ6LeNDiw4VGpUBEDf5lZr2RLJyy4X7rQsJLlRtaUacnKYlufDOCDv7FeyY9fCXrZ5BKUm6LBdZtn-_H9sd/s1600/Batch_Three-02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RwGIBV0uTH7vrkDKnBHQX6njgofa_BHWVAazYCinwzmVFAtbDPIcaeeYXOJ6LeNDiw4VGpUBEDf5lZr2RLJyy4X7rQsJLlRtaUacnKYlufDOCDv7FeyY9fCXrZ5BKUm6LBdZtn-_H9sd/s200/Batch_Three-02.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> Other evidence that points to life building block can be found by the recent Spitzer and Chandra Space telescope discoveries of PAHs </span><span id="lblMainContent" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> being found in Supernovae</span><span id="lblMainContent" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">seem to survive the supernova explosion. These carbon and hydrogen compounds are found in comets<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">, in star-forming regions and planetary disks, which also seem to be where supernovae are found. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> That should be enough to chew on for awhile. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Until next time ,</span></span></span></span><br />
<span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Keep looking up!</span></span></span></span><br />
<span id="lblMainContent"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</span></span></span></span></div>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-10967688760666655702011-01-02T08:06:00.000-05:002011-01-02T08:06:08.458-05:00Ushering in a New Year!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">2011 is a new year and a celebration of all things astronomy. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> I am proud to be a part of this wonderful milestone. The CAS has long been a friend to the community with its outreach programs </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">and participation with other astronomical and science groups from across the Ohio Kentucky and Indiana region. This year I will be blogging regularly on astronomical topics as well as events for this important celebration so look for a new post soon like later today! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Keep looking </span>up!<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Steve T</span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-88068490343633054462010-04-08T18:49:00.000-04:002010-04-08T18:49:43.161-04:00The Messier Marathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jheqF0KyyiskeiikwK_dIHc0a74mgD6cV54XPd9TzktRwUnIJ0D_mGa2V1xBJFjEyNZxGt74CP2_OskZHvKiuJbyQfwTvj1vpdNR4FYeecs4RM_jAZyx0xniQAHAMyAF42rI_3ZUKeXh/s1600/messier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jheqF0KyyiskeiikwK_dIHc0a74mgD6cV54XPd9TzktRwUnIJ0D_mGa2V1xBJFjEyNZxGt74CP2_OskZHvKiuJbyQfwTvj1vpdNR4FYeecs4RM_jAZyx0xniQAHAMyAF42rI_3ZUKeXh/s320/messier.jpg" /></a></div>The time is spring when a young man's fancy turns to love, or in my case the annual Messier Torture Session er... I mean Marathon. I have bested this yearly quest a handful of times in my many years at the eyepiece. The Messier Marathon is a catalog of 110 or 109 plus a duplicate deep space objects(depending on who you are talking to)They range from double stars to galaxies.Throw in some gorgeous nebulae, globulars and some open clusters and you can see what I am talking about when I say wondrous stuff.<br />
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This particular catalog has a funny story in that Charles Messier was a Comet hunter and back in the 1700's that was a very good thing to be. In his endeavors to find these elusive frozen snowballs traveling to and fro he kept on being fooled by these objects that never seemed to move within the framework of the stars. Most were fuzzy looking balls or disks just like his target of choice but they were definitely not comets. Charles set pen to paper and started to catalog these objects so that he would not waist his time on them again. Little did he know that he was cataloging many of the most beautiful objects that can readily be seen from earth using a small telescope! The catalog was finished after his death. His notes were gone over and over until the final 110 objects were published. Now, we here in the 21st century use his catalog more than any other catalog when we are describing a night sky wonder to the general public.So much for the short history lesson.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TxOM3yHIKJnKBmgYH7KJbvEP3fVA2YM3VzW6X0ssVQYkzotyjmi4oS4dvt3UF7PZppsXqWuUSGgpxDdL6b-TMjV8svTSogDlo-1_UVF5sGABxsBnwm6h8H-KEM-EVCmY3-P_CS9PMDJe/s1600/14Inch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TxOM3yHIKJnKBmgYH7KJbvEP3fVA2YM3VzW6X0ssVQYkzotyjmi4oS4dvt3UF7PZppsXqWuUSGgpxDdL6b-TMjV8svTSogDlo-1_UVF5sGABxsBnwm6h8H-KEM-EVCmY3-P_CS9PMDJe/s200/14Inch.jpg" width="133" /></a>Mid March till the beginning weeks of April are the best times to chase these items down in a single night if you live in the mid to northern lattitudes! So how do you do it? Number one consideration is to have a plan to hit them all. Now as for me? Yes I do have a plan but I have seen folks make a plan that just sucks the fun right out of the Messier madness.For this here if it is going to be fun then I am not all that hot on doing it. That said if you are amped up on Nodoze or monster energy drink, love sleep deprivation and are easily frustrated by not finding your quarry right at first then this my friends is your lucky day. You will have gobs of fun.Now I know Some old-timers are going to drop their teeth when I say this but I really do not care if you use a GOTO scope or not when you are doing the Messier Marathon. I say anything that gets you out under the stars and looking at the wonders of the universe is OK with me Most old-timers in this thing we call astronomy did the Messier Marathon on a manual scope. They Star hopped using a star chart and a finder scope to track down those beautiful adornments of the night. So did I! there is nothing better in the world than to get that chart out and line those stars in your finder and start scanning the sky then...Whooo Hoo Man when you find it! I then did a little sketch of it. That way you can verify what you have seen and it makes you a better observer.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3Xyk6HwESVYym47OAFmMByApxajD7u5zQYnEJNC-KEG6grzQXoSAc4Azc2gLNKVmei0M7Hzl0_9JBcdX5l1VpD3LcCdZGIwW88nMaMWjGIuDEIwkj6YQM6gHUlioZU7VhnbwY64nfsJZ/s1600/11073-XLT_cpc800gpsxlt_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3Xyk6HwESVYym47OAFmMByApxajD7u5zQYnEJNC-KEG6grzQXoSAc4Azc2gLNKVmei0M7Hzl0_9JBcdX5l1VpD3LcCdZGIwW88nMaMWjGIuDEIwkj6YQM6gHUlioZU7VhnbwY64nfsJZ/s200/11073-XLT_cpc800gpsxlt_large.jpg" width="117" /></a></div>There are many plans and sequences out there to follow but the one I use and always have used is the Astronomical league Messier Observers log and You can find it <a href="http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com&url=http%3A%2F%2F10minuteastronomy.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fmessier_marathon_logbook_v3.pdf&sref=http%3A%2F%2F10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com%2Flogbooks-for-al-observing-clubs%2F">here</a>. This Logbook is great It has a sequence to follow and has room to do a sketch and fill in information about the object. Keep in mind You will be at this list from sundown till sunup. There will be times that you will be huffing and puffing trying to get all of the targets down in that area. Following that melee you will have a break for a few minutes to get something to eat and shoot the breeze with the other annual slaves to Messier's list. Then it's back to the eyepiece, (Jolt cola in hand) and off you go to nab another twenty of those elegant orbs of wonder.Those with a GOTO scopes might get a ribbing but here is the thing... The GOTO guys get more time on target than the searchers and that my friends is the name of the game. Now a word to those GOTO guys out there. Please give the manual method a try. It will sharpen your skills and really make you appreciate that little brain hiding in your scope Until next time...<br />
Clear skies and great seeing too<br />
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Steve T<br />
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<b><cite><span style="font-size: small;"></span></cite></b> <cite></cite>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-63069365657679493442010-03-31T19:17:00.001-04:002010-04-04T07:31:16.193-04:00A Weekend Full Of Fun And Fond Remeberances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JzCluH9M6FypTniWPXdo-ibm4cFiftgIVaKk6tf3wZ37nLDqQ8jVTM_Fxq7MQq8q2wBAx0K3d-RxKIF_y-0UeH6YheXqPxEJ3JmRbjCi4SYDWz8GMtXYeOBPQc0140jNeFMn16Gq6oC_/s1600/DSCN0509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JzCluH9M6FypTniWPXdo-ibm4cFiftgIVaKk6tf3wZ37nLDqQ8jVTM_Fxq7MQq8q2wBAx0K3d-RxKIF_y-0UeH6YheXqPxEJ3JmRbjCi4SYDWz8GMtXYeOBPQc0140jNeFMn16Gq6oC_/s200/DSCN0509.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRRDzxu2LujMfCao0wpVXD8hykTYsfU_L93EaQAr_dFSFH7RBaINb5Eum1OEie3aHFzhGHLPCmnkk1wppNka0rPGIPCYM3K3jJI3lOesTh0qvJDF9yx9JFIjDAcYQaNyypGHjboJoCAFg/s1600/100+hours+of+astronomy+Sun+day+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjrKFHINWMngWOEWpi7w1g_RXxU49k4VbWMVVpdENKdlVuKk2F0DXUofE5DVHuWDuRldvUkefcpnPibUMy67h4mCV_pMomz5UBzjxbC9v45pgSUxwIHGb3favly0QJ1kGTBdQvt7IXE7Z/s1600/.first_quarter_moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjrKFHINWMngWOEWpi7w1g_RXxU49k4VbWMVVpdENKdlVuKk2F0DXUofE5DVHuWDuRldvUkefcpnPibUMy67h4mCV_pMomz5UBzjxbC9v45pgSUxwIHGb3favly0QJ1kGTBdQvt7IXE7Z/s200/.first_quarter_moon.jpg" width="155" /></a>Whew!What a weekend. I had Friday started off with a meeting of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society. I was getting prepared for my meeting with the board ( I am a Vice President) When I got copied on a curious email. The 19th was a scheduled event for the Hamilton county parks district spring night hike. The hike ends with people gathered around a telescope or three to look at the amazing Heavens above. I was blessed with the opportunity to host the winter night hike in Dec .It was a 20 degree night but my scope performed flawlessly. The event being held at the same time as the monthly meeting made for a little problem of staffing the event.I thought we had it staffed going into the afternoon... The email came reading that the point guy may not make it because he was feeling ill. The one thing that I have found in life is you need to be a man of your word and if the Club promised to be there then we would be there . I called the president and canceled my appearance at the meeting and got my gear loaded. I showed up as they were taking the first group out yes first group there were three groups total making about 40-50 people in attendance. I was a little worried about eye/ scope time.I informed the directors Jen and Lynette of the personnel change and she just could not get over the fact that I would drop club business to come and do the event. I simply told her that the event was my business and the club's. The CAS has been doing public events for 100 years. We are dedicated to bringing astronomy and all it's wonders to the public. The other astro-volunteer, Joe showed up a little late but was set up in no time. He had brought two scopes with him. So in the end we had three scopes setup and swinging all over the sky. The biggest crowd pleaser was The Moon followed by the Orion Nebula. Mars was a treat as well for everyone. It was a fantastic night for all that came to the Night Hike. This is just the first of many opportunities<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"></span> between the Hamilton Parks Outdoors program <span style="background-color: white;"></span>and the CAS for 2010!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbggRxYW3tdreYtukz9J79sjPAK0eZyviwMXETBzmmaOUXlKCgZYy5jEr4dJcbUzTQx06VtJoYlEj4erl3p0DZHS-sCUGo1DNqxs2qbq48JBhxnjSCZHRbRHsCzre2P7rzfe5UEtOfyDx/s1600/Block+buster+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbggRxYW3tdreYtukz9J79sjPAK0eZyviwMXETBzmmaOUXlKCgZYy5jEr4dJcbUzTQx06VtJoYlEj4erl3p0DZHS-sCUGo1DNqxs2qbq48JBhxnjSCZHRbRHsCzre2P7rzfe5UEtOfyDx/s320/Block+buster+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a>Saturday brought to us International Sidewalk Astronomy Day! I am sure you have celebrated it in style like me! The Cincinnati Observatory had several site set up around the city The skies did not look promising. I kept a weather eye out all day long wondering if it was going to be a washout. 7:00 PM rolled around and the Skies started to clear out as if on cue. I was to turn eye after eye to the sky at my site on the Northwest side of town. People started coming by saying they had seen the advertisements Over a hundred pairs of hungry eyes looked through my scope and got a show even in the bright light polluted sky. I was able to get my scope on Venus hanging low in the sky and looking quite dreadful . But She was greeted by wow and cool which is just what the beautiful Venus loves to hear. Mars was also out and at nearly the zenith it was a crowd pleaser as well. But the item that stole the most hearts this night was the Moon. I had so much foot traffic going to Blockbuster. Little did they know this night they would get a movie and a show!I had a woman of about mid twenties coming out of Blockbuster and going to her Car when I asked excuse me would you like to see the moon? She stopped in her tracks and looked at me then said:"You know I have never looked through a telescope. Why sure!" she walked right over and took a look at the moon and she said Oh MY God that is soo beautiful. So I invited her to come by the COC one night to look through one their big scopes. She just might Oh and then I had a boomerang also this night. By that I mean I had a family come by and look at the planets and Moon They said thank you as they were probably my most excited family of the night about an hour later The Dad shows back up and asked do you remember me? I said sure why? He said he had been contemplating getting a scope but wanted to ask me a couple of questions about mine. I told him that is a fine approach to have. I had time to go over a few thing about my scope and scopes in general. He then left with a better understanding of what a scope could do and how much is a good price for a scope. So was the international sidewalk astronomy day a success? Well here at Blockbuster it sure was!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmfrPjcRwuLBTymo2JJ5N0WJ9TU-JR_Sknx1TcYDF-PhSt_eLBELKmrmUXCpGwe-kx26c6M5NHuuatK9mfo6ShEvnrdJ0-rlYcEu-Rx9oad1dqFrrHrr_dCrNJ2nCS95VMGvwss26X-WR/s1600/Dick+Wessling+farewell+pix+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmfrPjcRwuLBTymo2JJ5N0WJ9TU-JR_Sknx1TcYDF-PhSt_eLBELKmrmUXCpGwe-kx26c6M5NHuuatK9mfo6ShEvnrdJ0-rlYcEu-Rx9oad1dqFrrHrr_dCrNJ2nCS95VMGvwss26X-WR/s200/Dick+Wessling+farewell+pix+013.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Sunday brought a final farewell to a great man in astronomy. Dick Wessling was celebrated on this day and so many folks came out to see his life and remember him as one with so much talent. I heard story after story about Dick from his favorite beer, MGD, to skiing, to playing The base fiddle and drumming. His mirrors are legendary and there were plenty of pictures touting his telescope making. I was glad I came to get to know this man a bit better even after his passing. Dick will be missed greatly by all. I was a little late in posting this. I have been very busy with work and astronomy events. I have two more blogs I am working on and will try and crank them out this week.<br />
until then ...<br />
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Clear skies and great seeing too!<br />
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Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-13509244369923045422010-03-20T17:29:00.005-04:002010-03-22T16:58:01.532-04:00Moon Struck!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido-4ZZW0QypRgUGxO2AK7kVxAihgWYZkZGGpvJSiD1QGjJaNGUcR6E_V4EHktZGCJ68ytdKy_IXM71VCWWn_1HFE-4HyadeonwvzQzNmygPjgMwCFzwuDPgD5Km1JYJJWAeXkWtlhSV9i/s1600-h/tunnel2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido-4ZZW0QypRgUGxO2AK7kVxAihgWYZkZGGpvJSiD1QGjJaNGUcR6E_V4EHktZGCJ68ytdKy_IXM71VCWWn_1HFE-4HyadeonwvzQzNmygPjgMwCFzwuDPgD5Km1JYJJWAeXkWtlhSV9i/s400/tunnel2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336797700451464706" border="0" /></a>That's right the Tunnel reads Moonville. It was built in 1806 The town is long gone but the tunnel still remains. This particular tunnel is located in South Central Ohio near Hope Lake.<br /><br />The single biggest thing to look at during a Public stargaze is the Moon. just last night in fact...When our club or really just about any club schedules an event they try to make it on a quarter or slightly bigger. People love to look at the Moon. There are so many reasons. Romance certainly has a part in it. Ancient peoples look to the Moon for time, to hunt by, to plant by. How about superstition, Werewolves? They all fall under the influence of the Moon. Old Luna has been a faithful companion for billions of years. 4.6 to put a number on it. That is pretty close to how old I feel rolling out of a sleeping bag placed on the frozen ground after a long night of gazing skyward. We know tons and oodles about our dear satellite except maybe how it formed. The one theory I hang onto is the giant impact theory where something (planet sized object) made its mark on the earth waaaay back when the earth was still forming. Add a glancing blow from said object, then factor in the planetary object and a chunk of earth vaporizing causing a huge debris cloud circling the earth and thus pulling together and forming the Moon. Sure I could see that happening. Just keep in mind there are a few theories out there. so look around and see which one makes sense to you.<br /><br /><br />We choose a quarter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClFyXllTKmHflbfJDg04bSOSkJRKe7rDMtQ5B0Ke_PqXw9U-z2JaSV0HhHVTmYqJqbkr5BfqtD_SSS8beSGKpepo51pblZytIuTH398g2OpcRRiZZRYHmlLE6DvEnPaVydBWUhuIAOY5v/s1600-h/Moon+waxing+Gib.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClFyXllTKmHflbfJDg04bSOSkJRKe7rDMtQ5B0Ke_PqXw9U-z2JaSV0HhHVTmYqJqbkr5BfqtD_SSS8beSGKpepo51pblZytIuTH398g2OpcRRiZZRYHmlLE6DvEnPaVydBWUhuIAOY5v/s320/Moon+waxing+Gib.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336799996248383730" border="0" /></a> moon to gibbous for a good reasons The moon is not as bright so you will not be as affected by the glare. the terminator will show a lot of detail. The terminator is the line of dark and light at the edge of the lit up side of the moon. There is a lot of contrast there so you can see mountains/valleys better. There<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsosnXg7jmKh_Clu368Uu494OBggD8OU3Y6w5atQ_ykBTdhRNVC-pCnMsVRj2iMU9ng730uvYisWWPhc1_SZKXLOjmBrPmywRXAJVBrcj0kbhWjOOMNgQ0T9RcPSO6tqVe1Mgr-HUAoQu/s1600-h/Galileo..jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsosnXg7jmKh_Clu368Uu494OBggD8OU3Y6w5atQ_ykBTdhRNVC-pCnMsVRj2iMU9ng730uvYisWWPhc1_SZKXLOjmBrPmywRXAJVBrcj0kbhWjOOMNgQ0T9RcPSO6tqVe1Mgr-HUAoQu/s200/Galileo..jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336836099901472498" border="0" /></a> are so many craters on the Moon's dark side as well as the lit side facing us on earth. Most historians will tell you that in 1609, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was the first person to use a telescope to study the Moon. Using a telescope with a magnification of about 2o, he was able to see the mountainous areas, craters, and rough surface of the Moon. During the time of Galileo, people believed that the Moon's surface was smooth, so his observations caused many arguments. The argument was the quality of the lens made it appear rough. Cameras did not exist at the time, so Galileo drew what he saw through his pretty crude telescope. He was right. They were wrong. The Church did not like being wrong but that is another story for later<br /><br /><br />How do we look at the Moon? A telescope is probably the best instrument for this task and it can be a small refractor and not a giant 11" Celestron Schmidt -Cassegrain scope. I think the less light g<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItO_3smjZj230bJ1tM7EaXhhrL94MvBdmw61V7e8vI_aez1Strnr7ygyiZJfXffxX68upYqguQMxnRmhfiVLB-oscvY8OGVnS7hnsBAfmjj_jscI6kCVu7n4xiSclzzRjMnGIuR58Hb0F/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 85px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItO_3smjZj230bJ1tM7EaXhhrL94MvBdmw61V7e8vI_aez1Strnr7ygyiZJfXffxX68upYqguQMxnRmhfiVLB-oscvY8OGVnS7hnsBAfmjj_jscI6kCVu7n4xiSclzzRjMnGIuR58Hb0F/s200/images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336808370148829794" border="0" /></a>athering the better. I do not want to be blinded by the glare of so much light baking my eyeball. I used my 60mm scope for a good long while surveying the Moon. An 80mm can do a heck of a number on the Moon.I always use a filter when l<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGBkgxjvTCYG6kTO9HQaDfVpj9_FySRZnu6WggLA4cQBvTNT6iLtdB4NcbKHnQpyQ3tRx2h8SnPZyd0ljzXRiwM8eQOpFC0u_YI4j48Z4wxjeliF12_Ugvq48xhj1vworFcnBwgDPEjK8/s1600-h/atnd9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 147px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGBkgxjvTCYG6kTO9HQaDfVpj9_FySRZnu6WggLA4cQBvTNT6iLtdB4NcbKHnQpyQ3tRx2h8SnPZyd0ljzXRiwM8eQOpFC0u_YI4j48Z4wxjeliF12_Ugvq48xhj1vworFcnBwgDPEjK8/s200/atnd9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336835137466118034" border="0" /></a>ooking at the Moon. My very first filter was the Green glass filter. It worked but by turning the moon green, it made it hard to dispel the notion that the Moon is not made of cheese! I wish to recommend a filter for the Moon. A filter keeps the glare down so you can look at it longer with out going moon blind which is similar to snow blind. My favorite for lunar viewing is the <a href="http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Eproduct_id=05560">Variable Polarizing Telescope Filter</a>. I like it better because I can adjust the brightness level of the Moon and thereby pickup more detail. There are 13 % neutral density filters filters out there and they do a fine job. They are just not as flexible for the deed.<br /><br /><br />What exactly is there to look at on the Moon? Can we see the Apollo landing sites? Ugh No but you can explore the areas whe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiiw6OcNZtdxL3FvZ5b4HIULIMa90IhyphenhyphenuAD2PE0z0MTxpMSAj2GthzxBoKIDv5sS5zjsJagu6ItCj5pu6AvmU1POBp8WgLXSOHmhPQprAC_5x8Ht7j7D4lX3vzEW9os59PCUUmTZS7JaHt/s1600-h/Crater+Linn%C3%A9_crater_moon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiiw6OcNZtdxL3FvZ5b4HIULIMa90IhyphenhyphenuAD2PE0z0MTxpMSAj2GthzxBoKIDv5sS5zjsJagu6ItCj5pu6AvmU1POBp8WgLXSOHmhPQprAC_5x8Ht7j7D4lX3vzEW9os59PCUUmTZS7JaHt/s320/Crater+Linn%C3%A9_crater_moon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336834194263083938" border="0" /></a>re the sites are located. Take a look at the Sea of Tranquility Apollo 11 first touched down there and men got out and set foot on the Moon. Craters abound so look for newer craters, the ones that have lines or rays coming from them. the lines are ejecta (the stuff that flew out of the crater when it hit. search the mare (dark spots) These are craters that went deep enough to crack the crust of the moon millions and millions of years ago when the Moon was geologically active and brought lava to the surface spilling out and filling in the crater area.<br /><br /><br />A Moon map is great thing to have along you can print one online you can get a free program to help with your Moon gaze. Free ware which I love include the Lunar Calculator lite. A very simple and cool tool to see the current phase and identify crater mare and more. Another application I really like is the <a href="http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start">Vi</a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoexzpumyLB80Xk4iktetq7NBLC8ppNhzQ-CaXoY4KHB0ksjaQ1NbINEINSf5Ic4gFR9JOS3GFIbuPlc5_-eJddm0My77Ys0Omw3hCzXJ4mdEbT2wNR_GUIug9iaJ6-MY1noFT5EdEtz5x/s1600-h/Moon+atlas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoexzpumyLB80Xk4iktetq7NBLC8ppNhzQ-CaXoY4KHB0ksjaQ1NbINEINSf5Ic4gFR9JOS3GFIbuPlc5_-eJddm0My77Ys0Omw3hCzXJ4mdEbT2wNR_GUIug9iaJ6-MY1noFT5EdEtz5x/s200/Moon+atlas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336821987220530386" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start">rtual Moon Atlas</a> by the guy that did Cartes du Ciel, Patrick Chevalley and Christian Legrand. It comes in three versions good, real good and way over the top good. Like books? Me too and I like the Atlas of the Moon by Antonin Rukl. You can find it on Amazon. It is by Sky publishing and they do not put out junk. Knowing some of the bigger craters as well as the mare will make you a better astronomer or at the very least impress the heck out of your teacher/ instructor. I know mine were dumbstruck by the fact I knew exactly where the Sea of Tranquility was back in the spring of 1969. That was before it became a hot destination in July.<br /><br /><br />Clear Skies and great seeing too,<br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-11448592445593562792010-03-17T17:10:00.003-04:002010-03-17T17:38:37.023-04:00Dick Wessling Has Passed His Legend Carries On In His Mirrors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr029MPH96jhirHAY_V-lvDIazs2nY7Yj-DpRs4FwS0LeqpkK-_gM4KhhlAY-Dfv42VriAok9dlZEQLmjWXnuFOwXHEwlsmT3uGiUjuBVUrYGG88TT58P6eGgl1O4XTU3r6y3S4SklPdf9/s1600-h/cleaning06.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr029MPH96jhirHAY_V-lvDIazs2nY7Yj-DpRs4FwS0LeqpkK-_gM4KhhlAY-Dfv42VriAok9dlZEQLmjWXnuFOwXHEwlsmT3uGiUjuBVUrYGG88TT58P6eGgl1O4XTU3r6y3S4SklPdf9/s320/cleaning06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449717379051041970" border="0" /></a><br />The world is a less colorful place now that Dick Wessling has passed. Dick left us on St. Patrick's day. He loved the stars and skiing and beer and pushing glass. The term pushing glass referrs to making Astronomical mirrors and he was good at it. One of the best I have ever met. This is short but I did want you to raise a glass of stout to the memory of Dick Wessling tonight He would have loved it. BTW Here is Dick cleaning a lens of the 12" F/15 Brashear refractor for the University of Illinois@Urbana/ Champaign Another Mike Lockwood photo.<br /><br />Until the next time<br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too!<br /><br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-65739132070931777502010-03-13T14:41:00.011-05:002010-03-14T12:43:15.916-04:00Dick Wessling : A Tribute To Gifted Hands<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCUtX0RNe1jHINuo-_CGZ5pCnDepIFxX1mD0vuj9nktaEOqTZr55LWCE5EIBtBL8ayNGfzHcxV2r6EHsxDlYJnyjzkFEb3JXRFPVfO3OfJeQT3OTlfNT-GA5qD3lcndll94baMR4gteg9/s1600-h/Dick+Wessling.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCUtX0RNe1jHINuo-_CGZ5pCnDepIFxX1mD0vuj9nktaEOqTZr55LWCE5EIBtBL8ayNGfzHcxV2r6EHsxDlYJnyjzkFEb3JXRFPVfO3OfJeQT3OTlfNT-GA5qD3lcndll94baMR4gteg9/s320/Dick+Wessling.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448438086191747938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >When the weekend rolls around I can hardly wait to sit down and crank out a blog for this site I love writing about all things Space but this my friends is a very sad day in that I have to report that Richard Wessling of Pines Optical has suffered a massive stroke. It is one that he will not recover f</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >rom, in fact he is slipping away as I write this. My heart goes out to all of Dick's family. I am here to celebrate the Man and his gift for pushing glass.<br /><br />There are few people that could create mirrors for telescopes like Dick Wessling.(pictured on the right) He just had the touch. I have looked through some very fine telescopes with mirrors ground to as fine as 1/ 20 wave or better, all of Wessling origin . If you were an amateur</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > telescope maker you could always and I do mean always count on Dick for advice.<br /><br />Dick worked at the 3M Precision Optics plant on the east side of Cincinnati for many years as senior specialist</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style=""> for </span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style="">analysis and testing. He started making astronomical mirrors as far back as 1965. His uncompromising quality has carried through all these years. In 1991 Dick started the Pines optical company Grinding mirrors for customers all over the world. The greatest compliment can b</span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kcWMOAF8LHO10K3f3gJ-p4RabxLP6sEaBQvPdr-axux1oaNQLk7oLnpfNo_qdUFaYlg5erUfPbfvrH5kLICBTIylpNzhYU16MVL8xhEdzM0SR9E7Y-cnnUyvrrSvW4bNZkydzxZhyAsz/s1600-h/545_25_inch_team._July_8-06.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kcWMOAF8LHO10K3f3gJ-p4RabxLP6sEaBQvPdr-axux1oaNQLk7oLnpfNo_qdUFaYlg5erUfPbfvrH5kLICBTIylpNzhYU16MVL8xhEdzM0SR9E7Y-cnnUyvrrSvW4bNZkydzxZhyAsz/s320/545_25_inch_team._July_8-06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448439867855189634" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style="">e found when competing Telescope companies would offer the option of installing a Wessling mirror.Dick was </span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style="">a busy man knocking out Glass in his spare time while working still at 3M. The orders started to pile</span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style=""> up (what a pleasant problem to have) so he retired from 3M in 2006 to devote his full attention to making superb mirrors.When Dick had a moment or two he helped to clean the Lenses on the Cincinnati Observatory's two big scopes, the 1904 16" Alvan Clark and the 1842 11.25" Merz und Mahler<br /></span></span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style=""><span style="">Some of Dicks accomplishments are as follows:<br /></span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">Ground hundreds of astronomical mirrors<br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial;">Built from scratch over 25 telescopes<br /></span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">Provided advice, counsel, encouragement and friendship to hundreds of ATM'ers</span></div> <div>Recognized on a national level as an outstanding ATM'er</div> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">Assistant Coordinator Instruments Section-Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers</span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">Contributed several articles to ATM magazines</span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">President of the Cincinnati Astronomical Association-the Telescope Making Organization</span></div> <div><span style="font-family:Arial;">President of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society<br /><br />I wish someday to have a list of accomplishments. I can only hope to get in the same county of the ballpark with this great man<br /><br />Until the next time,<br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too<br /><br />Steve T<br /></span></div></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>Steve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-40681808937765568212010-03-06T07:20:00.009-05:002010-03-12T14:13:27.927-05:00Dark Matter... Riddle Me This<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VWPdCG91fE1UFaudkXCEP6QhlLCL10kcL85uSU7qgsgUhlsgFK7BXEIVjn_Lr1ZghIFwCT6TcCSEdRhqu24BRoU9oPlsZgkErn0zTlfsgDd-46Hbg82rIXcQLhS5mMn-S0d6InwQT1nf/s1600-h/Black.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VWPdCG91fE1UFaudkXCEP6QhlLCL10kcL85uSU7qgsgUhlsgFK7BXEIVjn_Lr1ZghIFwCT6TcCSEdRhqu24BRoU9oPlsZgkErn0zTlfsgDd-46Hbg82rIXcQLhS5mMn-S0d6InwQT1nf/s320/Black.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445602068438786066" border="0" /></a><strong>W<span style="font-weight: normal;">hen looking at the theories for Dark matter from afar, it seems kind of humorous</span></strong> in a way when none of our instruments can detect it yet.(<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Current picture of Dark matter as shown on a black background</span>) Sorry could not resist... Scientists are not 100% certain it exists. Dark matter is one of the few theories that is being used to explain the problem of unaccounted for mass in observed galaxies. Kindly note that mass is not weight in the way we describe it here on Earth. Mass is the quantity of matter an objects consists of. Weight is the effect gravity has on it. Since, by nature, dark matter is not detectable with conventional technology due to it's inability to emit radiation or light It is essentially invisible. To see Dark "Stuff" astronomers look at the behavior of objects near the dark matter.<br /><br />One of the first to recognize something just wasn't adding up was Fritz Zwicky a Bulgarian born Swiss but worked in America astrophysicist. His "observations" of dark matter were done while studying the motions of faraway galaxies in 1933. Zwicky estimated the mass of the observed galaxies by measuring their brightness. He then used a different computation method to determine the mass. Hold the Phone! The result was 400 times larger than his initial method. Oddly enough Zwicky's research results were a lot like Dark matter. They were unnoticed until the 70's of the 20th century - losing decades of potential research in this field. Scie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NyZtSyjvATms12hNa6qMAU2ubd1Z3JW91co9lGW6XLjznGbIBfGru8AU2uIOWMSxEhKM_e-CHaEGj64Gl4YIKXYnrhnzTTBcfnBTJgy1_BH2ZNyWarD23ldQcB7ZY18QuzDwnMQhyphenhyphenJaC/s1600-h/080998_Universe_Content_240.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NyZtSyjvATms12hNa6qMAU2ubd1Z3JW91co9lGW6XLjznGbIBfGru8AU2uIOWMSxEhKM_e-CHaEGj64Gl4YIKXYnrhnzTTBcfnBTJgy1_BH2ZNyWarD23ldQcB7ZY18QuzDwnMQhyphenhyphenJaC/s320/080998_Universe_Content_240.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445599995965920322" border="0" /></a>ntists realized that Zwicky's observations could explain some of their own. Today , dark matter is being taken seriously.<br /><br />Some astronomers believe that over 20% of our universe is made up of what we call "dark matter", and another 67% of dark energy. Oh and the stuff we are familiar with and can actually look at only takes up 10% of the universe. Our universe is dominated by dark matter and dark energy, whatever they may be. The number might even be closer to 95% for Dark matter/energy.<br /><br />Recently (2006) British researchers from the University of Cambridge made some interesting discoveries. Their calculations show that dark matter particles are moving at an amazing speed of 9 kilometers per second, a lot faster than previously thought. The researchers have also been able to determine the temperature of this particular dark matter, 10,000 °C.<br /><br />Enough of all that... what is dark energy/ mass? The club seems to be getting crowded with MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halo Objects) and WIMPS ( Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) and Nonbaryonic particles This is mass but not Electrons Protons or Neutrons. Other candidates include Neutrinos and the evil twin,Massive <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OfPJFEBNwXekjd8yp1Ddjegn0Mbyl9Zbmm_gAsN6R3v0lF5wsu8md_8PKikJEeoW7G9MO4nR5IlrqFSowgpsSHbYOif3ow-6-o6uq-VUccjAzTnUEE5iYsuYfLpYsMPcDUMfI1W2qD6a/s1600-h/WIMPS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OfPJFEBNwXekjd8yp1Ddjegn0Mbyl9Zbmm_gAsN6R3v0lF5wsu8md_8PKikJEeoW7G9MO4nR5IlrqFSowgpsSHbYOif3ow-6-o6uq-VUccjAzTnUEE5iYsuYfLpYsMPcDUMfI1W2qD6a/s320/WIMPS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445606571879157314" border="0" /></a>Neutrinos, Axions, and supersymetric particles like Neutralinos . I do have to say that MACHOs have pretty much been voted out of the club since they do not come in large enough numbers to be a player but I love the acronym so I included it.WIMPS are making a case for the lead so far. Image Credit: Sky & Telescope / Gregg Dinderman<br /><br />Right Now we are all over the map but Scientists have come to some conclusions. Dark Matter is most likely Nonbaryonic in nature, so generally the dark matter debate falls into one of three camps ( I will get to the alternate theories in a few ) Hot Dark Matter, Warm Dark Matter and oh yes, Cold Dark Matter. Each one right now has some of the questions answered but not all of them. Every day we are learning something more about the world we live in. I will lightly touch on alternate theories, well some of them.<br /><br />The biggest line of reason to scrap the whole dark matter thing lies in our possibly incomplete understanding of gravity. Several system are being proposed but all have problems that cannot be answered yet.The MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is one such theory. That theory has trouble reconciling the gravitational lensing events as Light is bent around galaxies from further out sources. Other systems trying to answer the problem of who hid the mass in the universe include The Tensor-Vector-Scalar which answers a bunch of the question of early models. Quantum mechanics has a candidate in there too and there is the Dark fluid answer. So far nothing is certain except we do not know yet. I suspect we will in the mid future. I look forward to that day when one team takes the prize and gets the Nike endorsements! All of the others start working on the next big thing... Until then ...<br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too<br /><br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-26283533357435220102010-02-26T22:25:00.011-05:002010-03-01T19:13:26.290-05:00Fun with Dr. Heidi Hammel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnCjHlv_01mJ98xzEPfVT1fW-1MhbOup5w8g94iH-DHKqvTgaGoWWtVsmXBK-TzdrEHSZb76zlP-pOVenI9VK_xyrILZnm57bwuGBNZX0GAvotQ9HjAFBzo9uVd67FOYQPmTZC6tmCJNN/s1600-h/100+hours+of+astronomy+Sun+day+011a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnCjHlv_01mJ98xzEPfVT1fW-1MhbOup5w8g94iH-DHKqvTgaGoWWtVsmXBK-TzdrEHSZb76zlP-pOVenI9VK_xyrILZnm57bwuGBNZX0GAvotQ9HjAFBzo9uVd67FOYQPmTZC6tmCJNN/s200/100+hours+of+astronomy+Sun+day+011a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442878015051976930" border="0" /></a>I had the privilege to sit down and be wowed by Dr. Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder Colorado. She was in Cincinnati for a couple of days and was kind enough to pay the Cincinnati Observatory a visit and give a presentation on the Ice Giants, Uranus and Neptune. Dr. Hammel is the senior research scientist at the SSI.<br /><br /><br />A little back ground might be in order here so here goes...She received her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and her Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from the University <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiD1V3acF9Em07s_KqbOa6szlTtu_L7HZPg3OJhnqLJ6trKCl58a0Y08i2b1Eypp2PVNxnNWeGupzxoqRSDNoj17i321SKEJ36JaS5anfqHAnvaTd9MhlrHw_SQMssdnmA7dwB7ZKjauD/s1600-h/Heid+Hammel+photo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiD1V3acF9Em07s_KqbOa6szlTtu_L7HZPg3OJhnqLJ6trKCl58a0Y08i2b1Eypp2PVNxnNWeGupzxoqRSDNoj17i321SKEJ36JaS5anfqHAnvaTd9MhlrHw_SQMssdnmA7dwB7ZKjauD/s320/Heid+Hammel+photo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442762293601140082" border="0" /></a>of Hawaii in 1988. After a post-doctoral position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California), Hammel returned to MIT, where she spent nearly nine years as a Principal Research Scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Hammel primarily studies outer planets and their satellites, with a focus on observational techniques.An expert on the planet Neptune, she was a member of the Imaging Science Team for the Voyager 2 encounter with the gas giant in 1989. Her latest research involves studies of Neptune and Uranus with Hubble and other Earth-based observatories like the Keck 2 Telescope and the NASA infrared Telescope located on Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Dr.Hammel is also an Interdisciplinary Scientist for Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch in 2011. She is designing the workings of the Webb Space Telescope. Hammel received the 2002 American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS/DPS) Sagan Medal for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public.<br /><br />I have heard a lot of PHD speak before. Dry stodgy and overhead of all but two people in the room. You know them well I suspect. Well Heidi Hammel was none of those things. The Sagan Medal is well deserved I can tell you. Dr. Hammel has a wonderful delivery of the facts that are wrapped in her personality. She is entertaining and engaging. Because of Heidi Hammel, we now know so much more than ever about Uranus an<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeIlRg518ZPiSupvu-Fr-nnghilHtAUPYyppnChnARDBz9j4ItOUVNhoXxGFiuakN4BRx_1l4MqE2OaZ6rh4aeHSTXkPduADQyWTh6W-QFsSKR7uO7wjR-AB2GqOYzo0pBNVTeZ655qCZ/s1600-h/uranus_ir.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeIlRg518ZPiSupvu-Fr-nnghilHtAUPYyppnChnARDBz9j4ItOUVNhoXxGFiuakN4BRx_1l4MqE2OaZ6rh4aeHSTXkPduADQyWTh6W-QFsSKR7uO7wjR-AB2GqOYzo0pBNVTeZ655qCZ/s200/uranus_ir.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442883738401313458" border="0" /></a>d Neptune. When Voyager took some pictures of Uranus and sent them back to the JPL in Pasadena for study there just wasn't much to study. After weeks of careful study they were able to come up with ten clouds mixed in the haze that is Uranus. The Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Telescope with its new adaptive optics changed how we look at Uranus and Neptune. For Uranus, the surface came alive with dark spots, clouds and even subtle banding showed up. The rings of Uranus came alive showing more detail than one would even have hoped for.<br /><br /><br />We now know Uranus and Neptune are very dynamic. A lot of questions are being raised because of these new discoveries, like what makes Neptune warmer than Uranus? How about Why do the Huge Dark spots on Neptune disapear and then reapear at other areas? These stochastic changes shouldn't happen within a year or so time fra<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczFiCG2Jvjoe3y-p7c25uWKdNuxbx1fFNcC-pUXYsQ71SY9yeM3ps8k1J_r8gCIGcAOuOSndArTx0qS9FyAYNMVYpdW06FH3wWINdxbOtJ92ssPVX7U2E1tYxOAF2h0Wdj0AA8SkgPYaG/s1600-h/neptune.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczFiCG2Jvjoe3y-p7c25uWKdNuxbx1fFNcC-pUXYsQ71SY9yeM3ps8k1J_r8gCIGcAOuOSndArTx0qS9FyAYNMVYpdW06FH3wWINdxbOtJ92ssPVX7U2E1tYxOAF2h0Wdj0AA8SkgPYaG/s200/neptune.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442886330628590722" border="0" /></a>me. Let's try a 100 years for these big changes to occur. That is, with our current models. It looks like our current models might need a slight tuneup.<br /><br /><br />There are no other flybys till 2015 by New Horizons on its way to Pluto. (Does poor Pluto still need to be capitalized or have the powers that be stripped Pluto of that dignity also?) Just kidding there IAU! There is nothing more scheduled for the future so ground based telescopes will start picking up the slack more and more. Hubble will not be around forever maybe 5 -8 more years?<br /><br /><br />The James Webb Telescope set to launch into space in 2011 may be a help. It is a massive 6.5 meter space telescope looking at the universe in infrared.I believe infrared is really the next big thing. We can see farther back in time. We can see temperature changes using Infrared which is a big deal as far as research is concerned it tells a lot about what is going in on with the target.<br /><br />I did get a one question interview with her. Yeah I know, Steve! You carry some clout! I told her about my blog and that I would make her famous. That made her laugh and she granted me the Mini-interview. After all, we had to eat some cake for the Cincinnati Observatory Center's director Craig Niemi's birthday. My Question was of all the things Dr. Hammel has had a hand in, what w<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wqiQBn1cIFBy5Qm_dGBrPnizK9iimROd3Uhep0WX_NJce8BaPfChR7FF8QWr6hNtCVRbdp0y1z222s9Jj9kZ6JUCYIoqpArP1Ns4p0tz_O4V-MSnD0_NGs60KlFw_t5zpH4n5C92TqYt/s1600-h/Heidi+Hammel3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wqiQBn1cIFBy5Qm_dGBrPnizK9iimROd3Uhep0WX_NJce8BaPfChR7FF8QWr6hNtCVRbdp0y1z222s9Jj9kZ6JUCYIoqpArP1Ns4p0tz_O4V-MSnD0_NGs60KlFw_t5zpH4n5C92TqYt/s200/Heidi+Hammel3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442887862889830642" border="0" /></a>as the single thing that she is most fond of? Her answer was the Shoemaker Levy 9 comet impact on Jupiter. You might remember her. She was the media goto person for the science community when all this was happening. I think I saw her on all of the channels at one point or another describing this event. It was unexpected and for her to witness it while it was unfolding was amazing to say the least. That was her biggest wow. One thing that touches me about Dr. Heidi Hammel is the fact that she loves public outreach. She gets it, she really does about making astronomy and its related fields come alive for people. Out reach that might one day start the dreams of the next Kepler or Galileo. Until next Time...<br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too!<br /><br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-12111238859346447102010-02-20T05:48:00.011-05:002010-02-20T08:49:31.533-05:00Torn Between Two Loves<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2SQhyphenhyphenC8OxZwstTnOlWc6IePRG7pwwE7zjxfQO8BNv6lCF0C_7BWQzdJylrITMh_wFS6DQfq4iNlkpkIO3LRi5yllSrheMORt4KkqF32OVD5xfyBcGU6mdiOkuFzXcyImZEtuSlCc7q4b/s1600-h/This+can%27t+be+good.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2SQhyphenhyphenC8OxZwstTnOlWc6IePRG7pwwE7zjxfQO8BNv6lCF0C_7BWQzdJylrITMh_wFS6DQfq4iNlkpkIO3LRi5yllSrheMORt4KkqF32OVD5xfyBcGU6mdiOkuFzXcyImZEtuSlCc7q4b/s320/This+can%27t+be+good.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440312949282929586" border="0" /></a>Ahhh the love of adventure! That's the life for me... If you are an Astronaut, (or a pirate) you either said those very words or at the very least, think them on a daily basis. Man is a curious beast and will stop at nothing to be the first to see what is around the next bend. That very essence<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFx64ZZuH6vCuzsZASLvfwwOkPsnXLWMLErYDcYnJTp-pBpUBB6_0w66tqtO4oawaphF3x_w7XCxW1Fgs8Yk0lylGdCWZzrvXjNCGz_g-lxaIxmax6cRUwuAIy8CWdGBfH28LtG0eDJbw/s1600-h/apollo11-moonflagBG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFx64ZZuH6vCuzsZASLvfwwOkPsnXLWMLErYDcYnJTp-pBpUBB6_0w66tqtO4oawaphF3x_w7XCxW1Fgs8Yk0lylGdCWZzrvXjNCGz_g-lxaIxmax6cRUwuAIy8CWdGBfH28LtG0eDJbw/s200/apollo11-moonflagBG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440313753843973026" border="0" /></a> of mankind runs deep in the bowels of NASA. In the early 60's NASA launched an unprecedented program to get a man on the Moon but not just to do a walkabout up there but to establish a base there (by 1980) and from there set forth on even more adventures reaching out to Mars and beyond. Them was some big plans I tell you! Driven by a political undercurrent, the NASA group did succeed in their first goal. They had men playing golf on the Moon! OK maybe THAT was not one of their goals but they did have men doing the exploring on our closest neighbor. Things were moving along fairly well. NASA was always pushing the envelope which is just exactly where Mankind feels at home.<br /><br /><br />Enter political change and a couple of this and thats and the Moon budget dried up. There was a sense of "been there done that " going on in congress and they do indeed write the checks. Man has a deep seated need to reach out and find the unexplored from the depths of the ocean to the outer reaches of our Solar system. Man just has to know what is out there and why. It needs to be hands on with our own eyes. We have a need to be the first to see the Lunar regolith up close and personal or hopefully one day to set foot on Mars. It's just what we do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPl_k0u99BnKXGqfPjLAAN0eWIXZjcM7CsBvq98rLaW0NCDwSRwsYioNUO9Zlo-qVVR7ToOZ56d1NyAzvwgg0RK503X6jcZGWyDys1TtkH5BTfJB2-KfDXrbbEJAXXCIMGqzD0zljWB5Q/s1600-h/Voyager.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPl_k0u99BnKXGqfPjLAAN0eWIXZjcM7CsBvq98rLaW0NCDwSRwsYioNUO9Zlo-qVVR7ToOZ56d1NyAzvwgg0RK503X6jcZGWyDys1TtkH5BTfJB2-KfDXrbbEJAXXCIMGqzD0zljWB5Q/s200/Voyager.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440315217176240114" border="0" /></a>This is unfortunately where Romance meets Reality. I am a romantic at heart; I live for the next big adventure but when you live on or in a giant gravity well such as Earth it gets a bit pricey to send people anywhere. NASA so gets that. Just one look at the launch budget for the Space shuttle tells that tale. So where to turn? The simple fact that the money dried up in no way quenched that deep burn in Mankind to get out and explore. What it did do for NASA was to bring robotics and remote controlled orbiters and landers and explorers and surveyors to the front and boy did they come to the front.<br /><br />This is where my Sec<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTy0FUaipOm-X7qCiC70GgCjISJqevFFPXFEYJLNtVkOCJKmwhWb7ngpROPwRuh480nSI1-H6mVnwxHbxDrbK9c5IMyN0pLfqSRg12jSfDB7t0xUPXm1NpedGu3aXJhx8g6FodfVQIQ-SY/s1600-h/saturnPic1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTy0FUaipOm-X7qCiC70GgCjISJqevFFPXFEYJLNtVkOCJKmwhWb7ngpROPwRuh480nSI1-H6mVnwxHbxDrbK9c5IMyN0pLfqSRg12jSfDB7t0xUPXm1NpedGu3aXJhx8g6FodfVQIQ-SY/s200/saturnPic1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440315865838660946" border="0" /></a>ond love comes into play, The Love of Gizmos! I am a full fledged dues paying member Fully vested member of the Man Club and I love Toys. One look at my telescope room will tell you that. From making telescopes accessories to collecting all those bells and whistles, Oh and do not get me started on tools that's me! For a Guy who has got it bad (and I do ) Nothing beats making something and actually have it work! Just making it is enough for me but when it actually works? That makes it all the better. That's when it is time to do the victory dance. So when I see the pictures sent by the Cassini probe streaming back from almost a Billion miles away to my TV there is only one thing to be said here. I got to get me one of those!<br /><br />Mars <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXDQUJi-ESHFTepnT3KbXo_VgwKVvs-136Jix6C4EQReos7yfXFzzZTAL_lu1kcNBVPaBB49VgCu8e1mFUbVw6DZoc1rysf1_gVw7Nur-4rGiKCBLta7ETIWVHVolf33fU_aow5ULYaTS/s1600-h/MarsExpress02_S.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXDQUJi-ESHFTepnT3KbXo_VgwKVvs-136Jix6C4EQReos7yfXFzzZTAL_lu1kcNBVPaBB49VgCu8e1mFUbVw6DZoc1rysf1_gVw7Nur-4rGiKCBLta7ETIWVHVolf33fU_aow5ULYaTS/s200/MarsExpress02_S.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440318577706767186" border="0" /></a>is starting to look like the Atlanta flight pattern. The ESA, NASA, Russia... have hardware flying and sending back data about our neighbor. The continuing development of Gizmos is growing by leaps and bounds. Cameras are getting better and smaller. Detectors looking for life are getting more sophisticated by the day. Developing these new technologies for space have some very usable applications here on Earth as well. From exploring the depths of the ocean to keeping soldiers safe on the battlefield, these technologies are here to stay. Right now, Scientists are struggling with data interpretation but in a very few years our means to detect life from a handful of dirt on a planet millions upon millions of miles away will be a walk in the park.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjGl1gLvVd1z6p0OsMFoKKdJZqqlP_npE3p_9k6lZQEf1mJkH9xsfeClxWSgqauFlQLDqSwQgSLkshfE1BVU6CwmzLOEYe71SLObZKQKFlV5kmQBPF2SnfZ4R4712ldhOZZVZW1A5m83m/s1600-h/scale.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 108px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjGl1gLvVd1z6p0OsMFoKKdJZqqlP_npE3p_9k6lZQEf1mJkH9xsfeClxWSgqauFlQLDqSwQgSLkshfE1BVU6CwmzLOEYe71SLObZKQKFlV5kmQBPF2SnfZ4R4712ldhOZZVZW1A5m83m/s200/scale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440322206764702914" border="0" /></a>Yep,That's where I am, torn by the love of adventure. (to boldly go where no man has gone before) Reaching to touch the face of God kind of exploring versus the mind bending discoveries made by the armada of space probes headed to and fro in search of the next big thing.They are cheaper to send and basically more bang for the buck. Right now, I am leaning towards the Doodad Gizmo front for the sciences to be conducted. But now here is a thought for you. Is manned space flight a thing of the past? Private companies are saying no and are banking on it as well. The applications of private carrier space flight are nearly limitless from satellite hauling for governments to tourism to eventually Asteroid mining to on and on... So take heart my sea /sky faring souls. There is hope for our adventures to continue Until then I will just have to watch my Star Trek video collection...<br /><br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too<br /><br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2560370723234985360.post-32730631065807231362010-02-09T16:49:00.002-05:002010-02-09T17:12:49.093-05:00The Carnival of Space #140<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtS6N-_rBeDPmi41JwQhIZ-pYHCVXtJWZG7jf-tUP48p2Ta1qPErZfJlU1illU55YckG0IR6OZHgHq9RowNS_-vSwooSiP4stMo9xZuOIcPHl3VGKL2vrjWBDnelg8luvBzAkMFQsr2oC/s1600-h/sherry's+pix+348.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtS6N-_rBeDPmi41JwQhIZ-pYHCVXtJWZG7jf-tUP48p2Ta1qPErZfJlU1illU55YckG0IR6OZHgHq9RowNS_-vSwooSiP4stMo9xZuOIcPHl3VGKL2vrjWBDnelg8luvBzAkMFQsr2oC/s400/sherry's+pix+348.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436370012128925122" border="0" /></a>I love this shirt!<br />Greetings. The fine folks over at Universe Today sponsor a Carnival of Space. You might ask what is a carnival? This Carnival is a collection of very noteworthy Astronomy/Space blogs from all over the internet. Catch up on what is going on at several blogs at once by just going to one site. Ahhh T that's technology at its finest. The host of this great Carnival hails from the blog, Lights in the Dark. Jason Major is an avid lover of all things Planet ! Take a look at this wonderful Carnival Oh and I have an article in there as well.<a href="http://lightsinthedark.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/carnival-of-space-140/">http://lightsinthedark.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/carnival-of-space-140/</a><br /><br />Clear skies and great seeing too!<br /><br /><br />Steve TSteve Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12824763216858633194noreply@blogger.com0