Easy Astronomy

The one thing we love the most worldwide of astronomy is a good puzzle. And if there had been ever a confusing and yet very powerful force of nature that we witness in the night skies, it is the coming of the mighty comet.

The arrival of a comet within view of Earth is an event of global significance. Witness the large media attention the Haley or Hale-Bopp have had when they have come within of these superb space objects is concurrently scary and awe inspiring.

Above all, it is during these comet viewings the astronomer comes out in all of us. But what is a comet? Where did it come from? And how does it get that magnificent tail?

We should never confuse comets with asteroids. Asteroids are little space rocks that come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Whilst still quite surprising to see, they recede in comparison to the arrival of a comet. Asteroids also have received substantial study by the systematic community.

Not as much is understood about comets. As a rule, comets are significantly bigger than asteroids. The composition of a comet is a mixture of nebulous, gasses, ice, dust and space waste. One scientist called the composition of a comet as similar to a “dirty snowball” as the composition is so diverse and changeable. The center or nucleus of a comet is generally quiet solid but the “snowball” materials frequently make a “cloud” around that nucleus that may become quite giant and that extends at great lengths behind the comet as it moves through space. That trailing plume is what makes up the comet’s superb tail that makes it so exciting to observe when a comet comes inside view of Earth.

The origins of comets is similarly puzzling. a number of theories about where they come from but it is clear where they originate from outside our solar system, somewhere in deep space. Some have speculated they are fragments left over from the organization of planets that get loose from whatever gravitational pull and are sent flying across space to ultimately get wrapped up in the gravity of our sun bringing them into our solar system.

Another theory is they come from a gaseous cloud called the Oort cloud which is cooling out there after the organization of the sun. As this space debris cools, it is getting arranged into one body which then gathers acceptable mass to be attracted into the gravity of our solar system turning into a fast moving comet plunging toward our sun. However, thanks to the strong gravitational orbits of the many planets in our solar system, the comet does not always right away collide with the sun and often takes on an orbit of its own.

The life expectancy of comets varies widely. Scientists refer to a comet that is expected to burn out or impact the sun within two hundred years as a brief period comet whereas a long period comet has a life expectancy of over two hundred years. That comet that is anticipated to us as earth dwellers but in terms of stars and planets, this could be a brief period comet while a space object indeed.

Scientists across the globe have put together some pretty impressive probes to find out more about comets to help our understanding of these visitors from beyond. In 1985, for instance, the United States put a probe into the path of the comet Giacobini-Zinner which passed through the comets tail gathering tremendous scientific knowledge about comets. Then in 1986, a global collation of scientists managed to launch a probe that was able to fly close to Haley’s comet as it passed near Earth and continue the research.

While science fiction writers and tabloid newspapers like to alarm us with the possibility of a comet impacting the earth, scientists who understand the a world collation of comets and what changes their trails let us this is improbable. That is good because some comets reach sizes that are the size of a planet so that impact would be ravaging. For the moment, we will enjoy the fun of seeing comets make their rare visits to our night sky and marvel earth, scientists who understand the spectacular shows that these visitors from beyond put on when they are visible in the cosmos.

What do you know about Jupiter, Venus, or Mars? At planet-facts.com, all the important facts are there and you can compare all nine planets in our solar system. Make sure to also read about planet Pluto facts.

Whether you are a beginner or old pro at scanning the stars and planets, you are probably aware that there are different types of telescopes used for star gazing.  If you haven’t guessed already, it is the refracting and reflecting telescopes that reflect the two basic models of telescopes utilized by today’s neophyte and professional star gazers.   Of these two telescopes, the refracting telescope has a history dating back centuries as our ancestors used this type of telescope to explore the heavens.   This telescopes origins can be traced back to the 15th century and is still a very important telescope design in the twenty-first century.  The truth be known, the refractor telescope is one of the oldest telescope designs still in use by today’s astronomers.

The Basics of a Refractor Telescope

The refracting telescope, also known as a refractor telscope, has multiple concave lenses which allow the incoming light to be refracted, resulting in images that are more distinct and greater in size.  These qualities give the appearance that the actual images appear much bigger than viewing with the naked eye.   These refractors gather the incoming light and bend it, allowing you to view objects from a distance.  This magnification is what provides you with the ability to clearly view the stars and night sky. Even though refracting telescopes may have a lot of bells and whistles, the reality is that they are just a series of concave lenses that refract the light.

The Advantages of a Refracting Telescope

This is a well tested and constantly improved design that has endured for centuries.   Throuhout the years, its design was constantly tweaked, resulting in continuous improvement of its design and magnification characteristics.  This was a helpful, providing astronomers with the opportunity to determine the refracting telescope design’s strengths and weaknesses.

It’s well known that the design of the refracting telescope has been improved dramatically since the fifteenth century.  Even with the improvement of refractor technology, it is the size of the refractor telescope that still poses a potential concern.  The need to dramatically increase magnification for astronomical research has resulted in larger and larger lens size.  This can result in the potential for defects or sagging.

The truth is that refracting telescopes have proven themselves across the centuries and, to attest to their value, have remained one of the most popular designs among astronomers.  Regardless of the type of telescope you choose to scan the cosmos, the ongoing use and popularity of the refracting telescope provides assurance that it will be with us for decades to come.

Buying a Refracting Telescope

Your quest to find the ideal refractor telescope at an affordable price can seem like a daunting task.  But what we found was that visiting telescope and astronomy websites that provide telescope user reviews can be very helpful in making your decision.  So, whether you are considering a child telescope or professional model, be sure to do your research and you will be assured of enjoying many hours of star gazing pleasure.

I discovered an awesome website and wanted to share it with all of you. It is an online store focused exclusively on astronomy!

www.starrynightstore.com
There are all kinds of products from softwares to scopes to books and DVDs. Do not think this is a little creepy online store. These guys have a serious reputation and an excellent customer service. Shipping is very fast, your products are shipped the same day if your order is received by noon Pacific Time. And the best part is they have a 100% satisfaction guarentee. If you are not satisfied in anyway by your product within 30 days, just return it and you will receive a full refund.

Definitely visit and add to your bookmarks! www.starrynightstore.com

A small, dense object only 12 miles in diameter is responsible for this beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light-years. At the center of this image made by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star that is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand.

In this image, the lowest energy X-rays that Chandra detects are red, the medium range is green, and the most energetic ones are colored blue. Astronomers think that B1509 is about 1,700 years old and is located about 17,000 light-years away.

Taken from Astronomy.com

The dominant gas in Saturn’s atmosphere is hydrogen, but small quantities of helium and methane have also been identified. If life support on Saturn came into discussion, we’d have to agree that the conditions are very different from those on Earth. Saturn has a lower density than water; thus, were there a lake or ocean, Saturn would be vanished in it. Chances for life support remain standing in what Saturn’s moons are concerned, though, but research is in progress, and until more scientific evidence is obtained, everything is pure theory.

Saturn is a very windy place, which is definitely a feature to stand out; just think of wind blowing at about 1,100 miles per hour in in low and central latitudes. But at first glance, nothing seems as spectacular on Saturn as the ring system that surrounds the planet. There are three main ring sectors scientists have classified so far: we can actually speak of three rings in fact, with two brighter and one fainter. The spacecrafts that have studied Saturn and its orbiting celestial bodies indicate that there are thinner rings in the structures we perceive as large, and they are not continuous at all.

The very source of the rings of Saturn remains a mystery for the moment; what renders them so special is that many of them are smaller or larger icebergs, having a significant water quantity trapped in their structure. Other ring areas consist of dust mainly that present characteristics of electrostatic charging, thus enabling the appearance of spokes. Very fine dust particles connect to make these spokes, but they don’t last for long and disappear as quietly as they formed. Then, there is a close relationship between some of the rings and smaller Saturn moons that appear to have an impact on the dust presence in certain areas. Moreover, the revelations science had with the discovery of Saturn’s moons are neither the first nor the last, who knows what will show up next?

Researchers have seen the best evidence yet for a pair of black holes orbiting each other within the same galaxy.

While such “binary systems” have been postulated before, none has ever been conclusively shown to exist.

The new black hole pair is dancing significantly closer than the prior best binary system candidate.

The work, published in the journal Nature, is in line with the theory of the growth of galaxies, each with a black hole at their centre.

The theory has it that as galaxies near one another, their central black holes should orbit each other until merging together.

But evidence for black holes nearing and orbiting has so far been scant.

Dancing cheek-to-cheek

As matter falls into black holes, it emits light of a characteristic colour that in turn gives information about the direction in which the black hole is moving.

Read the rest on BBC News

Who discovered Saturn? Was this planet known to the ancients or is it modern science that brought it to our attention? To be honest, in the old times people were better informed on the movement of the stars than we are today, and the presence of Saturn must have been noticed even with primitive telescopes. In fact, Galileo is widely known as the scientist who discovered Saturn in 1610, since in his descriptions he even wrote a theory about the rings. According to his words, there were some little ears on each side of the planet, and he thought they were globes. Yet, later on, the white rings were identified and have remained the most spectacular solar system formation ever since.

The globe explanation given by Galileo started from a confusion he didn’t know how to explain. He was the astronomer who discovered Saturn, but at the same time he thought there were three planets, not one. The clarification of the rings’ presence was provided in 1655 when Christiaan Huygens realized that what Galileo referred to as globes were actually rings, but their structure became apparent twenty years later with the discovery made by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. He was the one to initiate the theory that Saturn’s rings were broken or discontinuous, consisting of fragments of different sizes.

Presently we know that the rings consist of ice, rocks and other interplanetary debris, which only contributes to underlying the truth of the early theories. Who discovered Saturn then? In conclusion, we have to admit that the discovery of the solar system has been in progress since we’ve started looking at the stars, and we are far from getting to the bottom. Every year seems to get something new for us to discover: and even if more than forty satellites have been discovered around Saturn, more remain hidden to our eyes for now. Thus the question is not about who discovered Saturn, but what surprises are there in stock for us?

Galileo as the person who discovered Saturn deserves all our respect and consideration, but he is not the only one. The spacecraft which captured the the close image of Saturn for the first time was called Cassini after the astronomer who understood and theorized the pattern of the rings around this planet. Yet, thousands of people unknown to the public are presently involved in space programs; maybe their names are not known to history, but their contribution is just as great and important. With every step we take towards knowing our universe, we claim one more Victory in the exploration of the unknown.

I had a request for more content on Picture of the day so I’m sharing some amazing shots with you here. Click the pictures to see them full size.

Orion’s belt

Explanation : Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, are the bright bluish stars from east to west (left to right) along the diagonal in this gorgeous cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie about 1,500 light-years away, born of Orion’s well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have intriguing and some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the lower left. The famous Orion Nebula itself lies off the bottom of this star field that covers about 4.5×3.5 degrees on the sky. This image was taken last month with a digital camera attached to a small telescope in Switzerland, and better matches human color perception than a more detailed composite taken over 15 years ago.

The next one is truely incredible

Saturn’s Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters

Explanation : What lies at the bottom of Hyperion’s strange craters? Nobody knows. To help find out, the robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn swooped past the sponge-textured moon in late 2005 and took an image of unprecedented detail. That image, shown above in false color, shows a remarkable world strewn with strange craters and a generally odd surface. The slight differences in color likely show differences in surface composition. At the bottom of most craters lies some type of unknown dark material. Inspection of the image shows bright features indicating that the dark material might be only tens of meters thick in some places. Hyperion is about 250 kilometers across, rotates chaotically, and has a density so low that it might house a vast system of caverns inside.

Largest Full Moon of 2008

Explanation : As viewed from a well chosen location at sunset, October’s gorgeous Full Moon rose behind Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose, California. Captured in this lovely telescopic view, historic Lick Observatory is perched on the mountain’s 4,200 foot summit, observatory and rising Moon momentarily sharing the warm color of filtered sunlight.

Milky Way Road Trip

Explanation : In search of planets and the summer Milky Way, astronomer Tunç Tezel took an evening road trip. Last Saturday, after driving the winding road up Uludag, a mountain near Bursa, Turkey, he was rewarded by this beautiful skyview to the south. Near the center, bright planet Jupiter outshines the city lights below and the stars of the constellation Sagittarius. Above the mountain peaks, an arcing cloud bank seems to lead to the Milky Way’s own cloudy apparition plunging into the distant horizon. In Turkish, Uludag means Great Mountain. Uludag was known in ancient times as the Mysian Olympus.

I already had an article about different astronomy softwares here but I just found a very special one.

LunarPhase Pro is a utility for Windows which provides a range of information on the Moon and, to a lesser degree, the Sun, graphically displaying the current phase of the moon and lunar data, in real time. Lunarphase Pro (LPP) needs about 35Mb hard disk space for its installation. The recommended minimum amount of RAM on a PC is 128Mb (this will display the Moon in medium resolution graphics) but 256Mb is required for high-resolution displays. A 500Mhz or faster PC is recommended but some screen load times on calculation-intensive screens will be slow on less-specified PCs.

The initial window is clean and uncluttered. The ’skin’ is chrome-like, it is impossible for the user to change this to give a more conventional Windows ‘feel’. The number of buttons on the toolbar is small; however one of the buttons is entitled Display Menu of Other Functions. This gives an extensive list of other functions, all which really deserve their own icons. While this would increase the ‘busyness’ of the Window, I feel it would be preferable to the current situation. In general, I think that while some users might be unhappy with the non-standard appearance of the User Interface, this departure from the standard Windows ‘look’ looks very high-tech.

Lunar Phase Pro is primarily a planning tool for lunar observers and offers an enormous amount of information to assist the observer in this regard. Obviously, it graphically displays the current phase of the moon in real time and displays the times and dates of the major lunar phases for the month. However, it also provides much more information for planning your next night of moongazing, including the real-time position of the moon in both RA/Dec and Alt/Az coordinates, a calendar of lunar phases for each day in the selected month and monthly lunar libration diagrams. It is also possible to display a Lunar visibility diagram for the month showing when the moon is above the horizon and the brightness of the Moon. In addition, the software calculates and displays Moon’s Rise, Set and Transit times. If you see an interesting feature under a particular illumination condition, it is possible to find times and dates when this feature will be under similar illumination, taking into account libration effects. Far-side and North/South Polar features can also be viewed and identified.

Lunar Explorer

Clicking the Lunar Explorer button is the gateway to the mapping functions of this software tool. If you want to take full advantage of the features here, you should activate Use OpenGL and High Resolution Graphics in the configuration screen.

The appearance of the Moon is very realistic once your PC has sufficient graphics capability (which shoudn’t be a problem for modern PCs) to take advantage of the maps. Maps can also be oriented to match the view through your telescope or binoculars. Zooming and panning is smooth, although when you zoom in to the maximum, the image quality suffers a little. A new feature added to Version 3 of the software is diplaying very high resolution Moon charts. These have to be downloaded from the internet (LPP handles all of that for you) but you can save them for later viewing through the software. All maps in LPP can be printed out if you need to take something out to to the ’scope.

One very nice feature is that the software allows you to produce a high resolution animation of lunar libration showing how the moon wobbles over the course of a month. If you don’t know what libration is, click this button once and all will be revealed!! It’s a pity that the feature only runs for 1 month, it would be nice if it ran until the user decided to stop it. The Lunar Explorer also lists which lunar features are currently on the moon’s terminator. The utility includes Rukl Chart outlines and a list of features on the chart, a feature which will become of more importance with the imminent re-issue of these charts by Sky and Telescope. Once you have entered the details of your telescope/ eyepiece combination it can emulate the view through your instrument. It is possible to link images to specific lunar features and record your observations in the software in order to keep a permanent record of your observations (there are over 800 observing notes provided with LPP to get you going). Not only is a visible view of the Moon provided, you can choose to view 3 mineral maps, a gravity map and a Clementine image, a nice touch for educational purposes.

So Lunar Phase Pro is a great observation planning tool for lunar observers or imagers. The utility can teach you a lot about how the Moon orbits the Earth. In addition, it provides near photo-realistic views of the Lunar surface via the Lunar Explorer utility and these can be printed as custom built maps. Support for the software is excellent and the author, Gary Nugent, is very responsive to requests for enhancements.

So get your copy of this excellent software now :
Lunar Phase Pro

Mars

A large ice cap found at Mars’ northern pole is “of a very high degree of purity,” according to an international study reported by French researchers.

Radar data sent back by the US Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) point to 95 percent purity in this deposit, France’s National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (Insu) said in a press release.

The Martian polar regions are believed to hold the equivalent of two to three million cubic kilometres” (0.47-0.72 million cu. miles) of ice, it said.

That makes it roughly 100 times more than the total volume of North America’s Great Lakes, which is 22,684 cu. kms (5,439 miles).

The study appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union

Source