May 2008: News & Notes

 

Stickney Crater, Phobos. (Photo Credit; HiRiSE, NASA) 

Phobos Imaged: The Mars Reconaisance Orbiter recently swept by the Martian Moon, Phobos, earlier in April snapping the above picture. The unprecedented detail in the images reveal landslides, grooves and a splash of uncharacteristic blue. The large crater Stickney in the above picture was named after the wife of Martian moon discoverer Asaph Hall.   

Mini Solar System: Astronomers in the United Kingdom have discovered a planetary system that may resemble a tiny version of our own. At a distance of 5,000 light years, two planets were identified with the micro-lensing technique and have an approximate mass of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively.  The parent star has the unattractive name of OGLE-2006-BLG-109L (OGLE is the project searching for dark matter micro lensing events in our galaxy) and has half the mass of our sun.  Astronomer and discoverer martin Dominic states “it looks like a scaled down version of our solar system” It’s hard to imagine that exoplanet discovery is now so routine, and that it hardly ever makes the traditional news, except here at Astroguyz…

 

Shuttle Orbiter Mating. NASA Photo.

Shuttle Launch: The Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery is slated for launch of mission STS-124 from the Kennedy Space Center at 5:02PM EDT, May 31st. The launch to the ever expanding International Space Station will include delivery of the Japanese Kibo Pressurized Module and Manipulator Arm. Eyes here at Astroguyz are also looking forward to see when and if the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (Link) will ever hitch a ride. The payload, slated for the ISS, would take up over a quarter of the Shuttle’s cargo capacity, and right now, no mission is scheduled to carry it. Might we sense another shuttle mission in the budget? The Shuttle fleet is still scheduled for retirement in 2010.

New Moon Countdown: All eyes are on May 5th and a chance at breaking the all time record for the earliest cresent Moon sighting. Prospects are good for Northern New England and the Canadian Maritimes. We have a chance, albeit thin (no pun intended) to sight a 11 hour 30 minute old Moon on the evening of Monday, May 5th. Astroguyz will be making the attempt using 15×45 IS Binocs from either Haystack Mountain in Mapleton or the tennis court on the University of Maine campus in Presque Isle; anyone interested is welcome to come out and join in the fun. Long range weather prospects look to be mostly clear, but of course spring can be highly variable. Next week’s post will be dedicated to the success or failure of the attempt!    

Full Moon Name: The full Moon in May is known as the Full Flower Moon, and occurs on May 19th at 10:11PM EDT. The other names used are the full Corn Planting or Milk Moon. As the sun slips farther north this time of year, the Full Moon slides progressively further south, occupying the area of the ecliptic the sun usually does in winter.

Meteor Shower: The Eta Aquarids peak on May 5th-6th. This coincides with the New Moon, but the radiant is one of the few placed in the southern hemisphere. Expect a Zenithal hourly Rate of 30 from the Southern Hemisphere, 10 from the Northern. like the Orionids, the Eta Aquarids trace there parent body back to the famous Comet Halley.

Phoenix Landing: The Phoenix Mars Mission  is due to land on the Red Planet on May 25th; this is always the most crucial phase of any mission, as the craft must perform completely on its own during the landing phase, and then phone Earth to boot. The first of NASA’s Scout Program, Phoenix is designed to specifically search for water and answer key questions of habitability and sustainability for eventual manned missions. The teams’ Principal Investigator is scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory based in Tucson, Arizona. More to come as we explore the Martian arctic in June!

 Man who coined the term “black hole” dies: John Wheeler, the US Physicist who is credited with developing the term “black hole”, died April 13th of pneumonia. Known as a great popularizer of science, he shortened the bulky phrase “gravitationally completely collapsed star” down to the term black hole, which soon became a household word. A short list of his contemporaries included a virtual who’s who of 20th century physics, including the likes of Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Albert Einstein. Wheeler also collaborated on the Manhattan Project. he was 96.

“Red Moon” Luna 15 vid: We’ve just received a copy of the science fiction novel “Red Moon” by David S. Michaels and Daniel Brenton; much kudos to Breakneck books for its speedy delivery. Look for an upcoming review in the coming weeks; in the meantime, check out this little known video of the Luna 15 lander over the Apollo 11 landing site.

 

GLAST Package. NASA Photo.

GLAST Update: Smoking hot off the cyber press; GLAST, the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope, is scheduled for a very tenative launch from Cape Canaveral on May 16th. We’re using the fact that NASA now has a countdown clock up as a source. GLAST should revolutionize the fledgling field of Gamma Ray astronomy, something that didn’t even exist 20 years ago!

-X-class flare: On April 26th at 1408UT, a tiny solar flare was detected on the surface of the sun. Although no accompanying sunspot was detected, the flare launched a large Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) towards Earth. This is also note worthy in that scientists are awaiting the long overdue upswing of solar cycle 24 , which was heralded to have started earlier this year, only to have the old cycle 23 return. The start of a new cycle is accompanied with a reversal in sun spot polarity. CMEs have a history of taking about 3 days to transit the distance from the sun to Earth; mid to high latitude observers should be on the look out for aurorae. A good place for up to the minute info is www.spaceweather.com .

Duct Tape to the Rescue:What happens when two of the greatest achievements of the 20th century come together? I know, landing on the Moon tops most everyone’s list. But on December 11, 1972, astronaut Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt found themselves on the Taurus-Littrow lunar valley with a broken moon buggy fender. Their solution? Enter the handy man’s secret weapon, duct tape:

Duct Tape saves the day… (Credit: NASA/Apollo 17).

Red Green would be proud.

Cosmological Question of the Month: And now for a real burning question; would aliens care about naked pictures of Hanna Montana?

Major Flooding: On a personal note, the Saint John Valley and the (former?) future sight of the Twin Dogs Observatory experienced major flood damage on April 30th. The summer will no doubt see the salvage operation, as Astroguyz once again becomes nomadic. We will still be committed to bringing you news “of all things astronomical” as well as interesting reviews and articles in the coming months.

Quote of the Month: “If you haven’t found something strange during the day, it hasn’t been much of a day.” -John Wheeler, US Physicist.