The Sky is Waiting.
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Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
The Algonquin Indians had names for each of the seasonal Full Moons, many of which survive today. The Full Snow Moon pictured occurs in the month of December, when the first large winter storms coat the ground with snow. This Full Moon also tends to fall near the Winter Solstice, and thus rides high in the nightly sky opposite to the Sun on long winter nights.
Every rocket launch is unique, but twilight shuttle launches where by far the most impressive. The image pictured was of the April 5th, 2010 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center at dawn. The exhaust plume caught the rising Sun overhead just right, and numerous noctilucent clouds persisted right up until sunrise. Unfortunately, space shuttle launches are now relegated to the pages of history.
Review: How I Killed Pluto & Why it Had it Coming by Mike Brown.
Target: Pluto?
Caltech Astronomer Mike Brown is on the cutting edge of modern day “faint fuzzy” hunting at the fringe of the solar system and has found himself at the epicenter of several scientific battles over the past decade. In How I Killed Pluto & Why it Had it Coming, Dr. Brown takes us behind the scenes of his discoveries and, after a brief history of solar system exploration, takes us on a deeply personal tale of modern discovery and a fascinating look at how modern astronomy in the Internet era gets done. Intertwined with the tale of successive discoveries in the outer solar system is an intimate look at Mike’s personal world, his family, and how a scientist and his family operates… just think, how many of us personally know a true scientist, in our families or on the block? (OK, I know a few, mostly because I blog about their exploits!) Perhaps a few of us may personally know what I would dub “para-scientists” (i.e. doctors, teachers, engineers, etc) but in How I Killed Pluto we get a glimpse of the human side of these researchers and how they work in the exploration of the universe with grocery shopping, diaper changing, and the world the rest of us might be all too familiar with.
Of course, it was the discovery of 2003 UB313 and the subsequent controversy leading up to the IAU’s decision to adopt a resolution that expelled Pluto from the ranks of major-planetdom that subsequently sparked the ire of fifth graders everywhere and is the focus of much of the book. Mike Brown and team also made several other fascinating discoveries outlined in the book, including Quaoar, Sedna, Huamea and Makemake, the last two informally named “Santa” and “Easterbunny”, respectively. In the case of Santa, a Spanish team attempted to steal the discovery from the Caltech team by accessing the pointing data from the camera attached to the telescope! Mr. Brown also uses this example to demonstrate how the propriety of scientific research must be preserved and the tale also serves as a warning of how even carefully made discoveries can be sureptiously scooped! Dr. Brown brings us along on that thrill of discovery… just think what it means to be the first human eyes to spot something new drifting, out there. There’s that moment before you tell the world that the knowledge is yours, that brief rush that I feel propels many a researcher.
Is Pluto a planet? Should we have a solar system with potentially hundreds planets, or an elite 8? Mr. Brown makes a point to demonstrate that he in fact would have the most to gain if his discovery of Xena-turned-Eris received planet-hood; but his opposition to its inclusion shows his integrity and appeal to scientific method. It’s a brave new solar system out there, and objects both on the large and small end of the spectrum will no doubt stretch the definition, whatever it may be. Perhaps the term “planet” will remain a cultural one; perhaps sub-classifications will arise where we can safely say “Captain, we’re approaching a Class M planet…” ala Star Trek. Objects such as Pluto and Eris will remain what they are, regardless of how we try to pigeon-hole them. Mr. Brown also points out that you can’t codify scientific definitions like you can legal law, and the idea to “teach the controversy” is a path already taken by creationist nonsense. As proof, ask an astronomer what his or her definition of a “metal” is sometime…
Do put How I Killed Pluto on the top of your summer reading list, whatever your stance on the controversy is. My gut feeling is the discussion will rear its head again when we get a good look at Pluto in 2015 during the New Horizons flyby, or perhaps when a new “King of the Kuiper belt” is crowned… one thing is for sure, Dr. Brown’s solar system ain’t the one you learned in 2nd grade!