Showing posts with label Astrophoto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astrophoto. Show all posts

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Comet ISON Heats Up, Grows New Tail

Comet ISON Heats Up, Grows New Tail:
Two new tail streamers are visible between Comet ISON's green coma and bright star near center. in this photo taken on Nov. 6. They're possibly the beginning of an ion tail. Click to enlarge. Credit: Damian Peach
Comet ISON Heats Up, Grows New Tail
Two faint tail streamers are visible between Comet ISON’s green coma and bright star near center. in this photo taken on Nov. 6. They’re possibly the beginning of an ion tail. Click to enlarge. Credit: Damian Peach
I’m starting to get the chills about Comet ISON. I can’t help it. With practically every telescope turned the comet’s way fewer than three short weeks before perihelion, every week brings new images and developments. The latest pictures show a brand new tail feature emerging from the comet’s bulbous coma. For months, amateur and professional astronomers alike have watched ISON’s slowly growing dust tail that now stretches nearly half a degree or a full moon’s diameter. In the past two days, photos taken by amateur astronomers reveal what appears to be a nascent ion or gas tail. Damian Peach’s Nov. 6 image clearly shows two spindly streamers.
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‘Freakish’ Asteroid Has Six Tails, Sheds Stuff Into Space

‘Freakish’ Asteroid Has Six Tails, Sheds Stuff Into Space:
Pictures of asteroid P/2013 P5 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)
‘Freakish’ Asteroid Has Six Tails, Sheds Stuff Into Space
Pictures of asteroid P/2013 P5 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)
A lawn sprinkler in space. That’s one of the descriptions NASA has for the curious P/2013 P5, which is spewing not one, not two, but six comet-like tails at the same time.
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‘Stairways to Mars’ Concept Proposes Truck Stops Near The Red Planet

‘Stairways to Mars’ Concept Proposes Truck Stops Near The Red Planet:
Robotic construction of the proposed "Stairway to Mars", a concept for fuelling spacecraft on their way to other destinations. Credit: Anna Nesterova art
‘Stairways to Mars’ Concept Proposes Truck Stops Near The Red Planet
Robotic construction of the proposed “Stairway to Mars”, a concept for fuelling spacecraft on their way to other destinations. Credit: Anna Nesterova art
Any road trip requires rest stops to refuel and rest. That’s especially true of planetary exploration, as it would take months between destinations. In that spirit, here is a new concept for “Mars truck stops” from the Space Development Steering Committee, which they call “Stairways to Mars.”
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The Stars of Orion Seen Blazing From Orbit

The Stars of Orion Seen Blazing From Orbit:
The constellation Orion photographed from orbit by Karen Nyberg (NASA)
The Stars of Orion Seen Blazing From Orbit
The constellation Orion photographed from orbit by Karen Nyberg in August 2013 (NASA)
The mighty hunter soars above the atmosphere in this photo, taken by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg currently living and working in space aboard the ISS. One of the most recognizable constellations in night skies all across the Earth, Orion also puts on an impressive display for those well above the Earth!
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Bright Venus Takes Center Stage in November

Bright Venus Takes Center Stage in November:
(Credit: Brian McGaffney/Nutwood Observatory).
Bright Venus Takes Center Stage in November
Venus plus its reflection and the Milky Way off of the Gulf of Mexico. (Credit: Brian McGaffney/Nutwood Observatory).
“What’s that bright object to the southwest at dusk?” We’ve already fielded more than a few such questions as Earth’s sister world shines in the dusk sky.  Venus just passed its maximum elongation 47 degrees east of the Sun on November 1st, and currently shines at a brilliant magnitude -4.46. This is almost 16 times brighter than the brightest star in the sky, -1.46th magnitude Sirius.
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Lovely Green Olivine On Vesta Paints A Different Formation History

Lovely Green Olivine On Vesta Paints A Different Formation History:
The mineral olivine on Vesta, as seen from hyperspectral data received during the Dawn mission. Credit: Image generated by Alessandro Frigeri and Eleonora Ammannito using VIR data and Framing Camera images.
Lovely Green Olivine On Vesta Paints A Different Formation History
The mineral olivine on Vesta, as seen from hyperspectral data received during the Dawn mission. Credit: Image generated by Alessandro Frigeri and Eleonora Ammannito using VIR data and Framing Camera images.
That ghoul-like sheen on the asteroid Vesta, as seen in the image above, is not some leftover of Hallowe’en. It’s evidence of the mineral olivine. Scientists have seen it before in “differentiated” bodies — those that have a crust and an inner core — but in this case, it’s turning up in an unexpected location.
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Early Supermassive Black Holes First Formed as Twins

Early Supermassive Black Holes First Formed as Twins:
Two nascent black holes formed by the collapse of an early supergiant star. From a visualization by by Christian Reisswig (Caltech).
Early Supermassive Black Holes First Formed as Twins
Two nascent black holes formed by the collapse of a single supergiant star. From a simulation by by Christian Reisswig (Caltech).
It’s one of the puzzles of cosmology and stellar evolution: how did supermassive black holes get so… well, supermassive… in the early Universe, when seemingly not enough time had yet passed for them to accumulate their mass through steady accretion processes alone? It takes a while to eat up a billion solar masses’ worth of matter, even with a healthy appetite and lots within gravitational reach. But yet there they are: monster black holes are common within some of the most distant galaxies, flaunting their precocious growth even as the Universe was just celebrating its one billionth birthday.
Now, recent findings by researchers at Caltech suggest that these ancient SMBs were formed by the death of certain types of primordial giant stars, exotic stellar dinosaurs that grew large and died young. During their violent collapse not just one but two black holes are formed, each gathering its own mass before eventually combining together into a single supermassive monster.
Watch a simulation and find out more about how this happens below:
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Spectacular Halo Around the Sun Seen in Africa

Spectacular Halo Around the Sun Seen in Africa:
A solar halo seen over Klerksdorp, South Africa on Nov. 6, 2013. Credit: Daniël Engelbrecht
Spectacular Halo Around the Sun Seen in Africa
A solar halo seen over Klerksdorp, South Africa on Nov. 6, 2013. Credit:
Daniël Engelbrecht
Fresh off seeing a solar eclipse on Sunday, people across the southern parts of Africa witnessed another solar spectacle today, a sun halo. “It was so beautiful, everyone was taking pictures and sharing them on Facebook,” said Daniël Engelbrecht from Klerksdorp, South Africa, sending in his picture to Universe Today via email.
These halos are quite the sight to see, but unlike an eclipse, they can’t be predicted. Conditions in the atmosphere have to be just right, with moisture or ice crystals creating a “rainbow” effect around the Sun. Sometimes the halos surround the Sun completely, other times, they appear as arcs around the Sun creating what is known as sundogs. Basically, sunlight is reflecting off moisture in the atmosphere.
Ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere can also cause rings around the Moon, and moondogs(as well as sundogs) and even Venus pillars. News reports indicate sun halos were seen just a few days ago in Africa as well, on Nov. 1, 2013.
A few other people sent in images from their phones, too of today’s sun halo:
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Crew Launches to Space Station with Olympic Torch

Crew Launches to Space Station with Olympic Torch:
The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket is launched with Expedition 38/39. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Crew Launches to Space Station with Olympic Torch
The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket is launched with Expedition 38/39. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Three new crew members are on their way to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos launched on a Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:14 p.m. EST (04:14:00 UTC, 10:14 a.m. Thursday, Kazakh time). They’ll use the accelerated “fast-track” trajectory and arrive at the station in just a few hours, at 10:31 UTC (5:31 a.m. EST Thursday.)
In an usual situation, when the new crew arrives, there will be nine crew members and three Soyuz vehicles at the ISS. The timing of crew exchange works to enable a complicated “relay race” of a special Olympic torch from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. (...)
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India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Rising to Red Planet – Glorious Launch Gallery

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Rising to Red Planet – Glorious Launch Gallery:
Clouds on the ground ! The sky seems inverted for a moment ! Blastoff of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Nov. 5, 2013 from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Credit: ISRO
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Rising to Red Planet – Glorious Launch Gallery
Clouds on the ground !
The sky seems inverted for a moment ! Blastoff of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on Nov. 5, 2013 from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Credit: ISRO
With India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) safely and flawlessly injected into her initial elliptical Earth parking orbit following Tuesday’s (Nov. 5) spectacular launch, the flight has quickly transitioned to the next stage – the crucial series of thruster firings to raise MOM’s orbit around Earth dubbed “Midnight Maneuvers” and achieve escape velocity.
Barely a day after blastoff, ISRO engineers successfully completed the first of six orbit raising “Midnight Maneuver” burns at 01:17 hrs IST today (Nov. 6) with MOM’s liquid fueled thruster – see graphic below.(...)
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Thursday, October 31, 2013

SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis

SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis:


The SpaceX Dragon capsule is snared by the International Space Station's Canadarm 2. Credit: NASA
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is snared by the International Space Station’s Canadarm 2. Credit: NASA
SpaceX — the maker and operator of the Dragon spacecraft that runs periodic cargo flights to the International Space Station — has signed a contract to research, develop and test Raptor methane rocket engines at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi.
The California-based company plans to use the E-2 test stand at Stennis, which is able to support both vertical and horizontal rocket engine tests. (Here are some more technical details from NASA on its capabilities.)
“We have been talking with SpaceX for many years about working at Stennis Space Center, and I am pleased to officially welcome them to our Mississippi family. I hope this is just the beginning of their endeavors in our state,” stated U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) in response to the news. A press release from his office said the presence of the private space company would boost jobs in the region.
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Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet

Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet:

This illustration compares our Earth with the newly confirmed lava planet Kepler-78b. Kepler-78b is about 20 percent larger than Earth, with a diameter of 9,200 miles, and weighs roughly 1.8 times as much as Earth. David A. Aguilar (CfA)
Rocky Earth-sized World is a ‘Sungrazing’ Exoplanet
This illustration compares our Earth with the newly confirmed lava planet Kepler-78b. Kepler-78b is about 20 percent larger than Earth, with a diameter of 9,200 miles, and weighs roughly 1.8 times as much as Earth.
David A. Aguilar (CfA)
A newly verified planet found in data from the Kepler mission delivers on the space telescope’s task of finding Earth-size planets around other stars. The new planet, called Kepler-78b, is the first Earth-sized exoplanet discovered that has a rocky composition like that of Earth. Similarities to Earth, however, end there. Kepler-78b whizzes around its host star every 8.5 hours at a distance of about 1.5 million kilometers, making it a blazing inferno and not suitable for life as we know it.
“We’ve been hearing about the sungrazing Comet ISON that will go very close to the Sun next month,” said Andrew Howard, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Institute for Astronomy. “Comet ISON will approach the Sun about the same distance that Kepler-78b orbits its star, so this planet spends its entire life as a sungrazer.”
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round

New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round:

Dark Energy
New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round
The Hubble Space Telescope image of the inner regions of the lensing cluster Abell 1689 that is 2.2 billion light?years away. Light from distant background galaxies is bent by the concentrated dark matter in the cluster (shown in the blue overlay) to produce the plethora of arcs and arclets that were in turn used to constrain dark energy. Image courtesy of NASA?ESA, Jullo (JPL), Natarajan (Yale), Kneib (LAM)
We keep saying dark matter is so very hard to find. Astronomers say they can see its effects — such as gravitational lensing, or an amazing bendy feat of light that takes place when a massive galaxy brings forward light from other galaxies behind it. But defining what the heck that matter is, is proving elusive. And considering it makes up most of the universe’s matter, it would be great to know what dark matter looks like.
A new experiment — billed as the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world — spent three months searching for evidence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which may be the basis of dark matter. So far, nothing, but researchers emphasized they have only just started work.
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Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image

Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image:

A Hubble Space Telescope image of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Closest Star To Our Sun Beckons In New Hubble Image
A Hubble Space Telescope image of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Remember that planet discovered near Alpha Centauri almost exactly a year ago? As you may remember, it’s the closest system to Earth, making some people speculate about how quickly we could get a spacecraft in that general direction. Four light years is close in galactic terms, but it’s a little far away for the technology we have now — unless we wanted to wait a few tens thousands of years for the journey to complete.
Meanwhile, we can at least take pictures of that star system. The Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new picture of Alpha Centauri’s sister star, Proxima Centauri. While Proxima is technically the closest star to Earth, it’s too faint to be seen by the naked eye, which is not all that surprising given it is only an eighth of the sun’s mass. Sometimes, however, it gets a little brighter.
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Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It

Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It:

A partially eclipsed setting Sun as seen from Dallas, Texas on May 20th, 2012. This weekend's eclipse will offer U.S. East Coast residents a similar sunrise view. (Credit: Jason Major/Lights in the Dark).
Rare ‘Hybrid’ Solar Eclipse on November 3, 2013: How to See It
A partially eclipsed setting Sun as seen from Dallas, Texas on May 20th, 2012. This weekend’s eclipse will offer U.S. East Coast residents a similar sunrise view. (Credit: Jason Major/Lights in the Dark).
It’s almost upon us. The final eclipse of 2013 occurs this coming weekend on Sunday, November 3rd. This will be the fifth eclipse overall, and the second solar eclipse of 2013. This will also be the only eclipse this year that features a glimpse of totality.(...)
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Weekend Comet Bonanza!

Weekend Comet Bonanza!:

Color image of Comet ISON on October 27, 2013. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.
Color image of Comet ISON on October 27, 2013. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.
Astrophotographers were out in full force this weekend to try and capture the bonanza of comets now visible in the early morning skies! You’ll need a good-sized telescope to see these comets for yourself, however, but with the Moon now waning means darker skies and better observing conditions. Above is an absolutely gorgeous image of Comet ISON taken by Damian Peach. See below for more images of not only Comet ISON, but also Comet Encke, Comet Lovejoy and Comet LINEAR — now in outburst.
In fact, one of our “regular” contributors, John Chumack, captured all four comets in one morning, on Saturday October 26!
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‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say

‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say:

Artist's conception of a comet exploding in the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. Credit: Terry Bakker
‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say
Artist’s conception of a comet exploding in the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. Credit: Terry Bakker
Speak about destruction. A comet slammed into Earth’s atmosphere 28 million years ago and basically killed everything with fire below, leaving a huge deposit of yellow silica glass in its wake, a team of astronomers say.
The evidence — a black pebble found by an Egyptian geologist within this vast tract of glass — is believed to be a part of the comet’s nucleus or heart and not just an ordinary meteorite. The team says this could be the first hard evidence, so to speak, of a comet striking Earth.
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Fluorescent and Starry: New Zinger Space Images From Chandra’s X-Ray Archives

Fluorescent and Starry: New Zinger Space Images From Chandra’s X-Ray Archives:

Composite image of NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy 22 million light years from Earth. At least eight supernova have exploded in this galaxy in the past century, including three spotted by Chandra (purple). Optical data is also visible in red, yellow and cyan from the Gemini Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs
Composite image of NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy 22 million light years from Earth. At least eight supernova have exploded in this galaxy in the past century, including three spotted by Chandra (purple). Optical data is also visible in red, yellow and cyan from the Gemini Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs
You know that moment when you’re flipping through old digital pictures (on your computer or phone or whatever) and you realize there are some pretty awesome ones in there that you should share on social media? The Chandra X-Ray Observatory team also decided to plumb THEIR archive of astrophysical image magic, and came up with several beauties. Such as the one above this text.
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Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count

Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count:

A night sky over the Isle of Wight that is bright with the Milky Way and green airglow. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell.
Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count
A night sky over the Isle of Wight that is bright with the Milky Way and green airglow. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell.
Here’s a beautiful view of the Milky Way arching through the sky over the Isle of Wight, an island just off the south coast of England, known for having limited light pollution. This gorgeous image was taken by photographer Chad Powell. You can see more of Chad’s work on his website or his Facebook page.
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Four Comets Haunt the Halloween Dawn! Here’s How to See Them

Four Comets Haunt the Halloween Dawn! Here’s How to See Them:

No fewer than four bright-ish comets greet skywatchers an hour before the start of dawn. From upper left counterclockwise: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Encke, C/2012 X1 and ISON. Credits: Gerald Rhemann, Damian Peach, Gianluca Masi and Gerald Rhemann
No fewer than four bright-ish comets greet skywatchers an hour before the start of dawn. From upper left counterclockwise: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Encke, C/2012 X1 and ISON. Credits: Gerald Rhemann, Damian Peach, Gianluca Masi and Gerald Rhemann
Get your astronomical trick-or-treat bags ready. An excursion under the Halloween morning sky will allow you fill it in a hurry — with comets! We’ve known for months that ISON and 2P/Encke would flick their tails in the October dawn, but no one could predict they’d be joined by Terry Lovejoy’s recent comet discovery, C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and the obscure C/2012 X1 (LINEAR). The last surprised all of us when it suddenly brightened by more than 200 times in a matter of days. Almost overnight, a comet found on precious few observing lists became bright enough to see in binoculars. Now comet watchers the world over are losing sleep to get a glimpse of it.
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