Deadline for Google Lunar X Prize Moon Race Extended Through March 2018

Deadline for Google Lunar X Prize Moon Race Extended Through March 2018:

Artist’s illustration showing Moon Express’ MX-1E spacecraft descending toward the lunar surface carrying a suite of science and exploration instruments. Florida-based Moon Express is one of five teams left in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize.

Credit: Moon Express

The five teams left in a $30 million race to the moon now have a bit more time to accomplish their missions — and the chance to win some additional money along the way.

The Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) is offering $20 million to the first privately funded team that soft-lands a spacecraft on the moon, moves it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters), and transmits high-definition photos and video back to Earth. The second team to complete those tasks gets $5 million, and another $5 million is available for a variety of other accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million.

GLXP guidelines had stated that teams must launch by Dec. 31 of this year to be eligible for the grand or second-place prize. But that has changed: Teams now must complete their missions by March 31, 2018, and the launch date is not a factor anymore, GLXP representatives said today (Aug. 16). [Google Lunar X Prize: The Private Moon Race Teams (Images)]

Contest organizers are dangling an additional $4.75 million in new "milestone prizes" as well: $1.75 million for arriving at the moon (descending directly to the surface or completing at least one lunar orbit) and $3 million for proof of a soft lunar landing.

This money will be split evenly among all the teams that pull off the feats, GLXP representatives said. (Milestone prizes count toward, and do not boost, the total purse of a team that wins the grand or second prize. For example, if one team alone claims the $4.75 million for arrival and proof of landing, and it also later wins the grand prize, its purse will still be $20 million, not $24.75 million.)  

"X Prize and Google are thrilled to offer these additional in-space milestone prizes as a further incentive for finalist teams and to recognize the full gravity of these bold technological feats taking place in the race to the moon," GLXP Senior Director Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer said in a statement.

The five teams left in the competition — out of more than two dozen that have vied for the prize at some point over the last decade — are Florida-based Moon Express, Israel's SpaceIL, Hakuto from Japan, India-based TeamIndus and the international collaboration Synergy Moon.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

Total View: A Brief History of Solar Eclipses Seen From Space

Total View: A Brief History of Solar Eclipses Seen From Space:

NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographed his second total solar eclipse from space as an Expedition 31 flight engineer on the International Space Station on May 20, 2012. The space station's solar array wings can be seen in the foreground.

Credit: NASA

Don Pettit has never looked up to see a total solar eclipse. Twice, though, he has looked down.

As a past crew member on the International Space Station, Pettit is among the few astronauts and cosmonauts to have witnessed an eclipse from space. On Monday (Aug. 21), he will witness his first total solar eclipse from the ground.

"This is going to be a real pleasure, because I have seen two total solar eclipses from space and I haven't seen any from the Earth," Pettit said in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "This will be my first total solar eclipse seen from Earth.” [Gallery: Astronauts and Cosmonauts Solar Eclipse Photos From Space]

Not many people in history can say that. In fact, less than 20 individuals out of the more than 550 who have launched to space since 1961 have been off the planet and in the right position to see the moon pass in front of the sun. And whereas that sight usually inspires people to look up toward the sky, for Pettit and his fellow astronaut eclipse viewers, the real opportunity was to be able to look down.

"I like to focus on what is the unique aspect of being in orbit for a solar eclipse and it is not looking up at the sun, it is looking down at the Earth and seeing this wide-field view of Earth impossible to see from any other viewpoint," Pettit explained. "Even those on board airplanes cannot see it all. From orbit, you can see structure on Earth for the length scale of half a continent and there is no other way you can get that perspective."

"You can read about all the shadow effects that the astronomers worked out over 200 years ago, the umbra and penumbra and all of this stuff," he continued. "And these guys never got to see it projected on Earth, but they were good enough with their math to be able to mathematically describe what the shadows were going to be like and then you could measure the progression of the shadow from a point on Earth. But nobody had ever seen it before in its entirety."

"The astronomers were never able to observe the moon's shadow from an orbital viewpoint, but they got it exactly right. It looks exactly like what they said it should look like," said Pettit.

The first total solar eclipse seen from space, as photographed by Gemini 12 crewmates Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin on Nov. 12, 1966. The boom seen in the foreground is the antenna on an Agena target vehicle docked to the Gemini spacecraft.

Credit: NASA

Between the Earth, moon and Sun

The first astronauts to pass between Earth and the moon and sun were NASA's Gemini 12 crew. On Nov. 12, 1966, as the path of totality fell over South America, Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin maneuvered their spacecraft so as to be able to catch the spectacle.

"Well, we hit the eclipse right on the money," reported Lovell to Mission Control, after photographing the view looking up at the sun, "[but] we were unsuccessful at picking up — picking up a shadow [on the Earth], Houston. We couldn't pick it up by the time we got around to the eclipse."

It was not until 33 years later that humans first set sight on the moon's umbra on the planet below. The second to last crew of Russia's former space station Mir — cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Sergei Avdeyev and French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haigneré — saw the shadow cast by the last total solar eclipse of the 20th century as it traced over Plymouth, England and headed toward northern France on Aug. 11, 1999.

According to Haigneré, who captured photos of the eclipse set against the clouds over the area, the shadow measured about 93 miles (150 kilometers) across.

The next total solar eclipse to be seen from orbit was on Dec. 4, 2002 and marked Pettit's first of two. Joined by his Expedition 6 crewmates Kenneth Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin on board the International Space Station, Pettit initially expected to be well positioned to see the Earth darken below.

"Using the state vector prediction software we have on the space station, we were going to fly really close to the shadow projected on Earth," Pettit recalled. "But two days before the eclipse, we did a re-boost and shifted the orbit of station enough so that the shadow was way on the edge of our horizon. We were lucky we were even going to be able to see the shadow."

"That kind of thing can happen, where other operational constraints of running the station might change your position in orbit, so that seeing that shadow might not be in the best of locations," he added.

Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev were 230 miles (370 km) above the Earth, passing over the coast of Turkey above the Mediterranean Sea, when they caught sight of the total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006. Their view was much better than was seen by the Expedition 6 crew, flying almost directly over the moon's shadow.

Pettit's second chance at seeing a solar eclipse came on his second long duration stay on the station. On May 20, 2012, the Expedition 31 crew of Pettit, Joe Acaba, Oleg Kononenko, Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin and André Kuipers witnessed an annular solar eclipse.

"It is amazing to see an eclipse from orbit," Pettit wrote in a letter to Earth at the time.

Expedition 43 flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti took a series of photographs of the March 20, 2015 solar eclipse from the International Space Station. Cristoforetti wrote on Twitter, "Orbital sunrise and the #SolarEclipse... could it go any better?"

Credit: ESA/NASA

Spotting and blocking the sun

The most recent space crew to see a solar eclipse from orbit did so on March 20, 2015. In addition to photographing the shadow cast over the Earth, Expedition 43 flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti captured the moon partially blocking out the light from the sun.

"Orbital sunrise and the solar eclipse... could it go any better?" Cristoforetti wrote on Twitter, sharing the sight that she, Terry Virts and Anton Shkaplerov enjoyed on board the space station.

On Monday (Aug. 21), NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, Roscosmos cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazansky and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli will be the next to see a solar eclipse as it passes across the United States.

"It would be really neat to see it from the ground, but I think I will also cherish the memory of being able to see it here from orbit," said Bresnik in a NASA interview.

In addition to total solar eclipses, space travelers have also seen lunar eclipses — where the Earth casts a shadow on the moon — and even artificial eclipses. The Russian and American crews on the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) used the U.S. Apollo spacecraft to block the sun so the cosmonauts on the Soyuz could photograph the solar corona.

The Apollo 11 crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins was also able to photograph the solar corona as the moon blocked out the sun during their trans-lunar coast and prior to lunar orbit insertion on July 19, 1969.

The Apollo 15 mission coincided with a lunar eclipse in 1971 (though the crew was unsuccessful in capturing clear photos of the rare occurrence). And the Apollo 12 crew of Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Dick Gordon witnessed a solar eclipse of a different type, when the Earth blocked out the sun as relative to their spacecraft as they returned from the moon on Nov. 24, 1969.

"The thing that I remember the most was when it was fully eclipsed, the rays that came out from behind the Earth were in all the spectrum colors," Bean said in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "And then we saw this bright spot moving across the Earth and we didn't know what it was, but we could see that it was moving rapidly across the planet."

"Later on, we learned it was the full moon behind us. We were seeing it reflected on the Earth," said Bean. "That was fun to experience.”

See astronaut and cosmonaut photographs of solar eclipses from space at collectSPACE.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Perseid Meteor Shower Wows Stargazer with 'One-in-a-Million' Fireball

Perseid Meteor Shower Wows Stargazer with 'One-in-a-Million' Fireball:

Photographer Maxim Senin captured this "one-in-a-million" fireball during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 12, 2017, while observing with his family from Templin Highway near Castaic, California.

Credit: Maxim Senin

When the Perseid meteor shower peaked over the weekend, no one was expecting an amazing show. After all, the August moon had just passed its full phase and threatened to outshine all but the brightest Perseid fireballs.

Yet one dedicated stargazer, Maxim Senin of Redondo Beach, California, ventured out in search of dark skies anyway to see what the 2017 Perseids would bring. The result, he said, was a one-in-a-million meteor photo.

Senin drove his wife and 3-year-old son to an observing spot along the Templin Highway near Castaic, California, known for its dark skies, in order to spot a meteor. Senin's patience was rewarded when a brilliant fireball lit up the night sky and he caught it on camera. [See More Amazing Perseid Meteor Shower Photos by Stargazers]

"Although everyone predicted that the moon will whitewash all the meteors, when this one exploded I could hear 'oohs' and 'aaahs' across the valley," Senin, a veteran night-sky photographer, told Space.com in an email. "It was a bright as the moon itself, and left behind a smoke trail that was visible for 10-15 seconds after the meteor extinguished."

The brightness of the moon, which was three-quarters full, ultimately was an unexpected asset.

"In fact, thanks to the moon, the smoke trail was highlighted so well," Senin said. "One in a million!"

Senin said he and his family spent about 4 hours observing the Perseid meteor shower. They averaged about one meteor every 3 minutes, and every third meteor was a bright one, he added.

"Sometimes there was a 10-minute pause, and sometimes you could see 3-4 meteors shoot in a minute," Senin said.

A Perseid meteor streaks over National Park Galicica Ohrid, Macedonia, on Aug. 12, 2017, in this view by astrophotographer Stojan Stojanovski with the Ohrid Astronomy Association.

Credit: Stojan Stojanovski


Senin wasn't the only one to snap a stunning view of the 2017 Perseids.

In Ohrid, Macedonia, Stojan Stojanovski and his fellow members of the Ohrid Astronomy Association photographed the Perseids from a spot in the country's National Park Galicica.

In an email, Stojanovski told Space.com he captured one stunning photo of a Perseid meteor, but the bright moonlight limited what he could see.

The Perseid meteor shower is an annual celestial display that occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of dust and debris left from Comet Swift-Tuttle. This dust and debris burn up in the atmosphere to create bright meteors. The meteor shower typically offers between 80 and 100 meteors an hour to observers with dark-sky conditions far away from city lights.

The 2017 Perseids peaked on Aug. 12, with the bright moonlight limiting meteor visibility to about 40 of 50 meteors an hour, according to a forecast from NASA meteor scientist Bill Cooke.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

TRAPPIST-1 Planets May Be Twice As Old As Earth

TRAPPIST-1 Planets May Be Twice As Old As Earth:

This illustration shows what the TRAPPIST-1 system might look like from a vantage point near planet TRAPPIST-1f (at right).

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Life has had a long time to potentially get a foothold on the rocky planets circling the tiny, dim star TRAPPIST-1, a new study suggests.

TRAPPIST-1 and its seven roughly Earth-size planets are between 5.4 billion and 9.8 billion years old, according to the new study. For comparison, Earth's solar system is a shade under 4.6 billion years old.

"Our results really help constrain the evolution of the TRAPPIST-1 system, because the system has to have persisted for billions of years," lead author Adam Burgasser, an astronomer at the University of California, San Diego, said in a statement. "This means the planets had to evolve together; otherwise, the system would have fallen apart long ago." [Meet the 7 Earth-Size Planets of TRAPPIST-1]

Aging TRAPPIST-1

TRAPPIST-1, a star just 8 percent as massive as the sun, lies about 40 light-years away from Earth. Earlier this year, astronomers announced that TRAPPIST-1 hosts seven rocky planets, three of which appear to lie in the "habitable zone" — the range of distances from a star where liquid water could theoretically exist on a world's surface.

But the age of the TRAPPIST-1 system had remained elusive. In the new study, which has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, Burgasser and his colleagues arrived at an estimate after considering a number of factors — for example, the star's chemical composition, how often its blasts out flares and the speed at which TRAPPIST-1 moves through the Milky Way. (Older stars tend to move faster, study team members said.)

A maximum age of 9.8 billion years may sound ancient, but TRAPPIST-1 is really just getting started: It and other dwarf stars can keep shining for trillions of years.

"Stars much more massive than the sun consume their fuel quickly, brightening over millions of years and exploding as supernovae," study co-author Eric Mamajek, deputy program scientist for NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in the same statement. "But TRAPPIST-1 is like a slow-burning candle that will shine for about 900 times longer than the current age of the universe."

In case you were wondering, the sun won't burn through its hydrogen fuel for another 5 billion years or so. At that point, Earth's star will expand into an enormous red giant before ultimately collapsing into an ultra-dense stellar corpse known as a white dwarf.

TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius, and its seven planets orbit very close to it.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Habitable planets?

Though three TRAPPIST-1 planets are in the habitable zone, it's unclear if any of them can actually support life as we know it, scientists stress.

For example, these alien worlds all orbit so close to their host star that they're tidally locked, always showing the same face to TRAPPIST-1. These planets therefore all have "day sides" and "night sides," which may be blistering-hot and freezing-cold, respectively.

Thick atmospheres would distribute heat around the TRAPPIST-1 planets, potentially making them more livable. But astronomers don't know if these worlds have any air left all; their atmospheres may have been stripped by radiation from their nearby host star long ago.

The new study contributes to the ongoing assessment of TRAPPIST-1 and its potential habitability, but it doesn't tip the scales one way or the other, scientists said.

"These new results provide useful context for future observations of the TRAPPIST-1 planets, which could give us great insight into how planetary atmospheres form and evolve, and persist or not," JPL exoplanet scientist Tiffany Kataria, who was not involved in the study, said in the same statement.

Such future observations may include measurements by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the agency's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, researchers said. This work could help astronomers determine if the TRAPPPIST-1 planets have atmospheres (and characterize these atmospheres, if they exist).

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

For the Great American Solar Eclipse, Leave Your Camera at Home

For the Great American Solar Eclipse, Leave Your Camera at Home:

Plenty of experienced photographers will capture the magic of the total solar eclipse, so you should just enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience, say astronomers.

Credit: THANAKRIT SANTIKUNAPORN/Shutterstock

Solar astronomer J. McKim Malville has some advice for people planning to see the Great American Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21: Don’t photograph it.

This may seem counterintuitive. After all, a total solar eclipse hasn't crossed the entire continental United States since June 8, 1918. This upcoming eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But unless you're an experienced photographer with good equipment, including the specific filters and lenses, and specialized knowledge to capture the moment, don't do it.

"I just encourage people not to take their camera," Malville told Live Science.

Take it from Malville. He's observed five solar eclipses, and for the first one, he spent the scant minutes of totality, when the moon had completely covered the sun, trying to get his camera focused and the exposure right. [NASA's Total Solar Eclipse Maps (Photos)]

"I really didn't spend very much time looking at the corona," he said, referring to the sun's outer atmosphere, the glow that fringes the blotted-out disk of the sun.

This spiky halo of the sun's atmosphere is one of the best parts of an eclipse, he said. It's always there, but under everyday conditions, you can't see it because the brightness of the sun overpowers that halo.

But if you're in the path of totality, and you're certain that the moon has completely covered the sun, you can remove your protective eyewear and see the corona for those moments of totality. The ability to gaze at this feature is why people become "eclipse chasers," Malville said.

"We have people who are going to every single solar eclipse around the world and have seen 15 or 20 eclipses. They're going there, not because the sky gets dark, but because of the beauty of the ever-changing shape from eclipse to eclipse of the solar corona," he said.

The time that you can view the corona, and for how long, depends on where you are along the path of totality. You can check this interactive map for precise times based on your location. (If you're not confident about whether you can remove your eyewear, be on the safe side and keep the glasses on. And never look directly at the sun without protective eyewear, when it is only partially eclipsed, or not eclipsed at all.)

Malville said there are other phenomena to behold, as well.

Just before totality, when a tiny amount of sunlight is peeking out from behind the moon, the world around you becomes something like a pinhole camera. Look down and take off your protective eyewear. [How to Make a Solar Eclipse Viewer (If You Can't Get Eclipse Glasses)]

"If you stand under a tree with leaves, each gap between the leaves acts like a projection device and you see on the ground hundreds of shimmering images of the crescent sun appearing beneath you," Malville said. "It's really quite an extraordinary experience."

Just before totality, you may also glimpse "shadow bands" in the sky. Those are patterns of light and dark that result from the various densities of air in the upper atmosphere, he said.

"It's similar to being at the bottom of the swimming pool, as shadows of light and dark pass over you," he said.

Experiencing these phenomena as they occur is more magical than trying to capture them in pixels.

"There are things to be appreciated, if you pay attention to everything that is happening around you and not just fiddling with the camera," Malville said.

Alan Dyer, an astronomy author and photographer, also recommends that people not photograph the eclipse. But he offers an alternative for capturing the moment.

"Put [your] phone camera on video, prop it up, let it run and if nothing else, it will capture the sound," Dyer said. "Everyone else will have photos but only you will have the sounds of you and your family getting excited and screaming! You won't believe you made those sounds. Makes the best souvenir."

Dyer, who is about to experience his 16th total solar eclipse, offers extensive advice about viewing the night sky on his blog, AmazingSky.com.

The morning after the eclipse, go online. There will be hundreds, and likely thousands of images to view, much better than you could ever hope to take with your own equipment.

Original article on Live Science.

Sky-High Solar Eclipse? Here's What You Might See from an Airplane

Sky-High Solar Eclipse? Here's What You Might See from an Airplane:

A midair perspective is captured in this image of the solar eclipse on Nov. 23, 2003.

Credit: J. C. Casado/StarryEarth/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

No matter where you are in the contiguous United States on Aug. 21, if skies are clear, you'll see something that hasn't been glimpsed since 1918 — a solar eclipse visible across the country from coast to coast.

But what if you're not on the ground? What if you happen to be in midair on an airplane during the total solar eclipse?

Unfortunately, the outlook for seeing the disk of the sun directly isn't good if you're traveling on a commercial flight, experts told Live Science. However, with a little calculation, you can figure out whether the effects of the eclipse will be visible on the clouds around you or on the ground below. And some lucky flyers may find that they're crossing the eclipse's path at just the right moment to experience the dark shadow of totality (when the moon's shadow completely covers the sun), experts said. [NASA's Total Solar Eclipse Maps (Photos)]

Only those in the path of totality — where approximately 12 million people live, though many will be traveling there to view the celestial event — will experience the dramatic daytime darkness of a total eclipse. In other parts of the country, daylight could fade to a near-twilight dimness, depending on how much of the sun is blocked by the moon.

A special Alaska Airlines charter flight is scheduled to "chase" the eclipse, Alaska Airlines representatives announced June 26 in a statement. The flight, which is not available for commercial booking, is scheduled to take off at 7:30 a.m. local time and will carry astronomers and eclipse enthusiasts off the coast of Oregon and over the Pacific Ocean, to catch sight of the eclipse before it begins its journey across the mainland of the U.S., Space.com reported.

"Flying high above the Pacific Ocean will not only provide one of the first views [of the eclipse], but also one of the best," Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing, said in the statement. (Apparently, the sun will be rising just at the time the solar eclipse "touches down" at 9:48 a.m. PT, or 16:48:33 UTC, meaning the sun will rise while it is completely eclipsed, according to Eclipse2017.org.)

Many people who have commercial airline flights scheduled for Aug. 21 may also find themselves in the air while the eclipse is underway. If you're one of those people, what might you see if you're flying over a part of the country experiencing a partial eclipse? And what could it look like if you're crossing the path of totality while the eclipse is at its peak?

It's all about the angle

Being able to see an eclipse from the air depends on the angle of the moving sun relative to the airplane, and by the time the Aug. 21 eclipse begins, the sun will be too far overhead to be visible from an airplane window, meteorologist and Space.com skywatching columnist Joe Rao told Live Science.  

In 2016, a total solar eclipse — seen here from Alaska Airlines Flight 870 — began at 23:19 UTC on March 8 and reached its maximum point at 01:59 UTC on March 9, with totality lasting 4 minutes and 9 seconds.

Credit: Alaska Airlines


In 2016, Rao was a passenger on Alaska Airlines Flight 870 during a total solar eclipse, which reached its maximum when the sun was about 10 degrees above the horizon. This year, when the show begins for people on the western coast of the U.S., the sun will be significantly higher in the sky — about 40 degrees above the horizon, Rao said.

At a typical flight altitude of around 35,000 feet (11 kilometers), airplane passengers seated on the plane's "sun side" might be able to glimpse the sun only if its height above the horizon is no more than 30 degrees, Rao told Live Science.

Unfortunately, this means that the angle of the sun's position during the Aug. 21 eclipse will make it impossible to see through a window of a commercial aircraft, "even if you are contorted to have your nose pressed up against the bottom of the window from a 'sun-side' window seat," Glenn Schneider, an astronomer with the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, told Live Science in an email.

For the Alaska Airlines eclipse flightscheduled for Aug. 21, Rao has advised airline officials to fly the plane 1,000 miles (1,609 km) off the Oregon coast, in order to catch the eclipse over the Pacific Ocean when the sun will be around 25 degrees above the horizon, he told Live Science.

Schneider, who also worked with Alaska Airlines to determine the best course for their eclipse charter flight, explained that the custom flight path "was defined to fly across, not along, the moon's shadow, to put the sun at the right azimuth [angle] to be visible out the aircraft's right-side windows," he said. [The 8 Most Famous Solar Eclipses in History]

Light and shadow

But even if you can't see the sun directly from an airplane, depending on where you are in the sky during the eclipse, you might still be able to see a change in the light around you if the sun is partially blocked by the moon, an effect that Rao described as "counterfeit twilight."

"It's not the kind of twilight that you see when the sun goes down," Rao said. "It's just strange — in the sense that the quality of light is different from what you're usually accustomed to seeing. It's kind of like putting on a pair of polarized glasses; there's a metallic-like color to the sky," he said.

The more that the sun is covered, the more dramatic that view will be, Rao told Live Science. And those on certain flights may find that their path aligns enough with the movement of the moon's shadow, enabling them to experience the drama of totality.

"You'll definitely notice once we get past 80 to 90 percent, the inside of the cabin is going to be getting darker," Rao said.

"It's going to be like curtain time at a Broadway play in the 30 seconds before totality —that light's going to dim down very quickly," Rao said.

However, finding yourself on a flight crossing the eclipse path at the precise time of totality is "a real long shot," Schneider told Live Science in an email.

Calculating your path

If you're scheduled to be on a commercial flight while the eclipse is underway, how could you find out where your flight path and the eclipse's path might intersect? Your best course would be to consult the flight-tracking website Flight Aware — which provides moment-by-moment flight data — and look at past flights along that route to estimate your plane's latitude and longitude positions while in the air, Rao told Live Science.

Passengers on commercial airline flights scheduled to fly across the U.S. during the eclipse may see the effects of the eclipse on the clouds or on the ground.

Credit: Flight Aware


"I would look at the history over the last 10 days of that flight I'm going to be on," Rao suggested. "I would try to draw some kind of a mean or average of where the plane usually is — or where it has been over the last 10 days — and then try to match it up against the totality path," he said.

By comparing the timing as well as the longitude and latitude positions of the airplane's flight path to similar coordinates along the eclipse path — available through an interactive map produced by NASA — fliers can estimate how much of the sun might be covered at a given point during their travels, Rao explained.

"If it's more than 70 percent, you'll notice it if you're looking out the window of the plane," he said. "The clouds will appear yellow or amber in color instead of bright white, because the light that comes from around the edges of the sun has a different quality than the light when the sun is not eclipsed."

Those who find they are flying close to the path of totality — though not directly in it — may see the moon's shadow projected on the clouds nearby or even on the ground below the airplane, a sight that is "quite remarkable," Schneider said. From a typical commercial flight altitude of about 35,000 feet, the horizon is about 200 miles (320 km) away, "so you can see quite a distance, and you could get lucky in that regard," Schneider said.

"Hopefully, there'll be enough of the sun covered that you'll be able to notice something out of the ordinary, something different from what you would normally see during a flight," Rao added.

REMEMBER to never look directly at the sun during a partial eclipse. Make sure to wear protective eclipse-viewing glasses (sunglasses won't cut it).

On Aug. 21, Live Science reporter Mindy Weisberger will be sending eclipse updates while on a commercial airplane flying from Los Angeles to New York City, departing at 8:25 a.m. local time. Will there be visible evidence of the eclipse from midair? Follow Live Science on Facebook and Twitter to find out!

Original article on Live Science.

Why Plasma Is the Crown of the Solar Eclipse

Why Plasma Is the Crown of the Solar Eclipse:

The spiky halo of light around the blotted-out solar disk is the plasma from the sun's outer atmosphere or corona.

Credit: muratart/Shutterstock

Vyacheslav Lukin is the program director for plasma physics and accelerator science at the U.S. National Science Foundation and an active researcher in the high-performance computational modeling of magnetized plasmas. His recent work has focused on the modeling of solar plasmas. Lukin contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

On Monday, Aug. 21, people in the United States will have the opportunity to turn their gaze skyward to see the moon eclipse the sun. Those in the path of totality will glimpse a complete eclipsing of the sun. Millions of Americans will don their special glasses and cross their fingers for perfect viewing conditions, but few may realize that the wisps of light they see emanating around the blotted-out solar disk are plumes of hot, charged gas called plasma from the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere — an extremely rare sight.

That plasma fuels the solar flares and space weather that affect power grids and communications systems on Earth, and it continues to reveal mysteries that have yet to be solved. Plasma makes up 99.99 percent of the visible matter in the universe, the stars and the galaxies, and it also exists in many forms on our planet. It holds the promise to potentially change how we think about and harness energy, how we explore the solar system, and even how we might treat cancer and other diseases.

Plasma physicists, including me, who study the sun will be exploring the eclipse view, and will undoubtedly learn more about the fundamental nature of this strange substance, which, unlike ordinary gases, is ionized or charged and hence considered a fourth state of matter. [10 Solar Eclipses That Changed Science]

The state of the plasma state

The field of plasma physics is relatively young, as this state wasn't identified until 1879, when it was referred to as "radiant matter" by English scientist Sir William Crookes. It was renamed "plasma" in 1928. We now know that plasma is present in objects that span a spectrum of scales, from finely engineered nanoscale radiation sources, to familiar halogen lamps and fluorescent light bulbs, to supernovae and galaxy clusters.

Processes involving plasma also span tremendous scales of time, from attosecond (one-quintillionth of a second) X-ray laser-particle interactions — 10^18 can occur in a single second — to the regeneration and evolution of solar magnetic fields on a 22-year cycle, to the formation of galaxies over hundreds of millions of years.

Researchers have been leveraging the common elements underlying that vast range of processes to gain new insights and harness plasma's power. Such studies have become the basis of many technological applications, such as microchip design, medical imaging, cancer treatments, space propulsion and better space weather prediction. Plasma research has also inspired designs for controlled fusion energy technology — an environmentally clean and virtually unlimited source of power.

Capturing the corona

For those of us in its path of totality, the solar eclipse will reveal the complexity and beauty of the solar corona. Magnetic fields in the sun spawn the loops and spikes of plasma that are launched from the corona — something that astronomers using high-tech ground- and space-based telescopes observe daily. The eclipse will provide an opportunity to see all of that activity with the brightness of the solar disk removed. (Usually, the bright solar disk overpowers the glow from the sun's outer atmosphere.)

However, researchers also re-create and study those very same physical processes in miniature in laboratories across the United States and around the world. A two-decade, ongoing partnership between the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy is driving exploration of plasma in all its forms, and it is helping us understand plasma like never before. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely)]

Several of those studies are helping to solve a long-standing solar mystery: Why is the sun's corona more than 100 times hotter than its surface? The solution to the sun's temperature mystery likely begins with its magnetic dynamo. Turbulent plasma flows in the sun's dense interior — the miasma of incandescent plasma of "They Might Be Giants" fame — generate tangled-up magnetic fields that emerge, expand and untangle themselves in the corona. As they do so, the energy from the magnetic fields gets converted into heat, which gets released in dramatic fashion in the corona's tenuous plasma via myriad waves, shocks and flares that we can readily observe with modern telescopes.

Yet answers to many questions of just how the plasma and the magnetic fields interact to heat the corona and to produce the flares remain unknown. A combination of ever better observations, highly sophisticated computer models — my field of research — and critical theoretical advances continue to improve our ability to explain why the sun, and ultimately the Earth's space environment, are the way they are.

Harnessing fusion

The process of magnetized plasma turbulence is not unique to the sun. It plays an equally important role in the formation of galaxies, the solar and stellar winds, and what may become one of the biggest societal applications of plasma physics: controlled fusion energy.

Ever since the United States first tested the hydrogen bomb — a staged fusion device — 65 years ago on an island in the Pacific Ocean, scientists have dreamed of harnessing that same fusion energy, which also powers the core of the sun, in a controlled way for peaceful purposes. Today, several fusion-reactor concepts are being pursued in the U.S. and around the world as a safer alternative to nuclear power plants.

Most of those concepts rely on the ability to confine a fusion plasma within magnetic fields. One of the keys to success will be to learn how to take advantage of nature's lessons to both heat and control the plasma, much in the same way that — on a much larger scale — the plasma is both heated and organized into well-defined structures in the sun's corona.

Continuing the plasma physics quest

Exploring nature from a plasma physics perspective allows us to revisit the very foundation of the way the universe works and what we think we understand, thereby advancing technology development.

On Aug. 21, the total solar eclipse will pass by, spending up to 2 minutes and 40 seconds over each viewing area, and crossing the country in about 90 minutes. Afterward, many viewers will remove their eclipse glasses, post photos to social media and move on. [NASA's Total Solar Eclipse Maps (Photos)]

However, for many plasma physicists like myself and my colleagues, it will be a special day. Scientists will have collected a new set of robust data about the corona, and we will all have taken another step in developing a more complete understanding of this fundamental state of matter and its place in the universe.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

Astronomers Map Atmosphere of Dying Supergiant Antares

Astronomers Map Atmosphere of Dying Supergiant Antares:

Antares, a red supergiant star in the constellation Scorpius, shines as the bright-red sparkle at the center of the image.

Credit: Babak Tafreshi/TWAN

One day, our sun will become a red giant, growing so large that it will swallow Earth. That hasn't yet happened, of course, which is fortunate for us on Earth. However, it means scientists must look beyond the solar system to study the full evolutionary cycles of stars and their mechanisms at each stage.

A new study led by Keiichi Ohnaka, a researcher at Catholic University of the North in Chile, sought to understand how the distant red supergiant star Antares manages to expel so much matter off its surface as it nears the end of its life and nears its finale as a spectacular supernova.

The study demonstrated improved techniques for discovering what could be behind atmospheric motion on Antares, while showing that there are still mysteries surrounding what, exactly, causes the star's turbulent churning.

"With this study, we can open a new window to observe stars other than the sun … in a similar way that we observe the sun," Ohnaka told Space.com. "We can then apply this technique to investigate other problems — not only supergiants, like Antares, but also other types of stars and other unsolved problems." [Supernova Photos: Great Images of Star Explosions]

Antares is a red supergiant star, and its large size makes it an ideal candidate for study from Earth. The star is so bright that it was given its name to mean "anti-Ares," likely because its reddish color seemed to oppose that of the shiny planet Mars, named after Ares, the ancient Greek god of war. Because it is so large, Antares is an ideal first subject for scientists to study to gain a better understanding of how stars other than Earth's sun manage to exist and function. Indeed, Antares' diameter is estimated to be 883 times larger than that of the sun. Antares is also known as Alpha Scorpii, meaning it's the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. The red star is visible in the August night sky.

How can astronomers study distant stars? They certainly cannot travel there with today's technology: A spacecraft flying at the speed of light would take 600 years to arrive at Antares. Ohnaka's group used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Cerro Paranal, Chile, to observe the motion of the carbon monoxide gas in Antares' atmosphere.

Until now, scientists have relied on optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy to understand stars, which means they look at light to analyze the chemical compositions of stars. That method is also used to study the sun, but has its limitations. For example, though it can indicate what a star is made of, it cannot show the mechanics of atmospheric gas movement, which could answer questions about what processes Antares experiences. The use of interferometry allows Ohnaka to capture more precise images of the outer parts of distant Antares' atmosphere, down to very small measurements of angles known as milliarseconds. According to Ohnaka, the observations his group made with VLTI's multiple telescopes over the course of five nights in April 2014 were combined to paint a detailed picture of how the gas in Antares' outer atmosphere was moving.

Ohnaka's technical use of VLTI is an important preliminary step in understanding the end stages of stars, according to John Monnier, an astronomer at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study.

"Before, we just saw the temperature of the surface of the star, and how it may be different on one part or another part," Monnier told Space.com. "But this really gives you velocity, the speed of that surface as it's coming towards or away from you."

"That has never been done before on a surface of a star," Monnier added. "This is kind of a pioneering dataset to be able to do that."

The next step in the research could be to create animations integrating all of the high-resolution imagery taken of Antares, Monnier said. That would help illuminate the star's motions, and perhaps one day reveal the source of the churning convection that raises materials up to the outer atmosphere and is behind the death of red supergiant stars.

The new work was detailed Aug. 16 in the journal Nature.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. 

Clouds on 'Failed Stars' Resemble Those on Neptune

Clouds on 'Failed Stars' Resemble Those on Neptune:

Researchers have found Neptune-like bands of clouds circling the surface of a brown dwarf, an object in between the size of a planet and a star.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the first time, scientists have seen bands of clouds drifting across the skies of failed stars known as brown dwarfs.

This work could help scientists analyze Earth-like planets someday, the new study's researchers said.

In the past 25 years or so, astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 3,500 exoplanets, or planets outside Earth's solar system. Scientists have also detected numerous so-called brown dwarfs, objects that are about 13 to 90 times the mass of Jupiter — too big to be planets, but not quite big enough to be true stars. Researchers sometimes call brown dwarfs "failed stars," because nuclear fusion never ignited in their cores. [Brown Dwarf Photos: Failed Stars and Stellar Misfits Revealed]

Scientists have previously detected evidence of clouds on exoplanets and brown dwarfs. However, this is the first time that cloud bands have been spotted on one of those objects, study team members said.

Previous work suggested that brown dwarfs have much in common with giant exoplanets in terms of size, temperature and composition. As such, study lead author Daniel Apai, who is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and his colleagues investigated brown dwarfs to learn more about giant exoplanets.

The fact that many brown dwarfs are located away from stars makes them easier for astronomers to examine than many giant exoplanets, Apai told Space.com. In contrast, giant exoplanets are typically obscured partly by the brightness of their stars, he added.

In the past five years, a number of studies have found that the infrared light from many brown dwarfs could vary in unusual ways over time. However, until now, there was no convincing explanation for this phenomenon.

To help solve this mystery, Apai and his colleagues analyzed data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. They focused on the way the infrared brightness of three brown dwarfs changed over time as the objects completed a total of 192 rotations over the course of 1.5 years.

The observations of these brown dwarfs helped "derive crude maps for how their clouds are distributed and how they evolve," Apai said.

The scientists discovered rotating bands of clouds in the atmospheres of these brown dwarfs that are broadly similar to bands of clouds seen on Neptune. As the bands on the brown dwarfs rotated, slight differences in the speeds of the bands generated a pattern of beats in their infrared light, explaining the mystery regarding their shifting brightness, Apai said.

"This is the first time that the presence of bands is shown in brown dwarfs," Apai said. He added that scientists have not yet reported any evidence for bands of clouds in exoplanets.

Although the researchers looked at only three brown dwarfs, "the fact that all three brown dwarfs behaved the same way suggests that what we see should be a common, perhaps general behavior," Apai said. "What we learn from brown dwarfs should be applicable to the majority of the gas giant exoplanets, too."

In the future, the next major NASA space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will help researchers analyze brown dwarfs and exoplanets in even greater detail, Apai said."The same technique we used for brown dwarfs now could be used to build crude maps of Earth-like planets, once we have the right telescopes, and NASA is exploring some designs that could do that in the future," he added.

The scientists detailed their findings in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal Science.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Best Astronomy and Astrophysics Books

Best Astronomy and Astrophysics Books:

The Veil Nebula, in the constellation Cygnus, is one of the most massive and brilliant features in the x-ray sky.

Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

The universe through the eyes of an astronomer or astrophysicist is a fascinating place — and a good book can give you a glimpse of that world without requiring years of study. Here are the Space.com writers' and editors' recommendations of astronomy and astrophysics books that will thrill, puzzle, intrigue and blow your mind.

(We are constantly reading new and classic space books to find our favorite takes on the universe. Our recently-read books in all categories can be found at Best Space Books. You can see our ongoing Space Books coverage here.)

'Sun Moon Earth' (Basic Books, 2016)

By Tyler Nordgren

"Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets" (Basic Books, 2016) by Tyler Nordgren.

Credit: Basic Books


Throughout history, solar eclipses have transformed from terrifying omens to the subject of scientific study. In "Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets," astronomer-artist Tyler Nordgren traces the natural history of eclipses and how they have inspired eclipse chasers to travel the world and witness the natural phenomenon.

Nordgren's narrative also details how observations of total solar eclipses have contributed to scientific discoveries about the sun, moon and Earth's place in the universe throughout history. ~ Samantha Mathewson

Read an interview with the book's author here.

'Exoplanets' (Smithsonian Books, 2017)

By Michael Summers and James Trefil

"Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets and the New Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System" (Smithsonian Books, 2017) by Michael Summers and James Trefil

Credit: Ron Miller/Jody Billert


The search for planets beyond Earth's solar system has revealed countless surprises, including the existence of strange and unexpected worlds that astronomers would have never imagined existed only a few decades ago. A new book titled "Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets and the New Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System" (Smithsonian Books, 2017) explores the history of exoplanet research, illustrates the many different types of planets that have been discovered to date and discusses how astronomers plan to further study these newfound alien worlds. ~Samantha Mathewson

You can read an interview with the authors here.

'Asteroid Hunters' (Simon & Schuster, 2017)

By Carrie Nugent

"Asteroid Hunters" (Simon & Schuster, 2017) by Carrie Nugent.

Credit: Simon & Schuster


The solar system is a wild place, and even Earth's immediate neighborhood is much more chaotic than maps would suggest — researchers discover more than 100 near-Earth asteroids every month. A new book by Carrie Nugent, an asteroid researcher from Caltech, goes through how we find asteroids and near-Earth objects and what we would do if one was heading toward us. "Asteriod Hunters" (Simon & Schuster, 2017) is a quick overview of the growing field, giving a feel for how science is done and where we'll have to pick up speed to protect Earth — plus, a visceral understanding of exactly how much risk is out there. ~Sarah Lewin

Read an interview with Nugent on the book and the latest in asteroid hunting here.

'Earth in Human Hands' (Grand Central Publishing, 2016)

By David Grinspoon

"Earth in Human Hands" (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) by David Grinspoon

Credit: Grand Central Publishing


Over the past century, humankind's influence over our environment has increased dramatically. Astrobiologist and planetary scientist David Grinspoon argues that our species is arriving at a point that lifeforms across the galaxy may face — become self-sustaining or perish. In "Earth in Human Hands," Grinspoon explores the ways that, for good or bad, humans have seized control of the planet. The choice is whether we do so mindlessly, or whether we act in a responsible, considerate manner. Such a dilemma may be common to all life, and the most successful, long-lasting civilizations in the galaxy may live on planets they have engineered to be stable over extensive periods of time, making them more difficult to identify than rapidly-expanding societies. ~Nola Redd

You can read an interview with Grinspoon (and watch video clips of him discussing the book with Space.com) here.

NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe (Firefly Books, 2016)

by Terence Dickinson

"NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe," Revised Fourth Edition, by Terence Dickinson

Credit: Firefly Books


"NightWatch" is the perfect introduction to astronomy and stargazing. It has been the top-selling stargazing guide for over 20 years. Now in its revised fourth edition, the book contains everything you need to know about what's up in the sky through the year 2025. The bookre chapter is dedicated to stargazing technology, like binoculars and telescopes. "NightWatch" assumes that the reader has no prior experience with astronomy. It is clear and concise enough for any beginner to understand, but is pac is filled with star charts, tables with information about stargazing events and incredible photos of space. An entiked with information that even the most experienced stargazers will find comes in handy. ~Hanneke Weitering

Watch our gift guide video about the book here.

Buy NightWatch on Amazon.com.

'The Glass Universe' (Viking, 2016)

By Dava Sobel

"The Glass Universe" follows the women of the Harvard College Observatory and their groundbreaking measurements of the stars.

Credit: Viking


"The Glass Universe" highlights the remarkable story of how a group of women, called "computers," shaped the field of astronomy during the mid-19th century — when women were not typically employed outside the home. At that time, astronomers relied on grounded telescopes to record nightly observations of the stars. Women computers at the Harvard College Ovesrvatory were then tasked with interpreting those observations, captured on photographic glass plates. Author Dava Sobel follows the stories of several women, which she collected from old diaries, letters and published observatory log books. Based on their calculations, these women — including Williamina Fleming, Antonia Maury, Henrietta Leavitt, Annie Jump Cannon and Cecilia Payne — made some of the most fundamental discoveries of our universe. ~Samantha Mathewson

Read a Q&A with Sobel about the book here.

'Facts From Space!' (Adams Media, 2016)

By Dean Regas

"Facts From Space!" by Dean Regas

Credit: Adams Media, 2016


For any space fan looking to learn crazy, fun facts about the universe, "Facts From Space!" is a great place to start. Dean Regas, an astronomer and public outreach educator for the Cincinnati Observatory, has gathered together all the cool, quirky and mind-blowing facts you probably never knew you'd want to know about the universe. Regas chronicles everything from the sometimes silly adventures of space travelers in Earth's orbit and on the moon to black holes, galaxies and nebulas far away in deep space, listing all the best facts about the universe in a way that is fun and easy to read. Readers of all ages can understand and appreciate the contents of this book. No attention span is necessary to enjoy it — flip to any page and you'll find a handful of short facts and cartoons that make learning about space a simple and entertaining experience. ~Hanneke Weitering

Space.com spoke with Dean Regas about making "Facts From Space!" exciting and accessible here.

'Spooky Action at a Distance' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015)

By George Musser

"Spooky Action at a Distance" by George Musser

Credit: Farrar, Straus and Giroux


Space and time are weird. Human understanding of the universe relies on space and time separating things — one object cannot affect another unless they're touching, or unless object A sends an intermediary out to touch object B, like a photon bouncing off of something and into your eye. All very straightforward, and good for scientific investigation.

But the problem is, there are hints that nature doesn't actually work that way. This new book by science writer George Musser delves into the different ways that scientists are grappling with this concept of "nonlocality" — what Albert Einstein famously called "spooky action at a distance" in the quantum mechanics world. Particles that are entangled affect each other instantaneously even when separated; paradoxical black holes can be explained if the stuff sucked in exists inside their gravitational pull and on the surface at the same time. Musser explores the history of humans grappling with nonlocality and what these strange effects are teaching quantum mechanics researchers, astronomers, cosmologists and more about how the universe works — and while doing so, showing the messy, nonlinear and fascinating way researchers push forward to understand the physical world. ~Sarah Lewin

Read a Q&A with George Musser about his new book and the nature of reality here.

'Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy' (W. W. Norton, 1994)

By Kip Thorne

"Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy" by Kip Thorne.

Credit: W.W. Norton & Company


Theoretical astrophysicist Kip Thorne has spent his career exploring topics that once seemed relegated to science fiction, such as whether time travel is possible, and how humans could potentially travel from galaxy to galaxy via wormholes. In "Black Holes and Time Warps," Thorne provides an introduction to these and other mind-bending topics, at a level appropriate for nonscientists. The book is not a light read — it goes deeper into the science than many pop physics books — but Thorne is the perfect person to take readers on this journey: He's a patient and entertaining teacher, and he never loses the thread of the story. On top of the science lessons, Thorne introduces a cast of characters who pushed these fields forward, and chronicles the fight by American and Russian physicists to continue scientific collaboration during the Cold War. (Twenty years after its publication, Thorne talked with Space.com about the new science he would add to the book.) ~Calla Cofield

'Cosmos' (Random House, 1980)

By Carl Sagan

"Cosmos" by Carl Sagan.

Credit: Random House


"Cosmos," by famed astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan, is a deep dive into the history of science, philosophy and the universe. The book acts as a partner with Sagan's beloved 1980s TV show, "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage." This book is a beautiful glimpse inside one of the greatest scientific minds in history. While some of it may seem dated, the book still stands up as one of the best popular science books ever written, and the language is just beautiful. ~Miriam Kramer

'The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark' (Ballantine Books/Random House, 1995)

By Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

"The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.

Credit: Ballantine Books


Sagan was one of the 20th century's greatest ambassadors and popularizers of science, and he doesn't disappoint in "The Demon-Haunted World." The book explains to laypeople just what science is, and how researchers use the process of scientific inquiry to understand the universe around us. There's a lot of debunking in "The Demon-Haunted World" — of alien encounters, channeling and other paranormal experiences — and Sagan even provides readers a "baloney detection kit" to help them navigate a confusing and chaotic world. Like other Sagan works, this one is a fun and engaging read, but a great deal of ambition lurks beneath the fluid prose, as this quote from the book reveals: "If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness." ~Mike Wall

'Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension' (Oxford University Press, 1994)

By Michio Kaku

"Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension" by Michio Kaku.

Credit: Anchor


Our brains evolved to comprehend the world around us on a local and accessible scale. We're really not equipped to understand the universe as a 10-dimensional entity — and yet "Hyperspace" explains this revolutionary idea in such a lucid and engaging way that it makes a good deal of sense. By the time you're done reading this book, you'll have a pretty solid grasp of why Kaku and other scientists think the basic forces in our universe — electromagnetism, gravity and the strong and weak nuclear forces — may actually just be vibrations in higher-dimensional space. And it's an extremely fun read, too, with excursions into such sexy topics as parallel universes, time travel and wormholes. For example, did you know that you might be able to create a wormhole in your own kitchen using just an ice cube and a pressure cooker? All you have to do is figure out a way to heat the ice cube up to a temperature of 10³² degrees Kelvin. ~Mike Wall

We're adding to these lists all the time; let us know your favorites in the comments below!

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. 

The Most Distant Massive Galaxy Observed to Date Provides Insight into the Early Universe

The Most Distant Massive Galaxy Observed to Date Provides Insight into the Early Universe:

In their pursuit of learning how our Universe came to be, scientists have probed very deep into space (and hence, very far back in time). Ultimately, their goal is to determine when the first galaxies in our Universe formed and what effect they had on cosmic evolution. Recent efforts to locate these earliest formations have probed to distances of up to 13 billion light-years from Earth – i.e. about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

From this, scientist are now able to study how early galaxies affected matter around them – in particular, the reionization of neutral atoms. Unfortunately, most early galaxies are very faint, which makes studying their interiors difficult. But thanks to a recent survey conducted by an international team of astronomers, a more luminous, massive galaxy was spotted that could provide a clear look at how early galaxies led to reionization.

The study which details their findings, titled “ISM Properties of a Massive Dusty Star-forming Galaxy Discovered at z ~ 7“, was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy  in Bonn, Germany, the team relied on data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ survey and ALMA to spot a galaxy that existed 13 billion years ago (just 800 million years after the Big Bang).

Illustration of the depth by which Hubble imaged galaxies in prior Deep Field initiatives, in units of the Age of the Universe. Credit: NASA and A. Feild (STScI)

In accordance with Big Bang model of cosmology, reionization refers to the process that took place after the period known as the “Dark Ages”. This occurred between 380,000 and 150 million years after the Big Bang, where most of the photons in the Universe were interacting with electrons and protons. As a result, the radiation of this period is undetectable by our current instruments – hence the name.

Just prior to this period, the “Recombination” occurred, where hydrogen and helium atoms began to form. Initially ionized (with no electrons bound to their nuclei) these molecules gradually captured ions as the Universe cooled, becoming neutral. During the period that followed – i.e. between 150 million to 1 billion years after the Big Bang – the large-scale structure of the Universe began to form.

Intrinsic to this was the process of reionization, where the first stars and quasars formed and their radiation reionized the surrounding Universe. It is therefore clear why astronomers want to probe this era of the Universe. By observing the first stars and galaxies, and what effect they had on the cosmos, astronomers will get a clearer picture of how this early period led to the Universe as we know it today.

Luckily for the research team, the massive, star-forming galaxies of this period are known to contain a great deal of dust. While very faint in the optical band, these galaxies emit strong radiation at submillimeter wavelengths, which makes them detectable using today’s advanced telescopes – including the South Pole Telescope (SPT), the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), and Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope captured this stunning infrared image of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where the black hole Sagitarrius A resides. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the sake of their study, Strandet and Weiss relied on data from the SPT to detect a series of dusty galaxies from the early Universe. As Maria Strandet and Axel Weiss of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (and the lead author and co-authors on the study, respectively) told Universe Today via email:

“We have used light of about 1 mm wavelength, which can be observed by mm telescopes like SPT, APEX or ALMA. At this wavelength the photons are produced by the thermal radiation of dust. The beauty of using this long wavelength is, that for a large redshift range (look back time), the dimming of galaxies [caused] by increasing distance is compensated by the redshift – so the observed intensity is independent of the redshift. This is because, for higher redshift galaxies, one is looking at intrinsically shorter wavelengths (by (1+z)) where the radiation is stronger for a thermal spectrum like the dust spectrum.”

This was followed by data from ALMA, which the team used to determine the distance of the galaxies by looking at the redshifted wavelength of carbon monoxide molecules in their interstellar mediums (ISM). From all the data they collected, they were able to constrain the properties of one of these galaxies – SPT0311-58 – by observing its spectral lines. In so doing, they determined that this galaxy existed just 760 million years after the Big Bang.

“Since the signal strength at 1mm is independent of the redshift (look back time), we do not have an a priori clue if an object is relatively near (in the cosmological sense) or at the epoch of reionization,” they said. “That is why we undertook a large survey to determine the redshifts via the emission of molecular lines using ALMA. SPT0311-58 turns out to be the highest redshift object discovered in this survey and in fact the most distant massive dusty star-forming galaxy so far discovered.”

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field seen in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI)

From their observations, they also determined that SPT0311-58 has a mass of about 330 billion Solar-masses, which is about 66 times as much as the Milky Way Galaxy (which has about 5 billion Solar-masses). They also estimated that it is forming new stars at a rate of several thousand per year, which could as be the case for neighboring galaxies that are dated to this period.

This rare and distant object is one of the best candidates yet for studying what the early Universe looked like and how it has evolved since. This in turn will allow astronomers and cosmologists to test the theoretical basis for the Big Bang Theory. As Strandet and Weiss told Universe Today about their discovery:

“These objects are important to understanding the evolution of galaxies as a whole since the large amounts of dust already present in this source, only 760 million years after the Big Bang, means that it is an extremely massive object. The mere fact that such massive galaxies already existed when the Universe was still so young puts strong constraints on our understanding of galaxy mass buildup. Furthermore the dust needs to form in a very short time, which gives additional insights on the dust production from the first stellar population.”

The ability to look deeper into space, and farther back in time, has led to many surprising discoveries of late. And these have in turn challenged some of our assumptions about what happened in the Universe, and when. And in the end, they are helping scientists to create a more detailed and complete account of cosmic evolution. Someday soon, we might even be able to probe the earliest moments in the Universe, and watch creation in action!

Further Reading: CfA, The Astrophysical Journal Letters



The post The Most Distant Massive Galaxy Observed to Date Provides Insight into the Early Universe appeared first on Universe Today.

Prelude to Totality: A Final Look at the Total Solar Eclipse

Prelude to Totality: A Final Look at the Total Solar Eclipse:

Totality! The view during the November 2012 total solar eclipse. Image credit and copyright: Sharin Ahmad (@Shahgazer)

It’s hard to believe: we’re now just one short weekend away from the big ticket astronomical event for 2017, as a total solar eclipse is set to cross over the contiguous United States on Monday, August 21^st.

Celestial mechanics is a sure thing in this Universe, a certainty along with death and taxes that you can bet on. But there are still a few key question marks leading up to eclipse day, things that we can now finally make intelligent assumptions about a few days out.

Although totality slices through the U.S., partial phases of the eclipse touch on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Credit: Michael Zeiler/The Great American Eclipse.

First up is solar activity. If you’re like us, you’ll be showing off the Sun in both visible and hydrogen alpha as the Moon begins making its slow hour long creep across the disk of Sol. First, the good news: sunspot active region AR 2671 made its Earthward debut on Tuesday August 15^th, and will most likely stick around until eclipse day. The bad news is, it most likely won’t have lots of friends, as solar cycle #24 begins its long slow ebb towards the solar minimum in 2019-2020. Likewise, I wouldn’t expect to see any magnificent sprouting red prominences in the solar chromosphere in the seconds bracketing totality, though we could always be pleasantly surprised.

The Earthward face of Sol as of August 17, four days before totality. Sunspot AR 2671 is robust and growing in complexity. Credit: NASA/SDO/HMI

How will the white hot corona appear during totality? This is the signature climax of any total solar eclipse: veteran umbraphiles can actually glance at a photo of totality and tell you which eclipse it was from, just on the shape of the corona. The National Solar Observatory released a model of what that Sun’s magnetosphere was doing one Carrington rotation (27 days) prior to the eclipse on July 25th, a pretty good predictor of the corona might look like during those fleeting moments of totality:

The shape of the field lines of the solar corona, one rotation prior to the August 21st total solar eclipse. Credit: The National Solar Observatory.

NASA will be chasing the umbra of the Moon with two converted W-57 aircraft during the eclipse, hoping to unlock the “coronal heating paradox,” image Mercury in the infrared, and hunt for elusive Vulcanoid asteroids near the eclipsed Sun.

The view of the corona during totality? This computational model was derived from NASA SDO data during the last solar rotation. Credit: Predictive Science Inc.

The corona is about twice as bright as a Full Moon, and its interface with the solar wind extends out past the Earth. The very onset of totality is like the footstep of a giant passing over the landscape, as the door of reality is suddenly ripped open, revealing the span of the glittering solar system at midday. Keep your eyes peeled for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and twinkling Regulus tangled up in the corona, just a degree from the Sun-Moon pair:

The line up of the planets, bright stars and the eclipsed Sun during totality at 2:37 PM EDT as seen from Franklin, North Carolina. Credit: Stellarium.

Also, be sure to scan the local horizon for a strange 360 degree sunset as you stand in the umbra of the Moon. An “eclipse wind” may kick up, as temperatures plummet and nature is fooled by the false dawn, causing chickens to come home to roost and nocturnal animals to awaken. I dare you to blink. Totality can affect the human heart as well, causing tears to cries of surprise.

Here’s an interesting, though remote, possibility. Could a sungrazing “eclipse comet” photo bomb the show? Karl Battams (@SungrazerComets) raises this question on a recent Planetary Society blog post. Battams works with the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which has discovered an amazing 3,358 comets crossing the field of view of its LASCO imagers since 1995. Comets have been discovered during eclipses before, most notably in 1882 and 1948. To be sure, it’s a remote possibility this late in the game, but Battams promises to give us one last quick look via SOHO the morning of the eclipse on his Twitter feed to see if any cometary interlopers are afoot.

The possible search area for Kreutz group sungrazers during the August 21st eclipse. Credit: Karl Battams.

Now, on to the biggest question mark going into this eclipse weekend: what’s the weather going to be like during the eclipse? This is the ever-dominating factor on everyone’s mind leading up to eclipse day. Keep in mind, the partial phases are long; even a partly cloudy sky will afford occasional glimpses of the Sun during the partial phases of an eclipse. Totality, however, is fleeting – 2 minutes and 40 seconds near Hopkinsville, Kentucky and less for most – meaning even a solitary cumulus cloud drifting across the Sun at the wrong moment can spoil the view. No weather model can predict the view of the sky to that refined a level. And while best bets are still out west, lingering forest fires in Oregon are a concern, along early morning fog on the western side of the Cascade Mountains. Michael Zeiler over at The Great American Eclipse has been providing ESRI models of the cloud cover over the eclipse path for Monday… here’s the outlook as of Thursday, August 17^th:

A look at cloud cover prospects over the eclipse path as of August 17. Credit: Michael Zeiler/Great American Eclipse/ESRI.

Computer models should begin to come into agreement this weekend, a good sign that we know what the weather is going to do Monday. Needless to say, a deviation from the standard climate models could send lots of folks scrambling down the path at the last minute… I’ve heard of folks with up to 5 (!) separate reservations along the path of totality, no lie…

The NOAA also has a fine site dedicated to weather and cloud coverage across the path come eclipse day, and Skippy Sky is another great resource aimed at sky viewing and cloud cover.

Clouded out? The good folks at the Virtual Telescope have got you covered, with a webcast for the total solar eclipse starting at 17:00 UT/1:00 PM EDT:

Credit: The Virtual Telescope Project.

Of course, you’ll need to use proper solar viewing methods during all partial phases of the eclipse. This means either using a telescope with a filter specifically designed to look at the Sun, a pin hole projector, or certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses. If you’ve got an extra pair, why not convert them into a safe filter for those binoculars or a small telescope as well:

Also be wary of heatstroke, standing out showing folks the partially eclipsed Sun for an hour or more. It is August, and heat exhaustion can come on in a hurry. Be sure you have access to shade and stay cool and hydrated in the summer Sun.

Finally, eyes from space will be watching the eclipse from the International Space Station as well. Looking out at Monday, the ISS will pass through the penumbra of the Moon and see partial phases of the eclipse three times centered on 16:32, 18:20, and 20:00 Universal Time. The center time is particularly intriguing, as astros have a chance to see the dark umbral shadow of the Moon crossing the central U.S. This also means that eclipse viewers on planet Earth around southern Illinois might want to glance northward briefly, to spy the ISS during totality. Also, viewers along a line along southern central Canada will have a chance to catch an ISS transit across the face of the partially eclipsed Sun around the same time. Check CALSky for details.

Three passes of the International Space Station versus the path of of totality. The inset shows the view of the partially eclipsed Sun as seen from the ISS. Credit: NASA/JSC.

We’ll be at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in southwestern North Carolina, for a glorious 104 seconds of totality. We expect to be out of wifi range come eclipse day, but we’ll tweet out key eclipse milestones as @Astroguyz. We also plan on writing up the eclipse experience with state-by-state testimonials post eclipse.

Perhaps, the August 21st total solar eclipse will bring us all together for one brief moment, to witness the grandest of astronomical spectacles. We’re lucky to share a small patch of time and space where total solar eclipses are possible.  Good luck, clear skies, and see you on the other side early next week!

• Read more about the August 21^st total solar eclipse and the true tale of Edison’s chickens and the 1878 eclipse in our free e-book: 101 Astronomical Events for 2017.
• The oldest video featuring totality? Read the mystery of the August 21^st, 1914 over war torn Europe and this amazing video over Sweden.
• Eclipse… sci-fi? Read our original eclipse-fueled tales Exeligmos, Shadowfall, Peak Season and more.
• Read our CNN Op-Ed, Why We Chase Eclipses.

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