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Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

*This doesn't deal with ET, so will place this here. 

I found these goodies tucked inside my recent issue of Astronomy magazine online.  From "Astrobytes" column (can't link to it; must copy and paste):

***
Future missions will look for origins

NASA recently selected nine studies from 26 submissions to investigate further for its Astronomical Search for Origins Program. Each of the nine studies listed below will have 8 months to develop and refine its concept for a mission that would complement the program's ongoing science goals. The Origins Program seeks to understand where we came from. — Laura Baird

Studying the far-infrared universe, BLISS will enable spectroscopy of some of the farthest galaxies known. The principal investigator for BLISS is Matt Bradford of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The Origins Billion Star Survey (OBSS) will survey extrasolar planets within our solar system and study stars within 30,000 light-years of the Sun. The principal investigator for OBSS is Kenneth Johnston of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.

The very high angular resolution of the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) will advance research about star and planet formation. This principal investigator for SPIRIT is David Leisawitz of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

By conducting a space-based near-infrared large-area redshift survey, the Cosmic Inflation Probe (CIP) will detect galaxies that formed during the early universe. The principal investigator for CIP is Gary Melnick of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In addition to investigating star formation, the High Orbit Ultraviolet-visible Satellite (HORUS) will probe the origin of elements and cosmic structures as well as the compositions of atmospheres on extrasolar planets. The principal investigator for HORUS is Jon Morse of Arizona State University.

The Hubble Origins Probe aims to use tools developed for the fifth Hubble servicing mission, which was cancelled, to focus on the time when star and planet formation was at its highest. The principal investigator for this study is Colin Norman of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

By mapping matter in the early universe, the Baryonic Structure Probe will bolster observational cosmology. The principal investigator for this project is Kenneth Sembach of the Space Science Telescope Institute in Baltimore.

The Galaxy Evolution and Origins Probe (GEOP) will observe more than 5 million galaxies to study long-term changes in star formation as well as in galaxy size and brightness. The principal investigator for GEOP is Rodger Thompson of the University of Arizona.
***

--Cindy 

P.S.:  Yes, I -do- feel like a kid in a candy store when reading this.       :laugh:

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,946

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

Part of this deals with the possibility of Hubble 2 utilizing the built equipment from the 5th Hubble cancelled repair mission.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

Part of this deals with the possibilty of Hubble 2 utilizing the built equipment from the 5th hubble cancelled repair mission.

*Hi SpaceNut.  Yep. 

The Origins Billion Star Survey and the High Orbit Ultraviolet-visible Satellite (HORUS) interest me the most.   

Especially that tantalizing tidbit about studying the atmospheric compositions of extrasolar planets. 

--Cindy 

---

We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,946

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

I think you will like this article also on telescopes then.

"Universities plan to build largest telescope
Scientists say device will produce better images than Hubble"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5613702/

Also would not the extrasolar planets atmospheric compositions be best studied for a space telescope rather than an Earth based one.

Morris

Banned

From: Little Rock, Arkansas

Registered: 2004-07-16

Posts: 218

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

The Galaxy Evolution and Origins Probe (GEOP) will observe more than 5 million galaxies to study long-term changes in star formation as well as in galaxy size and brightness. The principal investigator for GEOP is Rodger Thompson of the University of Arizona

Wow! I will sure be interested in seeing how they can process all that data in a reasonable period of time.

P.S.:  Yes, I -do- feel like a kid in a candy store when reading this.       :laugh:

Yes, sometimes when I read all the differences of opinion and squabbles about the usefulness of one thing or another in the manned space program I get discouraged and start to wonder whether or not its worth it in terms of the expenditure of taxpayer dollars. But then I think about Hubble and read about projects like these and no longer have any doubts.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

I think you will like this article also on telescopes then.

"Universities plan to build largest telescope
Scientists say device will produce better images than Hubble"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5613702/]ht … d/5613702/

*Well of course it'll be bigger (than any 'scope currently in existence) -and- better than Hubble...it's coming from Texas!      :laugh:  Wanna bet they slap a big Lone Star flag on its side? 

Article:  Scientists say that the proposed $400 million Giant Magellan Telescope would collect 70 times more light than NASA's successful Hubble Space Telescope and could produce images that are 10 times sharper...

*Well, I wish this venture all the luck of course.  It'll be set in Chile.  :up:

SpaceNut:  Also would not the extrasolar planets atmospheric compositions be best studied for a space telescope rather than an Earth based one.

*I dislike making presumptions...but I'll make an exception:  I'd presume so.  All Earth-based 'scopes still have to deal with a certain amount of atmospheric conditions and distortion -- even if they are perched atop a high Chilean mountain.

--Cindy

---

We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

SBird

Banned

Registered: 2004-03-10

Posts: 490

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2004/0 … .html]here

A link to the official web page.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: 9 Studies:  More and more!

http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2004/0 … .html]here

A link to the official web page.

*Great!  Thanks.  Easier on the eye than the column format I had to use. 

Will check out the other info in it as well.

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)