New Discoveries *3* - ...MORE deep space, extraplanetary, etc.

Euler · 2004-08-24 00:35:56

Better yet, use a telescope. Through the eyepiece Uranus looks star-like, a speck, but using a CCD camera, you can resolve the planet's disk..."

It should look a bit like http://www.eso.org/outreach/gallery/vlt … .html]this.

Palomar · 2004-08-24 06:18:29

Better yet, use a telescope. Through the eyepiece Uranus looks star-like, a speck, but using a CCD camera, you can resolve the planet's disk..."
It should look a bit like http://www.eso.org/outreach/gallery/vlt … .html]this.

*Hi Euler: Thanks. Nice image and short article. I love the names "Titania" and "Puck" for moons. IIRC, Titania was a Faerie Queen and Puck was a mischievous and prankish (albeit -not- malicious) bit of a character. I wonder if they still celebrate the Puck Festival in Ireland? :hm: IIRC, a little goat was named Puck King for a day or whatever; I have a book somewhere in my closet with a picture (from decades ago) of one of the Puck Festivals. A little girl was feeding a bit of hay (?) to a small young goat wearing a crown on its head.

-*-

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … tml]Cosmic Forecast? Partly Cloudy!

*Spectacular image; soft purples and blues. Taken by an amateur astronomer with the help of a pro via Kitt Peak's program (link at the bottom). Enviable! Three images stitched together. Looks like they did a fine job of it.

Such a rich field.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-08-24 11:56:21

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/e … Extrasolar planet detected w/small backyard 'scope

*Geez! Incredible. Is a "Super Jupiter" type planet. Check out the size of the 'scope.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-08-25 16:10:00

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020327.html]Yipes. :-\

*Black lava...

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-02 10:45:48

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 292004]200 million Suns bright

*Hubble image. This supernova discovered by a Japanese amateur astronomer in August, who used a small telescope at the time! Supernova resides "on the outskirts" of galaxy NGC 2403, which is 11 million light years away.

Article notes this is the nearest supernova seen in more than a decade.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-03 13:39:20

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/040903_ … ml]Mercury back in sight!

*I didn't know that, in ancient times, it had a double name: It was called "Mercury" when visible in the evenings and "Apollo" when visible before sunrise. Pythagoras is attributed as having pointed out it was the same planet.

Here's an interesting item about rotation and orbit which others have tried to describe before, but this is the best explanation of this phenomenon I've yet seen (and I don't say that insultingly...I doubt I could explain it adequately either!):

"Mercury rotates on its axis three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun. But when it arrives at perihelion (as it will on September 13) Mercury’s orbital velocity will exceed its rotational speed. As a consequence, a hypothetical observer standing on Mercury would see a sight unique in our entire solar system. Over the course of eight days (fours days before perihelion to four days after perihelion), the Sun would appear to reverse its course across the sky, then double back and resume its normal track across the sky.

If our observer were located on that part of Mercury where the Sun were to rise around the time of perihelion, the Sun would appear to partially come up above the eastern horizon, pause and then drop back below the horizon, followed in rapid succession by a second sunrise!"

*That would be something to see. Too bad we're stuck on 1 planet (for now), and with such short lives. :*(

Article says between now and Sept. 23, " All you have to do is just look low above the eastern horizon during morning twilight, from about 30 to 45 minutes before sunrise for a bright yellowish-orange 'star.'"

--Cindy

P.S.: I probably won't get to see the little bugger because of the mountain ranges to the east of where I live.

Palomar · 2004-09-07 07:43:11

*New finds (and technical abstracts):

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … iter-sized planet found transiting bright K0V star

Hot]http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=13885]"Hot Saturn" planet orbiting HD 88133

"The N2K consortium is carrying out a distributed observing campaign with the Keck, Magellan and Subaru telescopes, as well as the automatic photometric telescopes of Fairborn Observatory, in order to search for short-period gas giant planets around metal-rich stars..."

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040905.html]New view of a "golden oldie"

Digital combination from Kitt Peak and Hubble. Looks like a wreath of roses woven throughout. :;):

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-07 14:36:32

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … agnificent!

*The Stingray Nebula.

It has the honor of being *the youngest known planetary nebula*; 25 years ago it wasn't visible in the sky, according to the article.

Lovely "inward folding" at each "corner." It also looks like a greenish opal tucked in a ring setting.

"The Stingray Nebula is an 'infant' in relative terms, because only within the past 25 years did its central star rapidly heat up enough to make the nebula glow. While stars typically exist for millions of years, the transition to a visible planetary nebula takes only about 100 years — the blink of an eye compared to a star's lifetime - which is why no younger planetary nebulae have ever been identified."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-09 08:50:03

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … ml]Blowing bubbles and rings

*Not a "new" find...but a new view of it, courtesy of (what else?) Hubble. Definitely the loveliest image of it yet.

Revealing new detail of a series of concentric rings.

"The concentric rings are actually shells or bubbles of expelled gas and dust, only their edges being evident. The new view, released today, reveals at least 11 of these bubbles, seen like layers of an onion when sliced in half...

Scientists have only recently learned that the formation of these rings is likely to be the rule rather than the exception with planetary nebulas. That is a surprise, because researchers didn't expect dying stars to expel mass at regular intervals."

--Cindy

::edit:: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040910.html]Astropix Details seem clearer and crisper via Astropix hosting.

Palomar · 2004-09-10 07:14:29

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040909.html]Triple Delight

*Ah, the lovely Lagoon Nebula. With the Trifid's blue and red beneath it. When I die, I'll take the Grand Tour of the Universe...and this will definitely be a priority on the itinerary. :;):

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-09-10 08:04:27

Photo may be first of extrasolar planet
A group of European-led astronomers has made a photograph of what appears to be a planet orbiting another star. If so, it would be the first confirmed picture of a world beyond our solar system.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/1 … index.html

Palomar · 2004-09-15 07:52:32

http://www.jupitertoday.com/news/viewsr … 879]Atomic chlorine detected in Io's atmosphere

*Hubble and Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph used.

Erm...report's a bit technical.

By the way, that's a pic of the caldera of Tupan Patera on Io.

-*-

http://www.jupitertoday.com/news/viewsr … =13933]1st observation of Jupiter by XMM-Newton

Interesting about Jupiter's auroral emissions...

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-15 09:19:38

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter- … tml]Beware: Io Dust!

*This is a fantastic article. :up: A definite "must-read."

Also mentions Jupiters]http://www.saturntoday.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=9775]Jupiter's dark rings. (That article has been posted previously by me...I rarely repost a link, but this is a worthy exception).

The interaction of Io's ash/dust, Jupiter's gravity, magnetism, velocity -- what a story. :band:

--Cindy

P.S.: Seems so much of what I'm reading today deals either with Jupiter itself or the Jovian system. -laugh-

Palomar · 2004-09-16 06:34:14

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 71]Testing for the "Pioneer anomaly" on Pluto mission?

*Short and sweet article.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-20 07:19:03

*BEFORE you read the caption beneath the photo, what do you think it is? (When I download the page, only the photo can be seen...must scroll down to read the caption.)

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … 0.html]The Firefly

Not a "new discovery," but didn't want to start a new thread. First such pic I've seen. Eerie but very beautiful. Nice "aside of sorts" to our usual chit-chat at New Mars. Nice to get another peek at goings-on through astronauts' eyes.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-09-20 08:12:29

I peeked, I admit it!

I couldn't help it (sob). I stared at the picture for nearly (sniffle) a whole minute ... you have to believe me, I didn't want to do it. (sob). My eyes wandered down to the text .. and before I knew what was happening (blub), I'd read it! ... I'm a cheat and a failure ... WAAAHHH!!!!!
:bars:

:laugh:

Palomar · 2004-09-20 11:29:28

*Hmmmm...does someone here drink too much caffeine before turning in for the night? Nightmares about The Firefly... :hm: I hope not.

I never could have guessed what it was...which is why I suggested others give it a shot first.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010205.html]The Ant Nebula

*They should rename it The Conjoined Jellyfish Nebula.
Delicate colors. And that rich star field! Nice pic.

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010214.html]
Rosette Nebula

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap0003 … Reflection nebula in Orion

*Reminds me of the silhouette of a man...shoulders, neck, head. This is the largest image of it I've yet seen.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-09-20 17:13:05

Yeah. I couldn't figure out what that picture was either.
At first, I wondered whether it was an overexposed shot of Venus in the sky, with someone's head silhouetted against it. But I couldn't work out what the long thin thing was, sticking out of the person's head!

Hence the inevitable visual drift down to the caption. Curiosity got the better of me very quickly, I'm afraid.

[If the caffeine question was directed at me, no I don't drink coffee after about 4pm. ]

Palomar · 2004-09-21 06:36:24

Ios]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000427.html]Ios]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000427.html]Ios]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000427.html]Io's South Pole: Cliffs and Calderas

*Crazy-quilt image. ::shakes head:: Strange little moon. Its intense volcanic activity is estimated to completely bury its previous surface every million years.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-22 11:32:06

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 04]Mystery at the heart of the Milky Way

*10,000 year-old supernova energy, dark matter, Sagittarius A* (our galaxy's supermassive black hole at the galactic enter) -- ?

"Something is radiating high-energy gamma rays at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, and astronomers aren't sure what it is...

'Science continues to throw out the unexpected as we push back the frontiers of knowledge.' Halliday added, 'The centre of our Galaxy is a mysterious place, home to exotic phenomena such as a black hole and dark matter. Finding out which of these sources produced the gamma-rays will tell us a lot about the processes taking place in the very heart of the Milky Way.'"

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-23 13:30:03

Its]http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/not_comet_pulsar.html?2392004]It's -not- a comet; it's a pulsar

*The Mouse. X-ray image from Chandra. Estimated to be zipping along at 1.3 million mph! Discovered in '87 by radio astronomers at the VLA here in New Mexico. :up:

"Pulsars are known to be rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars -- objects so dense that a mass equal to that of the Sun is packed into a diameter of about 12 miles. Their formation is associated with a Type II supernova, the collapse and subsequent explosion of a massive star...The rapid rotation and strong magnetic field of a pulsar can generate a wind of high-energy matter and antimatter particles that rush out at near the speed of light. These pulsar winds create large, magnetized bubbles of high-energy particles called pulsar wind nebulae."

*The glowing cloud/"bright column of high-energy particles" is about 4 light years in length, but all in all The Mouse extends aprox 55 l/y.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-24 07:42:04

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … dc]Monster collision of galaxies

"...turmoil in the constellation Hydra, where astronomers have spotted two monster galactic clusters slamming together in one of the biggest collisions ever recorded...At 800 million light-years' distance, the crash site is considered relatively close by cosmic standards. The crash itself extends about 3 million light-years across...The larger of the two galactic clusters probably contains 1,000 galaxies, while the smaller one has 300 or so..."

*Good news, folks. Our own Milky Way Galaxy (on the outskirts of the Virgo Cluster) is on a collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-29 12:01:18

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950715.html]Callisto Crater Chain

*Very interesting explanation. :up:

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-09-30 06:54:39

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040929.html]Dawn of the Galaxies

*Thanks Hubble! "Faint red smudges..."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-10-04 12:04:50

*Io's been on my mind quite a bit recently...not sure why (maybe the association with a volcano here on Earth currently in the US headlines...). Anyway:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030120.html]Io at sunset Grayscale image used to check out height of Io's mountains via viewing at sunset. "The above image highlights Mongibello Mons on the far left, a sharp ridge rising so high it would rank among the highest mountains on Earth."

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021218.html]Culann Patera Red- and black-colored lava flows, yellow, green white...crazy. :laugh: But looks like art, too.

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap0206 … Prometheus Plume Poor ravaged little moon...but that's what makes it so unique, right?. "Named for the Greek god who gave mortals fire, the Prometheus plume is visible in every image ever made of the region dating back to the Voyager flybys of 1979 - presenting the possibility that this plume has been continuously active for at least 18 years." Actually 2 plumes are visible in the pic.

-*-

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991220.html]Lava Fountain "The lava plume was so bright it saturated Galileo's camera, and so has been digitally reconstructed in false color." Shooting over a kilometer high.

--Cindy

P.S.: The 3rd post from the top of this page contains a spectacular article about "Io Dust" and its interaction with Jupiter.

::EDIT:: Want to add two more:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970623.html]Eruption on Io Rock and gas "catapulted hundreds of kilometers into space...Io's thin atmosphere and low gravity allow volcanic plumes to rise higher than they would on Earth." It'd be so cool to be able to watch all this in real-time. Having time-lapse video would be beyond terrific (yeah, I can dream on...I know).

Ios]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970428.html]Io's sodium cloud :up: A definite can't-pass-up pic.

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