Supernova Alert!!
According to today's April 11 IAU Circular 8934, issued by the
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams at the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts a 7th-magnitude nova was discovered on
April 10, 2008, by Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima in Japan. It's time to
observe!
Mars Mesas Stripped of Sand, Forming Dunes: Amazing Images from HiRISE
There seems to be a never-ending flow of stunning images
coming from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on board
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). In today's high-resolution look at the
Martian surface, large flat-topped hills (a.k.a. mesas) can be seen to be eroded
by the Mars winds, stripping them of their material, creating sand dunes
downwind. An incredible site, it shows just how dynamic and powerful the Martian
winds really are
Russian Memorial for Space Dog Laika
On Friday Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika, the
pioneering dog that led the way to manned spaceflight on November 3rd, 1957. Her
little memorial is a model dog standing atop a rocket near a military research
facility in Moscow. When she made the historic flight into space on board
Sputnik II, very little was known about the effects of launch and zero-gravity
on an animal and Laika wasn't thought to make it. Due to her being so small and
hardy, she made it into orbit, but this was a one way ticket, she had no idea
there would be no coming home… be warned, this isn't a happy tale…
Shortest Single-Photon Pulse Generated: Implications for Quantum Communications in Space
Scientists at Oxford University have developed a method to
generate the shortest ever single-photon pulse by removing the interference of
quantum entanglement. So how big are these tiny record-breakers? They are 20
microns long (or 0.000001 metres), with a period of 65 femtoseconds (65
millionths of a billionth of a second). This experiment smashes the previous
record for the shortest single-photon pulse; the Oxford photon is 50 times
shorter. While this sounds pretty cool, what is all the fuss about? How can
these tiny electromagnetic wave-particles be of any use? In two words:
quantum computing. And in an additional three words: quantum
satellite communications…
The Value of Space Exploration
Read any debate about space exploration, and
this question will invariably come up. "Why should we be spending money
exploring space when there are so many problems here on Earth that we need to
solve first?" It's a tricky one. I've got a simple answer; space
exploration is awesome. Come on, think of space ships traveling to other worlds
- that's really cool.
Okay, perhaps I've got too simplistic an argument, so I turned to the astrosphere and posed the question to other space bloggers. Here's what they had to say
Phoenix Spacecraft Maneuvers for Mars Landing
Looking towards a May 25 landing for the Phoenix Mars Lander,
the navigation team for mission adjusted the flight path for the spacecraft on
April 10. "This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location
in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix
navigation team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission's two prior
trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, put the spacecraft on target
to just intersect with Mars. But this recent maneuver put it on course to land
at a site called “Green Valley,” a broad, flat valley in Mars north polar
region. NASA announced they have "conditionally" approved this site, but a final
decision has yet to be made. And why, you ask, hasn’t a final decision been made
on a landing site at this late date?
Space Debris Illustrated: The Problem in Pictures
Space junk, space debris, space waste — call it what you
want, but just as junk and waste cause problems here on Earth, in space spent
booster stages, nuts and bolts from ISS construction, various accidental
discards such as spacesuit gloves and cameras, and fragments from exploded
spacecraft could turn into a serious problem for the future of spaceflight if
actions to mitigate the threat are not taken now. The European Space Operations
Centre has put together some startling images highlighting this issue. Above is
a depiction of the trackable objects in orbit around Earth in low Earth orbit
(LEO–the fuzzy cloud around Earth), geostationary Earth orbit (GEO — farther
out, approximately 35,786 km (22,240 miles) above Earth) and all points in
between.
More about each article see..www.universetoday.com
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| This is a new tool for US and Canadian readers. Just enter your zip code and it tells you about satellites due to fly over your area in the nights ahead. There are hundreds of spacecraft in Earth orbit; we cut through the confusion by narrowing the list to a half-dozen or so of the most interesting. At the moment we're monitoring Jules Verne, the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Genesis prototype space hotel. Feedback is welcomed. |
2 comments on Astronomy News 4/12/08
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This is cool reading. I really did enjoy this.