'WORLD of SPACE and ASTRONOMY'

Weird, Wild & Breaking News Stories in Space and Astronomy from around the World 24/7 delivered free every week with regular updates as they happen.

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Here’s a selection of Astronomy/Space related stories you may find interesting. Be sure to sign up for your own copy of Astro Space News. I absolutely do not disclose your address to anyone! There is no cost and no obligation for this service. Anyone can subscribe by completing the opt in form just over there on the right … see it, do it now! We work 24/7/365 to report the most relevant ‘Astro-Space’ news back to you … virtually as it breaks. Bookmark this page and check back regularly.

For The Media

If you are interested, an interview with astronomer, writer, educator and public lecturer representing Australasian Science Magazine and Editor of Astro Space News, Dave Reneke(Astro-Dave) can be arranged by contacting Dave by Phone/Fax(02) 65 85 2260 Mobile: 0400 636 363 or email Dave for an instant reply to davereneke@gmail.com. David is well experienced talking to the media and presents information in an easy to understand, up to date and informative manner. Interviews can be on any subject, tailored to your requirements.

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Australasian Science is dedicated to Australian and New Zealand science, providing a unique local perspective on scientific developments and issues that other science magazines can’t match. Check out the latest issue NOW: http://www.australasianscience.com.au/  For school & institution rates please contact Control Publications on 03 9500 0015. Fax: (03) 9500 0255 Email science@control.com.au

 LETTERS TO DAVE

 Your letters are welcome on any subject covered by the scope of this newsletter or any aspect of astronomy/space in general. All letters requesting help or advice will be answered personally by me.

 Hi Dave ! 

I'm wondering if changes in the ozone layer over Australia might explain changes in plant behaviour around N.S.W. in Australia.  Does anyone offer current sites with mapping of the ozone layer being updated ?    – Jenny O'.B

 Hi Jenny

Thanks for the interesting question. From some work I did on this some time agao I managed to locate a few sites that might help. Remember this isn't exactly my area of expertise so hopefully you may find links from here. http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/        http://www.cleartheair.nsw.gov.au/about/glossary.aspx

http://woudc.ec.gc.ca/e/ozone/ozoneworld.htm  And try this as well
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Environment/GreenhouseAndAirQuality/CurrentStatus/Ozone.asp

Good luck. Dave  

Excellent News bulletins, thank you. Chickens aren't "ugly".

Regards, Bill.

Heh heh …  G'day Bill.  Yep, I agree, chickens have some pretty good points…  and I kinda like the they taste as well.  Thanks for the kind words about the newsletter. 

Dave

Dave

Thank you for the article published on SpaceDaily. I researched related claims in 2000 and prepared an article for Space.com. Unfortunately the Murchison meteorites had plenty of opportunity to be infested with earthly bacteria. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/murchison_metor_000221.html
( PDF copy here) http://idisk.mac.com/mpaineau-Public/rocks_from_space/meteorite_bacteria.pdf )

Best regards, Michael P.

 Hi Michael

 Thanks very much for the email and the links to those stories. I especially liked your story in Space.Com. I agree there may be contaminative conjecture in the samples taken but I guess we have to work with what we have. Thanks very much for pointing out another side and perspective to this issue. It is appreciated.

 All the best.  

Dave

Dave

I think you're a bit of a bighead.  I hear you on radio all over the place…  how do you remember all that stuff??  Are you serious?

Jason K.  (via direct email from website)

G'day Jason

I make it all up.  And yes I am serious.  By the way, you sound like a jerk….  Are you?

Dave

                         ASTRO DAVE 'SOUNDS OFF' (And yes, there is a resemblance)             

I sent out an email to all regional Aussie newspapers last month (after being completely ignored by the metros) with the first edition of a FREE column on astronomy offered and I got… wait for it….  2 replies!!!!!  TWO replies out of hundreds I sent out across Australia.  Yet all of these papers run at least a quarter page of 'Your Stars' which is utter crap and completely made up!!! 

Funnily though, they'll take this and run it yet completely ignore some good, factual, educational material that might actually compel somebody to look at a career path in science, or at least, start a rewarding, life-long hobby. Anyway, undaunted, I tried again this week and BINGO … over a dozen positive replies from newspapers all across Australia willing to run it every month! As well I received a ton of good wishes from those who physically couldn't help because of their internal workloads and/or lack of space.

   Here's a part of how my initial email tirade went:   

" ……..my goodness, it's FREE each Month.  It's a column I produce showing people what's in their night skies.  It's by a well known Australian amateur astronomer, its reasonably short in length so won't take up much space … AND your readers will love it!
I talk on radio to over 3 million people every week and they all want to know what is in the sky they can look at.  This column IS good for all of Australia!  GIVE IT A GO!  The second one is attached and I'll send you a new column, print ready, each month.  All I ask you to do is return email me saying you'll take it."

Most of the replies were polite and constructive – mainly letting me know they don't have enough room for their region's news as it is. Ok, that's cool and I accepted that and thanked them for their honesty and their reply. BUT some were, well at best and to be kind, hostile or  just plain negative on the approach I took. Ok ,it was brash, but I had a point to make and I  was left with no choice.

Here's part of one reply from a large regional newspaper editor I took exception with: (names and addresses removed) 

Dave Your 'rudely written' email certainly got my attention. Now if I were to reply to every email I receive (more than 200 each day) then I would not have time to produce our weekly edition of our local newspaper.If an email does not mention the word 'Cobar' or the 'western area' in the first few paragraphs, it is disregarded. We are a local community newspaper that covers only local events.  That's our 'niche' market.

     HERE'S MY REPLY: 

Hi ………

Read 'rudely' as "frustration." You'll be surprised to know however that I did receive a good response this time around after my initial "polite" effort last month failed miserably.  There's truth in the adage,'one needs to shout to be heard.'

Seems not all newspaper editors ignore something that could be potentially beneficial to their readership.  I have acceptance from (at the time of writing) nine newspapers all across the country who said they will now take the column.  Your comment about being a local paper covering local issues would, I presume, be a commonality within your industry and other regional papers would likely follow the same format.  The column I write IS relevant to your area… your readers in your area will see and be able to benefit from the column's material.  These are local events, they're happening in your skies.  You may just have a biased point of view to matters of this nature.

On reflection, it's amazing too how many newspapers carry the 'your stars' columns – some even devoting half and full pages to something that somebody's dreamed up!  The good solid discoveries about the real stars get the duck-shove.  Are 'Your Stars' columns about local issues? Relevant only to your area?  No, but you'll print 'em huh? Anyway, you're entitled to your point of view, as am I.  Hope you reconsider now and run the piece… it would make my day.  :

Regards, Dave Reneke

That's it. I have a firm belief that the  majority of people want to know about space and astronomy issues, new discoveries and ideas. Let me know what you think. I know I'm going out on a limb here but your comments would be interesting to receive. Astro-Dave.

     Advertising Opportunities

I have been approached by a number of people on this issue: 'Astro-Space News' is always willing to accept ads and sponsors for this site.  Please note that any ads posted on this site must be relevant to space and /or astronomy.  Ads that contain adult content or that are in poor taste will not be accepted.  If you have an idea talk to us. And no, it won't cost you the earth! Email me.

Note: This is an 'Authority Website' rated No.5 on Google. If you are interested in placing an ad on this site or are interested in sponsoring any part of it, please contact Dave at this email address: davereneke@gmail.com

                                 Sponsors and Supporters Sought

Please consider becoming a monthly or weekly supporter.  This website and newsletter service is now reaching world-wide and is becoming increasingly time consuming to produce. I'll make sure any donors get a few 'freebies' along the way including copies of any material I produce (E-Books and the like) or similar stuff. Email if you're interested or just want to discuss further: davereneke@gmail.com

 ASTRO TOURS AND LECTURES STARTING  IN PORT MACQUARIE WEEKLY – WITH 'ASTRO' DAVE RENEKE

I've been on the 'available list' long enough. Now, after repeated requests and lots of enthusiastic support, astronomy & space shows called 'Discovering the Universe' will be presented by me, Dave Reneke, on Monday nights at the Village resort Port Macquarie NSW starting at 7pm. A highlight of the evening will be a laser guided tour and telescope viewing of the night sky. We’ll be cruising the heavens for stars, planets and star clusters. It's a relaxed and entertaining look at the universe for the whole family and I'm by now pretty well known for my enthusiastic and colourful PowerPoint presentations. A number of startling astro and space facts will be made public on the night. Special kids nights will be arranged soon as well. 

Everybody gets a FREE astronomy fact sheet and a FREE star map to find your way around the night sky. There’s a raffle on the night for a 3 Astronomy DVD pack and giveaways of stickers and space bookmarks for the kids. A special astronomy DVD starts the night's program at 7pm. Admission is $6 per person or just $20 for a family of four. Watch for heavy continuous radio and press advertising – the show runs for 2 hours.

Now is a great time to step outside and learn something about our solar system and the Universe! Make a night of it, grab the family and friends and get out under the stars, you won't be sorry! For all enquiries ring Dave on 0400 636 363 or email davereneke@gmail.com

THE VILLAGE RESORT, PORT MACQUARIE  

288 Hastings River Dr Port Macquarie NSW 2444
(02) 6583 5544

THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY 

"WHAT THE…!!!"    Two Objects Crash to Ground in Mongolia    

 

 Two objects reportedly crashed to the ground near Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia on Feb.  19, 2010.  The first object, according to the report on the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness database, weighed 10 kg, while the second larger object weighed approximately 2 tons.  Other than that, there's not a lot of information available about the objects.  But of course, UFOers are having a field day, calling the image, above, that accompanied the report a "leaked UFO crash" picture.  But the object looks suspiciously like a rocket or jet engine, or perhaps a rocket nose cone.  Objects that crash to Earth likely have a very terrestrial origin.  We'll provide an update when any news becomes available.

The already untidy mass of orbital debris that litters low Earth orbit nearly got nastier last month.A head-on collision was averted between a spent upper stage from a Chinese rocket and the European Space Agency's (ESA) huge Envisat Earth remote-sensing spacecraft. Space junk tracking information supplied by the U.S.  military, as well as confirming German radar data, showed that the two space objects would speed by each other at a nail-biting distance of roughly 160 feet (50 meters).

ESA's Envisat tips the scales at 8 tons, with China's discarded rocket body weighing some 3.8 tons.  A couple of tweaks of maneuvering propellant were used to nudge the large ESA spacecraft to a more comfortable miss distance. But what if the two objects had tangled? 

 Universre Today – Image: Credit MUFON

       MORE ASTRO-SPACE NEWS   

        Could the Space Shuttle Program Be Extended to 2015?      

Congressional legislators in Florida are mounting a campaign to extend space shuttle operations to 2015, adding two flights each year.  U.S. Rep.  Suzanne Kosmas said a bipartisan plan is in the works, which would require adding another $200 million to the NASA budget for 2010 and between $1.5 – $2 billion a year starting in the 2011-12 budget year. 

"We're not going to do anything that's not safe," Kosmas was quoted in Florida Today, adding that securing the funding would be difficult in tight budget times, but "we're going to go for it," she said.

Pic: Space shuttle Endeavour lands in darkness on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell

At Kennedy Space Center early last Monday morning after Endeavour returned home safely following the STS-130 mission, space shuttle program managers confirmed that while the shuttles are in good shape to continue flying, extending the program is not the direction their teams have been headed.

"From a technical, engineering standpoint, there would be nothing stopping the vehicles from being able to fly," said space shuttle integration manager Mike Moses.  "They have a lot of life in them.  We talk about the risks and hazards of flying, and that's a two edged sword.  Anytime you're launching into space is a risky proposition, but this is a vehicle that we understand its risks very well, and we've learned how to work around the pieces that can cause us problems – the foam from Columbia is a good example.  We've come a long way, if you look at the performance of the external tank since then, we have put a set of controls in place that have been paying off and really driving our risk numbers down."

Congressional legislators in Florida are mounting a campaign to extend space shuttle operations to 2015, adding two flights each year.  U.S. Rep.  Suzanne Kosmas said a bipartisan plan is in the works, which would require adding another $200 million to the NASA budget for 2010 and between $1.5 – $2 billion a year starting in the 2011-12 budget year.  "We're not going to do anything that's not safe," Kosmas was quoted in Florida Today, adding that securing the funding would be difficult in tight budget times, but "we're going to go for it," she said.

At Kennedy Space Center early Monday morning after Endeavour returned home safely following the STS-130 mission, space shuttle program managers confirmed that while the shuttles are in good shape to continue flying, extending the program is not the direction their teams have been headed. "From a technical, engineering standpoint, there would be nothing stopping the vehicles from being able to fly," said space shuttle integration manager Mike Moses.  "They have a lot of life in them. 

We talk about the risks and hazards of flying, and that's a two edged sword.  Anytime you're launching into space is a risky proposition, but this is a vehicle that we understand its risks very well, and we've learned how to work around the pieces that can cause us problems – the foam from Columbia is a good example.  We've come a long way, if you look at the performance of the external tank since then, we have put a set of controls in place that have been paying off and really driving our risk numbers down." 

 "So we could continue fly," Moses continued," and I'm confident we could fly at the rate and the risk level we have been flying and it wouldn't be hard to do.  But it becomes a political question: Is that the right thing to do?  And from a budgetary standpoint can you commit the resources of NASA to go continue to fly those vehicles?  The direction that we're getting from (NASA) Headquarters is that we are going off to do bigger things and explore more.  Unfortunately the budgetary realities are we can't continue to do everything and fly the shuttles as well.  So while it's hard to let go and shut down a program, that's the way the budget works out.  But if you want to turn it around you certainly could there is nothing technically that is stopping you from doing it."

Kosmas said the budget proposed by President Barack Obama's is not acceptable as is because it would cede the United States' leadership position in spaceflight in the short term — and possibly the long term.  The plan being drafted would direct NASA to examine ways to build a heavy-left rocket by salvaging work done in the Constellation program.  Obama's budget called for the end of Constellation, the architecture that would return astronauts to the moon.

Universe Today

 Space Pioneer Burt Rutan Blasts NASA Plan

Commercial space pioneer Burt Rutan has sharply criticized Obama administration proposals to outsource key portions of NASA's manned space program to private firms.

The White House wants NASA to use outside firms to develop and operate new rockets and spacecraft that would transport astronauts into orbit and beyond, functions that had previously been considered a core function of the agency. 

Mr.  Rutan, a veteran aerospace designer and entrepreneur, in a letter addressed to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, says he is "fearful that the commercial guys will fail" to deliver on the promises to get beyond low earth orbit, and that the policy risks setting back the nation's space program.

"That would be a very big mistake for America to make," according to the letter sent to lawmakers that is expected to be released Wednesday during a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on the future of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Such comments are unexpected from a maverick engineer long identified with pushing the boundaries of commercial space projects, and the man who designed the first commercial suborbital rocketship.

"From my past comments on NASA's" lack of direction and success, "an observer might think that I would applaud the decision to turn this important responsibility over to commercial developers," the letter says.  However, he adds, that's "wrong."

Mr.  Rutan has prided himself on avoiding being tied to federal funds, and his company, Scaled Composites, is currently developing a fleet of space-tourism rocketships entirely with private funds. While reiterating his support for commercial space projects, Mr.  Rutan compared depending too heavily on them at this point to giving up "an airport where I know I can get in on the approach, for one where I might" be able to land.

 Wall St Journal

Space Travel is Ready For Booking     

Back in 1984, Advertising Age ran an article noting that 2010—a newly-released film and the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey—contained an odd product placement: a futuristic 2010 commercial for Pan American World Airways' Space Clipper service that would feature "convenient non- stops to the moon and all the major space stations."

Well, now it really is 2010 and Pan Am is long gone.  Yet the dream of shuttling civilians into space is closer than ever.  So close, in fact, that Congress has begun debating the specifics.  And several entities are willing to accept your bookings—as well as your deposits. Who's in charge?

For some, the time has come.  Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has developed the ShareSpace Foundation, designed to "foster affordable space travel opportunities for all people." The non-profit Space Tourism Society dubs itself a "visionary space experience research and design organization" that is promulgating the "Orbital Lifestyle" for everything from space hotels to space cruise ships.

But already there is tension between regulators and the private entrepreneurs who hope to carry paying passengers into space.  In December, the House Subcommittee on Aviation held hearings on Commercial Space Transportation and the Chair of the Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), predicted that "regularly scheduled, manned commercial space flights" could generate upwards of $700 million a year in revenues.  However, he also stated: "I continue to have concerns about its safety.  As with any emerging industry, we must ensure that it is receiving the proper Federal safety oversight without discouraging development."

This prompted an angry essay on The Space Review site entitled "Will James Oberstar Kill the Space Tourism Industry?" The piece included this commentary: "In spite of some weasel wording, the hard legal requirements of Oberstar's proposed regulation would effectively kill the whole entrepreneurial suborbital industry." Indeed, last week I spoke to Eric Anderson, the CEO of Space Adventures, who said, "I hope the regulation is not excessive."

An investigation in 2006 by the U.S.  Government Accountability Office found the FAA had "provided a reasonable level of safety oversight for commercial launches." But new challenges await.  The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, known as AST, weighed in at the December hearing as well.  And the associate administrator of AST testified that safety is not an absolute, noting: "Climbing aboard a rocket carries with it the potential for unfavorable results."

There are other considerations too.  Rep.  Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation, pointed out at the hearing that the scheduled retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet in 2011 will leave the United States without launch vehicles for years to come, and noted: "The reality is that the United States may have to rely on other countries to facilitate this travel unless commercial space transportation is able to fill the gap." At the same time, foreign states such as Russia, Singapore, and Dubai are reportedly ramping up their own space programs.

All indications are that the era of space travel being dominated by the federal government is giving way to an age when governmental and private entities will be interdependent.  Actually, it's happening now since some companies are already up and running.

Undoubtedly the most recognizable name in commercial space travel is Richard Branson, and the world-famous entrepreneur and airline executive has invested heavily in Virgin Galactic, what he hopes will become the world's first private "spaceline" by 2011.  The company received a bit of a boost in 2007 when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NASA to "explore the potential for collaborations" in a range of technical areas.

In addition, Virgin is the "anchor tenant" of its base at Spaceport America, the industry's first commercial facility, in Las Cruces, N.M.  And unlike other space tourism entrepreneurs, Branson is covering both the manufacturing and operational ends of the business by also launching The Spaceship Company (think Virgin Atlantic Airways not only operating but also building its own 747s). See this video for how it's gonna be when you do get a ride into space!!!

Back in December, news of Virgin Galactic unveiling its new craft, SpaceShipTwo, was reported on this site.  I was able to get up close and personal with SpaceShipTwo—designed by Branson's partner, aerospace engineer Burt Rutan—at  an unveiling in New York  two years ago and it was quite an experience. Branson was recently quoted as saying: "NASA spent billions upon billions of dollars on space travel and has only managed to send 480 people. 

We're literally hoping to send thousands of people into space over the next couple of years.  We want to make sure that we build a spaceship that is 100% safe." About 250 would-be travelers have already booked flights, and you can do the same on the Virgin Galactic site at a cost of $200,000, with a deposit of $20,000.  The company is even allowing low-tech bookings through travel agents—excuse me…"space agents."

USA Today

 Galileo's Finger

I'm afraid this is something that I wouldn't want in my collection despite its value and historical significance.  Two fingers and a tooth that were removed from Galileo's body nearly 300 years ago and went missing about 100 years ago have recently resurfaced. 

They were purchased at auction by an astute buyer who recognized them and brought them to the Museum of the History of Science in Florence.

Removing body parts from saints and other revered people was common practice in Europe hundreds of years ago.  These items were thought to have special significance and sacred power. 

It's ironic that Galileo should be treated this way, given his history with the Catholic Church who declared him a heretic and sentenced him to life-long house arrest.

In this day and age I think it's time to put an end to displaying body parts like this.  Although I'm a rationalist I find it unsettling and somewhat disrespectful.  I like to think that Galileo is giving us one last gesture telling us what he thinks of it too…

c/o Dave Owen

Cannibal Star is Devouring a Planet, Astronomers Say
Like the Roman god Saturn who ate his own children, a star 600 light years from Earth is slowly gobbling up one of its own planets, according to a study released on Wednesday in Nature, the British science journal.

Pic: This picture relased by the European Space Agency in 2006 shows an artist's impression of what a "hot Jupiter" (planets so close to their stars they have short orbital periods) might look like…  gobbling up one of its own planets.

 The planet, whose discovery was reported last year, is a "gas giant" with a mass about 40 percent greater than that of Jupiter, the biggest planet of our Solar System, and with a radius 79 percent bigger.

But whereas Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to plod around the Sun, it takes WASP-12b a mere 26 hours to race around its star, WASP-12, located in the constellation of Auriga. So close is its orbit that the gravitational tug of the star has helped to squeeze the planet into a prolate shape, meaning that it has taken the form of a rugby ball, or American football.

Searing heat is stripping away layers of the gas, whose mass is then captured by the star. The disk of captured matter around the star may mask "a detectable resonant super-Earth," whose presence may cause WASP-12b to orbit in a remarkably egg-shaped path, suggests the study. Most planets that orbit close to their sun have a more circular track.

The investigation is led by Shu-lin Li of the Department of Astronomy at the Peking University, Beijing. More than 400 so-called exoplanets — the term for planets that orbit stars other than the Sun — have been spotted since 1995, although none has turned out to be a rocky, watery world like our own.

Most, like WASP-12b, are so-called "hot Jupiters," or huge gassy balls that are heated to scorching temperatures by proximity to their planets. A planet with water would have to inhabit what has been termed the Goldilocks Zone, meaning that it is not so close that its precious water evaporates nor so far that the water freezes, but somewhere in between so that water can exist in liquid form.

  AFP

The view from the recently installed observation window fitted to the international Space Station

The Endeavour astronauts cranked open aluminum shutters protecting the windows in the space station's new observation deck early Wednesday, giving the crew inside an "absolutely incredible" view of the Earth 220 miles below.

The Sahara Desert, as viewed through the space station's new seven-window cupola.
(Credit: NASA/Soichi Noguchi)

During the shuttle mission's third and final spacewalk, Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick removed insulation blankets from the cupola's seven windows late Tuesday and unbolted launch locks holding the aluminum shutters in place.

Astronauts Terry Virts and Kay Hire, standing by inside the cupola, then were cleared to crank open the shutters one at a time to test the deployment mechanisms, starting with the module's large central window.

"Well, as expected, the view from window seven is absolutely spectacular," Station Commander Jeffrey Williams marveled.  "This has to be the largest window on board and when we have the others around it open, it'll give us a view of the entire globe.  Absolutely incredible."

Later, all seven shutters were opened at the same time and television views from inside the station showed Williams, wielding a camera with a large telephoto lens, floating in the middle of the cupola with the brilliant Earth below.

"I don't think space station's ever going to be the same after this," said astronaut Stephen Robinson, the spacewalk coordinator.
When not in use, the windows will be covered by the aluminum shutters, which are manually cranked open and closed by the astronauts.

The greatest threat from a debris standpoint is from the front, in the direction of the station's 5-mile-per-second velocity.  Shutters on the forward facing windows typically will remain closed unless visibility in that direction is needed. 

Trailing windows can remain open for longer periods. "We do have a very long flight rule that deals with the operations of this particular set of equipment," Dempsey said.  "The two most major concerns of operating the shutters are thermal and micrometeoroid debris…The debris concern, obviously, is more severe.

"Even though they're reinforced to prevent anything happening to the crew, we want to keep them in good pristine condition so…the crew will have good views.  This will be used for not only Earth observations, but for things like capturing, with the robotic arm, upcoming visiting vehicles." 

Pics supplied by Tom Savage. Florida USA

Daily Galaxy

NASA Breaks Ground on New Deep Space Network Antennas

NASA officials broke ground near Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, Feb. 24, beginning a new antenna-building campaign to improve Deep Space Network communications.

Following the recommendations of an independent study, NASA embarked on an ambitious project to replace its aging fleet of 70-meter-wide (230-foot-wide) dishes with a new generation of 34-meter (112-foot) antennas by 2025.

The three 70-meter antennas, located at the NASA Deep Space Network complexes at Goldstone, Calif., Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, are more than 40 years old and show wear and tear from constant use.

The new antennas, known as "beam wave guide" antennas, can be used more flexibly, allowing the network to operate on several different frequency bands within the same antenna. Their electronic equipment is more accessible, making maintenance easier and less costly. The new antennas also can receive higher-frequency, wider-bandwidth signals known as the "Ka band." This band, required for new NASA missions approved after 2009, allows the newer antennas to carry more data than the older ones.

In the first phase of the project near Canberra, NASA expects to complete the building of up to three 34-meter antennas by 2018. The decision to begin construction came on the 50th anniversary of U.S. and Australian cooperation in space tracking operations.

"There is no better way to celebrate our 50 years of collaboration and partnership in exploring the heavens with the government of Australia than our renewed commitment and investment in new capabilities required for the next five decades," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Space Communications and Navigation is responsible for managing all NASA space communications and navigation resources and their operations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the agency's Deep Space Network, an important component of the agency's space communications resources.

NASA's goal is to integrate all NASA communications resources into a unified, far more capable network. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization manages the communication complex near Canberra for NASA.

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.For more information about the Complex go to: www.cdscc.nasa.gov

 Space Archaeologists Search For Hidden Heritage

** Thanks to colleague Alice Gorman for making me aware of this story.

A group of space archaeologists are investigating the material culture (remains) of space exploration at the Orroral Valley NASA Tracking Station in the Namadgi National Park thanks to an ACT Government Heritage grant.

 Dr Alice Gorman, archaeologist from Flinders University, and her research team mapped the site from Saturday 13 February to Monday 15 February 2010, using electromagnetic induction techniques and differential GPS to find out exactly what remains below the ground.

Pic: The Orroral Valley Tracking Station 26 metre antenna and operations building – looking to the south west. Credit Ted Barnes

"Australia has had a long involvement in international space exploration, and while not widely recognised, Orroral Valley was involved in many major NASA projects and played a critical role in Australia's early ventures into space," Dr Gorman said.  "Our project aims to not only map and document material culture of space exploration from the site, but to raise awareness of the site's heritage significance."

 "We will be using electromagnetic induction to identify the location of cables, tanks, and construction trenches and rubbish dumps at the site. The remains of the tracking station cover approximately 40 hectares. "Electromagnetic induction measures the electrical properties of objects below the surface.  These instruments are not invasive and do not require direct contact with the ground.  They are also easily integrated with a GPS unit allowing us to survey large areas."

"During the survey, former employees of the tracking station are invited to visit the site to contribute to an accurate interpretation of the data. Following mapping of the site there may also be opportunity to excavate materials which would further assist in the interpretation of how people lived and worked at the tracking station."

Chief Minister and Minister for the Arts and Heritage, Jon Stanhope, said the Orroral Valley Tracking Station is currently nominated on the ACT Heritage Register. "I am pleased the ACT Government has been able to contribute to the understanding of this site's heritage through a $9000 grant to support the investigation," he said.

The research team consists of Dr Alice Gorman (lecturer in archaeology, Flinders University), Ian Moffat (geophysicist), Rob Koch (surveyor), and graduate student Julia Garnaut from Flinders University. 

 Sir Winston Churchill Wanted A Full Report On UFOs

The "Churchill Memorandum" was sent from the World War II Prime Minister on July 28 1952 to Lord Cherwell, Secretary of State for Air. In the note, Churchill wrote: "What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to?  What can it mean?  What is the truth?  Let me have a report at your convenience."

The response to his memo on August 9 1952, explained that following an intelligence study conducted in 1951 the "flying saucers" could be explained by "one or other" of the following four causes.

These were listed as known astronomical or meteorological phenomena, mistaken identification of conventional aircraft, balloons and birds, optical illusions and psychological delusions or deliberate hoaxes.

The report added: "The Americans, who carried out a similar investigation in 1948/9 reached a similar conclusion." An extraordinary release of files documenting sightings of UFO’s and unidentified phenomenon have been disclosed by the National Archives in partnership with the Ministry of Defence after three years of compiling evidence.

The incidents took place between 1994 and 2000 highlighting that the thirst for interest in UFO’s has not been quenched. Some of the major episodes include a man from Ebbw Vale in Wales who was driving home when his car was enveloped by a “tube of light”. His vehicle was encrusted with dust and caused his mobile phone and car radio to fail.

The report read:“He felt and was indeed sick later on.  He is still feeling ill today [dated 28/1/97] and has developed a skin condition.  Advised to see doctor.”

Telegraph.UK

    SETI Invites Citizens Of The World To Join In The Search For ET     

This appears to be a reincarnation of a late 90s project called Seti@Home.  For that project volunteer members of the wired public of the day downloaded a data sifter that ran in place of a screensaver.  This program downloaded and analysed chunks of Seti data in your computer's downtimes and sent it back to Seti control. 

The idea being to recreate the computing power of a mainframe on a global network of home PCs. SETI has just invited the citizens of the world to join the search for extraterrestrial life.  All you need to do is log on to the new SETIQuest.org site.

SETIQuest is the result of astronomer Jill Tarter's TED Prize wish.  Tarter wished that they would "empower Earthlings everywhere to become active participants in the ultimate search for cosmic company".

 With SETIQuest, the TED Conference and Tarter are making that happen.  The website will make vast amounts of SETI data available to the public, making the SETI Institute's signal-detection algorithm an open source code, inviting brilliant coders and amateur techies to tweak it and take it to new levels of discovery:

"Today we do a very good job at finding very narrowband signals buried deep in noise – a good guess for what a deliberately transmitted signal might look like.  But we have only limited sensitivity to signals that are more complex.  With available cloud storage and processing resources, we can provide digital signal processing experts and students with a lot of raw data from the ATA and invite them to develop new algorithms that can find other types of signals that we are now missing.  We’ll take the best of those algorithms and work with the designer and the OS developers to make them run in real-time so that we can add them to our observational quiver. 

"And finally for everyone else that doesn’t happen to have coding or algorithmic skills, we’d like to involve you by using your eyes to find anomalous patterns in data coming from the ATA.  These patterns aren’t ones we can define right now, or develop algorithms to detect, but your eyes and your brain can find them anyway.  True, most of these anomalies will turn out to be interference generated by terrestrial technologies, but we want you to become part of a global community that can rapidly sort through all the possibilities and perhaps turn up that needle we’ve all been seeking."

So, non-coding "Citizen scientists" can visually search the data for anything that looks like something other than white noise.  Should you spot something anomalous, you can alert the global community.  If enough citizen scientists agree that something looks like a real ET signal, their collective concern will direct SETI's telescopes to zoom in on the signal source. This time, the "WOW!" might just be the real thing.

Daily Galaxy via SETI.org

 Falcon 9 Now Vertical on the Launchpad

Is the future here?  Over the weekend, SpaceX rolled their Falcon 9 launch vehicle out to the launchpad at Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral.  If all systems check out, SpaceX looks to do an engine test sometime this week, which should provide some dramatic rumbling and shaking here in Florida. 

The rocket measures 47 meters long (154 feet) and 4 meters (12 feet) wide, and for the upcoming test launch (date currently not set), the payload will be a dummy of the company's Dragon capsule being developed to carry equipment to the International Space Station for NASA.

Pic: Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX

The word around Cape Canaveral is that the range has been reserved for March 8, but SpaceX won't provide any specific potential launch dates; instead giving a range of sometime between March and May.  SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said the Range date is "just a placeholder for the earliest possible countdown attempt." In an article in Spaceflightnow.com, Musk said the launch likely won't occur until April at the earliest.

SpaceX said that Falcon 9 is now undergoing a checkout of the critical flight connections including fuel, liquid oxygen, and gas pressure systems.  Once all system interfaces are verified, the launch team will execute a full tanking test of both first and second stages (wet dress) followed by a brief ~3.5 static fire of the first stage. 

"SpaceX has not set specific dates for wet dress or static fire as schedule will be driven by the satisfactory completion of all test objectives and a thorough review of the data," the company said in a press release.

Universe Today

India Plans To Send Two Astronauts Into Space

 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send two astronauts to space within six to seven years, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

He said India was among the leading countries in the world in space research, designing the most modern satellites in keeping with latest advances in technology

These satellites are very helpful in communication and distance, he said.

Radhakrishnan said the Nano satellites designed by students of Satyabama University, Chennai, would be installed in the PSLV rocket, to be launched in June or July.

ISR 

                               * FREE SPACE –WALLPAPER http://www.space-images.com/wallpapers/galaxies/index.html

                             * FREE SPACE – ASTRONOMY  VIDEOS    http://www.space-video.info/

 
   UFO Video Recorded by Space Shuttle Atlantis  

http://www.space-images.com/video/space-flight/shuttle/1991-atlantis.html

This 27-second video shows a mysterious unidentified object outside the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1991 (mission STS-37).

British government releases UFO documents; 6000 pages of sightings

By Michael Sheridan The British government has received thousands of UFO reports over the decades, and Thursday it released the largest amount of documents …

UFO sightings – MoD 'blanked out' insults about reports

Defence officials' insulting remarks about the public had to be blanked out of government UFO files before they were made public, a memo has revealed. …

Police officer 'saw UFO over Chelsea's Stamford Bridge'

A police officer saw an unidentified flying object hovering over Chelsea FC's stadium, according to newly released Ministry of Defence files. …

Newport driver 'fell ill' after Ebbw Vale UFO sighting

A driver became ill after encountering a light shaped like a "massive star", government UFO files released reveal. In his account to police he described how …

New YouTube clip sparks UFO debate

Melbourne: People believing in the existence of the extra terrestrial and UFO say a new video uploaded onto YouTube shows an alien plane either entering or …

UFO close encounters laid bare as 'X-Files' released by records office

Equally mystifying were UFO sightings by police over the North Sea near Lincolnshire, and a British Airways 737 that reported a near-miss with a mysterious … 

UFO seen and photographed over Budapest, Hungary

An account, along with a photograph (above), of a UFO event that occurred in the skies above Budapest, the capital city of the Central European nation of … 

IN THE SKY THIS MONTH

March 2010

It’s March in Australia so welcome to the best skies in the world.  Out of the 88 constellations we’ve got the pick of the crop!  So, it’s just you, me and the starry night.  Depending on your age and your eyesight, you can see up to about 1500 to 2000 stars on a clear night.  Ready?  Then let’s go!  

The Moon is always a great sight in a scope.  Any size will show you the craters and darker areas we call ‘seas’.  New moon is on the 16th and probably the best time to scout for planets but be prepared to act silly, there’s a full Moon on March 30 and that’s also a Blue Moon!  Yep, two full moons in the one calendar month mean the last one is ‘Blue’.

 Being March, it’s still lovely and warm, but to skywatch you’ll need a blanket to sit on, a pair of binoculars, and a pillow.  Mercury is almost lost to sight as it sets a little lower each night.  Venus the ‘evening star’ also hugs the horizon in March making it a little difficult to see as well after sunset but, a good telescope or binoculars will still give you a tantalizing view.

 Mars in the constellation Cancer is the showpiece this month.  Look for it as a bright reddish ‘star’ in the northeastern sky as it gets dark.  On the 25th the 9 day old moon can be seen close to the planet.  Grab a good telescope, you just might be in time to spot Mars’ white polar cap and some dark surface features.

Jupiter in Aquarius appears in the morning dawn sky in late March and is probably the easiest planet to observe with a small telescope.  Look for its circling moons and banded surface features.  It gets better.  Saturn, the lord of the rings, makes an appearance low in the eastern evening sky.  This striking world is magnificent in any telescope! 

 Hey, what about stars?  Look to the west and then turn back slightly to the right.  A short distance above the horizon look for a ‘V’ shaped group of stars with one orange reddish star called Aldebaran, 44 times the size of our Sun, at the top of the V.  This is the famous constellation of Taurus the Bull. Another reddish star, Betelgeuse, a closed fist below the ‘Saucepan’ (Orion) is twice that size and further to the right you’ll find Sirius, our brightest but not closest star. Long ago the Egyptians used its position in relation to the morning rise of the Sun to calculate the length of the year.  You’ve gotta admit, in March things are certainly looking up! 

Dave Reneke

FEATURE STORY

     Robotic Probes Poised to Explore Milky Way by 2020    

By the year 2020, scientists are expected to launch intelligent space robots that will venture out to explore the universe for us.

"Robotic exploration probably will always be the trail blazer for human exploration of far space," says Wolfgang Fink, physicist and researcher at Caltech.  "We haven't yet landed a human being on Mars but we have a robot there now.  In that sense, it's much easier to send a robotic explorer.  When you can take the human out of the loop, that is becoming very exciting."

While Fink is encouraged by the progress made by missions such as the Mars Phoenix and its robotic arm, he emphasizes that the link between human and robot needs to be eliminated, allowing robots to make their own decisions on what science needs to be carried out.  In reference to the Phoenix's robotic arm he said, "The arms are the tools, but it's about the intent to move the arms.  That's what we're after.  To have the robot know that something there is interesting and that's where it needs to go and then to go get a sample from it.  That's what we've after.  You want to get rid of the joystick, in other words.  You want the system to take control of itself and then basically use its own tools to explore."

The physicist said he envisions a time when humans send out intelligent probes to explore the far reaches of the universe and send information back to Earth – without having to send people on excruciatingly long and dangerous space missions.

"In the old Star Wars movies, especially in the Empire Strikes Back, the empire was sending out probes or floating robots," said Fink.  "Those were ideal robotic explorers because they floated over planets and had sensors and communication capabilities.  Once you venture out to other planets, you need something that can operate on its own.  You can't monitor and supervise every single step.  You want to deploy something that, on its own, can start a reconnaissance of the area and report back."

The key attribute robots need to possess is the ability to recognize something of interest, such as a rock or crater, something that a human mind would see as a scientific opportunity.  At Caltech, Fink and others are working on programs that use images for robots to distinguish colors, textures, shapes and obstacles.  Once artificial intelligence has the ability to do this, if the programming is complex enough, the robot can notice something that is out of place, or a region worth investigating (such as a strangely coloured patch of Mars regolith that a Mars robot will decide to dig into).

The researchers also are working on a wish list of sorts for the spacecraft.  The list would include things that NASA and university scientists would like the robot to investigate.  "It's very difficult to teach a spacecraft," said Fink.  "When a geologist goes into the field, they can tell you if they see something that sparks their interest.  Based on that interest, it triggers more refined research.  But the problem is if you encounter something that scientists had not foreseen, then you run the risk of not detecting it We'll equip it with a database and a wish list, along with the ability to flag an anomaly."

Fink said NASA has shown some interest in their work.  And that makes sense since NASA is planning an unmanned mission to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, around 2017.  The CalTech physicist explained that an orbiter would most likely release a balloon-type vehicle that would float above the surface of the moon and send its findings back to Earth.

"It takes more than hour to send communications back and forth to a space probe at Saturn or Titan," said Fink.  "It is not a problem so much if you are dealing with a Lander, which is immobile, or when you're dealing with a rover which is not moving too fast.  It becomes a significant problem if you deploy a balloon or air ship on Titan, let's say.  They are floating so you need a much quicker reaction time.  If there's a mountain or hill coming up, you need to make a decision right there and then.

The main question is will robotic missions trump our basic human desire to explore space via manned missions?

 Daily Galaxy Insight 

ASTRO PIC OF THE WEEK   

The Secret Galaxy" of Centaurus A 

   Deep inside Centaurus A, the closest active galaxy to Earth, about 1,000 light-years across, is a twisted cosmic dust cloud shaped like a parallelogram -likely the result of a smaller spiral galaxy falling into the giant Centaurus A.  The Spitzer Space Telescope's penetrating infrared cameras recorded this startling vista in February 2004.

NASA

  Ever Wondered???  

  Why does sunset look red?

The Sun is always a little redder because of the scattering, but at sunrise and sunset the light has to pass through more atmosphere and loses much more blue light, so appears much redder.

  Did You Know?

 Why does the Earth's moon not have a name (like Saturn's moons: Titan, Mimas, etc.)?

The Moon was called Selene or Artemis by the Greeks and Luna by the Romans.  I'm sure other cultures also had names for the Moon.  But in English, Moon (from Mona and Moone in Old and Middle English) was used before anyone had any idea that the other planets had moons.  So it was more a case that the specific name for the Moon was extended to mean small bodies revolving around planets elsewhere.  The Moon's name is the Moon.

 Ever Wondered???  

What Happens if Earth Stops Rotating?

What happens to all the earthlings, if Earth stops spinning?  Will we be thrown off the Earth's surface, since Earth is spinning at ~1000 mph? Of course, this can't happen, but if it did, everything not attached would go flying off to the east, parallel to the surface of the Earth.  The speed would depend upon your latitude.  Only the people at the poles would be safe.  You wouldn't go flying off into space because the 1000 mph maximum (at the equator) isn't enough to overcome gravity, which would still be present.  If you survived, the resulting six month day and six month night would probably take care of you pretty quick.
 

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 Events

Global Astronomy Month

Global Astronomy MonthProfessional and amateur astronomers, educators and all astronomy enthusiasts worldwide are invited to celebrate the Universe in April 2010, during Global Astronomy Month – an international project that builds on the achievements of The International Year of Astronomy 2009, by combining a wide array of activities with the possibility of sharing experiences in real-time!

Taking place during April 2010, Global Astronomy Month (GAM2010) is a community-based effort aiming to achieve international collaboration and more interaction between participants than ever before. The primary idea of GAM2010 is to share ideas, experiences and successes, allowing communities that organize their own events to carry their ideas and inspiration forward.

Please look at organising events throughout Australia to share the Universe with as many people out ther as you can – let me know what you areplanning so we can publicise it and share it with the world.

Some ideas?

GAM2010 includes the most popular events for both astronomers and the public: telescopes will be available for the viewing of the Moon, Saturn and other objects, not only at observatories and planetariums, but also in public locations; dark sky observing of distant objects, Messier marathon, Lyrid Meteor Shower observing parties and events for the annual celebration of Astronomy Day (April, 24) are just some of the activities planned; special events by IYA2009-created global programs, observing with telescopes controlled over the Internet, webcasts and podcasts of special presentations, exhibitions, public competitions, astrophotography contests and workshops and much more will ensure that there is something for everyone.

Check out the website http://www.gam-awb.org and blogs – http://gam-awb.org/gam-project-blog.html for more info.

 ————————————————————————-

 NACAA 2010 – National Australian Convention for Amateur Astronomers  

Workshop. Start Time: Friday, April 2 at 7:25pm Sunday, April 4 at 10:25pm. Where: Rydges Capitol Hill Hotel, Forrest, Canberra, ACT To see more details and RSVP, follow the link:  OR email me here at the newsletter for more help.

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=258264943077&mid=1d04ba3G20ce0a77G55b1fd6G7

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         Download The Evening Sky Map

 'WORLD of SPACE and ASTRONOMY'

Weird, Wild & Breaking News Stories in Space and Astronomy from around the World 24/7 delivered free every week with regular updates as they happen.

It's FREE, It's Safe - Subscribe Now!

Here’s a selection of Astronomy/Space related stories you may find interesting. Be sure to sign up for your own copy of Astro Space News. I absolutely do not disclose your address to anyone! There is no cost and no obligation for this service. Anyone can subscribe by completing the opt in form just over there on the right … see it, do it now! We work 24/7/365 to report the most relevant ‘Astro-Space’ news back to you … virtually as it breaks. Bookmark this page and check back regularly.

For The Media

If you are interested, an interview with astronomer, writer, educator and public lecturer representing Australasian Science Magazine and Editor of Astro Space News, Dave Reneke(Astro-Dave) can be arranged by contacting Dave by Phone/Fax(02) 65 85 2260 Mobile: 0400 636 363 or email Dave for an instant reply to davereneke@gmail.com. David is well experienced talking to the media and presents information in an easy to understand, up to date and informative manner. Interviews can be on any subject, tailored to your requirements.

                                              AUSTRALASIAN SCIENCE MAGAZINE

Get your science news straight from the scientists themselves. No hype, no spin, no bull: just the facts.Australia’s most inspiring scientists choose to write about their world-class discoveries in Australasian Science, Australia’s only monthly science magazine.

Australasian Science is dedicated to Australian and New Zealand science, providing a unique local perspective on scientific developments and issues that other science magazines can’t match. Check out the latest issue NOW: http://www.australasianscience.com.au/  For school & institution rates please contact Control Publications on 03 9500 0015. Fax: (03) 9500 0255 Email science@control.com.au

 LETTERS TO DAVE

 Your letters are welcome on any subject covered by the scope of this newsletter or any aspect of astronomy/space in general. All letters requesting help or advice will be answered personally by me.

Dear Mr.  Reneke,

Re: With the knowledge of Google's new plans with this new program they have.  It has definitely made me eager to achieve more.  I do find myself processing new ideas and thoughts on the topic, and has inspired me to do better.That would be absolutely exceptional!  It has been a true honor running my ideas by you, and will be for time to come. Thanks for everything, Dominc L.

Hi Dominic

No worries, you keep going at it and don't let ANYONE tell you that you are crazy, silly, or a dreamer because one day you will hit the jackpot AND then they will listen to you.  Keep the ideas coming and never let go of your dreams Dominic ok?  Keep in touch whenever you want to and I'll be there for you. 

Dave

Hi Dave

My mother in-law has told me that tonight you will be able to see the Space station and space shuttle together?  Would you please advise me when this will happen or where I can find out some information about this topic.  She was listening to ABC radio and only heard Heavens above/?She lives near Leonora which is about 230 kilometers from Kalgoorlie W.A.

Kind Regards, Alison

Hi Alison

I was on ABC Kalgoorlie this morning with Rebecca and she had info that the station will be passing over your area tonight.  I didn't catch the time but if you ring they will tell you I guess. Now, the website I mentioned is Heavens-Above …you must have the – between the words.  Go to it via Google… fill in the details on where you are in the world and it will produce a simple map of your area and the time to catch the space station.  Hope this helps.

Regards Dave

Hi Dave

Thank you for the info.  It did help.

Regards Alison

Hi David.

Things sure got muddled up. I was just trying to reply to an email you or yours sent me asking me to confirm that I had registered to receive your newsletters. I had difficulty getting back to you to confirm it. If it is an age thing Blame me I'm 80 ! 25 yrs ago I was a Senior Electronic T/o at the {Spy Base J.D.S.C.S } Nurrunga at Woomera for 8 years. I love to hear you on the ABC in the morning It's always interesting.

Cheers, Norman.

Hi Norm

How delightful it was for me to receive your email and thank you very much indeed for the kind comments contained.  I'm glad you got the email problem sorted.  I still get stuck from time to time. You've certainly led an interesting life with those connections at Woomera.  I'll be t you have a good story or two to tell.  Thanks for listening to my segment on the ABC and I hope you continue to do so for many more years to come.  All the best.

Regards Dave

Submitted to website 20/10/02: Thank you. 

Still one more fantastic picture, that is the key reason why My spouse and I returned to your blog time and again!

'Hydrolyze' 

Submitted to website: ABC NEW ENGLAND NORTH - Comments:

I was a little dissappointed in Dave's explanation of how to find south using the southern cross.  The correct method is as follows.  Locate the southern cross (der !) Adjacent to one side of the cross there are two bright stars, referred to as the pointers.  Draw a line through the "long" side of the cross and extend it below the cross.  Draw a line between the pointers and bisect this line at right angles and extend the bisecting line towards the bottom of the cross.  This line will intersect with the line drawn through the long side of the cross.  The point where these lines intersect is south.

Posted by: Phil Girle | 09/02/2010

Dave Reneke's reply:

I disagree with this listener's description of his method being the 'correct' one.  The method I described on radio was the easier of the two to understand in a medium that doesn't have the benefit of visual representation.  Of course I know of both methods of finding 'South' but in reality, and for all practical purposes, they both achieve the same result…  only one does it more simply than the other – and radio listeners, I believe, would find it difficult if not impossible to follow complex instructions like those given above.    

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Sponsors and Supporters Sought

Please consider becoming a monthly or weekly supporter.  This website and newsletter service is now reaching world-wide and is becoming increasingly time consuming to produce. I won't stop though but we sure could use a little help. A monthly contribution will enable me to plan for improved content and open the newsletter up into areas not previously possible. Every little bit helps to pay for hosting and bandwidth costs and other expenses. You may cancel your donation at any time. I'll make sure any donors get a few 'freebies' along the way including copies of any material I produce (E-Books and the like) or similar stuff. Email if you're interested or just want to discuss further: davereneke@gmail.com

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THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY 

Aussie Meteorite May Hold the Key to Life on Planet Earth

New analysis of the famous Murchison meteorite that crash-landed in Australia over 40 years ago has turned up a surprise for astronomers.The space rock, which is over 4.65 billion old, contains millions of previously unseen organic compounds. 

Maybe the seeds that started off life right here on planet Earth.  The results of the meteorite study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

PIC: A Murchison meteorite specimen at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

Researchers in Germany have examined the carbon-rich meteorite using 21st century technology and found signals representing more than 14,000 different elementary compositions, including dozens of amino acids, the building blocks of life, in a sample of the rock. 

"We are really excited.  When I first studied it and saw the complexity I was so amazed," said Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, lead researcher on the study from the Institute for Ecological Chemistry in Neuherberg, Germany.

The Murchison meteorite landed near a town in Victoria of the same name in 1969.  Startled residents reported seeing a bright fireball explode into three separate fragments over the town before fading from view in a thick cloud of smoke.  About 30 seconds later, a loud tremor was heard.

Many specimens were found over an area of 13 square kilometres, with some pieces weighing up to 7 kilograms!  One smaller fragment broke through a barn roof and fell in some hay.  In all, about 100 kilograms of the fractured meteorite was eventually located by searchers.

This is arguably the most famous meteorites ever found.  Earlier analysis of the space rock revealed the presence of a complex mixture of differing sized organic chemicals including the amino acids, probably collected during its journey around our early solar system. Is this the Genesis rock?  It's very possible!  Amino acids build protein, protein builds tissue – and that makes people, like you and I.  Now you know where you probably came from.

Dave Reneke
  

       MORE ASTRO-SPACE NEWS   

  The Death Star?  Not Quite. 

It's Saturn's Mimas & One of the Solar System's Most Massive Impact Craters On Feb.  13, 2010, NASA's Cassini spacecraft returned the highest-resolution images yet of Saturn's battered moon Mimas.

Mimas eye-ball-like crater is the scar of a violent, giant impact from the past – the 140-kilometer-wide (88-mile-wide) Herschel Crater.  The diameter of the crater is about one-third that of the entire moon.  The walls of the crater are about 5 kilometers (3 miles) high, and parts of the floor are approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep.  That's DEEP!

 NASA scientists hope the encounter will help them explain why the moon was not blown to bits when the impact happened.  They will also be trying to count smaller dings inside the basin of Herschel Crater so they can better estimate its age.

The impact is similar (but smaller) to the mysterious object that pounded Jupiter this past summer.  In further evidence that space itself is an action movie, an explosion the size of the Pacific ocean scarred Jupiter.  Yes, the entire ocean.  The explosion occurred on July 19, 2009 when an asteroid slammed into the planet, and although Jupiter has no solid ground the gas can still get thick enough for things like "impacts" and "KABOOM" to happen. 

The Jupiter impact event is another big red line underscoring Stephen Hawking's theory that one of the major factors in the possible scarcity of intelligent life in our galaxy is the high probability of an asteroid or comet colliding with inhabited planets.  We have observed, Hawking pointed out in his lecture Life in the Universe, the collision of a comet, Schumacher-Levi, with Jupiter (below), which produced a series of enormous fireballs, plumes many thousands of kilometers high, hot "bubbles" of gas in the atmosphere, and large dark "scars" on the atmosphere which had lifetimes on the order of weeks.  The July 19th event is a weak second place, but still totally awesome (and awesome if projected to a planet called Earth).

As Stephen Hawking says, the general consensus is that any comet or asteroid greater than 20 kilometers in diameter that strikes the Earth will result in the complete annihilation of complex life – animals and higher plants.  (The asteroid Vesta, for example, one of the destinations of the Dawn Mission, is the size of Arizona). How many times in our galaxy alone has life finally evolved to the equivalent of our planets and animals on some far distant planet, only to be utterly destroyed by an impact?  Galactic history suggests it might be a common occurrence.  Our cold comfort comes from the adjective "galactic" -that's a hugely different time perspective that our biblical three score and ten.

So back to Mimas -another object lesson in the hazards to life in the universe.  The Mimas flyby will involve a significant amount of skill because the spacecraft will be passing through a dusty region to get there.  Mission managers have planned for the Cassini spacecraft to lead with its high-gain antenna to provide a barrier of protection.  At closest approach, the spacecraft will be flying about 9,500 kilome above the moon.  Cassini will start taking images and measurements shortly after closest approach.

Daily Galaxy

  Storms In Space Disrupt Travel On Earth
Airlines are paying extra attention to the weather these days: the weather in space. That's because more commercial flights are using shortcuts that take them near the North Pole or the South Pole.  And in polar regions, flights are vulnerable to cosmic storms that can interfere with communication and navigation systems, or even expose travelers to worrisome doses of radiation.

It starts With The Sun.Last year, there were more than 7,000 polar flights, compared with just a dozen a decade earlier. Space weather events usually start on the sun, where eruptions or explosions can send a stream of energy and particles hurtling toward Earth. It can take minutes or days for these solar events to affect the Earth.

When solar particles and radiation arrive they are most likely to cause problems at the poles, where the Earth's atmosphere provides less protection.  The so-called Northern Lights are a visible sign that particles from the sun are reaching the upper atmosphere. When the weather in space is bad, you don't want to be in a plane taking a polar route, says Bill Murtagh of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo. "The air traffic controller could be talking to the pilot one minute and really, literally within a minute or so, that signal can go from quite clear to scratchy noise," Murtagh says.

Radio interference is just one problem caused by space weather.  A burst of energy from a solar flare can knock out GPS navigation systems, Murtagh says.  A radiation storm could expose people on a polar flight to the equivalent of a dozen chest X-rays. Despite the risks, airlines have pursued polar flights aggressively because they let planes fly the shortest path between North America and Asia, or Argentina and New Zealand. "You're shaving off a couple of hours of flight time, which everyone appreciates," Murtagh says.  Passengers reach their destinations sooner and the airlines can save thousands of gallons of fuel.

Most of the growth in transpolar flights has taken place during a period of relatively quiet space weather because the sun has been in an inactive part of its 11-year cycle, Murtagh says. Right now, the sun is near what's known as the solar minimum, he says.  "We're just turning the corner and we'll continue to see an increase in solar activity over the next few years."

With more polar flights each year and the weather in space likely to get worse, it's increasingly likely that air traffic controllers will have to divert flights that are already in the air, says Steven Albersheim, a meteorologist with the Federal Aviation Administration. The planes won't have enough fuel to complete their trips without an extra stop, Albersheim says.  So controllers will have to quickly arrange for them to land at Northern airports in places like Anchorage, Alaska.

Last-minute diversions could be avoided if space weather forecasts were as accurate as their earthbound counterparts, Murtagh says.  But they're not. Terrestrial forecasters have had time to develop good models to predict weather days ahead of time.  "We are not there yet with the space models," Murtagh says.  "Although we are getting there."

One promising model is being developed by researchers at the Space Weather Prediction Centre. They've developed a model that can predict many solar flares two or three days ahead of time by detecting changes in swirls of plasma beneath the surface of the sun.  The swirls twist in a distinctive way before a flare sends a burst of energy toward Earth. "We can pick up about half depending on how big the flares are," says Alysha Reinard, a member of the research team.That falls well short of what terrestrial forecasters can do, Reinard says.  But she says it's a big step toward protecting planes at the poles from bad space weather. 

Extracted: National Public Radio 2010.  To see more, visit http://www.npr.org
 

Solar Dynamics Observatory: Will It Be Able to Predict Massive Solar Tsunamis?

The Atlas V roared to life last Thursday morning to send the Solar Dynamics Observatory into space on its mission to evaluate the complex mechanisms of the sun.

This past November, NASA's orbiting STEREO satellites confirmed the existence of solar mega-tsunamis when they captured height data after a sunspot erupted.  The scale of this tsunami literally dwarfs the Earth's diameter — it was 62,000 miles high and raced across the surface at 560,000 mph! 

STEREO A and B orbit 90 degrees apart and luckily, one was overhead while the other saw the eruption on the limb.  This gave NASA scientists enough data to confirm the tsunami wasn't a shadow, solving a modern solar mystery

The new SDO spacecraft is in a circularized geosynchronous orbit at about 22,300 miles.  From that altitude, the spacecraft will relay the readings instantly to a ground station in New Mexico.  The research is expected to reveal the sun's inner workings by constantly taking high resolution images, collecting readings from inside the sun and measuring its magnetic field activity.

 This data is expected to give researchers the insight they need to eventually predict solar storms and other activity on the sun that can affect spacecraft in orbit, astronauts on the International Space Station and electronic and other systems on Earth.

 Solar flares rise and fall on an 11-year cycle, and last year marked what scientists thought was the solar minimum.  Through the beginning of  2009, the sun stayed unusually quiet, but all that changed, when a major sunspot appeared on the backside of the sun, where it was captured by NASA’s STEREO instrument.  Just as earthquakes can set off huge tsunami waves on the surface of our oceans, a coronal mass ejection or flare can cause a tsunami on the Sun's surface—and it did on May 19, 2007.

The waves generated by the explosions can travel at over a million kilometers per hour.  The event was captured by NASA's twin Stereo spacecraft and was observed by a team at Trinity College, Dublin.  The event lasted for about 35 minutes and ultimately covered almost the full disk of the Sun. The energy released in these explosions is phenomenal, about two billion times the annual world energy consumption in just a fraction of a second.  A previous observation of a solar tsunami was recorded by the SOHO spacecraft almost a decade ago but these images were misleading to scientists. 

 Daily Galaxy3D Sun for the iPhone

Imagine holding the entire sun in the palm of your hand.  Now you can.  A new iPhone app developed by NASA-supported programmers delivers a live global view of the sun directly to your cell phone.  Users can fly around the star, zoom in on active regions, and monitor solar activity. "This is more than cool," says Dick Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division in Washington DC.  "It's transformative.  For the first time ever, we can monitor the sun as a living, breathing 3-dimensional sphere."

The name of the app is "3D Sun" and it may be downloaded free of charge at Apple's app store.  Just enter "3D Sun" in the Store's search box or visit http://3dsun.org for a direct link.

Left;: 3D Sun on the iPhone.  You can spin the sphere by flicking it and zoom in by pinching the screen. 

Realtime images used to construct the 3-dimensional sphere are beamed to Earth by the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), a pair of spacecraft with a combined view of 87% of the solar surface.  STEREO-A is stationed over the western side of the sun, while STEREO-B is stationed over the east.  Together, they rarely miss a thing.

Telescopes onboard the two spacecraft monitor the sun in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.  "That's why the 3D sun looks false-color green," explains Lika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist at NASA Headquarters.  "These are not white-light images."

That's okay because EUV is where the action is.  Solar flares and new sunspots shine brightly at these wavelengths.  EUV images also reveal "coronal holes," vast dark openings in the sun's atmosphere that spew streams of solar wind into the solar system.  Solar wind streams that hit Earth can spark intense displays of Northern Lights.

"Using this app, you can spin the sun, zoom in on sunspots, inspect coronal holes–and when a solar flare erupts, your phone plays a little jingle to alert you!" says Guhathakurta. Indeed, many users say that's their favorite part—the alerts.  The app comes alive on its own when the sun grows active or when interesting events are afoot.  For example, a recent alert notified users that a comet just discovered by STEREO-A was approaching the sun.  When the comet was destroyed by solar heating, the app played a movie of Comet STEREO's last hours.

Another remarkable aspect of the app is that it shows the far side of the sun—the side invisible from Earth.  "This means sunspots cannot take us by surprise," Guhathakurta points out. Recently, STEREO-B was monitoring a far side sunspot (AR1041) when the sunspot's magnetic field erupted.  For the first time in almost two years, an active region on the sun produced a strong M-class1 solar flare.  The unexpected interruption of the sun's deep solar minimum was invisible from Earth, but anyone with the 3D Sun had a ringside seat for the blast.

3D Sun was created by a team of programmers led by Dr.  Tony Phillips, editor of Science@NASA.  He says that version 1 of the app is just the beginning.  Soon-to-be released 3D Sun 2.0 will offer higher-resolution images and multiple extreme ultraviolet wavelengths (preview).  These additions will reveal even more solar activity than before.

Stay tuned for updates. 
  NASA

Martian Settlers May Need Chickens To Conquer The Red Planet

If humanity ever intends upon on settling Mars (by settling I mean a one way trip with no plans on returning back to Earth), they are going to need a whole lot of chickens if they want to survive–let alone thrive–upon the red planet.

Aside from providing an excellent source of protein, chickens could help future settlers raise not only crops (such as wheat, barely, etc.) upon the barren Martian soil, but also help colonists keep the lights on through a very useful by-product (aka chicken dung).

Unlike Earth, Martian dirt is very hostile towards plant life.  Unless we can genetically alter plants to grow upon the red planets soil, future settlers will have to heavily rely upon the home world for their daily bread.

Future scientists could help reduce or (even better) eliminate that need by using chicken manure, which (as far as animal dung goes) has one of the highest concentration of nutrients available, making it a perfect choice for raising plants on Mars.

But providing food for plants isn't the only reason why future Martian colonists will probably choose these ugly (yet useful) creatures, as chicken dung can also be used for energy as well. Using an old scientific process called pyrolysis (which is cooking biomass like manure without the presence of oxygen), future settlers could turn this smelly chicken manure into biochar (which is a charcoal like product).

Just like many farmers on Earth, future colonists could turn biochar into bio-fuel, helping to power their future space settlements along with Martian solar panels (or an underground nuclear reactor). While other types of animals manure could also be used for raising crop or keeping the lights on, it would be much easier (not to mention cheaper) transporting chickens en mass than larger animals.

This is mainly due to the fact than an egg (averaging about 57 grams), weigh much less than say, a baby calf (which would weigh 32 kilograms at birth), making chickens the logical choice as far as future space animals go. Although humans may eventually import other animals to Mars (whether for food or as pets), it may not be surprising to see chickens accompany future explorers in their quest to conquer the red planet. (Image Credit: Andrei Niemimäki via Flickr)

Universe Today

South Korea to Send Its Cuisine Into Space

Astronauts could soon be eating seaweed soup and spicy, garlic-laden meat dishes after South Korea won approval to send several national dishes into space.

The science and technology ministry said a prestigious Russian laboratory has approved ready-to-eat bulgogi, bibimbap, seaweed soup and mulberry juice as suitable fare for astronauts.

Bulgogi is a flavoured beef dish and bibimbap is a mixture of rice, meat and vegetables, infused with chilli and garlic. The ministry said the approval came this month from the Institute of Biomedical Problems, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, following tests.

"The tests showed the foods helped improved digestion and allowed the growth of beneficial micro-organisms in the intestines," a statement said. The move to send the dishes into space is the latest step in a campaign to promote South Korean food around the world.

South Korea has already sent its iconic national dish kimchi — pickled cabbage soaked in chilli and garlic — into orbit along with its first astronaut, aboard a Russian launch vehicle in April 2008.  She shared the potent mixture with the crew of the International Space Station.

 SpaceTravel

 Astronomers Say Presence Of Water On Moon Will Lead To More Missions

The inset of this image shows the plume of lunar debris that was kicked up by the impact of the rocket.  NASA was able to detect the presence of water on the moon and must now research further to discover how that water is distributed. 

The inset of this image shows the plume of lunar debris that was kicked up by the impact of the rocket.  NASA was able to detect the presence of water on the moon and must now research further to discover how that water is distributed.  (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Through a collaborative effort that involved researchers around the world, NASA has learned that water does indeed exist on the moon – but don't crack out the bathing suits for a refreshing lunar dip just yet.  Scientists still have to determine just how much water the moon holds and how we can utilize it.

"The big picture here that we are all starting to understand is that the moon is not as dry as we thought," said Nancy Chanover, an assistant professor at New Mexico State University.  "However, whether there is enough water concentrated in specific locations that we can identify for potential use in a manned program – that remains to be seen."

Astronomers at NMSU were stationed at Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, N.M., and at Tortugas Mountain Observatory in Las Cruces, to observe the moment of impact on Oct.  9, 2009, when a rocket crashed in a shadowy crater near the south pole of the moon as part of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission.

"There was a pretty small plume of dust from the impact," Chanover said.  "The plume was so small, it wasn't big enough for it to have risen over the rim of the crater such that it would have been visible from Earth." But that does not mean there was nothing to be seen from the observatories. In December, NMSU astronomers presented their observations from Apache Point and Tortugas observatories to the thousands of attendees at the American Geophysical Conference in San Francisco, Calif.

Ryan Hamilton, an NMSU graduate student involved in the project, said that the shepherding spacecraft that was part of the LCROSS mission observed about 24 gallons of water in the plume of dirt kicked up by the rocket, but there might be more in the crater. Chas Miller, an NMSU graduate student, said that this detection of water tells us only about one small area at the point of the LCROSS impact and that it remains unclear how much water is stored elsewhere on the moon.  This leaves the door open for further research on the distribution of water on the moon.

Chanover said NMSU's role now is to provide NASA with upper limits on how high the plume rose as well as to archive their data in NASA's Planetary Data System to ensure that it will be accessible to future investigators. The NMSU researchers agreed that this was an exciting project to be a part of. "Everyone successfully collected exactly the data they were supposed to about the impact," said Miller.

"This is one of the few times that NASA has tried to bring ground-based observers on board as real collaborators for a mission," Chanover said. "I thought it was really exciting." Full results of the LCROSS mission will be made available to the public later this year.  NMSU astronomers also plan to publish their findings.

  Moon Daily

In Praise of Pluto, Identified 80 Years Ago

"Inhospitable" doesn't do it justice: the temperature on Pluto, even during its summer (which comes around only every 248 years) is -230°C. Sheathed in layers of frozen nitrogen and methane, its average distance from the sun is 3.6 billion miles. 

A contrarian among the spheres, it rotates in the opposite direction to the earth.  Yet it's hard not to feel some affection for this unluckiest of heavenly bodies, identified 80 years ago last week by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. 

The first planetary discovery of the mass-media age excited worldwide interest, much of it focused on the search for a name.  Venetia Burnley was the lucky Oxford schoolgirl whose grandfather passed her breakfast-table suggestion on to astronomers. 

She later claimed to have chosen the Roman god of the underworld because it had not already been used, though the bleak associations could hardly have been more apt.  Despite having been demoted to a "dwarf planet" at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in 2006, Pluto continues to generate attention out of proportion to its size (just one-fifth that of the Earth). 

Pictures from the Hubble telescope, released earlier this month, showed a quickly-changing, mottled surface, like the coat of a dapple-grey horse.  Scientists look forward to seeing it in much greater detail when the New Horizons probe, launched in 2006, reaches its destination in five years.  In the meantime, Pluto remains mysterious, serene and frigid, secure in its status as celestial underdog.

Guardian U.K.

  Russia Nabs Meteorite Smuggling Ring
 Amid a huge bounty of contraband goods seized recently at a Russian airport, one far-out find floored customs officials: chunks of meteorite.

"On the customs declaration, the smugglers identified it as granite for construction and decoration of office space," Larisa Ledovskikh, a spokeswoman for customs at Moscow's Domodedovo airport said. "But our officials could see it was clearly not granite!" 

The two smugglers — who also tried to ship out silver antiques, fossils, semi-precious stones, microscopes and old books in the suspect cargo
– were initially charged with making a false declaration on their customs form.

Only after a three-month investigation did officials discover that the mystery lumps were fragments from outer space and the men part of a larger crime ring including experts and scientists, Ledovskikh said. "They were part of an organized criminal gang.  They had worked out a plan in advance to smuggle out of Russian territory and to the Czech Republic…  two meteorite chunks, each weighing 100 grams," she said. The two men were arrested on Sunday and charged with contraband, a sentence that carries a maximum of 12 years in prison in Russia.

  SpaceDaily

 Astronomers release stunning view of Orion Nebula

European astronomers showed off their newest telescope last Wednesday, releasing stunning views of young stars in a stellar nursery.

The European Southern Observatory consortium's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) in Paranal, Chile released the view of young stars in the Orion Nebula to demonstrate the compatibilities of the new telescope's 13.5-foot-wide mirror.

Most telescopes can't penetrate the nebula's dust, but, "observing in the infrared allows VISTA to reveal many other young stars in this central region that cannot be seen in visible light," says an ESO statement.

Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, the Orion nebula is about 1350 light years away (one light year is about 5.9 trillion miles).

The young stars observable in the VISTA image eject gas streamers at 435,000 miles-per-hour, which collide with gas clouds within the nebula.
Compression of the gas clouds contributes to the formation of more stars, making the Orion Nebula a much-studied center of star formation for astronomers, who suspect our own sun was born in a similar nebula some 4.6 billion years ago.

Science Fair

"WOW!" The Famous 1977 'ET Signal' -A Look Back

The night before Elvis Presley died, at 11:16 p.m.  an Ohio radio telescope called the Big Ear recorded a single pulse of radiation that seemed to come from somewhere in the constellation of Sagittarius at the 1420 MHz hydrogen line, the vibration frequency of hydrogen, the most common molecule in the universe -exactly the signal ET-hunters had been instructed to look out for. 

The signal was so strong that it pushed the Big Ear's recording device off the chart.Jerry Ehman, the young Columbus, Ohio volunteer man who spotted it in the computer printout, scrawled the now infamous "WOW!" in the margin. 

  The Big Ear team explored every possibility: military transmissions, reflections of Earth signals off asteroids or satellites, natural emissions from stars, but nothing fit.  And most odd of all, the signal came from a blank patch of sky totally devoid of stars.  The young engineer's only thought was that it could have been beamed from a spaceship traveling through the universe in search of some sign of life.

Ohio State University researchers wondered if it was man's first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.  They trained the massive scope on that part of the sky for the next month, and have returned periodically since, with no repeat of the signal. And although many point to it as a possible extraterrestrial intelligence sighting, Ehman, now 54, says "We should have seen it again when we looked for it 50 times. "If it were intelligent beings sending a signal, they'd do it far more than once," Ehman, now 54, says.  "We should have seen it again when we looked for it 50 times.  Something suggests it was an Earth-bound signal that simply got reflected off a piece of space debris."

If those civilizations are out there – and we don't know that they are – those that inhabit star systems that lie close to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun will be the most motivated to send communications signals toward Earth, because those civilizations will surely have detected our annual transit across the face of the sun, telling them that Earth lies in a habitable zone, where liquid water is stable.  Through spectroscopic analysis of our atmosphere, they will know that Earth likely bears life.  Knowing where to look tremendously reduces the amount of radio telescope time we will need to conduct the search.

 Astronomers think that we limit our search for extra-terrestrial intelligence to the ecliptic plane in which our solar system's planets orbit.  This ecliptic band comprises only about 3 percent of the sky, which could make it easier for scientists to effectively narrow their search for intelligent ET. The logic behind it postulates that if there is another, perhaps more advanced alien civilization in our galaxy out there; they may be trying to contact us, as well.  If this is the case, Henry says a search focused on the ecliptic "should lead rapidly to the detection of other civilizations".

Exoplanets in the ecliptic should be able to see Earth passing in front of the Sun.  These transits are what Earth astronomers rely on to identify a variety of information about the transiting planets, such as radius, density and composition.  Transits also reveal the secret’s of a planet's atmosphere, therefore any potential alien astronomers studying the Earth's spectrum would theoretically find the indicators of life in our atmospheric oxygen, letting them know—just as we long to know—that they are not alone.

Researchers plan to search the ecliptic for these advanced alien civilizations with the Allen Telescope Array, a set of dozens of antennae in Hat Creek, California, US. According to Greg Laughlin, an astronomer and extrasolar planet hunter at the University of California, Santa Cruz, if there is a stargazing civilization trying to make contact with us within 50 light years, its inhabitants would see the Earth as a bluish dot.  All they would need is an 8- metre space-based telescope with a good coronagraph along with a set of space-based infrared telescopes, which would enable them to detect ozone and water vapor in our atmosphere.

Most of the 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy are located in the galactic plane, forming another great circle around the sky.  The two great circles intersect near Taurus and Sagittarius, two constellations opposite each other in the Earth's sky – areas where the search will initially concentrate.

"We have no idea how many – if any – other civilizations there are in our galaxy,” Henry noted.  “One critical factor is how long a civilization – for example, our own – remains in existence.  If, as we dearly hope, the answer is many millions of years, then even if civilizations are fairly rare, those in our ecliptic plane will have learned of our existence.  They will know that life exists on Earth and they will have the patience to beam easily detectable radio (or optical) signals in our direction, if necessary, for millions of years in the hope, now realized, that a technological civilization will appear on Earth."

Daily Galaxy/ Johns Hopkins University    

IN THE SKY THIS MONTH

February 2010

 Well, already well into 2010 and the night sky is starting to get really interesting.  So much so you won't even need a telescope to see some of the celestial goodies… your eyes, and maybe a pair of binoculars, will do just fine!

There's a new Moon on February 14 (Valentine's Day) and that's a great time to not only propose, but look for planets as well.  It's also Chinese New Year!  The Moon's glare can sometimes block them out.  Mercury is just starting to make an appearance low above the Eastern horizon during morning twilight.  Look for a small yellowish star-like object.
Mars appears as a bright orange 'star' in the early north-eastern evening sky.  With a reasonably powerful telescope you can see the orange disc, surface markings and possibly the polar caps.

Ever heard of the giant planet?  That's Jupiter, 1300 times bigger than the Earth.  In fact, all the planets in the solar system could fit inside this huge world, still with plenty of room left over to park your car!  You can spot Jupiter setting low in the West and even with a good pair of binoculars it's stunning – the disc is clearly visible with four of its moons spinning around the outside.

The lord of the rings is next.  Saturn is visible earlier in the evening above the Eastern horizon as a pale yellow star.  It's the one planet with the 'Wow' factor but keep in mind the rings are turned mostly side on at the moment, so don't expect a lot OK?

Two welcome signposts for the Australian evening summer sky are the familiar constellations of Orion, (or 'saucepan') and the Southern Cross. Look at the middle star in the handle of Orion with your scope.  It's not a star, it's a beautiful gas cloud called a nebula where stars are being born.  The reddish star below it is one of the few stars in the sky that you can actually recognize its colour.  Betelgeuse is truly a giant, almost 600 times wider than our own Sun.

If you remember holding sparklers as a kid on cracker night you'll love the Alpha-Centaurids.  They're a meteor shower happening best on February 8 with long lasting streaky tails and possibly a rare fireball or two!  What time to watch did you say?  Sorry, it's an early morning treat.  Get up sometime between midnight and dawn and just look eastward.  Nope, you won't need anything, just your eyes will do.    

 Dave Reneke   

FEATURE STORY

The Eerie Silence: Should We Be Sending Messages Into Space?

If we should pick up signals from alien civilizations, Stephen Hawking, our century's Einstein, warns: "we should have be wary of answering back, until we have evolved" a bit further.  Meeting a more advanced civilization, at our present stage,' Hawking says "might be a bit like the original inhabitants of America meeting Columbus.  I don't think they were better off for it."

Mankind has always been driven by contradictory drives.  The relentless curiosity that pushes us forward and is directly responsible for our progress from caves to cities.  The fear of change that tells us "hang on, these caves/cities are really nice, we don't want to risk losing them." 
There isn't any greater potential threat to the status quo than the discovery of extraterrestrial life, which is why some people would prefer we didn't try.

After a half-century of scanning the skies for intelligent extraterrestrial life, astronomers have little to report but an eerie silence, eerie because many scientists are convinced that the universe is teeming with life.  The problem could be that we've been looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way.  Recently, Paul Davies, astrophysicist and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science and Co-Director of the Cosmology Initiative at Arizona State University, discussed a new roadmap for the future of SETI, arguing that we need to be far more expansive in our efforts, by questioning existing ideas of what form an alien intelligence might take, how it might try to communicate with us, and how we should respond if we ever do make contact.

There has also been controversy recently over attempts to contact intelligent aliens, where instead of hiding in the corner and listening real hard, some astronomers beamed intense directional messages up up and away.  Critics decried these actions as dangerous, though their fears reveal more about us than any eventual ETs.  They assume that they would be similar to humanity, so their first response to finding a more primitive culture would be to exploit the hell out of it.  While such a fate might be pleasingly ironic (for anyone who isn't human, at least), others contend that any species that can make the journey here has advanced to a point where their goals are rather higher-minded than "Shoot us".

Dr Alexander Zaitzev, of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, doesn't think much of these worries either way.  A proponent of METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), in a recent paper he shows that the odds of one of the METI messages being detected is a millionth of that due to powerful radar pulses regularly used in astronomical investigation.  An important point is that METI represents an intentional will to make contact, rather than the accidental alien interception of some random radiation from Earth – the difference between saying "Hello!" and just being a suspicious strange noise late at night.

Most of the objections to contacting aliens are weak under close examination.  We can't suddenly decide to hide after fifty years of pumping electromagnetic radiation into space without rhyme or reason – in fact, we'd better hope that an advanced civilization doesn't catch an episode of "American Idol" and just vaporize us outright.

Then there's the assumption that aliens would have the same kind of technology we do – despite the extremely obvious fact that our technology can't actually get to other exo planets.  Any attempt to mask radio emissions will likely look like cavemen closing their eyes to hide from satellite imaging.

The simple fact is that certain people have always opposed progress while other, better people have driven it.  "Experts" decried boiled water as unhealthy compared the vital stuff straight from the river, cursed antibiotics as a temporary placebo, and confidently declared that computers were nothing but expensive toys.  As an intelligent species we must make every effort to contact anyone (or thing) we can.

Daily Galaxy 
 

    ASTRO PIC OF THE WEEK 

  The image shows the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), which is comprised of the "bar" on the left and a "wing" extending to the right.  The bar contains both old stars (in blue) and young stars lighting up their natal dust (green/red).  The wing mainly contains young stars.  In addition, the image contains a galactic globular cluster in the lower left (blue cluster of stars) and emission from dust in our own galaxy (green in the upper right and lower right corners).

 The data in this image are being used by astronomers to study the lifecycle of dust in the entire galaxy: from the formation in stellar atmospheres, to the reservoir containing the present day interstellar medium, and the dust consumed in forming new stars.  The dust being formed in old, evolved stars (blue stars with a red tinge) is measured using mid-infrared wavelengths.  The present day interstellar dust is weighed by measuring the intensity and color of emission at longer infrared wavelengths. 

The rate at which the raw material is being consumed is determined by studying ionized gas regions and the younger stars (yellow/red extended regions).  The SMC is one of very few galaxies where this type of study is possible, and the research could not be done without Spitzer.

 This image was captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer (blue is 3.6-micron light; green is 8.0 microns; and red is combination of 24-, 70- and 160-micron light).  The blue color mainly traces old stars.  The green color traces emission from organic dust grains (mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).  The red traces emission from larger, cooler dust grains.

 The image was taken as part of the Spitzer Legacy program known as SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally- Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud.

Spitzer/Universe Today

 Did You Know?

  Why is the Earth's core so hot?  Was the Earth once a star, before it became a planet?

Earth's core temperature is about 6,000° C.  By coincidence, this is about the same as the Sun's surface temperature (but much cooler than the Sun's core temperature, which is about 15,600,000° C).  The Earth's core is cooling, but at a very slow rate.  Over the past three billion years it has probably cooled by a few hundred degrees.  Currently, the Earth's core temperature is not changing much because, through radioactive decay (nuclear fission – the breakup of the nuclei of heavy elements, like uranium), it is generating about as much heat as it is losing.

To answer the second part of this question, some definitions are in order.  A star is a self-luminous body that shines by generating energy internally through nuclear fusion (the combining of nuclei of light elements like hydrogen and helium).  The Sun is a star.  A planet shines by reflected light from the Sun.  The solar system has nine "major" planets (of which Earth is one) and innumerable "minor" planets (asteroids and comets of various kinds).Star masses range from about 0.04 times, to 150 times, the mass of the Sun.  The mass of the Earth is 0.000003 times that of the Sun (and the mass of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is 0.001 times that of the Sun).

Although stars lose mass as they evolve, none lose enough to wind up anywhere near the mass of even the most massive planet.  So, the bottom line is: Stars do not evolve into planets. 

 Did You Know?

 What Keeps Us On the Earth?

What keeps us on the planet?  If the Earth stopped spinning, would we all fall off?  Are there any planets that do not spin?
We do not stay on the Earth because it is spinning, but because of the force of gravity.
I am not aware of any planets that do not spin.   

 Ever Wondered???  

  Why does the position of the sunrise change along the eastern horizon during the year?

The reason is that the axis of the Earth's rotation is tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun.  So the circle on the Earth where the Sun is directly overhead moves north and south over the year, from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer, back to the equator, then to the Tropic of Capricorn and back to the equator.  This causes sunrise and sunset to move north and south over the year as well.  This effect also causes the seasons and the shortening and lengthening of the day.  

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 Events

Global Astronomy Month

Global Astronomy MonthProfessional and amateur astronomers, educators and all astronomy enthusiasts worldwide are invited to celebrate the Universe in April 2010, during Global Astronomy Month – an international project that builds on the achievements of The International Year of Astronomy 2009, by combining a wide array of activities with the possibility of sharing experiences in real-time!

Taking place during April 2010, Global Astronomy Month (GAM2010) is a community-based effort aiming to achieve international collaboration and more interaction between participants than ever before. The primary idea of GAM2010 is to share ideas, experiences and successes, allowing communities that organize their own events to carry their ideas and inspiration forward.

Please look at organising events throughout Australia to share the Universe with as many people out ther as you can – let me know what you areplanning so we can publicise it and share it with the world.

Some ideas?

GAM2010 includes the most popular events for both astronomers and the public: telescopes will be available for the viewing of the Moon, Saturn and other objects, not only at observatories and planetariums, but also in public locations; dark sky observing of distant objects, Messier marathon, Lyrid Meteor Shower observing parties and events for the annual celebration of Astronomy Day (April, 24) are just some of the activities planned; special events by IYA2009-created global programs, observing with telescopes controlled over the Internet, webcasts and podcasts of special presentations, exhibitions, public competitions, astrophotography contests and workshops and much more will ensure that there is something for everyone.

Check out the website http://www.gam-awb.org and blogs – http://gam-awb.org/gam-project-blog.html for more info.

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 NACAA 2010 – National Australian Convention for Amateur Astronomers  

Workshop. Start Time: Friday, April 2 at 7:25pm Sunday, April 4 at 10:25pm. Where: Rydges Capitol Hill Hotel, Forrest, Canberra, ACT To see more details and RSVP, follow the link:  OR email me here at the newsletter for more help.

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=258264943077&mid=1d04ba3G20ce0a77G55b1fd6G7

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