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Universe Today
25 Sep 2016, 16:45 UTC
On September 20, a particular spot in the constellation Lupus the Wolf was blank of any stars brighter than 17.5 magnitude. Four nights later, as if by some magic trick, a star bright enough to be seen in binoculars popped into view. While not confirmed, the star's spectrum, its tattle-tale rainbow of light, indicates it's a nova, a star in the throes of a thermonuclear explosion. The nova, dubbed ASASSN-16kt for now, was discovered during the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin"), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" telescope in CTIO, Chile. Krzysztof Stanek and team reported the new star in Astronomical Telegram #9538. By the evening of September 23 local time, the object had risen to magnitude +9.1, and it's currently +6.8. So let's see — that's about an 11-magnitude jump or a 24,000-fold increase in brightness! And it's still on the rise. The star is located at R.A. 15h 29?, –44° 49.7? in the southern constellation Lupus the Wolf. Even at this low declination, the star would clear the southern horizon from places like Chicago and further south, but in late September Lupus is low in the southwestern sky. To see the nova ...
Bright Binocular Nova Discovered in Lupus
25 Sep 2016, 16:45 UTC
On September 20, a particular spot in the constellation Lupus the Wolf was blank of any stars brighter than 17.5 magnitude. Four nights later, as if by some magic trick, a star bright enough to be seen in binoculars popped into view. While not confirmed, the star's spectrum, its tattle-tale rainbow of light, indicates it's a nova, a star in the throes of a thermonuclear explosion. The nova, dubbed ASASSN-16kt for now, was discovered during the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin"), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" telescope in CTIO, Chile. Krzysztof Stanek and team reported the new star in Astronomical Telegram #9538. By the evening of September 23 local time, the object had risen to magnitude +9.1, and it's currently +6.8. So let's see — that's about an 11-magnitude jump or a 24,000-fold increase in brightness! And it's still on the rise. The star is located at R.A. 15h 29?, –44° 49.7? in the southern constellation Lupus the Wolf. Even at this low declination, the star would clear the southern horizon from places like Chicago and further south, but in late September Lupus is low in the southwestern sky. To see the nova ...
Astronomy Now
25 Sep 2016, 13:29 UTC
Owing to the steeper inclination of the ecliptic to the eastern horizon at dawn at this time of year, innermost planet Mercury — which attains a greatest westerly elongation of 18 degrees from the Sun on Wednesday, 28 September — puts on its best dawn display of the year for observers in the British Isles and Western Europe. In the UK, find a location with an unobstructed view due east an hour before sunrise to see Mercury some 6 degrees above the horizon from approximately 25 September until about 5 October. The very old lunar crescent, just 43 hours before new Moon, lies 2 degrees (well within a binocular field of view) to the right of magnitude -0.5 Mercury at dawn on Thursday, 29 September in the British Isles. This looping animation shows a view about 60 degrees wide — or three spans of an outstretch hand at arm’s length — centred on the eastern horizon, depicting the changing configuration of the Moon and Mercury one hour before sunrise from 26—29 September. AN animation by Ade Ashford.Of the six planets visible to the naked eye — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus (the latter is reserved for the truly ...
See Mercury at its best in the east at dawn
25 Sep 2016, 13:29 UTC
Owing to the steeper inclination of the ecliptic to the eastern horizon at dawn at this time of year, innermost planet Mercury — which attains a greatest westerly elongation of 18 degrees from the Sun on Wednesday, 28 September — puts on its best dawn display of the year for observers in the British Isles and Western Europe. In the UK, find a location with an unobstructed view due east an hour before sunrise to see Mercury some 6 degrees above the horizon from approximately 25 September until about 5 October. The very old lunar crescent, just 43 hours before new Moon, lies 2 degrees (well within a binocular field of view) to the right of magnitude -0.5 Mercury at dawn on Thursday, 29 September in the British Isles. This looping animation shows a view about 60 degrees wide — or three spans of an outstretch hand at arm’s length — centred on the eastern horizon, depicting the changing configuration of the Moon and Mercury one hour before sunrise from 26—29 September. AN animation by Ade Ashford.Of the six planets visible to the naked eye — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus (the latter is reserved for the truly ...
Nature World News
25 Sep 2016, 08:38 UTC
ESA Unveils Most Accurate Map of Milky Way, Discovers Never Before Seen Stars
25 Sep 2016, 08:38 UTC
Astronomy Now
24 Sep 2016, 07:15 UTC
This simulation of the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the cosmic web of galaxies and the vast, empty regions known as voids. Image credit: Nico Hamaus, Universitäts-Sternwarte München, courtesy of The Ohio State University.The universe is expanding uniformly according to research led by University College London (UCL) which reports that space isn’t stretching in a preferred direction or spinning. The new research, just published in Physical Review Letters, studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) which is the remnant radiation from the Big Bang. It shows the universe expands the same way in all directions, supporting the assumptions made in cosmologists’ standard model of the universe. First author, Daniela Saadeh (UCL Physics & Astronomy), said: “The finding is the best evidence yet that the universe is the same in all directions. Our current understanding of the universe is built on the assumption that it doesn’t prefer one direction over another, but there are actually a huge number of ways that Einstein’s theory of relativity would allow for space to be imbalanced. Universes that spin and stretch are entirely possible, so it’s important that we’ve shown ours is fair to all its directions.” The team from UCL and Imperial College London ...
Cosmologists show that universe is expanding uniformly
24 Sep 2016, 07:15 UTC
This simulation of the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the cosmic web of galaxies and the vast, empty regions known as voids. Image credit: Nico Hamaus, Universitäts-Sternwarte München, courtesy of The Ohio State University.The universe is expanding uniformly according to research led by University College London (UCL) which reports that space isn’t stretching in a preferred direction or spinning. The new research, just published in Physical Review Letters, studied the cosmic microwave background (CMB) which is the remnant radiation from the Big Bang. It shows the universe expands the same way in all directions, supporting the assumptions made in cosmologists’ standard model of the universe. First author, Daniela Saadeh (UCL Physics & Astronomy), said: “The finding is the best evidence yet that the universe is the same in all directions. Our current understanding of the universe is built on the assumption that it doesn’t prefer one direction over another, but there are actually a huge number of ways that Einstein’s theory of relativity would allow for space to be imbalanced. Universes that spin and stretch are entirely possible, so it’s important that we’ve shown ours is fair to all its directions.” The team from UCL and Imperial College London ...
Skymania News
23 Sep 2016, 21:55 UTC
This is a post from Skymania News - Space and astronomy news and advice plus night sky New research has revealed that seismic activity on Mars could release trapped hydrogen which has the potential to support microbial The post Quakes could boost chances of life on Mars appeared first on Skymania News. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Quakes could boost chances of life on Mars
23 Sep 2016, 21:55 UTC
This is a post from Skymania News - Space and astronomy news and advice plus night sky New research has revealed that seismic activity on Mars could release trapped hydrogen which has the potential to support microbial The post Quakes could boost chances of life on Mars appeared first on Skymania News. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
collectSPACE.com: Space History News
23 Sep 2016, 20:25 UTC
Lawmakers propose memorial for Apollo 1 astronauts at Arlington Cemetery
23 Sep 2016, 20:25 UTC
DSFP's Spaceflight History Blog
23 Sep 2016, 19:34 UTC
Earth's moon is for most people just a light in the sky. Many of us who have followed the course of spaceflight know that it is in fact a place we have barely explored.I like to think of our planet's moon as its eighth continent. In terms of size, Asia is, at 44.6 million square kilometers, the largest continent. The moon is next in order, with 37.9 million square kilometers. Africa comes in third with 30.4 million square kilometers.Another way to look at it is, the moon has more area than North America (24.7 million square kilometers) and Europe (10.2 million square combined). Or one could say that the moon has the surface area of a little more than four Australias, with 7.7 million square kilometers each, or a little less than three Antarcticas (14 million square kilometers each).South America (17.8 million square kilometers), fifth in area after Asia, the moon, Africa, and North America, has a little less area one lunar hemisphere. When we look up at the hemisphere of the moon turned eternally toward Earth, the Nearside hemisphere, we see a surface area that could encompass Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, and ...
The Eighth Continent
23 Sep 2016, 19:34 UTC
Earth's moon is for most people just a light in the sky. Many of us who have followed the course of spaceflight know that it is in fact a place we have barely explored.I like to think of our planet's moon as its eighth continent. In terms of size, Asia is, at 44.6 million square kilometers, the largest continent. The moon is next in order, with 37.9 million square kilometers. Africa comes in third with 30.4 million square kilometers.Another way to look at it is, the moon has more area than North America (24.7 million square kilometers) and Europe (10.2 million square combined). Or one could say that the moon has the surface area of a little more than four Australias, with 7.7 million square kilometers each, or a little less than three Antarcticas (14 million square kilometers each).South America (17.8 million square kilometers), fifth in area after Asia, the moon, Africa, and North America, has a little less area one lunar hemisphere. When we look up at the hemisphere of the moon turned eternally toward Earth, the Nearside hemisphere, we see a surface area that could encompass Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, and ...
SpaceFlight Insider
23 Sep 2016, 18:00 UTC
The first captive carry test of VSS Unity. Photo Credit: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic recently released a video discussing the path traveled in getting VSS Unity ready for flight testing. This video, titled “Elevating Unity – Episode 1: Captive Carry,” showcases The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic preparing for and conducting the first captive carry test the vehicle. The video is narrated by Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic’s senior vice president of operations. He explains the flight and shows how it fits into the whole test program of SpaceShipTwo. On Sept. 8, 2016, WhitKnightTwo with VSS Unity mated underneath, rolled onto the runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California and took to the skies. Both vehicles were crewed. Unity remained attached to WhiteKnightTwo the entire flight. The maximum altitude achieved for this flight was about 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). Total flight time was 3 hours 43 minutes. “Staying mated to WhiteKnightTwo lets us really take advantage of a ‘flying wind tunnel.'” Moses said in the video. “We can test all the aero-surfaces.” Moses said that by being at high-altitude the craft experiences really low pressure and cold temperatures – both conditions SpaceShipTwo will experience in space – and ...
Video: The first captive carry test of VSS Unity
23 Sep 2016, 18:00 UTC
The first captive carry test of VSS Unity. Photo Credit: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic recently released a video discussing the path traveled in getting VSS Unity ready for flight testing. This video, titled “Elevating Unity – Episode 1: Captive Carry,” showcases The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic preparing for and conducting the first captive carry test the vehicle. The video is narrated by Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic’s senior vice president of operations. He explains the flight and shows how it fits into the whole test program of SpaceShipTwo. On Sept. 8, 2016, WhitKnightTwo with VSS Unity mated underneath, rolled onto the runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California and took to the skies. Both vehicles were crewed. Unity remained attached to WhiteKnightTwo the entire flight. The maximum altitude achieved for this flight was about 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). Total flight time was 3 hours 43 minutes. “Staying mated to WhiteKnightTwo lets us really take advantage of a ‘flying wind tunnel.'” Moses said in the video. “We can test all the aero-surfaces.” Moses said that by being at high-altitude the craft experiences really low pressure and cold temperatures – both conditions SpaceShipTwo will experience in space – and ...
Rosetta Blog
23 Sep 2016, 16:33 UTC
This is the first of a series of blog posts that delve behind the scenes of Rosetta's instrument teams to find out what it was really like "living with a comet" for two years, with some impressive statistics collected along the way. Tasked with collecting and scanning – in 3D – the comet’s smallest dust grains, Rosetta’s Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System (MIDAS) also has one of the smallest teams: “1.2 people in the beginning”, says principal investigator Mark Bentley. But as ever with Rosetta, the numbers are big: after two years of science, Mark and his PhD student Thurid Mannel report on the highs and lows of the 52 million up-down motions of the MIDAS scanning tip. Team MIDAS: Thurid Mannel (PhD student), Mark Bentley (PI), Harald Jeszenszky (technical manager), and Roland Schmied (postdoc) with the MIDAS Qualification Model (QM). Image courtesy G. Kargl. Mark reflects on the post-hibernation period, the overall performance of the instrument, and lessons learned for a future MIDAS: The early days of the mission, when we were first starting operations after hibernation exit in January 2014 were pretty crazy – mainly because we were a rather small team, approximately 1.2 people comprised of me and ...
