Two astronauts whom I have met are—
Bill Anders: a pilot for Apollo 8 , which was the first manned lunar orbit mission (I met him when I went to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for astrophysics for a conference).
Jay Buckey: he flew on STS-90 in 1998 and briefly delved into politics in 2008 when he ran for a New Hampshire Senate seat (I met him when I participated in the Astronomy Bowl 2009 at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center).
It is fascinating to realize that these men have been into space, especially considering that some people think that our missions to the moon were a hoax.
January 29, 2010
A Cool Brown Dwarf
Today, as the New Hampshire windchill dipped below zero, making it one of the coldest days this winter, there is a new report about the, potentially, coolest sub-stellar object yet found outside our solar system. It is a brown dwarf, called SDSS1416+13B, with a temperature of approximately 200 degrees Celsius (or 400 degrees Fahrenheit).
A brown dwarf is an object of too low a mass to become a star, but is larger in mass than a gas giant, like Jupiter. Because brown dwarfs are typically quite cold, they are hard to detect, but it is easier to find them when scientists observe their infrared wavelengths. It was thus that SDSS1416+13B was found using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), located in Hawaii.
What is particularly interesting to scientists is the colorful nature of the brown dwarf. Peculiarly, the object's color changes from blue to red, depending upon which part of the spectrum it is observed in. Normally, such a cool object as a brown dwarf appears red. This differentiation in color may be a result of SDSS1416+13B's methane and water vapor atmosphere, which absorbs some of the infrared wavelengths and lets other infrared wavelengths pass through.
SDSS1416+13B orbits around another cool brown dwarf, named SDSS1416+13A, and it was discovered that these two are binary, meaning that they orbit around one another. Also, they are about fifteen to fifty light years away from us, which is relatively close considering that the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across.
More from Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog.
A brown dwarf is an object of too low a mass to become a star, but is larger in mass than a gas giant, like Jupiter. Because brown dwarfs are typically quite cold, they are hard to detect, but it is easier to find them when scientists observe their infrared wavelengths. It was thus that SDSS1416+13B was found using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), located in Hawaii.
What is particularly interesting to scientists is the colorful nature of the brown dwarf. Peculiarly, the object's color changes from blue to red, depending upon which part of the spectrum it is observed in. Normally, such a cool object as a brown dwarf appears red. This differentiation in color may be a result of SDSS1416+13B's methane and water vapor atmosphere, which absorbs some of the infrared wavelengths and lets other infrared wavelengths pass through.
SDSS1416+13B orbits around another cool brown dwarf, named SDSS1416+13A, and it was discovered that these two are binary, meaning that they orbit around one another. Also, they are about fifteen to fifty light years away from us, which is relatively close considering that the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across.
More from Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog.
January 28, 2010
Space Shuttle Launch
On February 7, space shuttle Endeavour is expected to launch as one of NASA's five final shuttle missions into space.
As the space shuttle program comes to a close this September, it is interesting to think how it started—January 27, 1967: the Apollo 1 fire. Essentially the result of carelessness and complacency, this incident came as a tragic blow to the Apollo program, but it demonstrated the need to revamp to ensure supreme safety. Though the Apollo 1 mission ended in disaster, it reduced the risk of experiencing another crisis and ensured that everyone would be ready in case there was another accident.
The Apollo 1 fire must have left many people wondering if Americans would ever make it to the moon. Now, however, we wonder if we will make it to Mars—and beyond.
*UPDATE* February 7, 2010
Space shuttle Endeavour's launch was postponed until 4:14 a.m. EST on February 8.
As the space shuttle program comes to a close this September, it is interesting to think how it started—January 27, 1967: the Apollo 1 fire. Essentially the result of carelessness and complacency, this incident came as a tragic blow to the Apollo program, but it demonstrated the need to revamp to ensure supreme safety. Though the Apollo 1 mission ended in disaster, it reduced the risk of experiencing another crisis and ensured that everyone would be ready in case there was another accident.
The Apollo 1 fire must have left many people wondering if Americans would ever make it to the moon. Now, however, we wonder if we will make it to Mars—and beyond.
*UPDATE* February 7, 2010
Space shuttle Endeavour's launch was postponed until 4:14 a.m. EST on February 8.
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