Sidewalk Astronomy at UNH

UPDATE, April 12:

Tonight’s Sidewalk Astronomy has been canceled due to clouds.

UPDATE, March 1:

Tonight’s Sidewalk Astronomy has been canceled due to snow.

ORIGINAL STORY:

During the spring semester, the University of New Hampshire Observatory is offering three Sidewalk Astronomy events on the streets of Durham.

From 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, February 2; Thursday, March 1 and Thursday, April 12, telescopes will be stationed next to the Wildcat statue in front of the Whittemore Center.

These events free and open to anyone interested in looking at the night sky. However, Sidewalk Astronomy is dependent on weather conditions and will not be held in the event of cloudy skies, rain, or snow.

Public sessions at the UNH Observatory are held every first and third Saturday of the month. Find out more at www.physics.unh.edu/observatory/ or follow the observatory on Facebook and Twitter.

A Wreath in Space

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured an imaginative image of Barnard 3, a nebula that looks like a wreath. WISE is a space telescope that sees infrared wavelengths, but it was put into hibernation in February 2011.

The green areas of the nebula are dense with dust particles, while the red cloud is relatively cooler material; new stars are being born in these clouds. The nebula is surrounded by silvery, bluish-white stars, but the star in the middle of the red cloud, HD 278942, is so bright that it causes the nebula to glow.

The nebula is about 22 light years in diameter and, because it is only 1,000 light years distant from us, it is part of our Milky Way galaxy.

The "wreath nebula," Barnard 3

Seven Planets Grace the Skies

It is a rare occurrence to see all of the eight planets in the solar system in one night, but they will all be shining mightily this week.

The planets are easy to find because they all follow the ecliptic, the apparent path that the sun and the planets trace across the sky, as seen from Earth.

Venus and Jupiter will be very clear in the sky after sunset near the southwest and southeast respectively, and Uranus and Neptune are visible with a telescope in between their brighter comrades.

Then, at about 6:00 a.m., Mars and Saturn will be high in the sky near the south, and Mercury will just be rising in the east. Mercury may be a bit difficult to view because it will be low on the horizon and the sun will be coming up. However, the bright stars Spica, Antares, and Regulus will complement the planets.

Do not forget to look at Earth, too!

If skies are clouded over, try again sometime over the next week.

Comet Survives the Sun

A smallish comet, Comet Lovejoy, was supposed to die Thursday night as it made a close approach to the sun. Hundreds of other comets have made this same journey, and they all melted in the heat of the sun.

Astronomers watched as the comet entered the sun’s atmosphere about 75,000 miles above the scorching surface, but the comet ended up coming out the other side of the sun. It just barely survived the sun’s blaze; only about 10 percent of the comet remains, though this is still millions of tons.

Most unfortunately for the comet, it lost its tail. However, it should not approach the sun again for another 800 to 900 years.

The comet was discovered earlier this month by an amateur astronomer in Australia.

Upcoming Geminids Meteor Shower

On Dec. 13 and 14, 2011, the Geminids meteor shower will peak. Normally one of the best showers of the year, the Geminids will be partly washed out this year by the light of the moon, which will be in its waning gibbous phase.

Even though the moon might not make for the darkest skies, the Geminids are visible earlier in the evening than other meteor showers. Go out at 9 or 10 p.m. when the moon is just rising. The meteors emanate from the constellation of Gemini, near the star Castor.

The Geminids meteor shower can produce up to 60 meteors per hour, but fewer will be visible this year with the moon shining brightly.

Total Lunar Eclipse, LRO Watching

Early in the morning on Dec. 10, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across the United States, but perhaps NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has the best seat of all.

The eclipse begins at 11:33 UT, or 6:33 a.m. EST; but for East Coast viewers, the moon will only just start to enter Earth's shadow, so the slight dimming of the moon will not be extraordinarily noticeable.

However, LRO orbits 31 miles above the moon’s surface, so it is taking this opportunity to study how the surface of the moon changes temperature as it loses sunlight. Depending upon how quickly the temperature changes, scientists can determine the moon’s soil composition.

Mars Ventures

Two spacecraft are supposed to be headed towards Mars this month: NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and Russia’s Phobos-Grunt.

The Mars Science Laboratory is scheduled to launch at 10:25 a.m. EST on Nov. 25, but the launch window runs until Dec. 18. This mission consists of a rover that will land on Mars and study the potential for habitability by studying rocks and soil.

Phobos-Grunt already launched on Nov. 8, but ran into problems when it hit low-Earth orbit. Two propulsion engines were supposed to fire but, for some reason, did not. The atmosphere will drag on the spacecraft, and if Russia cannot propel the spacecraft on toward Mars soon, Phobos-Grunt may remain stuck in orbit and eventually fall back to Earth.

The name of the spacecraft comes from the Russian for “Phobos Soil” because the primary objective for the mission is to collect and study soil samples and then bring them back to the earth. The craft will also observe Mars and its environment, looking for past or potential life.

Large Asteroid Too Close for Comfort

A 1,300-foot-wide space rock is making a close approach to Earth on Nov. 8, and it seems a little too close for comfort.

At a distance of about 201,700 miles, the massive asteroid will pass within the orbit of the moon, which is 240,000 miles distant from Earth on average. It will fly by at 6:28 p.m. EST, or 23:28 UT.

The asteroid, named 2005 YU55, is the largest object that we have known about in advance to pass this close to the Earth. As its name indicates, the object was discovered in 2005, so at least we have basically had six years to plan for this close approach. It is also the largest object to fly past us until 2028.

The asteroid will obtain a magnitude 11 apparent brightness and should be visible in many telescopes.

Upcoming Events at the UNH Observatory

Saturday, October 29, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: There will be a solar observing session during UNH Homecoming festivities (canceled). The UNH Observatory staff will be set up at the physics department’s display at the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS) tent on Boulder Field.

Canceled: Saturday, October 29, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: The UNH Observatory will host a special public session during UNH Homecoming festivities.

Canceled: Thursday, November 3, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Join the UNH Observatory staff for the final Sidewalk Astronomy session of the fall semester. Eight-inch Meade telescopes will be stationed next to the Wildcat statue in front of the Whittemore Center and near the intersection of Main Street and Mill Road.

Saturday, November 5, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: This will be the first November public session at the UNH Observatory. Come see Jupiter and the bright, clear autumn constellations.

These events are all free and open to the public. However, observation of the skies is dependent on weather conditions and will not be held in the unfortunate event of cloudy skies, rain, or snow.

Sidewalk Astronomy at UNH

UPDATE, Nov. 3:

Unfortunately, Sidewalk Astronomy has been canceled for November 3 due to clouds.

UPDATE, Oct. 25:

Join the UNH Observatory for the final Sidewalk Astronomy session of the semester on November 3.

UPDATE, Oct. 7:

It was a beautiful night for Sidewalk Astronomy on October 6.

UPDATE, Sept. 8:

Sidewalk Astronomy is canceled for September 8 due to weather.

ORIGINAL STORY, Aug. 20:

During the fall semester, the University of New Hampshire Observatory is offering three Sidewalk Astronomy events on the streets of Durham.

From 8 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 8; Thursday, October 6; and Thursday, November 3, join observatory staff as they bring the skies to you at two different locations across town.

Eight-inch Meade telescopes will be stationed next to the Wildcat statue in front of the Whittemore Center and near the intersection of Main Street and Mill Road.

These events free and open to anyone interested in looking at the night sky. However, Sidewalk Astronomy is dependent on weather conditions and will not be held in the event of cloudy skies, rain, or snow.

Public sessions at the UNH Observatory are held every first and third Saturday of the month. Find out more at www.physics.unh.edu/observatory/ or follow the observatory on Facebook and Twitter.

Found: Distant Reservoir of Water

In a quasar more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth, astronomers have found the largest—not to mention the most distant—reservoir of water yet discovered in the universe. It is thought to contain 140 trillion times the amount of water in all our oceans.

Quasars, powered by black holes, are objects which emit massive amounts of energy. As the black hole feasts on a disk of gas and dust that surrounds it, called an accretion disk, the quasar spews out energy.

Also, quasars tend to dwell in the most distant edges of the universe. They have large red shifts, meaning that they are moving away from us due to the expansion of the universe. Therefore, they were created early on in the history of the universe. Astronomers are excited about this latest discovery which can indicate what conditions were like at the beginning of the universe.

The quasar, named APM 08279+5255, was found with the 33-foot Z-Spec telescope at the California Institute of Technology’s Submillimeter Observatory, located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Observations were initially made in 2008, and measurements showed a large amount of water vapor surrounding the quasar. According to a NASA news release, astronomers had expected to find water vapor in the distant reaches of the universe, but they simply had not detected it before.

An artist's concept of a quasar similar to APM 08279+5255 (Image: NASA)

Dawn Arrives at Vesta

It has been a long, 1.7 billion-mile journey into the asteroid belt for NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, launched on September 26, 2007. The spacecraft finally arrived at its first stop at asteroid Vesta on July 16, 2011.

Dawn entered orbit around Vesta and wasted no time getting its bearings by taking the most detailed photographs of the asteroid yet seen, including an image of its dark side (below).

Additionally, Dawn is paying a visit to the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. The spacecraft will orbit around Vesta for a year before proceeding on to arrive at Ceres in February of 2015.

Dawn’s travels through the asteroid belt are all in hopes of finding out more about the early universe.

The dark side of asteroid Vesta (Image: NASA)

Curiosity: the Next Mars Rover

The Mars Science Laboratory, also known as Curiosity, is the next NASA rover destined for the Red Planet. About the size of a car, the rover is slated for launch at the end of this year and will arrive at Mars in August of 2012.

Its destination, announced last week, is Gale Crater, which is about 96 miles in diameter. Curiosity will land at the base of a three-mile-high mountain, performing a first-ever precision landing using a new landing system.

The rover will be studying rocks in order to investigate more about the possibility for microbial life sometime in Mars’ past. Curiosity’s payload of scientific instruments is about 10 times more massive than the previous Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

Curiosity will spend at least one Martian year, the equivalent of about two Earth years, exploring.

By the way, Spirit’s operations officially ended in March after the rover has been out of contact for over a year. Meanwhile, Opportunity is still busily roving seven years after landing on Mars, long exceeding its anticipated lifetime.

Download the Curiosity fact sheet from NASA (.pdf file).

Juno Ready for Jupiter

The Juno spacecraft is now poised atop its launch vehicle, the powerful Atlas V rocket, ready to depart on the morning of August 5; the launch window ends August 26.

This latest NASA endeavor is set to arrive at the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, in July of 2016 and will orbit the gas giant 33 times before it completes its mission by October of 2017.

The purpose of Juno is to investigate what lies underneath the gas giant’s swirling atmosphere at its core. Juno will also study Jupiter’s magnetosphere and auroras in hopes of understanding more about the planet’s origins and evolution.

Hubble Discovers Pluto’s Fourth Moon

The Hubble Space Telescope recently uncovered a tiny addition to icy Pluto’s system: a new moon, for the time being named P4.

Pluto, which was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, already has three other satellites: Charon, Nix, and Hydra. The latest addition is Pluto’s smallest companion with a diameter between eight and 21 miles.

Charon was Pluto’s first moon, discovered in 1978, while Nix and Hydra were found in 2005.

P4 has the third outermost orbit around Pluto, located between the orbits of Nix and Hydra.

Hubble first saw this fourth moon on June 28, and the observation was confirmed when new pictures were taken early in July.

P4 had been overlooked until now because earlier pictures of Pluto had short exposures. Longer exposures finally revealed that P4 was more than just a smudge.

Amazingly, the Hubble Telescope was located three billion miles away from Pluto when it took pictures of the satellite system.

The discovery was made as Hubble helps prepare the New Horizons spacecraft for its visit to Pluto in 2015. The goal of New Horizons, launched in 2006, is to travel closer to Pluto than any other spacecraft and learn more about the outer edges of our solar system.

Hubble had previously proved “invaluable to planning for New Horizons’ close encounter,” according to a NASA news release, when it mapped the surface of Pluto.

Now, as if NASA was not already looking forward to a closer look at Pluto, this new moon presents yet another mystery about the icy planet that warrants further investigation.

Below are Hubble's pictures confirming the existence of Pluto's new moon, P4.



The Return of Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space shuttle Atlantis, the final mission of the program, returned home to the Kennedy Space Center today. Below is a photograph from NASA.

Caption from NASA:
"This unprecedented view of the space shuttle Atlantis, appearing like a bean sprout against clouds and city lights, on its way home, was photographed by the Expedition 28 crew of the International Space Station. Airglow over Earth can be seen in the background."

UNH Releases Undergraduate Research Journal

With gas prices fluctuating, there has been a turn towards researching a cleaner, alternative source of fuel: biodiesel. And undergraduate research at the University of New Hampshire is unlocking the potential to produce this environmentally friendly fuel.

Brian McConnell, a sophomore at UNH, spent last summer studying how algae grown using wastewater recycled from Dover can be turned into biodiesel. Then he, along with other student researchers at UNH, published his findings in the 2011 issue of Inquiry journal, which is now available to read online.

Inquiry, the multi-disciplinary journal for undergraduate research at UNH, is published annually in April online at www.unh.edu/inquiryjournal. The journal features articles and personal commentaries about research experiences from current and recently graduated UNH students.

Published on April 13, the 2011 edition is the seventh issue of the journal.

Authors and editors spend nearly six months revising articles and preparing them to be read by a broad, international audience, from the academic community to the general educated reader. The research included in Inquiry, though it may be technical information, is meant to be understood by people from all backgrounds.

McConnell’s summer project, funded by a university grant, allowed him to study the process of growing microscopic algae in both freshwater and Dover wastewater. He then extracted the oils from the algae, which can be used to produce biodiesel.

Other articles featured in this issue of Inquiry include projects from nursing, history, economics, physics and international affairs.

For instance, Ella Nilsen’s history study, called “No Longer a Secret: Uncovering My Family’s Russian Jewish Heritage,” investigates her family’s hidden heritage.

Physics student Joshua French prepared a star sensor for spaceflight aboard a NASA rocket which launched in December.

The feature article, written by Laura Roach, describes the research partnership forged between China and the United States through the Confucius Institute that was established at UNH last fall.

Each of these undergraduate projects is relevant to the future of our planet and our society, just like McConnell’s investigation demonstrates how microscopic algae could soon become a viable method for fueling our vehicles.

Students learn from the successes and difficulties of the research process. Being able to communicate their research experience to a general audience is the final and one of the most important steps in this process.

The Inquiry staff consists of two part-time senior editors and one or two assistant editors. They guide a volunteer board of student editors made up of undergraduates representing all the various disciplines of the university. The student author’s research project and writing of the article is under the direction of a faculty mentor.

Inquiry journal is made possible by the UNH Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research (http://www.unh.edu/undergrad-research), which provides grants and resources to support student research.

Sidewalk Astronomy at UNH

The University of New Hampshire Observatory is offerring a Sidewalk Astronomy event on the sidewalks of Durham on April 14.

From 8 to 10 p.m., join observatory staff for an opportunity to look through an eight-inch Meade telescope at some of the best astronomical objects visible this spring, including Saturn and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Telescopes will be stationed next to the Wildcat statue in front of the Whittemore Center and at the intersection of Main Street and Mill Road.

Though Sidewalk Astronomy is dependent on weather conditions, this would be a great family activity.

Public sessions at the UNH Observatory are held every first and third Saturday of the month. Find out more at www.physics.unh.edu/observatory/ or follow the observatory on Facebook and Twitter.

“First Orbit” Film Screening at UNH: Celebrating 50 Years of Spaceflight

The University of New Hampshire Department of Physics is providing a screening of the film “First Orbit,” which documents the flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in outer space.

From 6:10 to 8:00 p.m. on April 12, join physics staff in the Spaulding Life Science Center, room 120, for this event which marks 50 years of human spaceflight. Prior to the screening, some historical background and a brief introduction to the film will be given by Mark McConnell, professor of physics at UNH.

The event is free and open to the public.

“First Orbit” recreates the cosmonaut’s journey in real time using actual audio communications from Gagarin’s one-orbit flight on April 12, 1961, along with footage taken from the International Space Station by European Space Agency astronaut Paulo Nespoli.

Produced by Christopher Riley, who is renowned for his Apollo space program documentary, “In the Shadow of the Moon,” “First Orbit” is being released as part of an annual worldwide celebration called Yuri’s Night. Since 2001, Yuri’s Night has celebrated the launch of the spacecraft Vostok 1 which sent Gagarin into a 108-minute flight around the earth.

Astronomical Events in 2011

January 3, 4: The peak of Quadrantids meteor shower. Up to 40 meteors per hour are possible, best seen after midnight in the constellation of Boötes.

March 20: The vernal equinox occurs at 23:31 UT, or 7:21 p.m. EDT, when there will be equal amounts of daylight and nighttime. This is also the first day of spring.

April 3: Saturn will be at opposition on this day, when the planet will be at its closest approach to the earth. This is thus the best time to view the Saturn and its moons.

April 21, 22: The Lyrids meteor shower peak. This shower is best viewed before sunrise emanating from the constellation of Lyra, the little harp, and it can produce up to 20 meteors per hour.

May 5, 6: The Eta Aquarids meteor shower peaks, but this is not an active shower; expect to see about 10 meteors per hour before the sun rises.

June 21: The summer solstice occurs at 17:16 UT, or 1:16 p.m. EDT. The sun will be at its highest point in the sky, thus making this the longest day of the year. This is also the first day of summer.

July 12: Today, Neptune will complete its first complete orbit since its discovery on Sept. 23, 1846. Neptune, which was discovered through mathematical calculations and not by telescope, takes more than 164 years to orbit the sun.

July 28, 29: The Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower peak. Radiating from the constellation of Aquarius, this meteor shower can produce around 20 meteors per hour.

August 12, 13: The peak of the Perseids meteor shower. This shower, radiating from Perseus in the northeastern sky, is one of the best shows of the year, producing about 60 meteors per hour.

August 22: Neptune is at opposition. Although the blue planet will be at its closest approach to the earth, it will remain a small blue dot even in powerful telescopes.

September 23: The autumnal equinox occurs at 9:04 UT, or 5:04 a.m. EDT.

September 25: Uranus will be at opposition. The blue-green planet is at its brightest as it makes its closest approach to the earth.

October 21, 22: The Orionids meteor shower peak, with about 20 meteors per hour.

October 29: Today, Jupiter is at opposition, promising to be bright and beautiful.

November 17, 18: The Leonids meteor shower peak. The Leonids can produce an average of 40 meteors per hour, radiating from the constellation of Leo after midnight.

December 13, 14: The peak of the Geminids meteor shower. One of the best showers of the year, the Geminids can produce an average of 60 meteors per hour. The meteors emanate from the constellation of Gemini and are best seen after midnight.

December 22: The winter solstice occurs at 5:30 UT, or 12:30 a.m. EST. This is the shortest day of the year.