SpaceWatchtower: March 2014

Saturday, March 29, 2014

U.S. to See 4 Total Lunar Eclipses in Year & A-Half

A new ScienceCast video explains the lunar eclipse tetrad of 2014-2015. Play it!

For people in the United States, an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses is about to begin.

The action starts on April 15^th when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals. The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.

"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," says longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.

More - Link >>> http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/27mar_tetrad/

Source: NASA Science News.

SPECIAL NOTE: A Lunar Eclipse or Eclipse of the Moon is the type of eclipse that is safe to look at with the naked-eye, binoculars, or a telescope.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
About the SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
Barnestormin: Writing, Essays, Pgh. News, & More: < http://www.barnestormin.blogspot.com/ >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
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Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
< http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
< http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Surprise ! An Asteroid with a Ring !

*Asteroid Chariklo's rings*.
*Credit: Nature magazine*

By Elizabeth Gibney and Nature magazine

Astronomers have discovered rings around an asteroid-like body whose orbit is between those of Saturn and Uranus. At just 250 kilometers across, Chariklo is the smallest body so far found to have rings.

Previously, only the giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — have been seen sporting them.

Published online today in Nature, the finding indicates that rings may be a more common feature than previously thought. The discovery was an accident and a surprise, says lead author Felipe Braga-Ribas, an astronomer at the National Observatory in Rio de Janeiro. Rings are interesting celestial features, as they are often a first step in the formation of planets and moons. But matter would typically struggle to stay stable around a body with only a tiny gravitational pull. “We thought that maybe having rings was linked with the mass of the object. So finding them on a small object was very unexpected,” he says.

Chariklo belongs to a class of objects called Centaurs, which traverse the outer Solar System in unstable orbits and can share characteristics with both asteroids and comets. Because they are small, dark and far away, studying them is a challenge, Braga-Ribas says. His team discovered the rings while observing the way in that the asteroid blocked out light from a distant star as it passed between the star and Earth on 3 June 2013.

More - Link >>> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/asteroid-found-to-have-a-ring-on-it/?&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20140327

Original article in Journal Nature:
Link >>> http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13155.html

Sources: Journal Nature, Scientific American Magazine.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Public Can Vote on Favorite NASA Spacesuit

Three models of NASA’s Z-2 suit unveiled to the public in March 2014 for people to vote on their favorite design. From left, “Biomimicry”, “Technology” and “Trends In Society.” Click for a larger version. Credit: NASA (Photo combination: Elizabeth Howell)

If you ever wanted to participate in spacesuit design, even in a small way, here’s your big chance. NASA is asking the public to choose which design of the futuristic Z-2 “planetary mobility” suit prototype will be used by astronauts while evaluating how well the spacesuit works.

There are three options (which you can see above), and NASA promises the winning design will be used in pool training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, the Johnson Space Center “rockyard” to simulate Mars exploration, and in vacuum tests. Outer space is not an option because of “micrometeorite, thermal and radiation protection” considerations, however.

Voting on the spacesuit designs closes at April 15, 2014 at 11:59 EDT. Vote at this link:
Link >>> http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/

More & NASA Summaries of Each Proposed Spacesuit Prototype:
Link >>>: http://www.universetoday.com/110732/nasa-asks-which-spacesuit-prototype-do-you-prefer-vote-on-your-favorite/

Sources: NASA, UniverseToday.com .

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mystery Martian Channel Appears After 3 Years

This pair of before (left) and after (right) images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter documents the formation of a substantial new channel on a Martian slope between Nov. 5, 2010, and May 25, 2013. The location is on the inner wall of a crater at 37.45 degrees south latitude, 222.95 degrees east longitude, in the Terra Sirenum region. Image released 2014 March 19. (Image Source: NASA)

By Mike Wall

A NASA spacecraft has spotted a big gully on Mars, a feature that appears to have formed only within the last three years.

The powerful HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) imaged the channel, which is found on the slope of a crater wall in the Red Planet's mid-southern latitudes, on May 25, 2013. The feature was not present in HiRISE photos of the area taken on Nov. 5, 2010. NASA unveiled the image on Wednesday (March 19).

"The dates of the images are more than a full Martian year apart, so the observations did not pin down the Martian season of the activity at this site," officials wrote in a description of the gully image on Wednesday.

More - Link >>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/mars-gully-nasa-orbiter_n_5006188.html

Sources: Space.com , Huffington Post.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Spring Begins at Vernal Equinox Thur. Afternoon

This diagram shows the Earth at an Equinox. The Vernal Equinox occurs Thursday.
(Image Source: NASA)

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

The Vernal Equinox, which marks the beginning of the season of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, occurs in 2014 on Thursday Afternoon, March 20 at 12:57 p.m. EDT (16:57 Coordinated Universal Time). Although it is predicted that the unstable Polar Vortex will bring more colder-than-average temperatures to the northeastern and mid-western United States over the next week, this is the astronomical beginning of Spring in America.

In the Southern Hemisphere, this marks the astronomical beginning of the season of Autumn.

As the diagram at the beginning of this blog post demonstrates, on the day of Equinox, the Sun appears directly overhead at local Noon on the Equator. At the moment of Equinox, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of Earth are illuminated equally. And, the time of Equinox is the only time when the terminator (dividing line on Earth between daylight and darkness) is perpendicular to the Equator.

This, and the reason for seasons on Earth in the first place, is due to the fact that Earth rotates on its axis, which is tilted at an approximate 23.44-degree angle from the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, this axial tilt causes one hemisphere of the planet to receive more direct solar radiation during that hemisphere's season of Summer and much less direct solar radiation a half-year later during that hemisphere's season of Winter. As mentioned, during an Equinox (about half-way between Summer and Winter, and about half-way between Winter and Summer) both planetary hemispheres receive an equal amount of solar radiation.

While the Vernal Equinox, the true beginning of the season of Spring, occurs on March 20 at 12:57 p.m. (16:57 UTC), the literal equinox actually occurred on March 17, the day after this month's Full Moon which was also St. Patrick's Day. In Latin, "equinox" is defined as "equal-night," the day when daylight and darkness are about equal in length.

Such actual equal-night never occurs on the actual date of an equinox on Earth. This is due to the fact that the Sun is so large, in relation to the Earth, and, hence, the entire Sun does not appear at actual sunrise, only a portion of the Sun; it takes a few more minutes for the entire Sun to appear above the horizon. Also, due to the refractive nature of Earth's atmosphere, daylight can be seen before the Sun's disk can be observed.

The date of actual equal-night varies by a location's longitude and latitude. At the Earth's Equator, daytime is always longer than night. Hence, the Equator never has equal-night.

In Pittsburgh, equal-night occured on March 17, when sunrise was 7:28 a.m. EDT (11:28 UTC) and sunset was 7:29 p.m. EDT (23:29 UTC).

This year, there will be a rare occultation just 10 hours and 50 minutes before the Vernal Equinox. The Asteroid (163) Erigone will completely obscure the bright Star Regulus early Thursday morning, visible in a narrow path in North America.

This rare occultation of a first-magnitude star will occur on March 20 at 2:07 a.m. EDT (6:07 UTC), visible in a path that includes New York City, Fairfield County, Connecticut, as well as parts of Bermuda, New York State, and Ontario. For people not in the narrow path, the occultation will be web-cast on the Slooh Robotic Telescope web site. More information regarding this rare occultation event:

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/03/rare-starasteroid-occultation-to-be-web.html

The Vernal Equinox is used in the solar calendars of Iran and Afghanistan as the beginning of their calendar year. In ancient times, the Vernal Equinox, then celebrated by the old style calendar on or near March 25, was also the beginning of the calendar year for many ancient civilizations.

The Vernal Equinox is the also the first day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival held each year in Washington, DC. This festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to the City of Washington. The festival runs through April 13 this year. More information on the festival:

Link >>> http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/?id=404

More on the Vernal Equinox: Link >>> http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/VernalEquinox.html

More on the Season of Spring: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_%28season%29

More on an Equinox: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

More on Earth's Seasons:
Link 1 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season
Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocentric_view_of_the_seasons

More on the tilt of a planet's axis: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

Special Thanks: Eric G. Canali, former Floor Manager of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and Founder of the South Hills Backyard Astronomers amateur astronomy club.

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friend of the Zeiss.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Rare Star/Asteroid Occultation to be Web-Cast Early Thur. Morning

This map of part of the sky shows the location of the bright Star Regulus in the Constellation of Leo the Lion. In a rare occultation of a first-magnitude star, Regulus will be obscured by the Asteroid (163) Erigone early on the morning of March 20, which can be viewed by web-cast, for those not in the prime viewing area.
(Image Sources: International Astronomical Union, Sky and Telescope Magazine, and Wikipedia.org )

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

In a rare occultation of a first-magnitude star, Regulus (magnitude +1.35), in the Constellation Leo the Lion, will be obscured by the Asteroid (163) Erigone Wednesday night / early Thursday morning (2014 March 20) at 2:07 a.m. EDT (6:07 Coordinated Universal Time).

This is the best and brightest occultation of a bright star, by an asteroid, ever predicted to occur over a major populated area. This occultation will occur only 10 hours and 50 minutes before the Vernal Equinox, the official beginning of the season of Spring in Earth's Northern Hemisphere.

This occultation can be seen, by telescope, binoculars,or even by naked-eye, in a narrow band that includes New York City, Fairfield County, Connecticut, as well as parts of Bermuda, New York State, and Ontario. For people not in this viewing area, the event will be web-cast, live, on the Slooh robotic telescope web site:

Slooh Robotic Telescope Web Site: Link >>> http://events.slooh.com/

Of course, the event will be recorded and can be viewed later on the web site, for those who can not stay up that late to see the event live.

The International Occultation Timing Association is asking members of the public in the prime viewing area to watch and time the event. It is estimated that Regulus could be blocked from view for as long as 14 seconds. Although this sounds like a very short time, and it is (so make sure you are ready to view at the precise time of the event, or you could miss it), it still is a comparatively long time for such a rare event.

Although the predicted time of the event is 2:07 a.m. EDT (6:07 UTC), remember that predictions are simply estimates. It would be a good idea to be watching Regulus well before the predicted time, to be sure you do not miss it.

By observing the timing of the occultation, citizen scientists can help professional scientists learn more about the Asteroid (163) Erigone. Once the occultation observation is made, it can reported to the International Occultation Timing Association on their web site at:

Regulus / Erigone 2014 Occultation Reporting Web Page:
Link >>> http://www.occultwatcher.net/regulus-erigone/

If you are in the prime viewing path, and you plan to observe and time the event, you may want to check that web page for more information ahead of time.

More on the occultation of Regulus by Erigone:
Link >>> http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/RegulusOcc/

More on Star Regulus: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulus

More on Constellation Leo the Lion: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_%28constellation%29

More on Asteroid (163) Erigone: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/163_Erigone

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friend of the Zeiss.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Monday, March 17, 2014

Gravity Waves Found: Strong Evidence of Big Bang Theory

Proof of gravitational waves created by cosmic inflation is shown here in this image of the cosmic microwave background radiation collected by the BICEP2 experiment at the South Pole.
(Image Source: BICEP2 Collaboration)

By Clara Moskowitz

Physicists have found a long-predicted twist in light from the big bang that represents the first image of ripples in the universe called gravitational waves, researchers announced today. The finding is direct proof of the theory of inflation, the idea that the universe expanded extremely quickly in the first fraction of a nanosecond after it was born. What’s more, the signal is coming through much more strongly than expected, ruling out a large class of inflation models and potentially pointing the way toward new theories of physics, experts say.

“This is huge,” says Marc Kamionkowski, professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the discovery but who predicted back in 1997 how these gravitational wave imprints could be found. “It’s not every day that you wake up and find out something completely new about the early universe. To me this is as Nobel Prize–worthy as it gets.”

The Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) experiment at the South Pole found a pattern called primordial B-mode polarization in the light left over from just after the big bang, known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This pattern, basically a curling in the polarization, or orientation, of the light, can be created only by gravitational waves produced by inflation. “It looks like a swirly pattern on the sky,” says Chao-Lin Kuo, a physicist at Stanford University, who designed the BICEP2 detector. “We’ve found the smoking gun evidence for inflation and we’ve also produced the first image of gravitational waves across the sky.”

Such a groundbreaking finding requires confirmation from other experiments to be truly believed, physicists say. Nevertheless, the result has won praise from many leaders in the field. “There’s a chance it could be wrong, but I think it’s highly probable that the results stand up,” says Alan Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who first predicted inflation in 1980. “I think they’ve done an incredibly good job of analysis.” The BICEP2 detectors found a surprisingly strong signal of B-mode polarization, giving them enough data to surpass the “5-sigma” statistical significance threshold for a true discovery. In fact, the researchers were so startled to see such a blaring signal in the data that they held off on publishing it for more than a year, looking for all possible alternative explanations for the pattern they found. Finally, when BICEP2’s successor at the same location, the Keck Array, came online and began showing the same result, the scientists felt confident. “That played a major role in convincing us this is something real,” Kuo says.

More - Link >>> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravity-waves-cmb-b-mode-polarization/?&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20140317

Source: Scientific American Magazine.

SpaceWatchtower

Saturday, March 29, 2014

U.S. to See 4 Total Lunar Eclipses in Year & A-Half

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Surprise ! An Asteroid with a Ring !

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Public Can Vote on Favorite NASA Spacesuit

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mystery Martian Channel Appears After 3 Years

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Spring Begins at Vernal Equinox Thur. Afternoon

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Rare Star/Asteroid Occultation to be Web-Cast Early Thur. Morning

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Monday, March 17, 2014

Gravity Waves Found: Strong Evidence of Big Bang Theory

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

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