SpaceWatchtower: May 2023

Monday, May 22, 2023

Citizen Science: Help NASA 'Listen' to the Solar Wind

Image showing the Sun and Solar Wind, from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite, a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image Sources: NASA, ESA)

_{By Glenn A. Walsh}

_{Reporting for SpaceWatchtower}

_{Help NASA 'listen' to audified
particles streaming from the Sun into Outer Space. NASA's HARP
Citizen Science Project asks volunteers to use their ears to help
scientists pick-out complex wave patterns of the Solar Wind.}

_{Outer Space is far from empty. The
Solar Wind consists of charged particles, electrons, and ions, known
as Solar Plasma, streaming every minute from the Sun, and probably
from other stars in the Universe. But, this stream of particles is
not consistent.}

_{When this Solar Wind plasma stream
hits the Earth, it causes the magnetic field lines-of-force and the
plasma around our planet “to vibrate like the plucked strings of a
harp, producing ultralow-frequency waves” according to NASA.}

_{The frequencies of the waves
scientists need to measure are too low for the human ear to hear.
HARP, the Heliophysics Audified Resonances Plasma Project, is a
NASA-sponsored Citizen Science Project which 'audifies' or makes
audible the ultra-low frequency waves caused by by the Solar Wind.
Citizen Scientists can then help scientists decipher the audible
whistles, crunches, and whooshes heard from this stream of solar
particles.}

_“_{What
excites me most about the HARP project is the ability for citizen
scientists to make new discoveries in heliophysics research through
audio analysis,” said the project’s principal investigator,
Michael Hartinger, a heliophysicist at the Space Science Institute in
Colorado, in a NASA news release. “We need their help to understand
complex patterns in the near-Earth space environment.”}

_{The
data that Citizen Scientists will use for this project comes from the
THEMIS Mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions
during Substorms), which originally consisted of five satellites
launched by NASA in 2007. As part of the THEMIS Mission, the
satellites flew through the Magnetosphere, what NASA calls Earth's
magnetic “harp”.}

_{So,
THEMIS has provided a great deal of data since 2007. However, there
is too much data for scientists to evaluate by themselves. According
to NASA, “By converting this data into sound and listening with
your ears, the brain can pick out complex wave patterns much faster
than by eye”.}

_“_{THEMIS
can sample the whole harp,” Hartinger said, “and it’s been out
there a long time, so it has collected a lot of data.”}

_{To
learn more about the NASA HARP Project, and to volunteer to
participate in the project, go to the following Internet web-site:}

_{Link
>>> https://listen.spacescience.org/}

_{Internet Links to Additional Information ---}

_{NASA News Release: "Help Discover the Sounds of Space Played by NASA's HARP."}

_{Link >>> https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/sun/help-discover-the-sounds-of-space-played-by-nasa-s-harp}

_{NASA THEMIS Mission: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THEMIS}

_{Solar Wind: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind}

_{Plasma - One of Four States of Matter: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)}

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) Satellite:

Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_and_Heliospheric_Observatory

More Citizen Science Projects: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/FAQ/citizenscience.html

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

Monday, 2023 May 22.

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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Informal Science Educator & Communicator (For more than 50 years! - Since Monday Morning, 1972 June 12):
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), America's fifth major planetarium and Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991.
Formerly Trustee, Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of only five libraries where both construction and endowment funded by famous industrialist & philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: Link >>> http://www.planetarium.cc Buhl Observatory: Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2016/11/75th-anniversary-americas-5th-public.html
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear: Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: Link >>> http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc

* Other Walsh-Authored Blog & Web-Sites: Link >>> https://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/gawweb.html

Monday, May 1, 2023

May Day Originated in Astronomy

April showers bring May flowers !

Tulips growing in suburban Pittsburgh this Spring. (Image Source: Friends of the Zeiss; Photographer: Glenn A. Walsh)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Today, May 1, marks the traditional Astronomical Cross-Quarter Day Beltane, better known as May Day.

The actual Astronomical Cross-Quarter Day date varies using the modern Gregorian Calendar. This year, the actual Beltane Cross-Quarter Day occurs on Friday, 2023 May 5 at 8:25 a.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) / 12:25 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

While using the ancient Celtic Calendar, May 1 marked the traditional Beltane Cross-Quarter Day, the Gaelic May Day Festival. This festival was widely observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In Wales, a similar celebration is known as Calan Mai.

The earliest known such Spring celebrations came during the Roman Republic era. The ancient Roman festival of Floralia (Festival of Flora, the Roman Goddess of Flowers) occurred around this time-of-year (April 27 to May 3).

The ancient Celtic Calendar divided the year into four Gaelic Festival, Quarter Days: Lady Day / Vernal Equinox (March 25), Mid-Summer Day / Summer Solstice (June 24), Michaelmas / Autumnal Equinox (September 29), and Christmas / Winter Solstice (December 25). Then, each Quarter (what we now call a Season) was divided into Cross-Quarter Days: Candlemas / Imbolc / Groundhog Day (February 2), Beltane / May Day (May 1), Lughnasadh / Lammas Day (August 1), and Samhain / Halloween (October 31).

The Celtic Calendar created Beltane, what we now call May Day, as the midway-point between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice. However, they called the Summer Solstice Mid-Summer, famous today in the name of the Shakespeare play, “A Mid-Summer Night's Dream”.

Beltane, in the Celtic Calendar, was actually considered the beginning of Summer. In ancient times, a Cross-Quarter Day was considered the beginning of a Season, while an Equinox or a Solstice was considered the midway-point in a Season.

Beltane or May Day was a day of agricultural celebration, as crops sown earlier were beginning to sprout. It also marked the time of year when cattle were moved to pastures for Summer grazing. The day marked rituals to protect the cattle, crops, and the parishioners.

It was also a day for young couples to pair-up. However, weddings would not be expected until the Mid-Summer Quarter Day. Even today, many weddings are planned for the month of June.

By the 20^th century, Beltane customs fell out-of favor. However, Celtic Neopagans and Wiccans now celebrate customs based on Beltane as a religious holiday.

In the latter part of the 19^th century, May Day became connected with the labor movement. 1889 May 1 was chosen as International Workers' Day (in some countries known as Labour Day) by the Second International to commemorate the Chicago Haymarket Riot and the struggle for an eight-hour work day.

In 1955, the Roman Catholic Church dedicated May 1 to “Saint Joseph the Worker”. Saint Joseph is considered the Patron Saint of Workers and Craftsmen, among other workers.

Completely unrelated, in the United States May 1 is also considered Law Day.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Beltane: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane

May Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day

International Workers' Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day

Law Day: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Day_(United_States)

Celtic Calendar: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_calendar

Gregorian Calendar: Link: >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

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