Sunday, January 27, 2019

Laser Holography Nano-Satellite System Could Cut Cost of Astronomical Research

                An incoherent synthetic-aperture technique combines the light from two small revolving telescopes for high resolution.
                                     Diagram of a proposed "SMART" Nano-Satellite.
                                          (Image Source: Ben-Gurion University)

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

According to researchers at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in Beersheva, Israel, a new “SMART” Nano-Satellite system could eliminate the need for multi-million dollar space telescopes in the future. In a research paper published in the 2018 December issue of the Optical Society of America's journal, Optica, high-resolution images, created through a coded aperture holography technique, would come through the combination of telescopic images from two nano-satellites.

The “SMART” (Synthetic Marginal Aperture with Revolving Telescopes) system involves two small satellites, separated in space and revolving in circular paths around a common axis, with a third sensing satellite combining astronomical images from the first two satellites. According to the researchers, the combined image would have a resolution equal to such an image from a much larger optical space telescope, but at a much lower capital cost.

Each of the proposed space telescope nano-satellites could be as small as a milk carton! Although the light-collecting ability of each small space telescope is much less than that of a larger space telescope, distances between the two space telescopes would provide an aperture larger than that of one large space telescope.

Using the coded aperture holography technique at the sensing satellite, the two incoming beams of light are sampled a few times per the rotation period of the two space telescope satellites, to create the research image.

The researchers also conclude that “several previous assumptions about long-range photography were incorrect.” Using a miniature laboratory model, the researchers found that, to obtain a high-resolution image from a space telescope, the entire aperture of a large telescope is not needed. By using a lens perimeter aperture as low as 0.43 per-cent, image resolutions were equivalent to those of much larger aperture telescopes.

"This is an invention that completely changes the costs of space exploration, astronomy, aerial photography, and more," says Angika Bulbul, a BGU Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Rosen in the BGU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

News Release - Ben-Gurion University:
Link >>> https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/aabu-nns010319.php

Research Paper:
Angika Bulbul et al., Optica (2018); https://www.osapublishing.org/optica/fulltext.cfm?uri=optica-5-12-1607&id=403153

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.
              Sunday, 2019 January 27.

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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh - Informal Science Educator & Communicator:
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991. Formerly Trustee of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
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 >

Friday, January 18, 2019

Sunday Night: Only Total Lunar Eclipse of 2019 w/Web-Casts

    
Time of totality during the Total Lunar Eclipse / Total Eclipse of the Moon of 2018 July 27.
(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org, By Giuseppe Donatiello from Italy - Lunar Total Eclipse on July 27, 2018 (100_2006), CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71222333)

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Sunday evening / early Monday (or “Moon-Day,” the day-of-the-week named for the Moon) morning, the only Total Eclipse of the Moon / Total Lunar Eclipse of 2019 will be visible, completely, in the United States, Canada, and in-fact in all of North and South America! Portions of the Eclipse will also be visible in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, western portions of Asia, and northern portions of Japan.

An Eclipse of the Moon / Lunar Eclipse is the type of Eclipse that is safe to watch, directly, with the naked-eye (one-power), binoculars, or a telescope.

Of course, visibility of any Lunar Eclipse / Eclipse of the Moon is dependent on local weather conditions. For areas where sky conditions are poor, as well as in areas where the Eclipse will not be visible at all, Internet web-casts of the event will be available (links to these web-casts are listed near the end of this blog-post).

A Lunar Eclipse / Eclipse of the Moon occurs when the orbit of the Moon brings our natural satellite into the Earth's shadow (shadow caused by the Earth completely blocking light from the Sun), always near the time, and including the time, of a Full Moon. Native Americans called the Full Moon of January the Wolf Moon; but, more on that later.

Later on Monday afternoon (about 12 hours after the conclusion of the Lunar Eclipse) will occur the monthly Lunar Perigee, when the Moon in its orbit around the Earth is closest to the Earth for this particular month. The distance between the Earth and the Moon at this month's Lunar Perigee: 222,042 statute miles / 357,342 kilometers. This day, Large Tides Along Ocean Coast-Lines are Predicted, due to the Primary Moon Phase of Full Moon (and Total Lunar Eclipse / Total Eclipse of the Moon) only hours before Lunar Perigee.

When closer to the Earth, the Moon often looks slightly larger and slightly brighter than normal. Hence, when Lunar Perigee occurs close to the time of Full Moon, some refer to the Moon as a “Super-Moon.”

Here are the major stages of this Total Lunar Eclipse / Total Eclipse of the Moon –
Sunday Evening / Monday Morning, 2019 January 20 / 21 ---
[Eastern Standard Time (EST) / Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)]

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Begins                                 9:36:29 p.m. EST / 2:36:29 UTC
Partial Lunar Eclipse Begins                                       10:33:55 p.m. EST / 3:33:55 UTC
Total Lunar Eclipse Begins                                          11:41:19 p.m. EST / 4:41:19 UTC
Greatest Lunar Eclipse                                                12:12:18 a.m. EST / 5:12:18 UTC
Moon Phase - Full Moon                                              12:16 a.m. EST / 5:16 UTC
Total Lunar Eclipse Ends                                              12:43:18 a.m. EST / 5:43:18 UTC
Partial Lunar Eclipse Ends                                              1:50:42 a.m. EST / 6:50:42 UTC
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Ends                                       2:48:06 a.m. EST / 7:48:06 UTC
Monthly Lunar Perigee (Moon closest to Earth)              3:00 p.m. EST / 20:00 UTC

Duration of time for ---
Complete Eclipse, including all phases: 5 hours, 12 minutes.
Partial Phases: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Total Phase of Eclipse: 1 hour, 2 minutes.

Of course, "Totality" / Total Phase of the Eclipse is the most impressive part of the Eclipse, what most people wait to see. The Partial Phases of the Eclipse are when a piece of the Moon seems missing, as the Moon moves further into the Earth's main shadow known as the umbra, or as the Eclipse is ending the Moon is further moving out of the Earth's umbra.

The Penumbral Phases of the Eclipse are difficult to see, as the Moon moves into or out of the Earth's secondary shadow or penumbra. In this case, one would not see any chunks or bites taken out of the Moon's disk, as one would see when the Moon moves into the umbra shadow during the Partial Phases. Instead, if your eyes are very good, you may notice a slight dimming of the light coming from the Moon, as the Moon moves further into the penumbral shadow

Often, particularly during the middle of a Total Eclipse of the Moon, the Moon will not disappear from view but can be seen with a reddish tint, what some call "blood red." If the Earth had no atmosphere, likely no sunlight would reach the Moon during a Total Lunar Eclipse, and there would be no "Blood Moon;" the Moon would seem to completely disappear.

Although no direct sunlight reaches the Moon during a Total Lunar Eclipse, the Earth's atmosphere refracts the sunlight around our planet allowing a portion of the sunlight to continue to be transmitted to the Moon. However, the refracted light reaching the Moon is primarily in the red portion of the light spectrum, as with red-tinted sunrises and sunsets (during such a Total Lunar Eclipse, a person standing on the side of the Moon facing Earth could see all Earth sunrises and sunsets simultaneously, as they viewed the Earth in a Total Solar Eclipse !). Hence, it is red light that is reflected from the Moon back into your eyes during a Total Lunar Eclipse.

To most Native Americans, the Full Moon of January was known as the Wolf Moon (although some references refer to the December Full Moon as the "Wolves" Moon). Of course this refers to the hungry wolf packs howling on cold and snowy nights outside Indian villages, as the wolf packs hunted their next meal in the frigid environment.

The Full Moon in January, in the Northern Hemisphere, was also known as the Old Moon, the Moon After Yule, Difficulty Moon, and Black Smoke Moon. And, some Indian tribes referred to this Full Moon as the Snow Moon, although most tribes used the Snow Moon name for the Full Moon of February.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the Full Moon of January was known as the Hay Moon, Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, and Mead Moon.

Internet Web-Casts Available for those not able to view the Eclipse directly ----

* www.TimeandDate.com: Link >>> https://www.timeanddate.com/live/

* www.LunarEclipse2018.org: Link >>> http://www.lunareclipse2018.org/live-webcast/

* Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles:
 Link >>> https://livestream.com/GriffithObservatoryTV/LunarEclipseJanuary2019

* Slooh On-Line Observatory: Link >>> https://slooh.com/shows/event-details/614

Internet Links to Additional Information ---

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2019 January 20-21 -
Link 1 >>> https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/events/2019/1/21/total-lunar-eclipse-and-supermoon/
Link 2 >>> https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2019Jan21T.pdf
Link 3 >>> https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2019-january-21
Link 4 >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2019_lunar_eclipse
Link 5 >>> http://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/astrocalendar/2019.html#eclipselun20190121

Lunar Eclipse / Eclipse of the Moon: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

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

Earth's Moon: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

Moon Illusion - Why the Moon looks larger, when it is low in the sky (NASA):
Link >>> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/27jun_moonillusion

Related Blog-Post ---

"50th Anniversary: The Incredible Legacy of Apollo 8." 2018 Dec. 24.

Link >>> https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2018/12/50th-anniversary-incredible-legacy-of.html

The first trip of humans to the Moon !


Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.
              Friday, 2019 January 18.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

           More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
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                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh --- < http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991. Formerly Trustee of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
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 >

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Astro-Calendar: Jan. / Pix of NASA Fly-By of Ultima Thule

                   http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/pix/Kuiper/UltimaThule.gif

Photographs, from NASA's New Horizons Space Probe, of Ultima Thule, a small, trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper Belt that is similar to a small asteroid or comet. The first photograph from New Horizons is below, while the closest photograph is above. The New Horizons fly-by of Ultima Thule occurred shortly after the beginning of the New Year: Tuesday, 2019 January 1 at 12:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 5:33 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). New Horizons had previously flown-by the Dwarf Planet Pluto on 2015 July 14. More information ---
New Horizons Space Probe: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons
Ultima Thule: Link >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(486958)_2014_MU69
(Image Sources: NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

   Ultima image from 31 December

Astronomical Calendar for 2019 January ---
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/astrocalendar/2019.html#jan

 Related Blog Post ---

"Astronomical Calendar: 2018 December." 2018 Dec. 1.

Link >>> https://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2018/12/astronomical-calendar-2018-december.html


Source: Friends of the Zeiss.
              Wednesday, 2019 January 2.
              Update - Added close-up photo of Ultima Thule: Sunday, 2019 January 6.

                             Like This Post?  Please Share!

            More Astronomy & Science News - SpaceWatchtower Twitter Feed:
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        Astronomy & Science Links: Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#sciencelinks

                Want to receive SpaceWatchtower blog posts in your in-box ?
                Send request to < spacewatchtower@planetarium.cc >.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh - Informal Science Educator & Communicator:
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
Electronic Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Project Director, Friends of the Zeiss: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Formerly Astronomical Observatory Coordinator & Planetarium Lecturer, original Buhl Planetarium & Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center), Pittsburgh's science & technology museum from 1939 to 1991. Formerly Trustee of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
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 >