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As soon as it gets dark on Monday night — say about an hour after sunset — look low toward the southwest horizon and you will see something rather striking: three “stars” forming an equilateral triangle, tilted a bit to the left. What will make this a rather eye-catching sight is that the objects forming the triangle are of similar brightness, but of contrasting colors.
Every time NASA lands a rover on Mars–or even makes the attempt–it is cause for celebration. On August 5th, the heavens themselves are aligning to mark the event.
Only a few hours before the Mars Science Lab spacecraft reaches the red planet and drops Curiosity on a hair-raising descent mission planners have dubbed the “seven minutes of terror,” Mars itself will be put on a special show in the sunset skies of Earth: Together with Saturn and Spica (a blue giant star in the constellation Virgo), the Red Planet will form a “Martian Triangle” visible from almost all parts of our planet.
Go outside after sunset on August 5th and look west where the setting sun has just disappeared. As soon as the sky fades to black, a triangle of first-magnitude lights will pop out of the twilight. The vertices are Mars, Saturn, and Spica. Together, they form an equilateral triangle about 5 degrees on each side. This means you could hide the Martian Triangle behind your outstretched palm. It would also fit comfortably inside the bowl of the Big Dipper. The tightness of the triangle makes it extra eye-catching.
The three objects are very different: Mars is a small rocky planet relatively close to Earth; Saturn is a ringed gas giant halfway across the solar system; Spica is a massive binary star on the other side of our galactic spiral arm. Nevertheless, they shine with the same intensity as seen from Earth. On the scale of astronomical brightness, all three are ranked first magnitude. This makes them easy to see with the unaided eye.
Not long after the Martian Triangle follows the sun below the horizon, the real action begins:
At approximately 10:30 pm PDT, Curiosity’s entry capsule will slam into the upper atmosphere of Mars raising temperatures around the heat shield to 2100 C–more than twice as hot as basaltic lava.
What happens next seems almost unbelievable. Because Curiosity is so much bigger and heavier than any previous rover, old ways of landing, such as air bags, wouldn’t work. Mission planners had to come up with something new and unorthodox. Reporter Scott Gold of the LA Times described it this way:
“In the time it takes to drive to the grocery store, the spacecraft will change shape like a toy Transformer six times, slowing from 13,000 mph to 1.7 mph while using 76 pyrotechnic devices, ropes, knives and the largest supersonic parachute ever built.”
At the end of the maneuver, a “Sky Crane” gently lowers the rover onto the floor of Gale Crater.
If the rover survives the hair-raising descent and lands intact as planned, it will mark the beginning of an extraordinary mission of discovery. Bristling with the most advanced sensors ever sent to Mars, the one-ton rover will spend the next two years (at least) finding out whether one of the most intriguing places in the solar system ever offered an environment favorable for microscopic life.
Let’s just say, it’s a good reason to go stand outside under the stars.
After the Martian Triangle sets, go inside and turn on NASA TV for the Mars landing itself. The real show is about to begin.
Article source: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_Landing_Sky_Show_999.html
Tags: the Red Planet, atmosphere of mars, equilateral triangle, Mars Science Lab spacecraft, solar system <BR/>COLLEGE STATION — While you’re out this weekend basking in the region’s coolest temperatures since spring, Texas AM University astronomers encourage you to gaze up at the night sky — specifically the Big Dipper’s handle, where one of the Universe’s latest and most radiant stellar explosions has produced a star bright enough to outshine its entire galaxy.
The star, a Type Ia supernova used to calibrate cosmic distances, is known as SN 2011fe and is scheduled to peak this weekend as the brightest of its kind to be seen in the northern hemisphere in the past 40 years, according to Texas AM’s Don W. Carona, manager of the Texas AM Astronomical Observatory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Carona has been following its progress and documenting the experience with the help of time-lapse photography. It was this type of supernova — also called a thermonuclear supernova because of the similarity with hydrogen bomb explosions — that was key in discovering dark energy, the mysterious substance now known to make up more than 70 percent of the whole Universe.
The supernova, the 126th to be seen thus far in 2011, is located in the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 and can be seen beginning just after sunset with a good pair of binoculars or a telescope just north of the last two stars in the Big Dipper’s handle, where it forms a roughly equilateral triangle with them. For the next few weeks, Carona says, its brilliance will exceed that of all of its fellow M101 inhabitants — hundreds of millions of stars — combined.
“This is absolutely amazing,” Carona says. “A supernovae event brighter than 2.5 billion Suns, and I am very fortunate to be both a witness and an observational astronomer.
“Since the observatory at Texas AM University is both a teaching and research facility, I take this as an opportunity to educate others on how powerful and surprising the Universe around us can be when we least expect it. Stellar evolution is fascinating, and what better way to turn our attention than an awesome display such as this? I think no matter who you are, this is reason to pause and allow yourself to wonder what’s in the Universe around us. Who knows where that sense of wonder may lead you next! The greatest thing you learn about astronomy is that anyone can contribute.”
The supernova was discovered two weeks ago mere hours after its onset by the Palomar Transient Factory, an automated supernova search being conducted with the 48-inch Oschin Schmidt Telescope at Palomar Observatory in southern California. The research team says it’s been 25 years since a supernova has occurred so close to Earth and that the last bright supernova, SN 1987a, which was involved in that aforementioned 1998 discovery of dark energy, was visible only in the southern hemisphere.
For more information on SN 2011fe, including a helpful finder chart, go to http://www.popastro.com/news/newsdetail.php?id_nw=67.
To learn more about Texas AM Astronomy and the Texas AM Observatory, visit http://astronomy.tamu.edu.
-aTm-
Contact: Shana K. Hutchins, (979) 862-1237 or shutchins@science.tamu.edu or Don W. Carona, (979) 845-0536 or don@tamu.edu
Hutchins Shana
2011-09-09 00:00:00
Article source: http://www.science.tamu.edu/articles/829
Tags: cosmic distances, dark energy, spring texas, department of physics, equilateral triangle, millions of stars, time lapse photography <BR/>
Amateur astronomers: Grab a pair of binoculars and look skyward. With a little luck, you might be able to see a supernova or exploding star in the sky tonight. No fancy, inaccessible, high-tech, NASA-type telescopes needed.
The supernova in question, known in the astronomy world as SN 2011fe, was discovered in the Pinwheel Galaxy about two weeks ago by astronomer Peter Nugent, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The discovery is noteworthy for two reasons: SN 2011fe is located a mere 21 million light years away, which means this exploding star is the closest supernova to the earth in at least 25 years. Also, scientists found it just hours after it began the exponential growth that signals the end of the star’s existence. No other supernova has ever been spotted so early in its life span.
SN 2011fe is about to reach peak brightness, and should be visible with a pair of high resolution binoculars or a 3-inch or longer telescope beginning tonight. However, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nugents said the best time for amateur astronomers to see SN 2011fe is five days from now, on Sept. 12, just after the full moon. If you can get out just a few hours after sunset and before the moon rises, you’ll hit the sweet spot where the skies are darkest and the supernova is brightest.
To find SN 2011fe, you’ll first have to find the Pinwheel Galaxy. It sits north of the last two stars in the Big Dipper’s handle, forming a roughly equilateral triangle with them.
Need more help? Nugent put out this video in conjunction with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that explains exactly how to find the supernova.
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Image credit: BJ Fulton / Byrne Observatory at Sedgwick Reserve and the Palomar Transient Factory
Article source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/supernova-reaches-peak-brightness-grab-your-binoculars-and-look-up.html
Tags: peak brightness, star in the sky, los angeles times, exploding star <BR/>“There are going to be dozens of observatories following this,” said Stan Woosley, professor of astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. “It will probably be the most observed object in the sky.”
Nugent said the supernova is getting brighter by the minute, and increasing in brightness by sixfold each night.
“Our best guess is it will continue to brighten until sometime in the first week or second week of September,” he said. “But that’s if it’s a normal supernova. We think it’s normal, but we’re not sure because we’ve never seen one this early.”
The size of the supernova, which is related to its brightness, has also grown exponentially since it was discovered. Nugent said the supernova had grown from about the size of Earth — that was pre-explosion — to slightly larger than the distance between the sun and Jupiter by the time we spotted it. It will continue to grow over the next couple of weeks.
If SN 2011fe does act as Nugent expects, even people without access to super-high-tech telescopes will be able to see the supernova with small 4-inch telescopes or strong binoculars in really dark skies in early September.
It shouldn’t be too hard to find. The Pinwheel Galaxy sits north of the last two stars in the Big Dipper’s handle, forming a roughly equilateral triangle with them.
Nugent suggests looking just after sunset.
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Image: The arrow marks SN 2011fe in images taken on the Palomar 48-inch telescope over the nights of, from left to right, Aug. 22, 23 and 24. The supernova wasn’t there Aug. 22, was discovered on Aug. 23, and brightened considerably on Aug. 24. Credit: Peter Nugent and the Palomar Transient Factory
Article source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/new-supernova-discovered-closest-exploding-star-to-earth-in-25-years.html
Tags: polar bear, deborah netburn, uc santa cruz, stan woosley, inch telescopes <BR/>
