
In the show this time, we talk to Dr. Adam Amara about A holistic approach to cosmology, Mat Malenta rounds up the latest news, and we find out what we can see in the July night sky from Ian Morison and Claire Bretherton.
The News
- SpaceX did it again in June and exceeded everyone's expectations.Two successful launches followed by two successful landing on two different drone ships in three days means that SpaceX's owner and its employees have a reason to celebrate. After the difficult two previous years the company is now on track to meet and even exceed it goals for the number of successful launches this year, with three launches of the Falcon 9 rocket, that took place over the course of a little bit more than than 3 weeks. On 23rd June, BulgariaSat-1 a geostationary telecommunications satellite Kennedy Space Centre pad 39-A. It was the second time a reused booster was flown to space and successfully brought back to Earth. B1029 was first flown in the middle of January marking a much shorter refurbishment process as compared to nearly a year that passed between the two launches of the first reused booster.Second launch in the 3 day period took place from the West Coast's Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 4 on the 25th June. The mission carried 10 Iridium NEXT communication satellites to the Low Earth Orbit. This is the second time that S[paceX launched Iridium NEXT satellites to space. The first 10 satellites were delivered into the orbit during the January launch earlier this year. Earlier this month, 3rd June was the first time that a refurbished Dragon capsule was launched from Kennedy Space Centre, to the international Space Station during a resupply mission. The spacecraft delivered more than 2,700 kg to the ISS, including 372 kg Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, also known as NICER. This experimental payload was installed outside the space station and will be used to study the structure of neutron stars through the precise timing of the X-ray radiation. The experiment is expected to start in the second week of July and run for 18 months. This particular Dragon spacecraft also carried an unexpected payload. Not announced until a few days after the launch, the capsule carried a Chinese science payload to the ISS. The experiment will run for 30 days and will study the effects of radiation on the DNA. This is an unprecedented event as the cooperation in space between the United States and China has been very limited until now. The US Government went as fat as explicitly banning NASA from any cooperation with Chinese officials in 2011, due to increasing security concerns, mainly focused around industrial espionage. It is also important to note, that even though the experiment was paid for by the Chinese research institute, the payload preparation and operations are being conducted by the American company NanoRacks. The company was tasked with ensuring that the experiment will in no way communicate with the systems onboard the ISS and that no data will be exchanged between the payload and station's computers. Seen as a small gesture, this mission may eventually pave a way to new era of cooperation between two ambitious space agency: one which struggles to return to its former glory and another one that is determined to catch the rest of the world in the next decade or two.
- June was a great month for exoplanet hunters.There is a bunch of new extrasolar planets candidates announced by the Kepler spacecraft science team. A bunch of 219 to be precise, bringing the total number of candidates to 4,034. We need to stress out that these are still just candidates, that will have to be confirmed using independent methods. 10 of these are especially interesting as they are expected to be near Earth size and be placed in the host stars' habitable zones. This is a significant discovery, as so far, only 30 Eath-like planets' which sizes do not exceed twice the size of the Earth and found in the habitable zones have been confirmed. If these 10 new candidates are successfully verify, they should provide scientists with great opportunities for studying the development of Earth-like planets and allows them to focus on searching the conditions that support life. This release is the final one that makes use of the data gathered during the primary mission of the Kepler spacecraft, when it was pointing towards the Cygnus constellation. On the other end of the habitability spectrum is KELT-9b. Its host star has a temperature of around 10,000K and a spectral type between A and B, putting it amongst the 'slightly warmer' stars in the Universe. KELT-9b follows an extremely close orbit, with a period of only 1.5 days. For comparison, the period of Mercury is just shy of 88 days. The star's temperature and its close proximity to the planet mean that KELT-9b has surface temperature of about 4,600K making it the hottest extrasolar planet discovered to date. This is 'only' 1000K less than the temperature of the Sun’s surface and actually more than some of the other stars' surface temperature. For example start with the K spectral type can have temperatures in the range of 3,500, 4000 to around 5000K, which means that KELT-9b can have surface temperatures exceeding those of some of the know stars. That is definitely not the place to search for extraterrestrial life.
- GTR has been found to be correct again.Whether you support it or not, the General Theory of Relativity still has a strong and stable position within the scientific community. Now even more than ever, as astronomers successfully repeated the 1919 solar eclipse experiment, this time using a distant white dwarf instead of our own Sun, for the first time in history. Stein 2051 B is a less bright, but heavier member of a binary system, located at a distance of about 18 light years. Being a white dwarf it is expected to have a mass of around 0.67 solar masses, if stellar evolution theories are correct. First observations placed the mass of this object in the region of a half of the mass of the Sun, which would, we quote from the paper, 'give the system a total age uncomfortably close to the age of the Universe'. However this method was later found to be flawed, effectively invalidating the inferred old age of the system. The binary system has a significant proper motion, meaning its start move in front of the background stars. It is important from the gravitational lensing point of view, as it increases the change of the white dwarf passing directly in from of a more distant star. Hubble Space Telescope was used to run 8 observations, of which 4 had to be discarded, due to various errors and artifacts. It was however enough to find that the white dwarf indeed reflects the rays of the background stars, and by the amount consistent with the General Theory of Relativity. The precise measurement of the deflection angle also allowed for the more precise estimation of the mass of the white dwarf, which as found to be 0.675 solar masses, in agreement with the existing theories. So no stars older than the Universe, the the GRT is correct, for now.
Interview with Dr. Adam Amara
Dr Adam Amara from ETH Zurich speaks to Monique Henson about how the future of cosmology relies on a holistic approach. Along the way he discusses weak lensing, co-founding the Euclid mission and a discovery of a protoplanet.
The Night Sky
Northern Hemisphere
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the northern hemisphere night sky during July 2017.
The Planets
- Jupiter - Now three months after opposition, Jupiter still dominates the low southwestern sky after nightfall. It sets at about 1 am BST as July begins. As the month progresses its brightness falls from -2.0 to -1.9 magnitudes as its angular size falls from 37 to 34 arc seconds. It lies in Virgo some 10.5 degrees to the west of Spica, now moving eastwards again after its period of retrograde motion. It will pass Spica on September 11th on its journey towards the lower parts of the ecliptic. Next year it will only reach an elevation of some 25 degrees when due south and, in the following two years, just 18 degrees before it moves back towards the more northerly parts of the ecliptic. Even so, with a small telescope one should easily be able to see the equatorial bands in the atmosphere, sometimes the Great Red Spot and up to four of the Galilean moons as they weave their way around it.
- Saturn - Saturn came into opposition on June 11th and so will be at its highest elevation due south at around midnight BST as July begins but by ~10 pm BST at its end. It will be visible throughout most of the short night. It shines initially at magnitude 0.1 falling to +0.2 during the month and has an angular size of ~18 arc seconds. With an angle of 26.7 degrees inclination to the line of sight, the rings are virtually as open as they ever can be. It is sad that Saturn, now lying in the southern part of Ophiuchus between Sagittarius and Scorpius, only reaches an elevation of ~17 degrees above the horizon when due south so hindering our view of this most beautiful planet. If imaging Saturn (or Jupiter), Registax 6 has a tool to align the red, green and blue colour images to largely remove atmospheric dispersion from the image. At somewhat over 100 GBP one can purchase the ZWO atmospheric dispersion corrector which uses two, contra rotating, prisms to carry out an even better correction - and which can also be used for visual observing.
- Mercury - Mercury reaches greatest elongation east, some 27 degrees from the Sun, on July 30th. It can be seen low in the west-northwest around 30 minutes after sunset. Binoculars may well be needed but please do not use them until after the Sun has set. It fades slightly during the month from -1.0 to +0.4 magnitudes whilst its angular size increases from 5.3 to 7.8 arc seconds. No surface details will, of course, be seen.
- Mars - Mars is hidden in the Sun's glare all month so cannot be observed.
- Venus - Venus is visible in the east before dawn this month rising around 2.5 hours before sunrise increasing to 3 hours as the month progresses. It magnitude dims slightly during the month from -4.2 to -4.0 as its angular diameter shrinks from 18.2 to 14.6 arc seconds. However, at the same time, its illuminated phase increases from 63 to 74% which explains why the magnitude does not drop too much. Even though it will be moving back towards the Sun, as the angle of the ecliptic to the horizon increases at this time of the year, it elevation before sunrise will continue to increase until August. Venus passes the Pleiades Cluster on the 5th, the Hyades on the 13/14th and ends the month close to M35 in Gemini.
Highlights
June - The best month to observe Saturn - Saturn reached opposition on the 14th of June, so is now due south and highest in the sky in the late evening. It lies in the southern part of Ophiuchus some 16 degrees up and to the left of the orange star Antares in Scorpius. Held steady, binoculars should enable you to see Saturn's brightest moon, Titan, at magnitude 8.2. A small telescope will show the rings with magnifications of x25 or more and one of 6-8 inches aperture with a magnification of ~x200 coupled with a night of good 'seeing' (when the atmosphere is calm) will show Saturn and its beautiful ring system in its full glory.Due to the orientation of Saturn's rotation axis of 27 degrees with respect to the plane of the solar system, the orientation of the rings as seen by us changes as it orbits the Sun and twice each orbit they lie edge on to us and so can hardly be seen. This last happened in 2009 and they are now fully opened out, currently at an angle of 26.5 degrees to the line of sight. From this month the ring's orientation will begin to narrow until March 2025 when they will appear edge-on again.
July - Find the globular cluster in Hercules and spot the "Double-double" in Lyra - There are two very nice objects to spot with binoculars in the eastern sky well after dark this month. Two thirds of the way up the right hand side of the 4 stars that make up the "keystone" in the constellation Hercules is M13, the best globular cluster visible in the northern sky. The 15 minute exposure image on right was taken by the author using a 127 mm APO refractor and SBIG 8.3 megapixel CCD camera. Just to the left of the bright star Vega in Lyra is the multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae often called the double-double. With binoculars a binary star is seen but, when observed with a telescope, each of these two stars is revealed to be a double star - hence the name!
Early July - A very good time to spot Noctilucent Clouds! - Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are most commonly seen in the deep twilight towards the north from our latitude. They are the highest clouds in the atmosphere at heights of around 80 km or 50 miles. Normally too faint to be seen, they are visible when illuminated by sunlight from below the northern horizon whilst the lower parts of the atmosphere are in shadow. They are not fully understood and are increasing in frequency, brightness and extent; some think that this might be due to climate change! So on a clear dark night as light is draining from the north western sky long after sunset take a look towards the north and you might just spot them!
July 7th/8th - midnight: The Moon and SaturnLate evening on the 7th July, the waxing Moon will be seen to the upper right of Saturn.
20th July - before dawn: Venus, Aldebaran and a thin crescent Moon - Before dawn on the 20th, Venus will be seen over to the left of a very thin waning crescent Moon. Aldebaran, lying in front of the Hyades Cluster, will also be seen to the upper right of the Moon.
July 25th - after sunset: The Moon and Mercury - After sunset on the 25th July, given a low western horizon and clear skies, there is a chance of spotting Mercury down to the right of a very thin crescent Moon. Binoculars may well be needed but please do not use them until after the Sun has set.
July 1st and 15th: The Alpine Valley - These are two good nights to observe an interesting feature on the Moon if you have a small telescope. Close to the terminator is the Appenine mountain chain that marks the edge of Mare Imbrium. Towards the upper end you should see the cleft across them called the Alpine valley. It is about 7 miles wide and 79 miles long. As shown in the image a thin rill runs along its length which is quite a challenge to observe. Over the next two nights the dark crater Plato and the young crater Copernicus will come into view. This is a very interesting region of the Moon!
Southern Hemisphere
Claire Bretherton from the Carter Observatory in New Zealand speaks about the southern hemisphere night sky during {month} {year}.
Kia ora and welcome to the July Jodcast from Space Place at Carter Observatory in Wellington, New Zealand. Jupiter is still high in our evening skies this month, midway up the northwestern sky after sunset. Shining at magnitude -2.1, with its bright golden glow, Jupiter will be the first star-like object you'll see as the sky begins to darken. Just above is bluish Spica, representing the "ear of wheat" held by Virgo. The waxing crescent moon will pass close to Jupiter on both the 1st and 29th of the month.
Lower in the west, Mercury is making an appearance in the evening sky. At the start of the month it sets just an hour after the Sun, but by the end of July, when it reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun, it will remain in our skies until 8pm. On the 25th Mercury will form a close group with Regulus, in Leo, and a thin crescent Moon.
Saturn is high in the northeast and is a great target for a telescope of any size, with its rings still at almost maximum tilt. Look out for Saturn's largest moon Titan looking like a star at around 4 times the ring diameter from the planet. Saturn continues to sit just below Antares in Scorpius, with the claws of the scorpion to the left and his tail curling around to the right. In New Zealand we see this as the fish hook of Māui, Te Matau a Maui.
Below Scorpius is an upside down teapot formed from the brightest stars in the constellation of Sagittarius. The bright centre of the Milky Way runs through Scorpius and sagitarrius, so there are many stunning objects to explore in this part of the sky.
Lying along the tail of the scorpion, close to the orange 3rd magnitude star Zeta Scorpii, is NGC 6231, a bright cluster of stars which looks like a small comet. At magnitude 2.6 this is easily visible to the naked eye. Estimated to be only 3.2 million years old and nearly 6000 light-years away, NGC6231 covers an area of the sky similar in size to the Pleiades, but its stars are much more luminous. If the cluster was placed at the same distance as the Pleiades then some of its stars would be amongst the brightest in the night time sky. With a good pair of binoculars, from a dark sight, NGC 6231 appears in an area of nebulosity and intermingled with open clusters Trumpler 24 and Collinder 316 to form a lovely complex sometimes known as the Scorpius Lizard. Also nearby is NGC 2642. With binoculars its three brightest stars stand out from a faint background glow.
A little above, NGC 6193 is also visible to the naked eye at magnitude 5.2, and nearby NGC 6167 is worth a look in binoculars or a small telescope.
Below, about halfway between the scorpion's sting and the spout of the teapot is M7. This is another open cluster of stars easily visible to the naked eye at magnitude 3.3, and a lovely sight through a good pair of binoculars. It contains about 80 stars brighter than 10th magnitude and covers an area of 1.3 degrees diameter. Current estimates suggest a distance of 980 light years and an age of 220 million years old – still pretty young in astronomical terms. M7 has been known since ancient times and was first recorded by Ptolomy in 130 AD, who described it as a "nebula following the sting of Scorpius", because of this it is also sometimes referred to as the Ptolomy cluster. Nearby and somewhat fainter, the Butterfly cluster, or M6 is also a nice sight in binoculars. The stars will all appear to be at around the same brightness, and the open winged shape that gives the cluster its name should be easy to pick out.
To the left of the teapot's spout, and just about visible to the naked eye, is another lovely Messier object, the Lagoon Nebula, or M8. This is a huge cloud of interstellar gas and dust where new stars are being formed. M8 is a great example of an HII region, where the UV radiation from hot young stars is ionizing the leftover hydrogen gas and causing is to glow. These emission nebulae often appear pink in colour photographs and the Lagoon Nebula is a good target for binoculars or a small telescope.
Another good target is the Trifid nebula, discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, and famed for the three-lobed appearance, which earned it it’s name. It is an interesting object to observe as it combines both an emission and reflection nebula along with an open cluster of stars.
There are also a number of globular clusters in this part of the sky. The brightest is M4, and this is also one of the easiest to find, lying just 1.3 degrees west of Antares. Appearing as a small fuzzy ball in binoculars or small telescopes, a slightly larger telescope will begin to pick out individual stars.
Also in this region, near the top of the teapot, is M22, one of the first globular clusters ever discovered in 1665, and one of the closest at just 10,600 light-years.
From its bright centre the Milky Way stretches overhead through Crux, the Southern Cross, and on to Carina, Vela and Puppis above the southwestern horizon. Together these three constellations make up the great ship Argo Navis, famous in Greek mythology as that used by Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.
Just to the left of the Milky Way is Carina’s brightest star Canopus, or Alpha Carinae, the second brightest in the nighttime sky. Its Maori name is Atu tahi or Au tahi, which means to stand alone, because of its position just outside the main band of our Galaxy. In the other direction , the Milky Way drops down to the eastern horizon and the bright star Altair in the constellation of Aquila, the Eagle, which rises around 9pm at the start of the month.
In the morning skies our last visible planet, brilliant Venus, rises after 4am. Venus is so bright that you can really only mistake it with the headlights of an airplane and provides a useful pointer to help find Matariki/the Pleiades as the cluster rises before dawn. Venus sits just above Matariki at the beginning of the month, but slowly moves down between Matariki and Taurus' brightest star Aldebaran as the month progresses, sitting just below Aldebaran on the morning of the 18th.
Wishing you clear skies from the team her at Space Place at Carter Observatory.
Odds and Ends
As space tourism starts to look less like a science fiction plot line and more like an actual possibility in the future, a group of scientists and engineers in Germany are addressing a very real challenge that will be faced by future space hospitality and catering professionals - what will happen when space tourists arrive in space and demand fresh bread for breakfast? The "Bake in Space" initiative seeks to address this challenge through a series of tests that they will perform on board the ISS in 2018. Using a range of highly specialised bread makers designed by German aerospace company OHB System AG. The Bake in Space team will test different methods of baking on board the ISS, which will be remotely controlled and monitored from Earth.
On 19th June, the Kepler telescope made its last data dump - we now know of over 2000 confirmed planets and around 50 Earth like planets. The new data have also allowed us to separate low mass planets into super Earths and mini Neptunes, giving planetary formation theory a window into the development of small planets.
The Dawn spacecraft currently in orbit around Ceres faces an uncertain future, as its mission is slated to come to an end on 30th June 2017. With three of its four reaction wheels non-responsive and running low on hydrazine fuel, it is unlikely to be able to function for much longer if kept in orbit around the dwarf planet. Other options for the controllers include sending it away on a fly-by of another asteroid, or simply switching off and placing the craft into a quarantine orbit. Full Story.
Show Credits
News: | Mateusz Malenta |
Interview: | Dr. Adam Amara and Monique Henson |
Night sky: | Ian Morison and Claire Bretherton |
Presenters: | Fiona Healy, Joshua Hayes and Jake Morgan |
Editors: | Parvin Mansour, Claire Bretherton, Tom Hillier and Tom Scragg |
Segment Voice: | Iain McDonald |
Website: | Naomi Asabre Frimpong, Benjamin Shaw and Stuart Lowe |
Producer: | Naomi Asabre Frimpong and Benjamin Shaw |
Cover art: | Artist impression of space tourism CREDIT: NASA JPL |