Q83: What is a Light Year?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Jake Matijevic' Contact Target for Curiosity
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The drive by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the mission's 43rd Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 19, 2012) ended with this rock about 8 feet (2.5 meters) in front of the rover. The rock is about 10 inches (25 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide. The rover team has assessed it as a suitable target for the first use of Curiosity's contact instruments on a rock. The image was taken by the left Navigation camera (Navcam) at the end of the drive.
Curiosity Traverse Map Through Sol 43
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 43rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Sept. 19, 2012).
The route starts where the rover touched down, a site subsequently named Bradbury Landing. The line extending toward the right (eastward) from Bradbury Landing is the rover's path. Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the distance driven each sol. North is up. The scale bar is 200 meters (656 feet).
Researchers Brew Up Organics on Ice
Researchers are brewing up icy, organic concoctions in the lab to mimic materials at the edge of our solar system and beyond. The laboratory equipment at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen at right, and a very young solar system, with its swirling planet-forming disk, is shown in the artist's concept at left. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Would you like icy organics with that? Maybe not in your coffee, but researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., are creating concoctions of organics, or carbon-bearing molecules, on ice in the lab, then zapping them with lasers. Their goal: to better understand how life arose on Earth.
NASA Telescopes Spy Ultra-Distant Galaxy
In the big image at left, the many galaxies of a massive cluster called MACS J1149+2223 dominate the scene. Gravitational lensing by the giant cluster brightened the light from the newfound galaxy, known as MACS 1149-JD, some 15 times. At upper right, a partial zoom-in shows MACS 1149-JD in more detail, and a deeper zoom appears to the lower right.. Image credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/JHU
With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, as well as a cosmic magnification effect, astronomers have spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever seen. Light from the young galaxy captured by the orbiting observatories first shone when our 13.7-billion-year-old universe was just 500 million years old.
Landing Pads Being Designed for Extraterrestrial Missions
When the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 6, it was another step forward in the effort to eventually send humans to the Red Planet. Using the lessons of the Apollo era and robotic missions to Mars, NASA scientists and engineers are studying the challenges and hazards involved in any extraterrestrial landing.
The technology is known as "vertical takeoff-vertical landing." According to a group working in NASA's Engineering and Technology Directorate at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the best approach requires a landing pad already be in place.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Mercury probe points to different origin for 1st planet
High levels of magnesium and sulfur on the surface of Mercury, suggest its makeup is far different from other planets
X-ray data from NASA's MESSENGER probe points to high levels of magnesium and sulfur on the surface of the planet Mercury, suggesting its makeup is far different from that of other planets, scientists say.
The unmanned orbiter has been beaming back data from the first planet for a year and a half. Readings from its X-ray spectrometer point to a planet whose northern volcanic plains formed through upwellings of rocks more exotic than those often found on the Earth, the Moon or Mars, said Shoshana Weider, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
SRM students bag space capsule design honour
The SRM university team that won the aeronautical engineering contest. — DC
From this part of the world comes a competition to Virgin Galactic’s enterprise on space tourism, as the student team from SRM University, which recently won the space transportation design competition of
Amercian Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is confident of sending 1,000 people to explore the space by 2025.
Advice for First Time Telescope Buyers...Contd (3)
Number 3: Use LOW magnification, and make sure your scope is properly adjusted!
If you take away only one thing from reading this page, let it be this : Magnification is NOT a measure of a telescope's quality or capabilities! Many beginning astronomers think that high magnification is they key to great viewing. This is a common misconception. A telescope's "power" is a function of the diameter of its mirror (or lens). In general, bigger is better for telescopes!
Interesting Facts About Moon
There are many interesting facts about the moon and trivia that may or may not be important to you. Some interesting facts include:
- We all know there was a man on the moon, but did you know that there is one who stayed there? Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a Geological Surveyor, who educated the Apollo mission astronauts about craters, never made it into space himself, but it had always been one of his dreams. He was rejected as an astronaut because of medical problems. After he died, his ashes were placed on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft on January 6, 1999, which was crashed into a crater on the moon on July 31, 1999. The mission was to discover if there was water on the moon at the time, but it also served to fulfill Dr Shoemaker's last wish.
A moon rock for sale by Heritage Auctions came to Earth as a meteorite
A moon rock for sale by Heritage Auctions came to Earth as a meteorite. The specimen is expected to sell for upwards of $380,000.
CREDIT: Heritage Auctions
If you have some serious cash lying around, a chunk of the moon could be yours.
A piece of lunar meteorite is on sale at auction, and experts estimate the final price will tally at keast $340,000. The rock, called Dar al Gani 1058, is the largest piece of the moon ever to be auctioned, according to Heritage Auctions, which is handling the sale.
Juno's Two Deep Space Maneuvers are 'Back-To-Back Home Runs'
A computer-generated image depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft firing its main engine. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully executed a second Deep Space Maneuver, called DSM-2 last Friday, Sept. 14. The 30 minute firing of its main engine refined the Jupiter-bound spacecraft's trajectory, setting the stage for a gravity assist from a flyby of Earth on Oct 9, 2013. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Brahmagupta - Indian mathematician and astronomer
Brahmagupta (598–668 AD) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote many important works on mathematics and astronomy. His best known work is the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (Correctly Established Doctrine of Brahma), written in 628 in Bhinmal. Its 25 chapters contain several unprecedented mathematical results.
Life and work
Brahmagupta is believed to have been born in 598 AD in Bhinmal city in the state of Rajasthan of Northwest India. In ancient times Bhillamala was the seat of power of the Gurjars. His father was Jisnugupta. He likely lived most of his life in Bhillamala (modern Bhinmal in Rajasthan) during the reign (and possibly under the patronage) of King Vyaghramukha. As a result, Brahmagupta is often referred to as Bhillamalacarya, that is, the teacher from Bhillamala. He was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, and during his tenure there wrote four texts on mathematics and astronomy: the Cadamekela in 624, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta in 628, the Khandakhadyaka in 665, and the Durkeamynarda in 672. The Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Corrected Treatise of Brahma) is arguably his most famous work. The historian al-Biruni (c. 1050) in his book Tariq al-Hind states that the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun had an embassy in India and from India a book was brought to Baghdad which was translated into Arabic as Sindhind. It is generally presumed that Sindhind is none other than Brahmagupta's Brahmasphuta-siddhanta.
US Scientists to Use Chinese Moon Lander for Space Research
A cooperative deal has been inked between a U.S. group and China to use that country's moon lander to conduct astronomical imaging from the lunar surface.
Illustration of a planned Chinese moon lander, Chang’e 3, which will be used for astronomical imaging under a new agreement by China and the U.S.-based International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA).
CREDIT: ILOA
CREDIT: ILOA
The International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) of Kamuela, Hawaii has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Beijing-based National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A signing ceremony took place in Kamuela on Sept. 4.
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Endeavour Move to Mate-Demate Device
NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) with space shuttle Endeavour mounted atop will taxi into the Mate-Demate Device at Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday morning. The MDD will afford protection to the aircraft from thunderstorms and lightning that are predicted at Kennedy Tuesday afternoon.
Lagadha - 1st Astronomer From India
The Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa is an Indian text on Jyotisha, redacted by Lagadha
The text is foundational to the Vedanga discipline of Jyotisha. It is dated to the final centuries BCE. As the text describes rules for tracking the motions of the sun and the moon, its dating in the final centuries BCE seems implausible as the more sophisticated horoscopic astrology and advanced astronomical knowledge possessed by the Indians. In the Vedanga Jyotisha, Lagadha praises Jyotisha as the crowning subject in the ancillary Vedic studies of human enlightenment.
The Vedanga Jyotisha is available in two recensions: one of 36 verses associated with the Rigveda and another of 45 verses associated with the Yajurveda. There are 29 verses in common.
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