I have no shame in admitting I love face-on spiral galaxies. Scientifically, of course, theyre fascinating; spread out in front of us are all the inner workings of a galaxy. Its like having an X-ray of human body in front of you, making it easier to understand anatomy.

But their beauty well. The scope and grandeur of a face-on spiral is unparalleled, I think, in astronomy, or perhaps any field of science. But dont take my word on it. See for yourself.

[Click to galactinate, or get a 1900 x 1200 desktop image.]

This is the wonderful nearby spiral M101, and is a composite of no fewer than four orbiting observatories! It has images from Hubble, Spitzer, Chandra, and GALEX. These represent (in order) observations in visible light (shown as yellow in the picture), infrared (red), X-ray (purple) and ultraviolet (blue).

Each shows a different aspect of the galaxy. Visible light shows stars and gas, infrared indicates warm dust, X-ray show hot gas and energetic objects like supernovae and black holes, and ultraviolet is where young stars glow and light the gas around them. Each observation is incredibly useful to a scientist, but combining them together makes them even more powerful.

The things to look for are where colors overlap, and where they dont overlap. For example, in the outer arms you can see dust and gas and young stars all together, showing where stars are born. In the inner regions of the galaxy the infrared and visible images are next to each other, parallel spirals. Dust blocks visible light, so where theres lots of dust theres little light we can see, and vice-versa.

You have to be careful interpreting images like this, though. The outer arms, for example, are blue. You might think this means theyre only giving off ultraviolet light. But you have to account for the different telescopes field of view, exposure times, and more. Each of those affects what you see no matter what the galaxy itself may be doing. Images like the one above are useful, even important, but its also important to remember their scientific limitations.

But artistically? Thats a different matter. All together.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR & UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/STScI

See original here:

Rainbow Pinwheel galaxy | Bad Astronomy

[tl;dr: A small 5-10 meter asteroid will pass us tomorrow; it poses no danger to us.]

I recently wrote about near-Earth asteroid 2012 KP24, a house-sized (25 meter) rock. As I write this it passed us safely just a few hours ago, as predicted.

But thanks to scibuff and AsteroidWatch on Twitter, I just learned of another tiny visitor that will buzz past us tonight/tomorrow, May 29, at around 07:00 UTC (03:00 Eastern US time). Called 2012 KT42, this one is even smaller than KP24: its probably less than 10 meters across about the size of a school bus or more likely a minivan. And itll be a close shave: though the orbit is still not nailed down, the nominal miss distance is about 14,500 kilometers (8900 miles). Thats a bit bigger than the diameter of the Earth itself.

[UPDATE (19:15 UTC): There's more info on KT42 in on the Italian Remanzacco Observatory blog (h/t TredySas). There's also a cool animation made from five exposures of it:

I'll add more here if I hear anything.]

[UPDATE (19:55 UTC): No new info as such, but Alex Gibbs from the Catalina Sky Survey sent me this nice 4-tile mosaic of the discovery images of KT42, taken with the Mt. Lemmon 60" telescope:

Very cool!]

Bear in mind, it was only discovered last night, so the current orbit is preliminary. Many small rocks that pass close to Earth are discovered shortly before they breeze past us (and some not until after), so this is nothing out-of-the ordinary.

Go here to read the rest:

Another tiny rock will pass Earth tomorrow | Bad Astronomy

[Note: Today is Memorial Day, a US tradition where we remember the contributions of those in the military who have fallen. Yesterday, I was thinking about what to write about it. My dad was in the Navy just after World War II, but I wasn't sure what to write about that. I decided to put the idea aside for a time, since I have a deadline for an article I'm writing about space exploration. While looking up old blog posts for that, I happened by coincidence on something I wrote three years ago, on July 20, 2009, the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. I am reposting it below. For reasons that will be clear if you read the whole thing, I don't think there's more I could say on this day.]

On July 20, 1969, at 20:17:40 GMT, human beings landed on an alien world.

That was the moment that the Eagle lander touched down on the surface of the Moon, 40 years ago today. Nearly five hours later, at 02:56:15 GMT on July 21, Neil Armstrong placed his boot in the lunar regolith, planting it firmly into history as well.

You can read all about this event and its global and historical impacts all over the web, so I wont belabor the point here. But the Apollo missions mean something special to me, so forgive me this small indulgence. While the overall significance of the missions is interesting and fun to think about and discuss, the real stories, the ones that sink in, are the personal ones.

I was four when Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins approached the Moon. Thats old enough to form memories of the event, but young enough that those memories are malleable; I have a hard time distinguishing what I actually saw with what I may have seen years later on TV. I seem to vaguely remember sitting on the couch with my family watching the events unfold; even at that age I was in love with science fiction and all things spacey. Its possible my parents let me stay up late to watch that first step. It wouldve been 11:00 p.m. at our old home. But honestly, I dont remember.

However, just a wee bit over two years later that changed. In July 1971, my parents rented a Winnebago a monstrous recreational vehicle and the whole family piled in so we could road trip down to Cape Canaveral. If all went according to plan, we would be there in time to watch Apollo 15 launch and make its way to the Moon.

I was six, so I remember this much better. The bathroom on the RV smelled overwhelmingly like fruit. My sister taught me that its OK to lie when you say something if you cross your fingers while saying it. We stopped to visit friends of my moms in South Carolina, and again in Georgia so my oldest brother could check out the Georgia Tech campus before applying there the next year.

I have lots of other memories that are trivial to others but which I cherish. But still and all, we finally reached Kennedy Space Center. I remember touring the area, and I also remember being on the tour bus and getting up pretty close to the Saturn V. I wonder now if thats a distorted memory; its hard to imagine they let tourists get as close as my semi-fuzzy recollection indicates.

And then the day arrived. We parked on the banks of the Banana River and waited for the moment. I wandered off a bit to play on my own (times were different then), and I distinctly remember finding a blue plastic kiddie pool upside down on the river bank. I flipped it over, and a billion mosquitoes exploded out of it! Not too surprisingly, thats one of the stronger memories I have from that day.

And then the moment finally arrived. I remember nothing of the countdown, but boy oh boy do I remember the launch. A man next to me had a camera that he was frantically snapping away with; I remember the noise of the shutter and him winding it, trying to keep up with the rocket lifting off into the sky miles away.

Read the original here:

Memorial Day 2012 | Bad Astronomy

So when nine-year-old Daniel Smith read in a Telegraph astronomy guide last month that Neptune, the most distant of the eight planets, was a mere 4.5 million km from our closest star he instantly recognised that something didn't add up.

A little sleuthing around the relative location of the other planets soon confirmed his suspicion and brought about an explanation an unfortunate typo by the Daily Telegraph.

Our guide, one of two astronomy booklets released last month, should in fact have said 4.5 billion miles, rather than million a fact which Daniel picked up but several pairs of grown-up eyes did not.

Daniel, who lives in New Zealand with his family, explained his reasoning in a letter to his grandfather Don Smith, a Telegraph reader from Felixstowe, Suffolk, who had sent him the books as a present.

He wrote: "Dear grandad, I really liked the solar system books you got us. They were very interesting! But I noticed a mistake.

"It said Neptune was 4.5 million km when mercury was 57.9 million km. I found the problem by looking at the other planets. It turns out that Neptune was supposed to say 4.5 billion km from the Sun."

He signed off the letter "Love, Daniel," adding: "PS, give grandma a kiss from me!"

Mr Smith forwarded the note on to the Telegraph noting how impressed he was that a child had digested the "quite intelligent" booklets so thoroughly that he picked up on the miscalculation.

We quite agree, and would like to thank Daniel for reading our booklets so thoroughly.

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Astronomy mistake picked up by nine-year-old

SOUTH AFRICA has won the right to host the vast majority of the world’s biggest astronomy project, a development local scientists hope will put Africa on the map in terms of scientific research and development.

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S Africa to host most of world's biggest astronomy project

As I usually do when I go outside at twilight, I glanced over to the west to look for Venus and it was much lower toward the horizon than I was expecting. I shouldnt have been surprised; in two weeks its due for a close encounter with the Sun. On June 5/6, itll pass directly between us and the Sun in an event called a transit. Ill have more info on that later, though you can read up about it at the Transit of Venus website.

I set up my binoculars and even with such low power, Venus was an obvious crescent! I held my phone up to the eyepiece and took this shot:

Its out of focus a bit, but you can see the phase. As Venus races past the Earth in its orbit, it gets a bit closer to us but presents a thinner crescent every day. Its moving so quickly now that you only really have a few more days to take a look before its too close to the Sun to see comfortably. And then on June 5th itll look a lot different!

Related Posts:

- Venus rounds the corner - Its just a phase - Venus

Follow this link:

Your last chance to see Venus for the next few weeks | Bad Astronomy

Ive posted a lot of stuff about Sundays annular eclipse (see Related Links below), and I figured I was done but then I got a pretty remarkable picture sent to me.

During the eclipse, in northern California, two men sent a small (6 cubic meter) helium-filled balloon up to 90,000 feet (roughly 27 km). Equipped with a camera and an ingenious system that used puffs of gas to orient the payload, they took this pretty amazing shot of the eclipse:

[Click to penumbrenate.]

Thats the Earth on the left (duh), and on the upper right you can see the eclipsed Sun! They used a solar filter to cover half the cameras view so that they could get the correct exposure for both the Earth and the much brighter Sun.

I really enjoyed reading their story on how they set this up and executed it. I especially liked how they launched, sat around to watch the eclipse itself, then set off to find the balloon once it came back down (shredded after it popped at its lofty apex).

I love stuff like this! Basic equipment, clever people, and a can-do attitude results in something remarkable. Well done!

P.S. My friend and fellow Boulder astronomer Stuart Robbins posted a series of lovely timed sequences from the eclipse that he took in Albuquerque. Its well worth a click!

Related Posts:

- A fake and a real view of the solar eclipse FROM SPACE! - Gallery: When the Moon ate (most of) the Sun - The May 20, 2012 annular solar eclipse in motion - Followup: Supereclipse

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OK, one more eclipse shot | Bad Astronomy

Early this morning, the SpaceX Dragon capsule passed just 2.4 kilometers below the International Space Station, completing another critical step in its mission profile thatll lead to it docking with the orbiting station Friday morning.

From the station, astronauts captured video as the capsule cruised by:

[You may need to refresh this page to see the video load.]

Very, very cool. You can see the Dragon capsule in this video frame grab: its in the lower left corner, silhouetted against the Earth. The extended solar panels are obvious, and you can just make out the shape of the capsule itself.

This flyby was an important milestone, since it showed that the capsule could approach the station and also abort the approach if needed. Other key elements it demonstrated were that it could float freely (as it will have to when it docks with ISS), that its proximity sensors worked, and that its GPS was operational as well. Astronauts on the ISS were also able to command a strobe light remotely, confirming they could link to the capsule.

All this leads up to the big show on Friday: docking. At about 09:00 UTC (05:00 Eastern US time), NASA will decide if the capsule is ready to approach. If so, over the course of an hour or two it will come with 250 meters of the station. It will then perform some last maneuvers to prove its ready to go, and then it will make its final approach.

Then, around 13:00 UTC, it will come within just a few meters of ISS, and astronauts on board will grab it with the robotic arm, bringing it in to mate. After that, there will be quite a few checks done which will take some time, leading up to the hatch being opened Saturday morning, scheduled to happen around 11:00 UTC.

All the fun stuff so far has been happening in the middle of the night for me in Boulder, but the approach tomorrow morning isnt too bad. Ill get up a little early to watch it live (06:00? Well see). Ill live-tweet the events as they happen.

This is all very exciting! The capsule has been performing essentially flawlessly since launch, so I have high hopes for the next few days.

Image credit: NASA

View original post here:

SpaceX Dragon capsule buzzed the space station | Bad Astronomy

Just a quick update: a new series of pictures of the Dragon capsule as seen by astronauts aboard the International Space Station has just been released, and they’re way cool. Here’s one: [Click to embiggen.] Earlier today , Dragon passed just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the station, performing a series of tasks to make sure it was ready to dock with ISS tomorrow. I’m sure the folks at SpaceX ...

Read the rest here:

Update: the Dragon capsule as seen by the ISS | Bad Astronomy

Asteroid 2012 KP 24, a smallish rock about 25 meters (80 feet) across, will pass pretty close to the Earth on May 28, buzzing us at a distance of about 30,000 kilometers (18,000 miles). Thats close as passes go, but still a clean miss.

Closest approach is at about 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. Eastern US time) on May 28. Itll actually pass Earth closer than our geosynchronous satellites! At closest approach, itll whiz by at about 13 km/sec (30,000 mph). Ill note I calculated most of these numbers based on the JPL site linked above, and they may be refined over the next day or two. It was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (as so many near-Earth asteroids are) on the evening of May 23/24.

Let me stress, as always, that there is essentially zero chance of impact here. A miss like this is still miss, so dont fret over what will no doubt be a slew of panicky doomsday sites and videos that will pop up about this rock that happens every single time we get a near-Earth pass of an asteroid, and yet were still here! If we see one really and truly on its way to an impact, trust me, Ill let you know.

And actually, things like this make me feel safer: were looking and finding these asteroids! The fact is there are a lot of eyes on the skies right now, scanning the heavens and looking for potential impactors. And note that the JPL page for this rock has all the relevant info there.

Tip o the Whipple shield to BABloggee Terry Hash. Image credit: ESA/Rosetta, NASA/NEAR I photoshopped asteroid Mathilde onto an image of the Earth, so this is not KP24!

Related Posts:

- A brief bit about asteroid 2012 DA14 - No, asteroid 2012 DA14 will not hit us next year - Asteroid 2011 AG5: a football-stadium-sized rock to watch carefully - Updated movie of asteroid YU55, plus bonus SCIENCE - Asteroid 2007 TU24: No Danger to Earth

Read more from the original source:

Small asteroid to buzz Earth on May 28 | Bad Astronomy

Public release date: 25-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kirsten Gottschalk kirsten.gottschalk@icrar.org 61-438-361-876 International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

Researchers at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) are celebrating today after hearing that Australia will share in hosting the world's largest telescope the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). ICRAR a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia has been working towards the $2 billion SKA since its launch in 2009.

"We've been working very hard to make SKA a reality and we're glad to see the project reach this major milestone. ICRAR is looking forward to taking part in the next stage of the SKA through our expertise in Engineering, Information Technology and Astronomy," says ICRAR Director Professor Peter Quinn.

Two candidate sites have been bidding to host the SKA, one in Southern Africa and one in Australia and New Zealand, since 2005. It was announced earlier today by the International SKA Organisation that the SKA would be split between both sites.

Professor Quinn said sharing the SKA between Africa and Australia allows the project to benefit from the best of both sites, building on the substantial investment in infrastructure and expertise that already exists in both locations.

The new plan to share the SKA will see Australia's Mid West hosting two key components of the telescope a group of dishes equipped with Australian-designed multi-pixel radio cameras and the 'Aperture Array' portion, made up of innovative non-moving antennas designed to collect lower frequency radio waves from the whole sky.

This part of the SKA will be optimised to survey large portions of the sky quickly, a particular strength of Australian astronomy.

South Africa will host a complementary group of dish-shaped telescopes designed to observe smaller sections of the sky in more detail, following up on regions of interest discovered using the survey portion.

"This model for splitting the SKA closely follows the workings of other observatories around the world; often separate instruments will survey the sky and inform where another telescope should look closer," says Professor Quinn.

See the original post here:

Australia to share in world's largest telescope

A NASA-sponsored astronomy program for 9-14 year-olds will be held this summer at the Nahant Public Library and at East Point Solar Observatory.

The program will begin the week of Monday, July 9, and run for six weeks, through the week of Monday, August 13. Two approximately 1 1 hour sessions will be offered each week; one for each of two age groups. The exact dates and times will be decided after registration.

The program will feature several lessons and hands-on projects covering the Earth, Solar System, the Milky Way, and other galaxies.

The activities will be supervised by Mary Ann Szatkowski, science teacher at the Swampscott Middle School, assisted by high-school aged student aides. Program staff also includes Dr. Luke Conlin of Tufts University. The program is free to Nahant and Swampscott residents.

Registration forms are available at the library, or from Peter Foukal at pvfoukal@comcast.net. Limited enrollment will be necessary on a first-come, first-served basis, given the space limitations at the library.

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Astronomy program planned in Nahant

At 16:02 UTC, Friday, May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon officially became the first privately-owned commercial spacecraft to be captured by and berthed at the International Space Station. It is (if I’ve done the math correctly) the 114th spacecraft to dock with ISS, including the missions sent up to build the station. It is the first privately-owned commercial spacecraft in history to do so. You ...

Original post:

When a Dragon mated the space station | Bad Astronomy

S PERRY - Last Saturday, eager members of the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club opened up a 9-inch-by-3-foot metal box stuffed with 25 years of memories.

The time capsule was caulked, bolted shut and placed inside the John H. Witte Observatory classroom when the facility was completed in 1987, and astronomy club members finally opened the box Saturday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the observatory and the adjoining classroom.

"The highlights were 'The Hawk Eye' newspaper clippings," said founding astronomy club member Jim Hilkin. "All in all, there weren't a lot of juicy things in there."

The clippings detailed the two-year construction process of the observatory, as well as the passing of Halley's Comet. The comet last appeared in the sky in 1986 and isn't due to come back until 2061.

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The one thing Hilkin didn't find was an action figure from his 30-year-old son, John Hilkin. Though Jim thought the action figure was in there, his son (who was 5 years old when the capsule was placed) didn't want to give up one of his toys for the next 25 years.

Hilkin said new items will be added to the box so it can be sealed away for another quarter of a century, though some members want to wait until December to do that.

"We want to see if the world is going to end," said Hilkin.

According to many interpretations of the Mayan Calendar, the world is supposed to end in December of this year. However, recently discovered Mayan wall writings found in Guatemala show calendars that go well past 2012.

Though attendance was sparse at the observatory Saturday night because of cloudy skies, the astronomy club got together again Sunday evening to watch a rare annular solar eclipse, which was best viewed in the southwestern portion of the U.S. Though the sun went down before the local astronomers were able to view the ring around it, Hilkin still was pleased with what he saw.

Original post:

Area astronomy club opens its time capsule

So yesterday was the annular eclipse of the Sun, and I held a live impromptu video chat on Google+ about it. I was joined by Pamela Gay, Fraser Cain, Nicole Gugliucci, and Jason Major, and we had a live video feed using astronomer Scott Lewiss telescope. It was way too much fun! Ive embedded the video at the bottom of this post.

We asked for pictures, and my Twitter feed overfloweth with them! Im collecting them to put into a gallery which Ill have up soon, but until then, watch this incredible video taken by John Knoll in his front yard in northern California:

Isnt that amazing? What happened is that all the overlapping leaves made thousands of tiny holes that sunlight could poke through. This acts like a lens, focusing images of the Sun through every hole its how a pinhole camera works. [UPDATE: Timothy in the comments below points out that some people were confused by my wording. I can see why; I had started to explain how a pinhole camera works then decided it was too distracting and instead just linked to Wikipedia. I didn't mean the pinhole is a lens, just that you get a sharp picture if you use one. I should've chosen my words more carefully.] You can read about the details of this on Wikipedia. Heres a similar video, too.

Ill have the gallery up soon, so stay tuned!

Finally for now, heres the live webcast recording. Ill embed it here, but note it took me a long time to get it set up and running. It really gets started at 17:23, and I suggest you skim around to see the cool stuff.

Related Posts:

- Ring of fire eclipse on May 20 - Followup: Supereclipse - Eclipse followup part 2: tons o links on how to safely watch

Read more here:

The May 20, 2012 annular solar eclipse in motion | Bad Astronomy

Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.

The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.

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Gallery: When the Moon ate (most of) the Sun | Bad Astronomy

How is the study of astronomy useful? Pat comes the reply, “If you are stuck in space, you can find your way out.” The other replies from this group of children at a summer camp included: “you can...

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Making learning fun, summer camps show how

SHANGHAI will build a museum to popularize knowledge of astronomy and showcase the latest astronomical achievements, local science officials told the International Symposium on the Popularization of Science in Shanghai yesterday.

Zhao Shiming, deputy curator of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, said the local government and scientists are discussing details of the museum, to be the second on China's mainland after the Beijing Planetarium.

Whether entry will be free also is being discussed by officials.

"Visitors will feel like they are traveling in space, instead of watching a 3D or 4D film as is common in many domestic museums," Zhang said.

Also, officials said a new Shanghai Natural History Museum will be finished next year in Jing'an District.

Continue reading here:

Eastday-Museum plan boosts astronomy

Posted on May 22, 2012, Tuesday

KUCHING: The State Muftis Office will hold a forum on Islamic Astronomy or Falak Syarie 2012 this Thursday at Islamic Information Centre (IIC) Auditorium at Jalan Ong Tiang Swee.

The one-day event is organised together with Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Sarawak and Tabung Baitulmal Sarawak.

According to a press release yesterday, Assistant Minister in the Chief Ministers Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman would be officiating at the forum.

The forums objectives are to create awareness on the principles and practices of Islamic astronomy, to highlight a more specific approach towards understanding syariah astronomy and to provide a platform to discuss and understand Islamic astronomy, especially among the younger generation, the organisers said.

Speakers at the forum will be Dr Azhari Mohamed from the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (Jupem), Ustaz Hanafiah Abdul Razak from Johor Muftis Department and Ustaz Mohammed Zakuwa Rodzali from Jakim.

The forum is open to the public.

For more enquiries, contact Razalie Hussaini at 082-242170 or Muhamad Zakaria Ashmat at 082-420798 or 082-420799.

<< Previous Entry - Next Entry >>

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Mufti’s Office to hold forum on Islamic Astronomy

Across the country, the solar eclipse Sunday seemed to kindle an infectious enthusiasm for astronomy.

In New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, Jay Anderson, a Canadian eclipse expert who runs the website Eclipser, marveled at the spectacle. He particularly enjoyed how the eclipse happened on a Sunday. The last "ring of fire" eclipse Anderson attended in the United States, he said, was "characterized by warnings not to watch and descriptions of the dangers of looking at the Sun, despite the fact that we all do it on occasion."

"This one, being on a Sunday when schools could not intervene with their overly protective attitude, got the whole countryside watching, and the general message seems to have been to go out and enjoy the spectacle, with proper eye protection. It's a good message to carry forward, with a major total eclipse coming to the U.S. in five more years," Anderson wrote to The Times.

PHOTO GALLERY: ECLIPSE VIEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Anderson said where he was located, skies were completely clear too clear, even, because he likes "a little cloud to give the event a bit of drama." There were eclipse veterans and newcomers, and he enjoyed watching the character of light change off the red rocks of the canyon.

"That change in the lighting is very familiar to me (I've seen more than 20 eclipses), and it lends a kind of other-wordly feeling to the environment that seems to be signalling that something is afoot. It's not ominous, but I can imagine that unsophisticated societies, unaware of an eclipse, would be drawn to looking upward because the landscape had adoptedthat strange illumination," Anderson wrote.

"We had fun making crescent suns for the kids by interlacing our fingers to create pinhole images on the ground, and showing them the gradually encroaching Moon. Ipassed out lots of eclipse glasses and filter material for cameras, and the whole mood was one of good company and camaraderie," he wrote. "I had a good time, watched the Sun set behind the hills while still a crescent, introduced a few more people to the magic of celestial geometry, and took a few photos for my memories. A good day."

The partial solar eclipse reached its peak in Los Angeles at 6:38 p.m., and visitors at the Griffith Observatory counted down the seconds at the top of their lungs before letting out a wail of excitement.

"The light is dimmer. The air is cooler," a woman said over a loudspeaker. "Nature gets a little strange during an eclipse."

See the rest here:

Solar eclipse was real-life astronomy lesson for millions