Happy New Year!

Hope your 2009 is better than your 2008.

New Year's Eve Night Sky

Tomorrow night, Venus and the slender crescent Moon will gather together high in the southwestern sky for a beautiful conjunction visible for hours after sunset. These are the two brightest objects in the night sky, so they can be seen through city lights and even fireworks. At the same time, butcloser to the horizon, Mercury and Jupiter are converging for their own conjunction. This one is not so easy to see, but rewarding for those who make the effort to find the two planets shining through the rosy glow of sunset. Courtesy of spaceweather.com. Hope you enjoy, and a have a (safe and) fun New Year's Eve!

December 3rd Radio Show: Black Holes

I know this is unconscionably late, and I still owe you detailed descriptions of past shows, but here is the December 3rd episode of the radio show, where I discuss black holes big and small. Thank you very much for listening, hope you enjoy it, and hope you having a great holiday season.

Minearology map of the Moon

Using the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument built by NASA, India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has been making a map of the Moon's surface showing how its chemical composition changes from area to area. To see this pretty amazing image, go here. Enjoy!

Sent a Postcard to Astronauts

Through January 5th, you can send postcards to astronauts on board the International Space Station by going here. Hope you are having a good holiday season!

Ten Days of Isaac Newton

Courtesy of this New York Times Op-Ed article. What do you think?

NASA Research Opportunities

Below is a rather long and extensive email I received regarding student research opportunities at NASA's different centers. If you are interested at all in pursuing a career in science, I strongly encouarge you to check these out. Good luck!

Student Opportunities at Ames Research Center:

Ames Research Center (Mountain View, CA) is a leader in information technology research with a focus on supercomputing, networking and intelligent systems. Ames conducts the critical R&D and develops the enabling technologies that make NASA missions possible. Ames also is a leader in nanotechnology, fundamental space biology, biotechnology, aerospace and thermal protection systems, human factors and astrobiology research. Ames participates in several agency education programs such as NASA's Undergraduate Student Researcher's Program (USRP; http://www.epo.usra.edu/usrp), an undergraduate internship program for science, engineering and mathematics majors, and the Graduate Student Researcher's Program (GSRP; http://fellowships.hq.nasa.gov/gsrp) for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees related to NASA research and development. Acting as a portal between minority institutions and the funding priorities of our nation, the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation's (UNCFSP; http://uncfsp.org/) division of Science and Technology offers internships and fellowships to faculty members undergraduate students and graduate students who have an interest in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.. Some of the UNCFSP opportunities at Ames include, NASA Science and Technology Institute Summer Scholars Project (NSTI-SSP), NSTI Summer Faculty Fellowship Project (SFF), and Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST). Ames specific student opportunities would include the Foothill-DeAnza Internship Program (FHDA; http://internships.fhda.edu/), a career development program for community college students, and the Education Associates Program (EAP; http://edassoc.arc.nasa.gov/), a program that is driven by actual research opportunities and needs at Ames. For information on the full list of Ames educational opportunities, please visit the Ames Education website at http://education.arc.nasa.gov/.

Glenn Research Center Hosts Broad Spectrum of NASA Higher Education Programs:

Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, Ohio) is designated as NASA lead Center for Aeropropulsion from subsonic to hypersonic speed. In this capacity it is Glenn's role to develop, verify, and transfer aeropropulsion technologies to U.S. industry. Glenn is, also, a designated Center of Excellence in Turbomachinery, to develop new and innovative turbomachinery technology to improve the reliability and performance, efficiency and affordability, capacity and environmental compatibility of future aeronautical and space propulsion systems. Other areas of expertise embody a broad array of technology developments for NASA Science missions, as well as, research and technology developments for aerospace power, aerospace communications, and space processes and experiments which include bioscience and technology. Finally, Glenn is engaged in technology development in advanced energy that embodies renewable wind, solar and coal energy. Some of several energy-related demonstration projects focus on testing, evaluation and advancement of wind turbines, fuel cells and photovoltaics. For Higher Education programs that link to the foregoing opportunities, please visit http://newbusiness.grc.nasa.gov/university-affairs/.

Goddard Space Flight Center Education Programs:

Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) has set a goal of 50% minority participation among its highly competitive interns in its education programs. We seek help with summer intern programs. The main on-line application deadline for next summer is January 16, 2009. Our web based application (to the collection of programs) is at http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov/. It includes a list of over 100 project opportunities," for summer 2009, from which the applicant selects his or her favorites. The programs which cooperate in the process are described on the above cited web site. Students then apply for these projects. Hence, advisor support in recommending highly qualified students is most welcome. If you have questions, e-mail Janie.Nall@nasa.gov (301-286-0885) or Terri Patterson at Terri.J.Patterson@nasa.gov (301-286-4398). We very much appreciate your help by encouraging highly qualified students, especially minorities, to apply.

Student Opportunities at Johnson Space Center:

Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX) has a robust education program and participates in many Agency student programs. JSC's main areas of research emphasize current and future Human exploration including life sciences as well as vehicle systems development and other systems engineering activities. JSC leads or participates in several agency education programs, such as NASA's Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP http://www.epo.usra.edu/usrp) the undergraduate internship program for science, engineering and mathematics majors; The Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP http://fellowships.hq.nasa.gov/gsrp) for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development; and the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/) for undergraduate students to propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment of their choice. Additionally, JSC encourages proposals to the Steckler/Space Grant Opportunity found at the NSPIRES website at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ which will award Twenty $70,000 grants for research proposals concerning technology and development activities to enable space colonization or space settlement. For information on the full list of JSC educational opportunities, please visit the JSC Education website at http://education.jsc.nasa.gov/.

Student Opportunity: Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience:

Applications are being accepted for INSPIRE's online community from 9th to 12th grade students through December 31, 2008. The community provides NASA-related resources and educational activities, allows for students to interact with other students, ask questions and share knowledge. Once selected into the online community, students may compete for the unique grade appropriate summer experiences ranging from a 1 day VIP tour and workshops, a 2 week on-campus collegiate experience, and paid summer internships.
For additional information, visit our website at http://www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE.

Higher Education Student Opportunities at Marshall Space Flight Center:

From advanced materials, avionics and optics research - to propulsion, robotics and systems engineering, Marshall proves it is more than a rocket center. Science areas emphasized are astrophysics, heliophysics/plasmas, Earth science (remote sensing and climate variability) and astrobiology. The Marshall Space Flight Center is a key contributor to significant NASA programs, continuing a legacy of accomplishment that includes the Saturn V rocket that launched America's astronauts to the moon; the propulsion system for the space shuttle; and the Hubble and Chandra Space Telescopes. As it has throughout its history, Marshall is again playing a critical role in maintaining America's preeminence in space. The new launch vehicles, the Ares I and the Ares V, are currently under development at Marshall. http://education.nasa.gov/edoffices/centeroffices/marshall/highered/

Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Space Grant Project:

NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) is offering opportunities related to Exploration in partnership with the National Space Grant Consortia. ESMD SG provides internships for full-time students, mentors for senior design projects and competitions for System Engineering and Research papers. For information on these programs visit our website at http://education.ksc.nasa.gov/esmdspacegrant/.

Want free Chandra stuff?

If you take this survey, you will be entered into a drawing where 50 people will be chosen for free Chandra goodies. Good luck!

Christmas Tree in Space

Go here to see it, courtesy of the European Southern Hemisphere Observatory (ESO).

Antarctic Webcam

The European Space Agency's (ESA's) satellite Envisat is observing the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica on a daily basis since it is at risk of breaking off. To watch the resulting video, go here, and enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Hope all of you are having a very happy and healthy holiday season!

NASA News Feature on James Webb Space Telescope

Available here is a NASA news feature on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (which hopefully will survive for many years to come). For more information on JWST, listen to this interview with Dr. Clampin on NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Enjoy!

2009 International Space Station Calendar

Download here to print out at home, and enjoy!

Evidence for Carbon Dioxide in atmosphere of an extra-solar planet

Observations of an extrasolar planet with the Hubble Space Telescope recently found evidence for Carbon Dioxide in this planet. This extrasolar planet is a transiting planet, meaning that its orbit around its star passes directly between the Earth and its star. As a result, from the Earth we can observe this planet's atmosphere absorbing light from this star, and by looking at what wavelengths are absorbed, figure out what chemicals are in its atmosphere. For more information, go here.

Gorgeous Infrared Image of a Star-Forming Region

Wow!, or at least I think so. The diffuse light is being produced by gas heated by the light emitted from young, hot stars in the region. This light is so hot that it actually can destroy these dust particles, leading to the holes and channels you see.

Enjoy!

Away December 10-24

Had to disappear on you, but I'm going to be away for a conference and visiting family for the next three weeks. I was hoping to pre-record some radio shows before I left, but unfortunately work got in the way (as it often does) and it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I'm really sorry about that. I hope to post the radio shows I need to before I go.

And, remember, I'd really like to do a question and answer show on December 31st, so send in your questions!

Astronomy Educator Conference at JPL

JPPL in Pasadence, CA is hosting a conference titled "Life in Extreme Environments" for all educators (including museum staff) and students in high school or above interested in Earth and space science, and exploration. The conference will feature astrobiologists, planetary scientists and astronomers discussion the latest information on our expanding understanding of the abodes of life on our planet and the prospects for the development of life elsewhere in our solar system and much farther beyond. The registration deadline is January 16th, and more information is available here. Enjoy!

NASA's Student Launch Initiative

Like to build rockets? Well, every year NASA sponsors teams of students to do just that, and try them out at their annual Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge. The team's for 2009's challenge have already been chosen, but if you are interested in learning more, check out this website. Good luck!

Description of November 12th Radio Show: Supernovae

Already available here, below is the description of the November 12th edition of this radio show, whose topic was supernovae. This program covered:

• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy/science events in the greater New York / Poughkeepsie area.
• Interview with Dr. Maryam Modjaz of UC-Berkeley on supernovae (available here).
• News: Flurry of sunspots detected in October signals beginning of new solar cycle; stalagmites in a Chinese cave suggest strength of monsoons connected to solar cycle (article); Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 enters lunar transfer orbit (link), lunar orbit (link); Mars Phoenix Lander succumbs to Martian winter and ceases operation (link); NASA tests motor for launch abort system on future Orion Crew Capsule; possibility that future spacecraft to Mars could generate a magnetic field strong enough to protect it from cosmic rays (link); ESA closer to picking crews for simulated Mars mission; Universal Declaration of Human Rights sent to International Space Station (link); NASA astronomers at Marshall Space Flight Center install all sky monitoring cameras to look for meteor showers; ESO releases deepest ultraviolet image of the sky - detects faint galaxies filled with young, hot stars; ESA announces Second CubeSat workshop; congratulations to students selected to NASA Astronomy Student Ambassadors (for more information, go here)
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (a response to the Astronomy content of this ESPN article): It is good to have terms for things, even if the name itself doesn't matter (e.g. Plutoid vs. Pluton) and I think an asteroid defense system will cost even more than that. Plus, NASA is working on learning about the chemical composition and structure of asteroids and comets in order to better determine how to destroy them if need be.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me or leave them below. Hope you enjoy, and thank you very much for listening!

Planetary Conjuction this weekend

This weekend, the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter will approach each other on the sky, making for a very pretty picture. Go here for more information, and hope it isn't cloudy!

Want to know when a satellite is overhead?

Personally, one of the coolest things for me in the night sky is watching satellites, like the International Space Station, because they move in the sky so quickly. Plus, they are typically very bright, so they are visible even in the New York City night sky. If you live in the US or Canada, go to this website to see what is visible, and if you live elsewhere, go here. Both website managed by spaceweather.com. Enjoy!

NASA on iTunes

As many of you probably know, NASA is working on a successor to the Space Shuttle called the Ares Rocket, its first new rocket and decades. This requires a large amount of R&D, which in turn leads to lots and lots of reports being written on progress. The latest quarterly progress report is actually available as a podcast from iTunes here. Enjoy!

Hubble Holiday Greeting Cards

Looking for the perfect greeting card to give your favorite Astronomy-lover but can't find one? Check out the cards available here for downloading and printing out.

Happy Holidays!

November 19th Radio Show: Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts

Available here is the November 19th episode of this radio show, where I discuss the latest scientific discoveries related to the supernovae and gamma-rays bursts resulting from the gravitational collapse of the cores of the most massive stars which Dr. Maryam Modjaz discussed on the November 12th episode. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you are having a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Intreview with Dr. Maryam Modjaz (U.C.-Berkeley)

Available here is my interview with Dr. Maryam Modjaz of U.C.-Berkeley on core-collapse supernova, specifically how observations of the light produced in the aftermath of these explosion helps us try and determine how these stars explode. For more information of this research, check out her research webpage as well as the webpage of the PAIRTEL telescope - a robotic telescope which looks at the optical light produced in supernova explosions.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me or leave them below. Thank you for listening!

Watch a tool belt in orbit

Last week, during a spacewalk, an astronaut dropped a tool belt which is currently orbiting the Earth. Surprisingly enough, you can see it from the ground with binoculars or a small telescope. Go to here to learn how you can see it for yourself. Enjoy!

NASA's 16th annual Great Moonbuggy Race

Every year, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center hosts a great moon buggy race (on the Earth). Next year's race will take place April 3-4th, and registration is open now until February 1, 2009. For more information, go here, and good luck!

New NASA Contest: Name that Mars Rover

NASA is working on building its next rover to Mars, currently called the Mars Science Laboratory, schedule for launch in 2009 (though it probably will slip until 2010). However, that name is pretty boring, and NASA and WALL-E have teamed together to sponsor a contest for you(!) to come up with a better name. Go here for contest rules and regulations, and good luck!

Description of November 5th Radio Show: Evolution of High-Mass Stars

Already available here, below is a description of the November 5th episode of this radio show, which was devoted to the evolution of high mass stars - stars born with a mass more than eight times that of the Sun. On this program I talked about:

• News: Phoenix Mars Lander hopes to extend lifespan by shutting off some instruments (link), experienced a low power fault brought on by a dust storm; MESSENGER spacecraft images more parts of Mercury never seen before (link); NASA tests prototype lunar rover in Arizona (link); congrats to University of Bremen team for winning ESA rover challenge; first hardware for test flight of NASA's new Ares I-X rocket arrives in Florida; NASA to launch space shuttle Endeavor to International Space Station on November 14th; Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission delayed to give more time to prepare data handling unit to replace the one that failed last month - Hubble now using backup and is thankfully working just fine (link); GALEX - a UV satellite - images galaxy near bright star; GREAT08 PASCAL challenge issued to scientists to figure out how to use weak gravitational lensing to study dark matter (link, by the way - they are already lots of people working on it anyway); new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" features scenes filmed at astronomer's guest house at ESO's Paranal Observatory; congrats to Roger Cabana who is now director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center; NASA and South Korea sign statement of intent for future cooperation; congrats to receipient of NASA's Small Business Innovations Research Projects (link); NASA awards contract to support mission controls at Goddard Space Flight Center; ESA adapts technology used for Integral satellite to detect radioactive material in airports; American astronauts vote from space on November 4th (link).
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (my take on the Astronomy content of this ESPN column): "Ripples in space and time" is not just fluff added to a press release, but does mean something and is a consequence of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. And even the most diehard string theorists will says that it is a theory that needs to be proven experimentally. They just argue that it is currently the best theory out there.
• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy/science events in the greater Poughkeepsie area
• Evolution of High-Mass Stars: High-mass stars are able to fuse much heavier elements in their core than their lower mass brethern (all the way up to Iron, rather than just Carbon and Oxygen), but as they do so blow off their outer envelopes in powerful winds. The stars with most powerful winds are called Wolf-Rayet stars, and these are believed to be some of the most massive stars in the galaxy, with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun. A binary of such stars was just discovered in the center of the Westerlund 2 star cluster (link). The outer layers of massive stars can be so dense and hot they undergo explosive fusion. Such an event might have powered an outburst observed in 1843 for very nearby massive star eta Carinae - a more powerful outburst than had ever been observed from a star before (link). The outer layers of massive stars aren't stable, and they contract and expands - getting hotter (and looking bluer) when smaller and cooler (and looking red) when larger. They spend most of their time at the extremes, which is why the discovery of a yellow supergiant binary so exciting (link). Integral satellite discovers massive stars orbiting a neutron star or a black hole behind lots of dusts.

Hope you enjoyed and, as always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated and wanted. Thank you for listening!

Question and Answer show

I'd really like to do a question and answer show on December 31st. In order to do that, of course, I need questions to answers. So, please, please, please, email or post below any astronomy questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them on-air.

Thank you

NASA restores famous Earth-rise picture

Ever see the picture of the Earth rising over the Moon's surface taken by astronauts on boards NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966? Well, NASA has recently restored this iconic image to a much higher resolution than previously possible. To check it out, go here. Looks really awesome to me.

Happy Birthday International Space Station!

Ten years ago today, the first module that now comprises the International Space Station was launched. To learn more about this space station, go here. Enjoy!

November 12th Radio Show: Supernovae

Now available here is the November 12th episode of this radio show. On this program, in addition to the usual Astronomy news, Dr. Maryam Modjaz of UC-Berkeley talks about supernovae - extremely bright flashes of light believed to be the result of either the death of a white dwarf or a massive star. Hope you enjoy!

Public Lecture tomorrow (November 18th)

I'll be giving a talk tomorrow (Tuesday, November 18th) at the Indoor meeting of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association. The meeting stars at 7:30 PM, talk starts around 8:00 PM, and takes place in the auditorium of the Coykendall Science Building on the campus of SUNY-New Paltz. This talk is open to everyone (who don't need to be members to come). For more information, go here (directions available here). Hope you can make it!

Description of October 29th Radio Show: Evolution of Low Mass Stars

Long available here, below is a detailed description of the October 29th edition of this radio show. On this program I talked about:

• Opening Song: Why Are Stars of Different Colors? by Tom Glazer & Dottie Evans
• News: Phoenix Mars Lander survives a dust storm that lowered its solar power intake (link), HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sees evidence for a crater underneath the polar ice caps on Mars (link) and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer sees evidence for opal on Martian surface - evidence for the presence of liquid water at some point in the past; detection of plumes of methane erupting on Martian surface may change landing location for future Mars Science Laboratory rover; both NASA and ESA having major cost overruns on next generation Mars missions; images of Mars's moon Phobos by Mars Express satellite suggests it is a rubble pile of many smaller asteroids stuck together; Cassini successfully sweeps into geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus; radio observations of the nucleus of the Comet Tuttle suggests it consists of two objects orbiting each other very closely; new comet discovered by Rob Cardinal at University of Calgary (link); University of Western Ontario automated cameras video another meteor crashing down on Earth (link, videos); NASA launches IBEX spacecraft to study particles accelerated at the boundary of our Solar System (link); India launches its first spacecraft to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 (link) - contains instruments built by NASA and ESA; NASA's next Lunar spacecraft, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, begins testing before launch; congrats to Armadillo Aerospace for winning prizes at NASA's recent Lunar Landing Challenge; ESA hosts university challenge for Lunar Rovers; NASA tests its own future lunar rovers in Arizona and Hawaii (link); NASA and Challenger Center for Space Education host naming contest for astronaut housing prototype in Antarctica (link); waterless concrete developed to built structure on the Moon using only the lunar surface (link); ESA develops "replicators" to build future structure on Mars (link); backup computer on Hubble Space Telescope has glitch, causing spacecraft to go into safe mode (since resolved); ESA lost contact with XMM-Newton temporarily, since restored; Fermi Gamma Space Telescope (born GLAST) discovers first gamma-ray only pulsar (link); letter in Science about funding GLAST and Advanced Technology Solar Telescope; ESA satellite GOCE delayed due to rocket malfunction, cause identified; continued fighting over AMS experiment to Space Station; NASA reinstalls mirror on SOFIA observatory, scientists selected to do projects with this observatory; congrats to Kenneth Ford for becoming chairman of NASA Advisory Council Service and to Expedition 17 to the International Space Station for safe return home; Great World Wide Star Count begins.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (a response to this and this ESPN column): eta Carinae's bright flash not a supernova but something else, sci-fi explanations not science, I agree that launch of Chandrayaan-1 does not represent a decline in US capabilities at all.
• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy and science events in the greater Poughkeepsie and New York City area.
• Evolution of Low-Mass Stars: The definition here of low mass stars are stars born with a mass less than eight times that of the Sun, because these stars do NOT end their life in a core-collapse supernova. When these stars fuse all of their hydrogen to helium, fusion stops and they contract. As they contract, the stars core will get hot enough and dense enough to fuse helium to heavier elements. Helium fusion releases more energy than Hydrogen fusion, causing star to expand again and possibly blowing off outer layer. This results in structures called planetary nebula, and this mass loss process is poorly understood but important in understanding effect of stars on their surroundings. New observing techniques (link) being developed to better study this. Images of planetary nebula, like Cat's Eye Nebula and NGC 2371 (link) suggest process extremely complicated and variable. When Helium fusion stops, star's core begins to collapse again. In doesn't get dense or hot enough to fuse these heavier elements, but electrons in the core get close enough that their repulsion supports the core from gravity (this is called "electron degeneracy pressure"). Such an object is called a white dwarf. The internal structure of white dwarfs is poorly understood, and the best way to study it is by looking a pulsations from them. "Starquakes" in a white dwarf will change the brightness, and by studying these pulsations can learn about their structure. A new campaign to do this by the Whole Earth Telescope has begun (link). These pulsations also depend on the chemical composition of the white dwarf, and for the first time were detected from a Carbon white dwarf (link). Young white dwarfs produce a lot of ultraviolet light, which ionizes and illuminates the planetary nebula produced by the progenitor star - though in one case the white dwarf response for this has yet to be detected (link). If a white dwarf is close to another star, matter from that star will flow onto the surface of the white dwarf. This matter, as it accumulates will heat up until it is hot and dense enough to star fusion, releasing a flash of light called a "nova". XMM-Newton serendipitously observed X-ray from such a nova produced by a previously unknown white dwarf. Mass flowing from one object to another often produces radio jets - radio emission from fast moving material flowing AWAY from the central source. These jets had not been observed from a type of white dwarf system, until now. These nova explosions also believed to produce dust - the fusion creates heavier elements which, as they cool, condense to dust grains. Recent observations of a nova in 2006 suggests this might not be the case (link) for this one, though dust production has been observed in other novae (for example, this one.). If a white dwarf accumulates so much material that electron degeneracy pressure can no longer support it against gravity, it explodes in an event called a Type Ia supernova. How it explodes is currently unknown, and being simulated on lots of super-computers at the University of Chicago (link) - among other places. Additionally, it has been theorized that a white dwarf which passes to close to a black hole might be ripped apart and explode (link).
• Closing Song: Wolf 359 by The Chromatics

Thank you very much for listening. As always, any questions, comments, or concerns are deeply appreciated.

New video of meteor falling to Earth

The University of Western Ontario Meteor Group has a network of cameras which scan the sky looking for previously unknown meteorites falling onto Earth. On October 15th they saw one, and you watch the pretty incredible videos here. Enjoy!

Hubble Directly Images a Planet around another Star!

As I discussed on this radio show, all of the extrasolar planets (planets orbiting stars other than the Sun) we know of have been discovered indirectly. They weren't discovered by seeing the light they emit, but by either their gravitational effect on their central star or the gas and dust disk in which they were formed or by passing between the Earth and their host star - blocking some of the light. However, for the first time ever, Hubble has directly imaged an extrasolar planet! Go here and here for more information. This really is big.

This has long been a goal of people who study extrasolar planets (listen to this interview with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) and it is pretty amazing it has finally been achieved.

Image of Aurora on Saturn

The Cassini spacecraft has been taking pictures of lots of aurorae on Saturn, and it might have just imaged its weirdest one yet. Go here for the very pretty picture.

Impact of Astronomy on Daily Life

I mentioned on last week's show (which I have to put online, I know), that the European Space Agency has recently used technology it developed for the Integral X-ray satellite to develop better bomb detectors at airport. This is just one of a long list of items originally developed for Astronomical use but has entered "everyday" life as well. Heck, NASA has an entire magazine devoted to spinoffs of its technology. Astronomy has also been a very important source for a lot of the basic physics which form the basis for our current understanding of the universe. Read this article for examples of how Astronomy has been vital for advancing physics.

(Thank you very much to Dr. Tom Bridgman for pointing me to this article. It is a good one.)

Cute astronomy comic

Courtesy of xkcd:



Go here for the permanent link. And no, I'm not that convinced by the paper in question. There really isn't much evidence that all of the galaxies are being pulled to one area on the sky which just happens to be far enough away from the Earth that light emitted by this object has not arrived yet. That would require that Earth is in a very special location and this is a very special time in the Universe, since a different location closer to this object would have detected it or at some later time we can detect it. The comic is very cute though.

November 5th Radio Show online: Evolution of High-Mass Stars

I'm really sorry for taking so long to post this, but here is the November 5th episode of this radio show where, in addition to the usual Astronomy news and notes, I discuss the evolution of massive stars before they go supernova. Hope you enjoy!

And yes, I do owe you a detailed description of the October 29th radio show as well.

Taurid Meteor Shower

Going on now till November 12th is the Taurid Meteor Shower, so named because the meteors appear to come from the direction of the Taurus constellation. This meteor shower is the result of the Earth passing through the debris field left by comet 2P/Encke as it orbits the Sun, and this year it is believed the Earth is passing through a dense region - making for a more spectacular shower. The best time to look is during the hours around midnight when the constellation Taurus is high in the sky, and go here for more info. Enjoy!

October 29th Radio Show: Evolution of Low Mass Stars

Available here (finally) is the October 29th edition of this radio show. On this program, in addition to the latest Astronomy news and calendar, I discuss the evolution of low mass stars like the Sun, from Sun-like stars to red giants and then to white dwarfs. Hope you enjoy! As always, any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks a lot for listening.

Happy Election Day

Courtesy of NASA.



If astronauts can do it from space, you can too! Seriously, if eligible, please vote - regardless of who you may support.

Description of October 15th Radio Show: Star Formation, Planet Formation, and Massive Stars

Long available here, below is the detailed description of this radio show:

• News: Evidence that boundaries of sunspots play an important role in the producing the Solar wind (link); NASA's spacecraft MESSENGER completes second flyby of Mercury, images a substantial portion of Mercury's surface never observed before (link); ESA spacecraft Venus Express observes the Earth to use as a template for studying extrasolar planets; Mars Odyssey shifting orbit around Mars to better measure the spectrum of interesting regions of the Martian surface; Phoenix Mars Lander obtains new samples for study (link); asteroid collides with Earth exactly when and where as predicted; Spitzer spacecraft releases images of Comet Holmes obtained after its eruption last year, show large dust grains ejected during this event; Cassini flew by Saturn's moon Enceladus again last week to better study the plumes emanating from its surface (link), recent flyby of Saturn's moon Titan - the largest moon in the Solar system - by Cassini reveals that Titan's atmosphere can hold onto Saturn's magnetic field as it passes through (link), and Cassini images a massive cyclone at Saturn's North Pole similar to the one long seen at Saturn's South Pole (link); IBEX spacecraft to study particle accelerated at the outer boundary of the Solar System ready for launch (link); ESA has delived all of its instruments to the Indian Lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1; new crew departed for International Space Station; congrats to Dr. Ellen Ochoa, deputy director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, for being the first female recipient of the "Engineer of the Year" award given at the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference; research at Queen's University in UK developing a robotic system to repair satellites in space (link); ESA to test Intermediate Experiment Vehicle in 2012; NASA examines heat shield from Apollo mission to help design new lunar crew vehicle (link); NASA studying possibility of putting a large liquid mirror on the Moon; NASA issues 2008 edition of Spinoff magazine, available here.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (an Astronomer's response to this ESPN column): I agree that commercial rocket launches are a long, way, away from being a viable alternative. However, the lack of sunspots seen recently from the Sun isn't really a problem, and the reversal of Earth's magnetic field is going to take 100s if not 1000s of year, not occur during 2012.
• Calendar of upcoming events in the greater New York / Poughkeepsie area.
• Molecular Clouds and the Formation of Stars and Planets: Observation of a molecular cloud by astronomers in the Canary Islands discovers naphthalene, a precursor to amino acids (link); Spitzer observations of star forming region W5 show evidence for star formation being triggered by stars which just formed in the area (link); a similar process believed to be occurring in the star forming region NGC 346 located in the Small Magellanic Cloud (link); this is evidence that the Solar System was the result of a shock wave collided with its progenitor gas cloud (link); infrared survey of the Milky Way done using Spitzer space telescope detects stars in all phases of their creation - from the proto-stars created by the collapse of their natal molecular clouds to young stars blowing holes in the interstellar medium after they "turn on" (link; evidence for stars forming in the gas stripped from a galaxy as it collides with another galaxy (link); ESO's Very Large Telescope uses optical interferometry to study the structure of the disk formed by the collapse of a dense cloud of gas into a star(link); evidence for water being formed and destroyed in the outflows of material from this disk as it collapses onto the central star; chemical compositions of comets suggests that material flowed from the inner part of this disk to the outer part as our Sun formed (link 1, link 2); isotopic abundance of Oxygen in early Solar system changed during the formation of the Sun (link); asteroids in the Solar System believed to contain carbon molecules which can survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere and possibly be building blocks for life on the Earth (link); gap observed in the gas and dust disk around a young star believed to be evidence for a planet forming there (link); future telescopes believed might be able to detect disk gaps formed by planets as small as Mars (link); astronomers at University of Toronto might have made an actual picture of a planet orbiting another star (link); bizzare new exoplanet found - not sure if it is a planet or a brown dwarf (link); evidence for recent collision between two planets seen around distant star BD+20 307 (link); most massive star in Milky Way weiged in at over 110 times that of the Sun (link).

Hope you enjoyed this program and, as always, any and all feedback is appreciated. Again, thank you very much for listening.

Happy Halloween

Courtesy of the Cassini team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Hubble is working again!

Thankfully, the Hubble Space Telescope appears to be up and running again, with no permanent loss of its scientific capabilities resulting from it's recent mechanical troubles. Go here to see the wonderful first image it took after getting fixed. Shew! That was scary...

Special Sunset for Halloween

This Halloween, the sunset sky has a nice treat for you. Go here for details.

New NASA contest for kids

As part of its work on a future human base on the Moon, NASA is conducting a test of a lightweight, durable, inflatable habitat on the cold, harsh landscape of the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station to see if it is suitable for a future moonbase. However, everything needs a name, and this structure doesn't have one yet. Until November 20th, NASA and the Challenger Center for Space Education will be accepting possible naming entries from students in kindergarten through twelfth grades from Oct 21 to Nov. 20, 2008. The winning name will be selected later this year and announced by scientists in Antarctica in January 2009. For more information about entering the Name that Habitat contest, go here, and good luck!

Description of October 8th Radio Show: Solar System

Already available here, below is a description of the October 8th episode of this radio show:

• News: NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander discovers snow falling in Mars's upper atmosphere, and evidence for liquid past in the soil (link; Eberswalde Crater chosen as preliminary site for NASA's next rover to Mars called Mars Science Laboratory; Mars Science Laboratory to have a computer chip to measure the wind on Mars (link); MESSENGER spacecraft flies by Mercury for a second time on October 6th (link); NASA developing sensor to allow lunar landers to automatically determine a safe landing site for future return to the Moon (link); ESA's SMART-1 mission makes 3D map on Moon's south pole (link); Hubble Space Telescope (HST) enters "safe" mode due to error in device which transmits science data to Earth, resulting in postponement of final servicing mission; 10th anniversary of Hubble Heritage Project, which distributes the prettiest pictures taken by HST; ESA's GOCE satellite has new launch date of 2008 October 27; NASA's IBEX spacecraft ready for launch on October 19; ESA's Planck satellite - the next satellite to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (listen to inteviews with Dr. Gary Hinshaw and Dr. Dan Babich for more infomation on the Cosmic Microwave Background) - almost done with final pre-launch testing; teams behind the three different proposals for NASA/DoE Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) told to work together on a single, joint, design; European astroparticle physics list the seven major experiments they want to build (link); ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile takes highest-resolution image of Jupiter ever done from the ground; privately developed Falcon 1 rocket finally has successful launch; congratulations to Custer Institute and Observatory for receiving a Break-Thru Mini-Grant for their research and public outreach activities (for more information on their activities, listen to my interview with Dr. Jeffrey Owen Katz); congratulations to Robert Cabana for succeeding William Parsons as head of NASA's Kennedy Space Center; congratulations to teams awarded five-year grants by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (link); NASA issues new challenge for college students to design tools for next generation of Moon rovers (website); new art exhibit at Pasadena, CA's Art Center College of Design inspired by pictures taken by Spitzer Space Telescope.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (an Astronomer's response to the astronomy content in this ESPN column): I don't think SCP 06F6, which had 100 day long outburst of optical light, is the result of intergalactic warfare. Sorry.
• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy / Science events in the greater New York City / Poughkeepsie area.
• Solar System: So far during 2008, the Sun has produced many fewer sunspots than any other year in the last 50 years - not that surprising though; NASA's RHESSI satellite finds that Sun not a perfect sphere with the equator wider than the distance between the poles (link); changes in Sun's output of light has very SLIGHT effect on Earth's temperature (link); ESA's Venus Express mission, in orbit around Venus, has made 3D map of Venus's winds over Southern hemisphere (link); observations done by ESA's Mars Express satellites determines why Mars's Southern Polar Cap misplaced in the Martian summer- result of local weather systems; difference between Mars's Northern and Southern hemisphere (e.g. thickness of crust, number of craters) believed to be the result of ancient collision with a meteorite that essentially melted the entire northern hemisphere of Mars (link 1, link 2); astronomers at Armagh Observatory see meteorites striking Mars's surface (link); ancient Moon believed to have been rich in water; same is true for ancient Mars - though it might have lasted only a short period of time (link); might have once rained on Mars as well (link); NASA spacecrafts photograph evidence for avalanches on Mars (link); glaciers on Mars show evidence for recent climate activity (link); Mars has undergone five periods of high amounts of volcanic activity (link); atmospheres of Mars and Venus interact with the Solar wind in a similar fashion (link); graphite found in Solar System meteorites, if graphite exists in interstellar medium, could complicate using supernovae to measure the distance to galaxies - the best evidence for the existence of dark energy (link); meteorites could be the source of all the Platinum and Iridium found on Earth (link); Jupiter and Saturn may have liquid metal helium in their cores (link); Cassini spacecraft makes a 3D image of the region responsible for the low-frequency radio emission emitted by Saturn (link); Saturn's moon Titan keeps some of Saturn's magnetic field when it leaves Saturn's magnetosphere; new Pluto-like object found in outer Solar System (link); "backward-orbiting" comet discovered (link); Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey discovers no objects between 2 miles - 17 miles big inthe Kuiper Belt - suggests they either broke apart in collisions or stuck together to form bigger objects.

Hope you enjoy, and thank you very much for listening!

Free Astronomy movie Tomorrow!!!!

Tomorrow night, as part of the Imagine Science Film Festival going on in NYC (look at the calendar for events), will be the NY premiere of the new documentary "BLAST!", directed by Paul Devlin, on the launch of the Balloon-borne, Large Aperture, Sub-millimeter Telescope (BLAST!) from Antarctica to study the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It sounds likes a great movie. For more information on the showing, which is tomorrow night (Oct. 23rd) at 7:30 PM at Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall in the CUNY Graduate Graduate Center (365 5th Ave at 34th Street), go here. For more information on this movie, check out their website. And for more information on the CMB, listen to my interviews with Dr. Daniel Babich and Dr. Gary Hinshaw. Enjoy!

October 15th Radio Show: Star Formation, Planet Formation, and Massive Stars

Continuing my recap of topics I discussed this summer, here is the October 15th episode of the radio show, where I discuss the latest results concerning star and planet formation, massive stars, in addition to the usual Astronomy news and calendar. I'll post a more detailed description later, but in the mean time, enjoy! Comments and concerns are always appreciated, and please leave any you have below.

Orionid meteor shower tomorrow morning

Before sunrise tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 21st) is a good time to see the annual Orionid meteor shower which peaks today and tomorrow. This meteor shower is caused by the Earth passing through the dusty debris from Halley's Comet, but is hard to observed during the night due to the Full moon. Check out spaceweather.com for updates and a sky map, and happy meteor hunting!

Great World Wide Star Count 2008

The Great World Wide Star Count is an event where people around the world go outside and just count the number of stars and constellations they see. Of course, living in New York City, that is easy for me because I can only see about 10 stars on a given night. For more information, or if you would like to join the fun, go here. Enjoy!

IBEX Spacecraft launched

Dropped from an airplane, the rocket which contains the IBEX spacecraft flew into orbit this Sunday. To watch the launch go here.

Space X-Prize Live!

NASA is sponsoring a competition to see who can built the best lunar lander, and the nine teams who have entered will be displaying their product this week on October 24-25, at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico. The teams must fly their lunar landers, simulating a takeoff and landing on the moon, and repeat the task in a limited period of time. It will also be webcast live here. Should be fun!

NASA Premieres 50th Anniversary Documentary

NASA is premiering tonight, tommorrow, and Friday a new documentary in celebration of its 50th anniversary, "50 Years of Exploration: The Golden Anniversary of NASA". This documentary is hosted by Neil Armstrong, features film and video highlights of the agency's first half-century, and interviews with former NASA astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, Apollo Flight Director Gene Kranz, author Ray Bradbury, NASA scientist and Nobel Prize winner John Mather, and presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. To watch on NASA TV, go here, and enjoy!

October 8th Radio Show: Solar System News

Now available here is the October 8th radio show, where I quickly race through all of the recent scientific results on our Solar System plus the usual news and calendar. Hope you enjoy!

Imagine Science Film Festival

Starting this Thursday, the Imagine Science Film Festival brings the latest science films to New York City. Many of the events appear to be free, and October 23rd will be the premiere of a documentary titled "BLAST!" about a balloon flight to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) in Antarctica. For more information, go here, and enjoy!

Description of October 1st Radio Show: Astronomy News

Already available here, below is a detailed description of the October 1st episode of this radio show:

• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy/science events in the greater Poughkeepsie / New York City area.
• Interview with Dr. Jeffrey Katz of the Custer Institute and Observatory in Long Island on their public outreach and astronomy reseearch efforts.
• News: Phoenix Mars Lander finds evidence for snow falling in upper atmosphere of Mars as well as past presence of liquid water under the surface; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images fractures on Martian surface believed to be evidence of past water flow (link); rising costs might delay Mars Science Laboratory and possibly cancel future Mars missions; NASA hosted a teleconference last Monday to discuss Hubble malfunction and resultant delay to servicing mission; capsule returned by NASA's Stardust mission to go on display at Air & Space Museum; IBEX spacecraft attached to rocket, scheduled for October 19th launch; NASA investigating three possible designs for next satellite to study extra-solar planets (link, listen to my interview with Dr. Jennfier Wiseman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for more information on NASA's research program on exoplanets); Sloan Digital Sky Survey begins program to map galaxies in order to study dark energy (link); artificial meteorite built by ESA shows that some microbes can survive in space and re-entry into atmosphere (link); any future mission to the Moon will have to contend with the problem of moon dust (link); add your name to NASA's upcoming Glory satellite by going here; successful re-entry for ESA's Jules Verne ATV; ESA left with only 192 astronaut candidates after first round of psychological testing; NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff playing chess with Earthlings, go here to join in; NASA mission control now streaming live, 24/7/365, here.

Thank you very much for listening. Hope you enjoyed, and please email me or leave any comments you have below.

Are you worried...

... that the Large Hadron Collider is going to create a black hole which is going to swallow the Earth? Don't be.

If people are interesting in this, I can talk about it in more depth on a future program. Please let me know.

October 1st Radio Show online: Astronomy News

Finally online is the October 1st episode of this Astronomy radio show / podcast, available here. On this program, I interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Owen Katz of the Custer Institute and Observatory, as well as discuss the latest Astronomy news. Sorry it took so long to put online, and hope you enjoy! As always, please email or leave any feedback below.

Description of September 24th radio show: The Sun and the Earth

I know, it's been available here for a while, but below is description of the September 24th edition of this radio show:

• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy/Science events in the greater Poughkeepsie/New York City area.
• Interview with Prof. Joseph Tanski (Vassar College) on Vassar's summer research program for undergraduates.
• News: Phoenix Mars Lander to attempt to take a soil sample from under a rock to determine the origin of sub-surface ice; Mars Rover Opportunity headed to Victoria crater; NASA's Swift satellite detects highest redshift gamma-ray burst to date (link 1, link 2); space shuttle Endeavour moves to launch pad to get ready in case it is needed to rescue crew on Atlantis (NOTE: since broadcast, Atlantis launched delayed until 2009 due to Hubble malfunction); IBEX spacecraft testing proceeding; NASA's Kepler spacecraft, designed to detect new classes of extra-solar planet, survives baking test enroute to 2009 launch (listen to my interview with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman for more information on the Kepler mission); developmental models for components of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) passes "shake and bake" tests (link, for more information on JWST, listen to my interview with Dr. Mark Clampin); optical interferometry instrument PRIMA installed on ESO's Very Large Telescope (link); gravitational wave interferometer Virgo suffers a vacuum failure due to glass viewport breaking; Dr. Roger Blandford chosen to head next Astronomy Decadal Survey; Senator McCain announces that, if elected president, he would freeze next year's science budget; International Astronomical Union names fifth dwarf planet in Solar System "Haumea" (link); NASA releases new educational tool called "eClips" available here or here; ESA releases new educational DVD and 3-D Teaching tool, available here, as well as announces a contest to design a t-shirt for astronaut Frank De Winne onboard the International Space Station; ESA satellite Artemis does emergency communications with Jules Verne ATV.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (my weekly take on the Astronomy content of this ESPN column): Google Earth (and Sky) are pretty awesome, it is funny that spy satellites also take pictures for Google, and the leak at LHC has nothing to do with black holes....
• The Sun and the Earth: Ulysses spacecraft determines that solar wind at 50 year low; Hinode records video of polar crown prominence in Sun's corona; TRACE satellite records a Coronal Mass Ejection doing a cartwheel!; nanoflares may be reason for keeping the Sun's corona so hot (link); Sun goes longer than normal without producing a sunspot (link); changes in Solar activity could account for only a very small amount of the climate change on Earth (link); radio emission from lower Earth magnetosphere "hiss" might be responsible for clearing out electrons from a section of the Earth's magnetosphere as well as "chorus" radio emission from outer magnetosphere; ESA's Cluster satellites record low-frequency radio emission from aurorae (link) and discovers that Earth's magnetosphere responsible for accelerating ions leaving Earth's atmosphere (link); NASA's THEMIS satellites observes "substorms" caused by reshaping of Earth's outer magnetosphere - related to aurorae (link 1, link 2, link 3); mineral content of glass from the Moon indicates presence of water in Moon's interior.

Hope you enjoy this program. Sorry for taking so long to post the description and, as always, any and all feedback is appreciated. Again, thank you.

Pick your favorite X-ray image

The Chandra X-ray Center is having trouble picking its favorite Chandra image. You can cast you vote here until December 1st. It's a really hard choice, they all look so nice...

Astronomy Picture Survey

The Chandra X-ray Center wants YOUR opinion concerning the multi-wavelength pictures (images that combine data at optical, X-ray, and radio wavelengths) it releases. These are some of the most confusing images in Astronomy (I often get confused by them), because red is not red light, etc. etc. The survey is pretty short (15 minutes), and is available here.

NASA Spinoff 2008

One of the most common justifications for government's spending money on basic science research are all of the spinoff technologies developed as a result of this work (e.g. Tang). As a result, it should be of no surprise that NASA publishes a magazine each year describing how its work impacted your daily lives. To see this years edition, go here.

Sorry...

I'm sorry for the lack of postings, especially of past radio shows, lately, but I've been buried in work. As some of you might know, I'm an observational astronomer, and a key part of being an observational astronomer is writing observing proposals trying to convince telescopes to look at the objects you are interested. Unfortunately, these proposal deadlines often occur close to each other - for example, October 1 was the proposal deadline for the Very Large Array and this morning was the proposal deadline for XMM. Not that those are out of the way, I'll be able to start posting material in a more timely manner.

Thank you for your patience.

NASA's newest astronomy mission - IBEX

NASA hopes to launch its newest astronomy satellite, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), soon. The goal of this mission is to study the "termination shock" formed when the Solar wind is decelerated by the "interstellar medium" (diffuse hydrogen gas, for the most part) that fills the Milky Way - a boundary recently crossed by both Voyager missions. For more information on this satellite, go here.

Amazing images of Jupiter

Taken with a new instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, there image and movies of Jupiter are the sharpest even taken of this planet from the ground. Enjoy!

NASA Moon Rover Student Competition

NASA is sponsoring a competition to all US college students to design tools for the next generation of lunar rovers. The rules and regulations are quite complicated, and to participate, you must submit a notice of intent to NASA by Dec. 15, 2008, with final papers due May 15, 2009. For more information, go to this webpage, and good luck!

Interview with Dr. Jeffrey Owen Katz (Custer Institute and Observatory)

In honor of their 30th Annual Astronomy Jamboree and Science Fair, starting tonight and going on all day tomorrow, here is my interview with Dr. Jeffrey Owen Katz - director of the Custer Institute and Observatory - on the multitude of astronomy research and public outreach activities they host. The projects he described sound really exciting, and I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions about their activities, please email me or leave them below and I will forward them to him.

30th Annual Astronomy Jamboree and Science Fair

Starting today at 6 PM at the Custer Institute and Observatory is their 30th Annual Astronomy Jamboree and Science Fair. It sounds like a lot of fun, with music, food, and, of course, lots of very interesting astronomy talk and exhibits. For more information on this program, check out this flyer. If you go, hope you enjoy!

Cool Astronomy Webcomic

A log-scale view of the observable universe, couresy of xkcd. Enjoy!

Interview with Prof. Joseph Tanski now online

Now available here is my interview with Prof. Joseph Tanski of Vassar College on summer research opportunities for undergraduates at Vassar. If you have any questions about this program, visit their webpage. Hope you enjoy!

Description of September 17th radio show: Galaxy Formation

I know it's been online for a while here, but below is a description of the September 17th radio show, which in addition to covering the latest Astronomy news, I discuss the recent results on galaxy formation. On this program, I talked about:

• News: Conductivity probe on Phoenix Mars Lander returns some interesting results regarding humidity on Mars (link) as well as photographs several dust devils (link); NASA selects MAVEN project as its next spacecraft to Mars, designed to study Mars's atmosphere; NASA's Ares I rocket passes preliminary design review and one of its many motors passes its first round of testing, photos here; NASA developing nuclear fission power source to use on the Moon's surface - is NOT similar to an atomic weapon or a nuclear power plant, but convert the heat released during the radioactive decay of an atom to power (link 1,link 2); NASA getting ready to launch Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter to scout future landing sites for manned missions (link); European researchers developing a way to imprint Asimov's Laws of Robotics on future robots (link); space shuttle Endeavor to move to launch pad in case it needs to rescue space shuttle Atlantis; European Space Agency to launch GOCE satellite to map out the gravitational field of the Earth (link); University of Kent joins new generations radio telescope LOFAR (link); results suggest that gamma-ray burst GRB080319B, originally discovered by the Swift satellite and was so bright in the optical that it was observable with the naked eye, believed to a stream of high-energy particles traveling almost at the speed of light directed towards the Earth (link); NASA awards education research grants to minority universities (link); ESA hosts contests for name of its next mission to the International Space Station.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (an Astronomer's take on the science content in Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback) - Congratulations are definitely due to Hanny van Arkel, the Dutch school teacher who discovered a new class of astronomical object while taking part in the Galaxy Zoo project. And yes, astronomy will be helped immensely when new telescopes such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope come online which make their data available to everyone every night. However, it is extremely unfair to say the "telescope views of deep space are monopolized by the guild structure of professional astronomy" since a huge amount of data and the software required to analyze them are already available for free, online, for anyone to look at. This is true for any US government funded observatory - such as Hubble, Chandra, Very Large Array, and literally countless others.
• Calendar of upcoming science/astronomy events in the greater Poughkeepsie/New York City area.
• Galaxy Formation: The current belief is that galaxies were formed by the merger of smaller galaxies who were formed by the gravitational attraction of stars and, more importantly, the massive amount of dark halo around them, to each other. By measuring how the properties of galaxies change over time, for example: does the average size of a galaxy get bigger?, how often do we observe galaxies merging?, it is possible to determine if this picture is correct. Hubble Space Telescope observations have recently found nine galaxies in the early universe (about 3 billion years after the Big Bang) which are smaller than the Milky Way, but carry the same number of stars - likely to be the building blocks for galaxies similar to the most massive galaxies we observe today (link). A Galaxy cluster in a very early stage of formation has also been observed about 3 billion years after the Big Bang, which several galaxy mergers going on in this cluster (link). A survey of galaxy clusters at different ages of the universe have found that the brightest galaxy in each cluster has increased in mass by 50% over the last few billion years, evidence that galaxies are merging together during this period (link). A deep infrared image have identified galaxies with masses about 10x that of the Milky Way only 4 billion years after the Big Bang - not much time for smaller galaxies to have merged together to form a galaxy this massive (link), and these galaxies appear to already be full of very old stars - like giant elliptical galaxies observed today (link). Galaxy groups and clusters are believed to be formed by the gravitational attraction of galaxies and their more massive dark matter "halos" to each other. Galaxy clusters are normally filled with gas that is expelled by their galaxies, probably during mergers, that is heated to X-ray emitting temperatures by the total gravitational potential of the galaxy cluster. Recently, similar X-ray emission has been detected not from a galaxy cluster but a single galaxy, NGC 1132, suggesting that this source was only a galaxy cluster but they all merged together to one galaxy. An important prediction / test for this model for galaxy formation is the mass of the most massive galaxy cluster, for which a new record setter has been discovered. And, as alluded too before, an important consideration is that when galaxies merge, it just isn't the stars and gas in these galaxies merging but the surrounding dark matter - which is where most of the mass is - as well. Gas interacts with gas differently that dark matter interacts with dark matter: gas collides with gas, while dark matter will pass through dark matter and only interact gravitationally. Therefore, when two galaxies or galaxy clusters merge, one should initially see an offset between the gas and the dark matter / mass distribution. This has been observed for one cluster before, the "Bullet" cluster, and has been recently seen in another one (link). Observations like these provide some of the best evidence for the existence of dark matter, which plays an extremely important role in our current model for the universe.

Hope you enjoy, thank you very much for listening, and please email me or leave below any questions or comments you might have.

Neat Movie and Cool Pictures of Jules Verne ATV re-entry

The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently developed the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, whose job is to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The first re-supply mission just ended, and since this spacecraft is designed for single-use, it burned up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Go here for some cool looking pictures and here for a video of the re-entry, courtesy of ESA.

September 24th radio show online: The Sun and the Earth

Now available here is the September 24th edition of this radio show. In addition to playing an interview with Prof. Joseph Tanski of Vassar College on summer research opportunities for Vassar undergraduates, I go over the latest news concerning the Earth and Sun - part of a recap before I continue my on-going "tour of the Universe" I started this summer. Hope you enjoy!

NASA, pink boots, and daisies

Go here for a very funny NASA story involving test pilots, the X-24B plane, and pink boots. This picture is priceless. Hope you enjoy!

Space Talk! Live! 24/7!

NASA is often communicating with its astronauts in space, both on the shuttle and the International Space Station, and they are often talking back. Now you can listen to these conversations live, by going here. As someone who always loves to listen to the air traffic control chatter when I fly United, I'm pretty excited by this. Hope you are too!

NASA briefing on Lunar Exploration plans

Last week, NASA made a major presentation concerning its plans for future human spaceflight and potential return to the Moon and Mars to academics, industry leaders, reporters, etc. If interesting go here to see copies of the presentations given at this meeting. Hope you enjoy!

September 17th radio show online: Galaxy Formation

The September 17th radio show is now online and available here. On this program, in addition to the usual news and calender, I go over the latest results concerning galaxy formation. I'll post the a more detailed description later, but in the mean time, hope you enjoy.

Description of September 10th Radio Show: Milky Way Structure and Galaxy Formation

Already available here, below is a description of the September 10th edition of this radio show. On this program, I discussed:

• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy / science events in the greater Poughkeepsie / New York City area.
• Interview with Prof. Allyson Sheffield of Vassar College.
• News: Phoenix Mars Lander begins analysis on deepest soil sample to date (link) as well as makes some puzzling measurement regarding humidity on the Martian surface; amateur astronomers see Perseid meteor shower hit the Lunar surface; ESA's Rosetta spacecraft flies by astroid (2867) Steins - sees chain of craters, rotation, and overall diamond shape (link); Cassini detects ring arcs around two moons of Saturn (link); NASA awards contract to S.C. Jones Services, Inc. to get rid of pests at Kennedy Space Center; NASA building "Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation" to measure the strength of the magnetic field at the outer edges of the Sun; NASA developing a new space equiptment rack for "Zero-Gravity" flights; NASA delays launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis to October 12 and launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor to November 12 due to bad weather - media viewing of equipment to be flown on Atlantis for installation on Hubble Space Telescope set for Sept. 10; launch of ESA's GOCE satellite delayed due to rocket problems; NASA to hold media briefing on September 25th on Lunar Exploration plans; mirror blank produced for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (link); NASA produces 50th anniversary art book - information here; NASA announces new Carl Sagan postdoctoral fellowship to study extra-solar planets - information here; NASA issues a challenge to high school and college students to describe a future supersonic airliner - information here - as well as a new aeronautics competition - information here; Swift to announce new gamma-ray burst findings today; Custer Institute to host 30th annual Astronomy Jamboree and Conference October 3rd and 4th.
• Milky Way Structure and Galaxy Formation: It is currently believed that all galaxies, including the Milky Way, formed by the merging of smaller galaxies together - an this process is ongoing. If this is correct, there should be evidence for this in the Milky Way today - as discussed by Prof. Sheffield at the beginning of this show. A recent survey of satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, small galaxies which are in the process of merging into our galaxy, discovered that they all have roughly the same total mass (stars + dark matter) - regardless of how many stars they have. This implies something strong about the formation of these galaxies or the properties of dark matter - astronomers are still not sure which (link). Evidence of previous mergers is also in "streams" of stars - stars with similar orbits and chemical composition - in the halo of the Milky Way. There are many questions regarding the structure of the Milky Way - including how many spiral arms there are, since two of the spiral arms that were thought to be there have apparently disappeared (link).

Hope you enjoyed and, as always, any and all feedback is appreciated. Thank you very much for listening!

Naked Eye GRB press conference

Two weeks, NASA hosted a press conference concerning GRB 080319B, a gamma-ray burst observed on 3/19 of this year that was the brightest GRB ever in the optical - so bright it could be seen with the naked eye! Astronomers think this because the gamma-ray burst was pointed directly at the Earth, a very rare occurence. For more information about this, check out the slides, movies, and pictures presented at this press conference available here.

Photos from NASA motor test

NASA recently successfully tested a new motor for its Ares I rocket, the successor to the space shuttle. They posted photos online here, and they look pretty cool. Enjoy!

Jules Verne flyby

As I mentioned here, the Jules Verne automated supply craft has left the International Space Station to burn up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. As it spirals inward, it is visible from the ground - go here to find out when it passes overhead near you. Enjoy!

New NASA and ESA educational tools

NASA has recently produced a large number of 5-10 minute video clips discussing its research and operation for all levels. To check out these "eClips", go here. The European Space Agency (ESA) is also actively involved in public outreach and science education, and has recently produced a DVD titled "Ingredients for Life: On Earth and in Space", available here. Enjoy!

Neat Movie of Solar Activity

Located here is a pretty amazing movie showing plumes of hot gas moving on the Sun. Go here to read an article as to what astronomers think is going on. Enjoy!

ESA picture competition

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne will be flying to the International Space Station next year for six months, and he will be bringing with him a t-shirt with a design possibly designed by you! For more information on this ESA competition, go here. And if any one you do submit an entry, please send me a copy - I'd love to post this image here. Good luck!

Large Hadron Collider Rap

As many of you heard, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN has recently turned on, and when it is running at full power (it isn't yet, and probably won't be for at least a year) it will be the most powerful particle accelerator/collider in the world. For more on some of the amazing science physicists are hoping to do with the LHC, check out this rap written and performed by physicists. It's really a lot better than it sounds. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this radio show / podcast, and I wanted to thank all of you who read this blog, and listen to the episodes and interviews I post here. I really appreciate it, and will do my best to make the upcoming year's content better than last year's. Again, thank you very much.

Interview with Prof. Allyson Sheffield now online

Available here is my interview with Prof. Allyson Sheffield of Vassar College on the relationship between the present structure of the Milky Way and its formation. For more information on her research, check out her webpage, or email me a question, or leave a comment below. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening!

September 10th radio show: Milky Way Structure and Galaxy Formation

Finally online here is the September 10th edition of this radio show. On this program, in addition to the usual news and calendar, Prof. Allyson Sheffield of Vassar College discusses her research on the structure of the Milky Way and how it relates to the formation of galaxies. I'll post a more detailed synopsis next week, but until then, enjoy. Thank you very much for listening.

Pluto Comic

Enjoy. Thankfully, my wife - who is also an astronomer - agrees with me that Pluto shouldn't be classified as a planet.

Description of September 3rd Radio Show: Galaxy Formation

I know it has long been available here, but below is a detailed description of the September 3rd radio show:

• Calendar of upcoming Astronomy/Science events in the greater New York City / Poughkeepsie area.
• Interview with Prof. Debra Elmegreen of Vassar College, available here.
• News: NASA's Mars rover Opportunity climbs out of Victoria crater (link 1, link 2); ESA's spacecraft Rosetta on track to rendezvous with asteroid (2867) Steins on September 5th (link) - rendezvous will be blogged live here; NASA announced new name for GLAST last week, now called Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, released first image of gamma-ray sky from this telescope (link); IBEX spacecraft continues to go through final tests before October 5th launch; space shuttle Atlantis moved to launch pad was scheduled for September 2nd, but delayed due to Hurricane Hanna; mock-up of NASA's Orion crew vehicle crashed during test of parachute system; NASA announced new Carl Sagan postdoctoral fellowships; NASA signs agreement with Challenger Center for Space Science to develop educational activities designed to get more students to study math and science.
• Wednesday Morning Astronomer (an Astronomer's take on the astronomy content of Gregg Easterbook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column): Gregg Easterbrook questions the wisdom of building the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) since he says that its main purpose is to give work to physicists especially given its supposedly non-zero possibility of destroying the Earth. I feel that society spends a lot more money on other endeavors that poses much more of a threat to humanity. Also, he advocated the closure of Fermilab, arguing that it has produced a groundbreaking science result in over a decade and is expensive. Fermilab cost the US government ~$160,000/employee, not an outrageous sum - especially since almost all of it spent in the surrounding area and goes back into the local economy. Additionally, it has produced lots of good science during this period, and is critical for any future US involvement in particle physics. And no, the Earth being swallowed by a black hole would not produce a gamma-ray burst.
• Galaxy Formation: The current thinking is that stars formed first, grouped together into proto-galaxies, which merged into galaxies. However, creating the first stars has always been difficult to understand due to lack of heavy elements in primordial gas believed to be critical for the formation of stars today, as I discussed on August 6th. Recently, a computer simulation of star formation in the early universe was able to make proto-stars, critical in understanding how stars formed in this period, and what their properties (e.g. mass) were (link, article). As Prof. Elmegreen discussed in her interview, to understand how galaxies formed it is extremely important to detect and determine the properties of these proto-galaxies. The Spitzer space telescope, which operates at the Infra-Red wavelengths where most of the light from these galaxies is now detected, has been very important for this. Spitzer observations have found that the clumping of galaxies at earlier times (high redshifts) supports the sketch of galaxy formation discussed above, and have measured the mass of galaxies at early times where a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) occurred and found they have masses much smaller than galaxies today too - also consistent with smaller galaxies merging to form bigger ones. In addition, to detect GRBs, it is possible to discover galaxies at high redshift by their absorption of light of even more distant quasars (link) or through gravitational lensing - a very massive object (like a galaxy cluster) between the Earth and the more distant galaxy will also focus the light from this distant galaxy onto the Earth just like a lense does, making it bright enough to detect (link)

. Thank you very much for listening, and hope you enjoyed it. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Again, thanks a lot!