What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Happy Halloween! A very appropriate topic for today is "What is Dark Matter" .  The hunt still goes on to solve this key mystery of the Universe. Today's APOD combines Halloween and "Dark Matter Day .  Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe  Illustration Credit & Copyright  Tom Abel  &  Ralf Kaehler  ( KIPAC ,  SLAC ),  AMNH Perhaps we will know more about Dark Matter next Halloween! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Hope you got to see the Moon on InMON night Saturday - it was cloudy for me. Here is a very good article on the interior of Neutron Stars - the amazing dead cores of massive stars that went supernova. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Tonight is “International Observe the Moon Night”   https://www.lpi.usra.edu/observe_the_moon_night/       or InOMN for short. Observers and lovers of the Moon (like me) around the world will be observing the Moon and sponsoring Moon watching events. As stated on the InOMN webpage, “International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual worldwide public event that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration, as well as the cultural and personal connections we all have with Earth's nearest neighbor. Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an InOMN event — and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together.” InOMN is sponsored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)  https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html       with support from NASA's Solar Sy...

Hey Space Placers! Here's a great article on the James Webb Space Telescope  . JWST at NASA Goddard Greg Redfern JWST's launch has been pushed back to 2019 . I hope to get out to the West Coast to report on the integration of the telescope to the spacecraft. Be sure to check tomorrow about International Observe the Moon Night on October 28th. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Read this great article posted by my friends at Earth Sky today abut how Gold and other heavy elements are created in Neutron Star mergers. After that, browse the nice photo spread in Time Magazine . Enjoy! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Here's another topic for you to learn about in our solar system - the Zodiacal Light. If you live in dark skies try to spot the faint pyramidal glow in the East several hours before dawn. It is an amazing sight. 4 Planets and the Zodiacal Light (the faint pyramid of light in the middle) from Shenandoah National Park Greg Redfern Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Here is an excellent article   about the Solar System's Kuiper Belt - a region of millions of icy bodies located billions of miles from Earth. The New Horizons spacecraft is enroute to flyby a denizen of the Kuiper Belt - 2014 MU69 - on 1/1/19. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I have written about the many citizen science projects (just do a search on my blog "Citizen Science"). There is a new one now that involves helping to identify features on Earth captured by photos taken from the International Space Station. If you have the time and inclination, participating in these projects is very gratifying and who knows..... you may make a discovery . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The Moon returns to the early evening sky this week. I was able to get my youngest Moon pic ever at 1.1 days old. 1.1 Day Old Waxing Crescent Moon 10/20/17 Greg Redfern Before the Moon gets bright in the evening sky try to look for the farthest planet you can see with your unaided eye - Uranus. Almost 2 billion miles away it takes light 157 minutes to get to your eye or camera. If you have dark skies you can find Uranus AND see it with your own eyes. I did on October 20, 2017. Try following the tips here and if you have binoculars use them to zero in on the 7th planet from the Sun and then try using just you eyes. Uranus on 10/20/17 Greg Redfern Good luck! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Orion the Hunter its visible rising in the East at around 11 pm local and remains visible all night. The mighty hunter prepares to roam the skies of winter with his trusty hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor. Tonight into tomorrow morning before dawn be on the look out for shooting stars - meteors - from the Orionid Meteor Shower . The expected peak of the Orionids , which can produce up to 10  meteors an hour and peak at 25 an hour, is on Saturday-Sunday night. The best time to look is after midnight and before dawn as we will be facing the meteor stream. Star Chart For The Orionid Meteor Shower Credit: Sky & Telescope.com None other than Halley's Comet is the source for these dust particles which hit our atmosphere at a speed of 238,000 KM/SEC....that dear reader is SMOKING!!! If you want to try and capture pics of the shower here are some tips. Be sure to enjoy the bright star Sirius and the other stars of ...

Hey Space Placers! UPDATE: Today's   NASA Press Release   on this new finding. Here is research that shows that our Moon once had an atmosphere due to volcanic activity that took place billions of years ago. It is thought that this atmosphere would have lasted 70 million years before finally being lost to space. Artist's impression of the Moon, looking over Imbrium Basin, with lavas erupting, venting gases, and producing a visible atmosphere. Credit: NASA MSFC This lunar atmosphere would have been 1.5 times thicker than the  current atmosphere on Mars. Calculations show that a water volume twice that of Lake Tahoe could have been released into the lunar atmosphere. The water at the Moon's poles could have been deposited during this era.  For those who want to read more here is the link to the original paper. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Do you remember what you were doing at 8:41 a.m. EDT August 17, 2017?  At that moment two Gravitational Wave Observatories in the U.S. called LIGO   http://www.ligo.org/   were detecting a ripple in space time caused by gravitational waves. LIGO had already discovered several black hole mergers   https://wtop.com/science/2016/02/breakthrough-scientists-detect-einstein-predicted-ripples/slide/1/   but this signal was far different in that it lasted 100 seconds and indicated a merger of two less massive objects had occurred.  LIGO had just detected the merger of two neutron stars  https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=243382&org=NSF&from=news     This animation captures phenomena observed over the course of nine days following the neutron star merger known as GW170817. They include gravitational waves (pale arcs); a near-light-speed jet that produced gamma rays (magenta); expanding debris...

Hey Space Placers! This coming Monday, October 16, there will be a HUGE announcement made by the Gravitational Wave Astronomy community. I have been provided advance notice of the announcement by those involved but it is embargoed until Monday, which of course I am honoring. I will have this exciting news available for you as soon as the embargo ends which will be after 10 am EDT. I will be participating in the media telecon so I expect to have a blog out after it concludes. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Want to know what NASA's "Top 10" (my word, not theirs) upcoming missions for space exploration are? InSight, JWST, Orion-SLS NASA Read all about these very exciting missions . We will definitely have some very, very exciting discoveries and mysteries in the tears ahead. I can hardly wait to share them with you. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Here is the latest on NASA's efforts regarding protection of astronauts in space. This is a difficult problem that has to be solved before we venture into space beyond the Earth's protective magnetic field. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! We will have a close call from an asteroid tonight (Oct 11/12)  that will pass well within the Moon's orbit at 26,000 miles above the Earth. It is similar in size to the Chelyabinsk asteroid that exploded over that city on 2/15/14 with over half a million tons of TNT explosive force. This animation depicts the flyby of small asteroid 2012 TC4 as it passes under Earth. On Oct. 12 EDT (Oct. 11 PDT), 2012 TC4 will safely pass by Earth at a distance of approximately 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA and others will be testing the international asteroid warning network to see how well observations are coordinated. More info here . Viewers can tune in on line at 7:59 PM EDT 10/11/17 . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! BIG DISCOVERY announced on 10/9/17 - Two teams of astronomers have discovered the missing normal matter in the Universe. This really is a big deal as you will read about in this article . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Enjoy this compendium of Full Harvest Moon pics courtesy of my good friend Deborah Byrd at EarthSky.org . Humbled to be included..... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! On October 5th brilliant Venus will be VERY close to dim Mars in the East about an hour before sunrise. Try to get a clear horizon and use binoculars to enhance your view. The pair will stay close through the weekend. On October 5th at sunset the Full Harvest Moon will be making a grand appearance in the Northern Hemisphere. Look once again to the East after sunset to see the beautiful Harvest Moon. Here's to Clear Skies for all.... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Today is the 60th anniversary of Sputnik - the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth. Launched by the USSR it spawned the space race (and space age) which eventually led to America landing astronauts on the Moon. The 1st citizen scientist project of the Space Age - Project Moonwatch - was started to monitor the orbit of Sputnik and other satellites to help refine the Earth's shape and orbit. Now 60 years into the Space Age you can send your name to Mars on NASA's next mission to the Red Planet, InSight . You have until November 1st to sign up, so join me in doing so.  As you can see I am a Frequent Flyer with NASA's missions! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Wow! What GREAT timing on my part ;-) After yesterday's blog on gravitational waves Nobel Prizes were awarded to three of the pioneering scientists involved in the decade long search. Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne are your 2017 Nobel Laureates in physics. Credit:  Nobel Media. III. N. Elmehed Here is an article that gives a good perspective on gravitational waves and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to these three. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The 4th detection of gravitational waves from a black hole pair merging took place in August 2017. Unlike the previous three detections by two US based gravitational wave observatories in Washington state and Louisiana, this event was also seen by a new gravitational was observatory in Italy. At some point we will have the detection of a neutron star merging event - maybe with a black hole or another neutron star. That will be something.......not that merging black holes are dull ;-) Sky Guy in VA