en-us AAPODZilla 1.0 http://astronomy.fm/rss/looking-up.rss August 22, 2010 Skylog Looking Up! http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/ This artist's impression shows the magnetar in the very rich and young star cluster Westerlund 1. ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2010) — Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, European astronomers have for the first time demonstrated that a magnetar -- an unusual type of neutron star -- was formed from a star with at least 40 times as much mass as the Sun. The result presents great challenges to current theories of how stars evolve, as a star as massive as this was expected to become a black hole, not a magnetar. This now raises a fundamental question: just how massive does a star really have to be to become a black hole? http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/668/How-Much-Mass-Makes-a-Black-Hole%3F-Astronomers-Challenge-Current-Theories.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/668/How-Much-Mass-Makes-a-Black-Hole%3F-Astronomers-Challenge-Current-Theories.html Thanks for your patience....The GRAS*Spotlight with Dr Christian Sasse and Dr John Nunn will air on Monday September 6th at 1 pm CDT (1800 UTC). Tune in for an exceptionally interesting program about some similarities between the game of chess and astronomy! http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/667/Global-Rent-A-Scope-Spotlight-New-Air-Date%21.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/667/Global-Rent-A-Scope-Spotlight-New-Air-Date%21.html Dr Christian Sasse                                       Dr John NunnJoin Dr Marleen Bryan on August 8th at 1 pm CDT (1800 UTC) for a unique interview with Dr Christian Sasse a GRAS affiliate and Dr John Nunn chess Grandmaster and amateur astronomer. The interview will discuss some interesting concepts and similarities between astronomy and the game of chess. Don't miss this live interview! Log in to the AFM chat to ask your questions and make comments during the discussion. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/651/Global-Rent-A-Scope-Spotlight.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/651/Global-Rent-A-Scope-Spotlight.html Astronomy.FM and AFM*Radio needs your help!   Astronomy.FM’s main feature is AFM*Radio, which now airs 24 hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, to more than 10,000 listeners world-wide!   In accordance with the Astronomy.FM Mission Statement, AFM*Radio features science, astronomy, and space-science education for amateur and professional astronomers, students, and the general public.   As our audience grows and our programming becomes more diversified, our radio expenses increase. Those expenses include greater bandwidth and equipment upgrades.  Astronomy.FM is a member-funded, volunteer-operated organization.  Even with the generous donations of our members and listeners, these rising costs present a serious challenge.   Please consider gifting a small donation of $5, so that we may continue bringing you your favorite astronomy or science-related programs. Go to www.astronomy.fm and click the donation tab, or mail your donation to us at Astronomy.FM   PO BOX 614  Rhinelander, WI 54501.   Thank you for being members of Astronomy.FM and listening to AFM*Radio. Your donations are greatly appreciated and we look forward to continuing to serve the international astronomy community! Marleen Bryan EdD-President of Astronomy.FM http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/646/President%27s-News-Corner.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/646/President%27s-News-Corner.html July 2010 Star Party hosted by the Newstar Club from Appleton, Wisconsin.This Star Party is an annual event! http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/620/Wisconsin-Observer%27s-Weekend-July-2010.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/620/Wisconsin-Observer%27s-Weekend-July-2010.html TRANSCEND your consciousness into PURE ENERGY!!! Join us on AFM*RADIO and.......  TRANSMIT ACROSS THE UNIVERSE!!!Just ask us how..click here http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/604/AFM%2ARADIO-transmits-worldwide.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/604/AFM%2ARADIO-transmits-worldwide.html Courtesy of JAXA http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/597/-UPDATE%3A-Starting-to-open-HAYABUSA-sample-container.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/597/-UPDATE%3A-Starting-to-open-HAYABUSA-sample-container.html Japan's Hayabusa made an exciting fiery return around 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in the Woomera Prohibited Area of South Australia. In the video you'll see a little speck of light ahead of the falling debris: that’s the sample return canister with, hopefully, some precious goods aboard – samples from asteroid Itokawa. The canister separated about three hours before reaching Earth, and returned to Earth via parachute. The canister has been recovered, and will be taken to Japan where scientists will open it to find out if there is anything inside.This image shows the Hayabusa capsule after landing with its parachute attached. Image credit: JAXAClick the Skylog Heading for more information on this topic. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/591/Hayabusa-re-entry.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/591/Hayabusa-re-entry.html The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expects its Asteroid sample return capsule to boomerang back to Earth on June 13, 2010. The spacecraft visited a near-Earth asteroid, Itokawa, five years ago and has logged about 2 billion kilometers (1.25 billion miles) since its launch in May 2003. With the return of the Hayabusa capsule, targeted for June 13 at Australia’s remote Woomera Test Range in South Australia, JAXA will have concluded a remarkable mission of exploration — one in which NASA scientists and engineers are playing a contributing role. To learn more click here. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/589/Japan%27s-Hayabusa-spacecraft-expected-to-bring-sample-of-Asteroid-back-to-Earth.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/589/Japan%27s-Hayabusa-spacecraft-expected-to-bring-sample-of-Asteroid-back-to-Earth.html NASA's Swift satellite detected an active black hole (indicated by the white circle) in NGC 7319, one of the galaxies in the grouping known as Stephan's Quintet.Supermassive black holes appear to light up with hard X-rays when their parent galaxies decide to merge, according to a survey by NASA's peeping  Swift Satellite.  Known as  active galactic nuclei, Just 1 percent of  super massive black holes currently put on such exhibitionist behavior by giving off as much as 10 billion times the sun's energy. Click here  or on the post heading for more http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/583/Why-Black-Holes-%22Light-Up%22.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/583/Why-Black-Holes-%22Light-Up%22.html CHECK IT OUT!  Astronomy.FM has started a GEAR WEAR page!!Here is just a sample. There will be more items added soon!  http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/579/Would-you-Like-to-Proudly-Display-you-are-a-Member-of-Astronomy.FM%3F.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/579/Would-you-Like-to-Proudly-Display-you-are-a-Member-of-Astronomy.FM%3F.html Just Imagine- a humanoid robot on the moon! But before the moon, R2 will stretch its limbs aboard the ISS this fall.Project M is a proposed project to land an operational humanoid robot on the moon in 1000 days (M is the Roman numeral for 1000). The humanoid will travel to the moon on a small lander fueled by green propellants, liquid methane and liquid oxygen. It will perform a precision, autonomous landing, avoiding any hazards or obstacles on the surface. Upon landing the robot will deploy and walk on the surface performing a multitude of tasks focused on demonstrating engineering tasks such as maintenance and construction; performing science of opportunity (i.e. using existing sensors on the robot or small science instruments); and simple student experiments.The mission is about inspiration, streamlining agency practices and processes and using unconventional partnerships, and building a workforce and demonstrating technologies to enable the continuation of human exploration beyond low earth orbit. While the project is not fully funded nor vetted at the agency level, much progress has already been made by leveraging and coalescing existing, funded technology work; by forming innovative partnerships; and by a small project team focusing on fast iterative design, test, and execution.While the project is not fully funded nor vetted at the agency level, much progress has already been made by leveraging and coalescing existing, funded technology work; by forming innovative partnerships; and by a small project team focusing on fast iterative design, test, and execution.For more on R2 going to the ISS click here http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/577/-Meet-R2-%28Robonaut-2%29-and-the-M-Project-Concept.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/577/-Meet-R2-%28Robonaut-2%29-and-the-M-Project-Concept.html A massive runaway star has been spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope racing away from the its home stellar nursery after being kicked out by some of its much heftier stellar siblings. he future outlook for this tough-luck star seemingly doesn't improve: Paul Crowther of the University of Sheffield, a member of the team who made the observations of 30 Dor #016, said the wayward star will continue to streak across space  and will eventually end its life in a titanic  supernova explosion, likely leaving behind a remnant  blackhole.The fugitive already appears to have traveled 375 light-years from its birthplace: a star cluster called R136 deep in the Tarantula Nebula. Astronomers caught the stellar runaway in Hubble Space Telescope data taken shortly after the last space shuttle servicing mission in May 2009. The team chose the star as a target to help calibrate the newly installed Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), an instrument designed to look at the light signatures—or spectra—of very distant, faint objects.For more: Click the post heading "Massive runaway star near Tarantula Nebula races thru universe at 250,000 mph" http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/572/Massive-runaway-star-near-Tarantula-Nebula-races-thru-universe-at-250%2C000-mph.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/572/Massive-runaway-star-near-Tarantula-Nebula-races-thru-universe-at-250%2C000-mph.html The next big thing in space science will be an Atlas 5 launch in August 2011 that will send a solar-powered probe named Juno toward Jupiter. Juno is a mission of discovery and exploration that will conduct an in-depth study of Jupiter, the most massive planet in our solar system. Juno will follow a pole-to-pole orbit around the giant planet to map its internal structure, its atmosphere and magnetosphere. Peering through the clouds deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere, the mission will reveal fundamental processes of the formation and early evolution of our solar system. Juno’s goal is to understand the origin and evolution of the gas giant planet, which will pave the way to a better understanding of our solar system and other planetary systems being discovered around other stars.GRAIL Mission The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program. It is scheduled to launch in 2011. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in unprecedented detail. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. Click this post heading " The Juno and GRAIL Missions in 2011"  above for more. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/570/The-Juno-and-GRAIL-Missions-in-2011.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/570/The-Juno-and-GRAIL-Missions-in-2011.html  This galactic gas bubble has a large surprise. How large? At least 8 times the mass of the Sun. Nestled in the shell around this large bubble is an embryonic star that looks set to turn into one of the brightest stars in the Galaxy. The Galactic bubble is known as RCW 120. It lies about 4300 light-years away and has been formed by a star at its centre. The star is not visible at these infrared wavelengths but pushes on the surrounding dust and gas with nothing more than the power of its starlight. In the 2.5 million years the star has existed. It has raised the density of matter in the bubble wall so much that the quantity trapped there can now collapse to form new stars. As stars begin to form, the surrounding dust and gas is warmed up to a few tens of degrees above absolute zero and starts to emit at far-infrared wavelengths. The Earth's atmosphere completely blocks the majority of these wavelengths and thus observations from space are necessary. The Herschel Space Telescope is the largest astronomical telescope ever to be placed into space. The diameter of its main mirror is four times larger than any previous infrared space telescope and one and a half times larger than Hubble.Click this Skylog's heading for more ... http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/569/Herschel-Space-Observatory-sees-cool-cocoons-where-stars-form.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/569/Herschel-Space-Observatory-sees-cool-cocoons-where-stars-form.html Equipped with an electric propulsion system, the rocket, known as Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), is being developed to one day transport astronauts to Mars in 39 to 45 days — a fraction of the six to nine months the trip would take with conventional chemical rockets!Setting sail for an asteroid would be a powerful demonstration of VASIMR technology, which uses radio waves to ionize propellant — such as argon, xenon or hydrogen — and heat the resulting plasma to temperatures 20 times hotter than the surface of the sun. In place of metal nozzles to control the direction of the exhaust, VASIMR uses magnetic fields.Physicist Franklin Chang Diaz's Houston-based Ad Astra Rocket Co., which has raised millions of dollars from private investors, reached a significant milestone last year when it successfully operated a demonstrator VASIMR at full power in a vacuum chamber.To learn more click the Title of this post above "Plasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days" http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/568/Plasma-Rocket-Could-Travel-to-Mars-in-39-Days.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/568/Plasma-Rocket-Could-Travel-to-Mars-in-39-Days.html The region of sky covered by the Planck images is shown on a view of half the sky as seen in visible and infrared light. The smaller patch corresponds to Orion and the larger to Perseus. New images from ESA's Planck space observatory reveal the forces driving star formation and give astronomers a way to understand the complex physics that shape the dust and gas in our Galaxy. The images both show three physical processes taking place in the dust and gas of the interstellar medium. Planck can show us each process separately. At the lowest frequencies, Planck maps emission caused by high-speed  electrons interacting with the Galaxy's magnetic fields. An additional diffuse component comes from spinning dust particles emitting at these frequencies. At intermediate  wavelengths of a few millimetres, the emission is from gas heated by newly formed hot stars. At still higher frequencies, Planck maps the meagre heat given out by extremely cold dust. This can reveal the coldest cores in the clouds, which are approaching the final stages of collapse, before they are reborn as fully-fledged stars. The stars then disperse the surrounding clouds.Click on the word "Planck" in the title to see more. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/555/Planck-highlights-the-complexity-of-star-formation.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/555/Planck-highlights-the-complexity-of-star-formation.html About Astronomy Day Astronomy Day is a grass roots movement to share the joy of astronomy with the general population - "Bringing Astronomy to the People." On Astronomy Day, thousands of people who have never looked through a telescope will have an opportunity to see first hand what has so many amateur and professional astronomers all excited. Astronomy clubs, science museums, observatories, universities, planetariums, laboratories, libraries, and nature centers host special events and activities to acquaint their population with local astronomical resources and facilities. It is an astronomical PR event that helps highlight ways the general public can get involved with astronomy - or at least get some of their questions about astronomy answered. Astronomy Week is the same concept as Astronomy Day except seven times longer. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/550/International-Astronomy-Day-2010%3A-April-24-%28Astronomy-Week%3A-April-19-25%29.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/550/International-Astronomy-Day-2010%3A-April-24-%28Astronomy-Week%3A-April-19-25%29.html This brand new Hubble photo is of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)Click on the yellow word "Hubble" above for more http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/548/Hubble-Celebrates-20-years-of-Discovery%21-We-are-in-the-Golden-Years-of-Astronomy-What-more-Lies-Ahead%3F.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/548/Hubble-Celebrates-20-years-of-Discovery%21-We-are-in-the-Golden-Years-of-Astronomy-What-more-Lies-Ahead%3F.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/546/Celebrate-EARTHDAY-2010.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/546/Celebrate-EARTHDAY-2010.html      Earth will passes through the residue from the tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1),and the encounter causes a meteor shower--the Lyrids. The shower peaks on Thursday morning, April 22nd in the dark hours before dawn. Lyrid meteors will appear to stream from the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. Most years in April there are no more than 5 to 20 meteors per hour during the shower's peak. But sometimes, when Earth glides through an unusually dense clump of comet debris, the rate increases. What will the Lyrids do this year? The only way to know for sure is to go outside and look!! http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/545/The-Lyrids-are-coming%21%21-The-Lyrids-are-coming%21%21.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/545/The-Lyrids-are-coming%21%21-The-Lyrids-are-coming%21%21.html Tune in at 0100 UT on April 2 (which is 9pm US EDT on  April 1) for the upcoming GRAS Spotlight when Dr. Marleen Bryan talks with Peter Lake about his participation in collecting data on two cataclysmic variable stars (V842 Cen and GW Lib).  The data that he and other amateurs provided helped Dr. Paula Szkody to receive approval for a UV run on the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph located on the Hubble Space Telescope.Click here for the interview replay: http://emea82813924.emea.acrobat.com/p60577639/ http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/532/GRAS-Spotlight%3A-Amateur-Astronomy%2C-Real-Science.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/532/GRAS-Spotlight%3A-Amateur-Astronomy%2C-Real-Science.html Join us this Wednesday, March 31 at 0200 UT (March 30 at 10:00pm US EDT) for a comprehensive overview of "all things astroimaging."  Jim Welisek has been imaging the skies using a variety of techniques over the years.  With slides and images he will give us all a great introduction to imaging.Click here to listen and watch the Adobe Connect replay:http://ow.ly/1sWhh http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/531/Astroimaging---Basics%2C-Tips-%26amp%3B-Tricks.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/531/Astroimaging---Basics%2C-Tips-%26amp%3B-Tricks.html Click here for your AFM Messier Marathon checklist. While in the U.S., March Madness is often associated with the sport of basketball... to astronomers around the world, March marks the start of a brief season where you can possibly view all or most of the Messier objects in a single night, from a single location. Global Rent-A-Scope has installed a new video camera system, which will see first public light as part of Astronomy.FM's March Madness Messier Marathon to be held LIVE starting at dusk on March 27, 2010 - 7pm MDT (9PM EDT, March 28 at 0100 GMT) - and will continue until dawn. http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/521/Astronomy.FM---GRAS-Live-Messier-Marathon%2C-starting-March%C2%A028-0100-GMT--%287pm-MDT-on-March-27%29.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/521/Astronomy.FM---GRAS-Live-Messier-Marathon%2C-starting-March%C2%A028-0100-GMT--%287pm-MDT-on-March-27%29.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/492/Physics-of-ISS-Orbit-Reboost.html http://astronomy.fm/skylogs/looking-up/492/Physics-of-ISS-Orbit-Reboost.html