The James Webb Space Telescope

The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is the James Webb Space Telescope which is set to launch October 2018. Mission goals include searching for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang, determine how galaxies evolved from their formation to now, observe first formation of stars and planets and measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems. The telescope will orbit 1.5 million km from earth and once launched it will not be possible for it to be repaired during its 5-10 year life span. This  may be difficult with four science instruments on board which include a Near Infrared Camera(NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). The James Webb telescope will also host the worlds largest mirror sent into space measuring 6.5 meters wide.



Although the James Webb Space Telescope has specific objectives it wishes to achieve once launched I believe that these will change once it is used. For example one goal is to view the first objects formed after the big bang, some scientists now believe the big bang never happened due to new equations and theories. I guess we'll find out in the years following the launch in October 2018.

The Overview Effect

 This 20 minute "mini documentary" was referred to me by a friend of mine about a year ago. The clip is taken from a film called Planetary which focuses on the idea that the earth and human species are one .  The clip focuses on the experience felt by astronauts when they look back on Earth from space. Space exploration is always focused on what is beyond earth. Scientists focus learning about and discovering planets, moons, stars and galaxies beyond earth. The thought of what the earth would look like suspended in space never crossed anyones mind, until people saw it for themselves. 

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 The experience of seeing the earth from space is defined as the Overview Effect. The documentary focuses on the experiences felt by astronauts when they see the Earth from space. Although they each have different explanations they share the idea of unity with the earth and a new found self-awareness. Although those of you reading this and myself will never get to experience the overview effect first hand for ourselves you defiantly feel something similar after watching the clip below.

The full length film Planetary is screening across the US and in a few other countries this year. You can find screening locations or preorder the film at weareplanetary.com.

Feel free to comment below on your new found views of the earth after watching.

NASA to Visit Europa

On Febuary 2nd 2015 the United States congress approved a budget of $130 million towards a NASA mission to one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. This amount is what has been given currently, the budget will increase as the mission developes. Europa is a frozen moon containing more water than  Earth. Although the surface is frozen the moons oribt around Jupiter causes the moon to move inside.  That engery then heats the water so it remains liquid beneath the ice. On earth whereever there is water there is life, this is what NASA hopes to find. Life outside of earth has never been discovered and Europa has all the ingredients. The mission is currently set to launch in mid 2020's starting with the Europa Clipper to fly by and study the moon before any landing mission is launched.

source: http://www.space.com/28436-nasa-europa-mission-white-house.html

Reusable Rockets. "The Key to Planetary Exploration".

Elon Musk believes that reusable rockets are the key to revolutionizing travel to space and after learning about SpaceX and the Falcon 9 rocket I believe too. The old design of space rockets were meant for rockets to travel into space but not return to Earth. Rockets would burn up in the atmosphere when returning to earth. The traditional cost of launching one of these rockets into space is $100-$260 million, and you don't even get to use it agin....

SpaceX's new design is reusable and designed, manufactured and tested within the company rather than outsourcing these jobs to other companies. These factors drive down cost significantly, SpaceX charged SES $55 million for a launch completed December 3rd 2013. They also completed 5 successful missions resupplying and returning cargo from the International Space Station for NASA. In total SpaceX has 44 missions planned for over 15 companies. The vehicle responsible for the beginning of this revolution is the Falcon 9. Visit SpaceX's Falcon 9 webpage to learn everything about the Falcon9, below I have posted two videos from SpaceX's youtube channel. The first are successful tests and missions of the current Falcon 9 and the second is a concept of a future Falcon 9.

Want a Falcon 9 for yourself? Head over to the SpaceX store and launch as early as 2016!

What is a Rogue Planet?

  What happens to a planet when the star in their solar system dies? Or when a planet gets knocked out of orbit due to another? What happens to planets that form in the universe outside of a star? These planets roam the universe with no solar system to call home, they are classified as Rogue Planets.

artist rendition of CFBDSIR2149

  Most people may think planets only exist in a solar system, this is due to our current knowledge of planets and where we have looked for planets outside of our solar system. We live on a planet that orbits a star so it makes sense to observe other stars to see if other solar systems exist there too. This way of thinking changed when the Kepler spacecraft mission discovered the planet CFBDSIR2149. This is the closest rogue planet to our solar system at a distance of 100 light years. It is believed to be 50 to 120 million years old with a mass 4-7 times that of Jupiter. This discovery will help scientists better understand how rogue planets are formed and how they travel throughout space.


actual photo of CFBDSIR2149



 

“These objects are important, as they can either help us understand more about how planets may be ejected from planetary systems, or how very light objects can arise from the star formation process."

"If this little object is a planet that has been ejected from its native system, it conjures up the striking image of orphaned worlds, drifting in the emptiness of space.” - Philippe Delorme.

Sources: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1245/#6 | Images: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/pia14093.html | http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1245c/

Your Observable Universe

  There are many different apps for viewing the night sky, the earth, our solar system and even our universe. Most of them have a cost of around $2-$5, some are free and others can cost up to $45.99. With so many options it makes it hard to choose, but it really depends on what your looking for.

  In this post I quickly break down two apps available for both IOS and Android devices. The first is SkyView (iOS | Android), a basic view of planets, stars, constellations and satellites with no cost. The second is SkySafari 4 (iOS | Android), a more in depth detailed view of the sky and universe.

SkySafari 4

SkyView

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SkyView | $: Free

  SkyView is a great app that shows the user what is in the sky as they point their device towards the stars. Navigation is done by physically moving the device around, viewing the sky through the devices camera. This cannot be done by simply swiping on the screen but I think this prevents users from getting lost amongst the stars.

  SkyView is great for when your looking up in the sky and wonder what your actually looking at. Is it a star? is it part of a larger constellation? maybe its just a satellite? or one of the planets in our solar system? Next time you see a bright object in the sky and think its a star, use SkyView to know for sure.

View the Sky: iOS | Android

SkySafari4 | $: Basic $3.49, Plus $16.99, Pro $45.99 

  SkySafari 4 gives users an in depth look into the sky and universe. The basic version allows for a view the sky at any given time, day, month or year up to 100 years in the past or future. As you swipe around clicking on stars and planets will give you very detailed information on what ever you choose. Although the basic version positions your view from the ground the plus and pro versions give you the ability to move about the universe. Giving you orbital views of  objects in our solar system and some beyond. These versions come with a much larger database of stars, solar systems and galaxies. The pro version gives you images with 8x the resolution and requires no internet connection.

Explore Space: Basic iOS | Android. Plus iOS | Android. Pro iOS | Android.

For any more information on these apps click on the links below each description.

Planets Beyond Pluto?

  Spanish scientist professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, from the Complutense University of Madrid, believes there are two or more Earth sized planets beyond Pluto. Beyond Pluto lies the Kuiper Asteroid Belt, where small asteroids are moving in an unexpected orbit. This should only happen when there is a larger body to pull in smaller objects due to the gravity of a larger body. Although there are three dwarf planets beyond Pluto (Eris, Haumea, & Makemake) and one located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter (Ceres), the objects Professor Marcos believes he has spotted are Earth sized or larger. To put that in perspective Pluto (1,151km radius) is one sixth the size of Earth (6,371km radius). The only dwarf planet in our solar system that isn't smaller than Pluto is Eris (1,163km radius), which is thought to be slightly larger.

image source: space.com (http://www.space.com/18584-dwarf-planets-solar-system-infographic.html)

  Further evidence of these planets may come from the New Horizons mission launched by NASA on January 19 2006. The New Horizons craft will arrive at Pluto this summer (Summer 2015) and observe it to better understand planets that orbit the outer edge of our solar system. Once the observation is complete New Horizons will then make its way past Pluto to observe objects in the Kuiper Belt. This may lend more insight to Professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos theory of distant Earth sized planets orbiting within our solar system.

original article source: The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/two-earthsized-planets-could-be-hiding-in-our-solar-system-9987002.html)

Sharpest View of Andromeda Galaxy



Explore Andromeda for Yourself

  On January 9th 2015 NASA released the sharpest image of our neighbouring galaxy Andromeda captured by the Hubble Space telescope. Although Andromeda is the Milky Ways closest neighbouring galaxy, it is over 200 million light years away. The image is only a fraction of  Andromeda, the image shows approximately 48,000 light years of the galaxies disk containing over 100 million stars. This image will help scientists study spiral shaped galaxies in greater detail, these types of galaxies are popular in our observable universe of over 100 billion galaxies.  Click the link below the image to zoom in and explore Andromeda for yourself.

"It's like photographing a beach and resolving individual grains of sand" - hubblesite.org.


Source: Hubblesite.org http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/02/image/a/