A strange solar tail wind.

July 11, 2013 by nvantreeck

NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft took the first complete pictures of the solar system’s downwind region and it revealed some interesting stuff.

It has been theorized for a long time that the heliosphere had a tail.

Taking images since 2009, IBEX has shown an unexpected ribbon of high energetic neutral atom (ENA) emissions and a structure comprising lower energy ENA emissions.

Also, there seems to be two low energy ENA tail regions to the side of the previously identified high energy one. So, instead of the expected single tail, there appears to be two “lobes.”

IBEX data shows that the heliotail is a region where the Sun’s million mile per hour (1,000,000,000 mph or 2,200,000 kph) solar wind flows away from the center of the Milkyway, eventually ending up in interstellar space.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

LADEE do you need some help?

July 3, 2013 by nvantreeck

As Jerry Lewis was fond of saying LAAYYYDEEE. Although in this case it means something else.

NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is scheduled to launch from Wallops Island in September.

This will be the first mission launched from Wallops Island to go beyond low Earth orbit. I wasn’t even aware that Wallops Island had this capability (Go Navy!).

LADEE will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

LADEE is also the first spacecraft to use a new modular common spacecraft bus.

This will allow multi-use designs and assembly-line production, that could drastically reduce the cost of spacecraft development. Much like the European Space Agencies Mars and Venus Express craft used many common items to cut costs and decrease the time it takes from production to launch.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Closer and closer.

July 2, 2013 by nvantreeck

A “Heavenly” view.

June 21, 2013 by nvantreeck

Earlier this week I posted about the Chinese space station Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace mission.

Well, it appears that the Shenzhou-10 module has successfully docked with the space station. Can you see the space station in another amazing image taken by fantastic transit photographer Thierry Legault.

Because of the speed of the orbiting space station, Thierry had less than half a second each to capture these two images of the Shenzhou-10 docked with the Tiangong-1 space station. What is even more amazing is that each image was taken on two different days.

These images are even more impressive when you consider the size of the two objects and how far away they are from the surface. The Tiangong-1 space station is about 34ft (10.4 meters) long and the Shenzou-10 is about 30ft (9.25 meters) long. Together they are about 65ft long orbiting at around 225 miles (362 kilometres) overhead. Pretty much like imaging a needle in a haystack.

Thierry uses a program that I have not tried, CalSky, to calculate when and where to take these amazing 1/2 second photos. I think I will have to give it a try. I have been using a program called The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) to plan my Moon, Sunrise and Sunset photographs and I highly recommend it as well. You should add them to your arsenal of good tools for taking great shots.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Happy Anniversary Mars Express

June 12, 2013 by nvantreeck

Named because of the rapid and streamlined development time, the Mars Express Orbiter represents ESA’s first visit to another planet in the Solar System.

On June 2, 2003, the Mars Express orbiter was launched toward the red planet, entering into orbit just six months later. Though the accompanying Beagle 2 did not survive entry, the orbiter is still swinging around Mars ten years later.

Mars Express orbits roughly every 8 hours to collect data on Mars, its moons, and the Sun.

Mankind has been going to the red planet since the 1960s. As noted above, the missions have been met with varying success. The Mars Express Orbiter is one of the better examples of success.

Still, being in orbit around a planet about 140 million miles (225 million km) is nothing to sneeze at. Various problems in both the hardware and software have been overcome by mission specialists to keep the data flowing back to Earth.

Overcoming these technical challenges has resulted in fantastic discoveries in the last ten years.Mars Express has monitored all regions of the Martian environment, from the subsurface to the upper atmosphere to its two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Mars Express has helped find out that water was once present on Mars. In fact Mars Express helped find out that there is water locked up in the planet’s ice caps by using its ground-penetrating radar system. It seems that there may be enough water in the form of ice to cover the entire planet with a layer of water some 30 feet deep.

Happy anniversary Mars Express and a job well done to everyone at the ESA that keeps you flying. May you have many more.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Good photo op in tonight’s sky.

June 10, 2013 by nvantreeck

If you missed the last conjunction between Jupiter, Mercury and Venus this past month, you’ll get another chance at a good photo tonight.

This time it is the Moon, Venus and Mercury. If you look to the west-northwest horizon tonight you will see all three.

The show will last for about 45 minutes after sunset (Venus sets right after that).

You should be able to see all three with the naked eye and you might even want to try and take a photograph. You shouldn’t need anything fancier than your cell phone and a steady hand. Orion even makes devices for holding your cellphone in place for you.

I am going to try my hand at getting a few images and I will post the results (provided the weather cooperates). Let me know if you take any images, I would love to see your shots!

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Another swing and a miss.

May 31, 2013 by nvantreeck

Asteroid 1998 QE2 will fly by the Earth on May 31 (or June 1st depending upon where you live) at a distance of 3.6 million miles or 5.8 million km.

The size comparison that most everyone is using is that the 1.7 mile or 2.7km long rock is 9 times the size of the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner.

I am not sure how big that is, but the graphic above puts in a little better perspective for me.

Additionally, if you are worried that it might hit the Earth, the moon is fifteen times closer at about 230,800 miles. So, not much of a chance of impact.

However, I am very interested in seeing if there are any little companions travelling with the asteroid. If you recall, a few hours after the last asteroid that flew by us, a fairly large chunk of something hit in Siberia making a very large explosion.

https://images.sdentertainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/asteroid2.jpg

Could it be that this wanderer through our neighbouring space is also bringing unwanted guests? It will be hard to tell until something happens. We currently don’t have the technology to detect small asteroids and/or comet that are small. Hopefully, the only thing that happens is that all the scientists get great images, spectra and radar information to work with.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Irony, thy name is Meade.

May 30, 2013 by nvantreeck

I know this ins’t breaking news, but this weekend at RTMC I found out that Meade Instruments Corp. (est. 1972), one of the world’s largest designers and manufacturers of telescopes and accessories for amateur astronomers and (JOC) are in merger talks.

Jinghua will pay 3-4 million dollars cash to acquire all of Meade. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of July, subject to shareholder approval.

Why is this ironic you might ask? Well let me tell you a tale. Once upon a time a talented employee of Meade worked diligently with astronomers to promote Meade products and technology. Years later that talented person later left the company and formed Explore Scientific.

Working with JOC, Explore Scientific quickly built quality products and spread throughout the astronomical community. Alas, during this same period Meade was in a serious decline with failed product launches and vaporware, the astronomical community turned from the tried and true, to the new and innovative.

So this announcement by JOC, who is also the parent company of Explore Scientific, LLC (USA) and Meade Instruments Europe GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), came as a pleasant surprise. There is hope on the horizon for Meade fans. The company won’t fold and, hopefully, will return to its former glory under its new owners.

So, you still may be asking about the irony. I think it is ironic that Scott Roberts, currently president of Explore Scientific LLC and previously one of Meade’s vice presidents, will now be back running the company that he left in 2007.

“I am especially pleased with this global reunion with Meade. I believe it will give us a rare opportunity in our industry to combine the best of what all of our companies have to offer,” stated Scott Roberts, president of Explore Scientific, which will manage operations of Meade after the acquisition.

Scott, I wish you the best of luck.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Quick RTMC recap.

May 28, 2013 by nvantreeck

This weekend was the annual pilgrimage to Big Bear for the Society for Astronomical Sciences meetings and RTMC.

The 2013 SAS Symposium on Telescope Science was held on May 21-23at the Northwoods Resort in Big Bear Lake, CA. Over 100 professional and amateur astronomers meet each year for this event. The Symposium has become one of the premiere events for amateur astronomers and for building pro-am collaborations. Amateurs, and some professionals, make presentations covering a wide range of topics, from imaging basics, photometry, spectroscopy, instrumentation, and more. Observing targets reach from near-Earth to the edges of the Universe. If you’re at least a little interested in astronomical research, this is one of the events attend each year. More information about next years event can be found on their web site (link above).

Immediately after the SAS conference RTMC opens the gates at Camp Oakes, a YMCA camp, near Big Bear City.

This is the booth for discovering all the activities and sign up sheets for …

… the Big Bear Solar observatory. Please note, the picture above is not to scale or snow depth. It was actually a warm 78 degrees this year. Due to the altitude, however, I have spent some Memorial weekends in the snow.

For the rest of the week, I am going to show images that I took at RTMC and some of the events that take place each year. If you are looking for a brief astronomical event that the whole family can enjoy. There is swimming, hiking, horse back riding and a whole bunch of other events for everyone to enjoy.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Jelly Doughnuts!

May 24, 2013 by nvantreeck

“Mmmmm…doughnuts” Homer Simpson.

Today is Friday, and I am in charge of bringing in the doughnuts (or donuts if you prefer) and bagels for everyone in the office.

Today it turns out that the jelly doughnuts and bagels have switched metaphoric states.

Credit: Alson Wong (http://www.alsonwongastro.com/m57-ring.htm)

Most of my pictures look like my friend Alson Wong’s image above. (Alson, I needed to borrow yours because I can’t find mine, thanks). You could always see that there was some material in the center portion, but it was thought to be the expanding matter blown off from the central star.

However, a new image by Hubble has lead team leader C. Robert O’Dell of Vanderbilt University to state that: “The nebula is not like a bagel, but rather, it’s like a jelly doughnut, because it’s filled with material in the middle.”

One of the reasons that the ring nebula is so interesting, is because it is a prelude to what could happen with our Sun. Although the star at the center of the ring was much larger than our Sun, it should end up in a similar fate. Blowing of material and becoming a white dwarf. From millions of times the size of the Earth, to about the same size (although a lot hotter and denser).

Someone once asked me why I keep taking images that everyone else has already imaged. The answer, of course, is you never know what you will find. Many new discoveries in space happen because of directed research by professionals (like this one), but a good amount of discoveries happen because some amateur astronomer was imaging the same thing and something new showed up.

We have only been peering at the heavens seriously for about 400 years. We tracked the stars way before that, but serious, scientific inquiry is only about 400 years old. The star that formed the ring is relatively young in comparison, the event happened about 4,000 years ago and will go on for another 10,000 years or so.

BIG PLUG for RTMC.

This weekend, if you want to learn more about astronomy, how to make your own telescope, view the night sky. The RTMC Astronomy Expo is being held near Big Bear California this weekend. Go here for more information. I’ll be there and I’m sure that the will be jelly doughnuts….mmmmmm.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Astronomy and Law

Astronomy and Law Blog

Milky Way Rising

Tag Archives: astronomy

A strange solar tail wind.

LADEE do you need some help?

Closer and closer.

A “Heavenly” view.

Happy Anniversary Mars Express

Good photo op in tonight’s sky.

Another swing and a miss.

Irony, thy name is Meade.

Quick RTMC recap.

Jelly Doughnuts!