Category Archives: Education

Astronomy, Education, Space participation

Night sky highlights for January 2024

January 2, 2024 TopSpacer

Check out the night sky this month, January 2024. Here are videos highlighting the top sights to observe.

** What’s Up: January 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL

What are some skywatching highlights in January 2024?
The year kicks off with the Quadrantid meteors, and some great Moon-planet pairings. Plus, did you know the stars shift in the sky by four minutes each day?

0:00 Intro
0:15 Quadrantid meteor shower
0:54 Moon & planet highlights
2:12 4-minute-per-day rule
3:46 January Moon phases

Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatch….

** Tonight’s Sky: January 2024 – Space Telescope Science Institute – Tonight’s Sky

In January, the northern hemisphere features beautiful views of Capella, a pair of giant yellow stars; Aldebaran, a red giant star; and two star clusters—the Hyades and the Pleiades. Keep watching for the awe-inspiring space-based views of the Crab Nebula, the remains of a star that exploded as a supernova.

** What to see in the night sky: January 2024 – BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal the top things to see in the night sky this month, including the planets of the Solar System, clair obscur effects on the Moon, Comet 144P/Kushia and Orion.

00:00 Intro
00:16 – Mercury
01:17 – Venus
02:57 – Jupiter
06:23 – Saturn
07:02 – Uranus and Neptune
09:16 – Comet 144P/Kushida
10:42 – Quadrantid meteor shower
11:09 – Clair obscur effects
11:49 – Galilean moons
12:14 – Mare Orientale
14:20 – Dione transits Saturn
17:37 – Sirius
20:40 – Orion
24:35 – Monoceros
25:54 – Rosette Nebula

** Sky & Telescope’s Sky Tour Podcast – January | The Quadrantid Meteor Shower and Spotting Planets – Sky & Telescope Youtube

Our monthly Sky Tour #astronomy #podcast provides an informative and entertaining 10-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Listen to the January episode and watch one of the year’s better #meteor showers, then take up the challenge of spotting five #planets; size up a celestial queen with an ego problem; and learn about a celestial hunter who, uh, also has an ego problem. So bundle up, grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

Night sky highlights for December 2023

December 1, 2023 TopSpacer

Check out the night sky this month, December 2023. Here are videos highlighting the top sights to observe.

** What’s Up: December 2023 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL

What are some skywatching highlights in December 2023?
Clear skies will make for ideal viewing of the Geminid meteor shower, and grab your binoculars to search for asteroid Vesta.

0:00 Intro
0:14 Moon & planet highlights
0:59 Geminid meteors peak
2:05 Observing asteroid Vesta
4:08 December Moon phases

** Tonight’s Sky: December 2023 – Space Telescope Science Institute – Tonight’s Sky

Step outside on a cold December night when the stars shine bright to find the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. They will help you locate a binary star system, a fan-shaped open star cluster, and a variable star. Stay tuned for space-based views of a ragged spiral galaxy, an open star cluster, and an edge-on galaxy.

** Geminids, Venus, Jupiter, Orion, Comet Tsuchinshan | Night sky December 2023 – BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Find out what’s in the night sky tonight, December 2023, with astronomers Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel as your guide.
Venus and Jupiter are bright, the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak and asteroid Vesta reaches opposition.
Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan increases in brightness and Orion returns with its wealth of deep-sky wonders.

00:00 – Intro
00:14 – Mercury
00:55 – Venus
02:33 – Jupiter
03:02 – Saturn
03:44 – Uranus and Neptune
05:39 – Mare Orientale
06:58 – Jupiter occults Ganymede
07:55 – Geminid meteor shower
10:02 – Vesta at opposition
10:31 – Comet 62P/Tsuchinshan
15:22 – Orion and deep-sky objects
22:16 – Taurus
23:36 – Auriga and open clusters
25:00 – Camelopardalis
26:36 Kemble’s Cascade

** Sky & Telescope’s Sky Tour Podcast – December | The Geminid Meteor Shower and Bright Evening Stars – Sky & Telescope Youtube

Our monthly Sky Tour #astronomy #podcast provides an informative and entertaining 10-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Listen to the December episode and keep tabs on the #Moon’s whereabouts, watch for some impressive #shootingstars, track down four #planets, and gaze at a tall tower of bright evening #stars. So bundle up, grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

Listen and subscribe to this podcast at https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/ and don’t forget to subscribe to S&T’s YouTube channel to get alerts about new videos, including this monthly podcast

Learn more about #observing and #stargazing on our website, https://skyandtelescope.org/ and subscribe to our monthly magazine at https://skyandtelescope.org/subscribe.

**** The Geminid Meteor Shower 2023 – Sky & Telescope Youtube

Watch the #Geminid #meteorshower on the evening of December 13th and the morning of December 14th with tips from Sky & Telescope! The #geminids are one of the top #meteor showers of the year. Learn about what the Geminids are and how they form.

ESO: Disk detected around a star in another galaxy for the first time

November 30, 2023 TopSpacer

A report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO):

Astronomers discover disc around star in another galaxy for the first time

This artist’s impression shows the HH 1177 system, which is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring galaxy of our own. The young and massive stellar object glowing in the centre is collecting matter from a dusty disc while also expelling matter in powerful jets. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, a team of astronomers managed to find evidence for the presence of this disc by observing its rotation. This is the first time a disc around a young star — the type of disc identical to those forming planets in our own galaxy — has been discovered in another galaxy.

In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have found a disc around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighbouring ours. It’s the first time such a disc, identical to those forming planets in our own Milky Way, has ever been found outside our galaxy. The new observations reveal a massive young star, growing and accreting matter from its surroundings and forming a rotating disc. The detection was made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner.

“When I first saw evidence for a rotating structure in the ALMA data I could not believe that we had detected the first extragalactic accretion disc, it was a special moment,”

says Anna McLeod, an associate professor at Durham University in the UK and lead author of the study published today in Nature.

“We know discs are vital to forming stars and planets in our galaxy, and here, for the first time, we’re seeing direct evidence for this in another galaxy.”

This study follows up observations with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), which spotted a jet from a forming star — the system was named HH 1177 — deep inside a gas cloud in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

“We discovered a jet being launched from this young massive star, and its presence is a signpost for ongoing disc accretion,”

McLeod says. But to confirm that such a disc was indeed present, the team needed to measure the movement of the dense gas around the star.

With the combined capabilities of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, a disc around a young massive star in another galaxy has been observed. Observations from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the VLT, left, show the parent cloud LHA 120-N 180B in which this system, dubbed HH 1177, was first observed. The image at the centre shows the jets that accompany it. The top part of the jet is aimed slightly towards us and thus blueshifted; the bottom one is receding from us and thus redshifted. Observations from ALMA, right, then revealed the rotating disc around the star, similarly with sides moving towards and away from us.

As matter is pulled towards a growing star, it cannot fall directly onto it; instead, it flattens into a spinning disc around the star. Closer to the centre, the disc rotates faster, and this difference in speed is the smoking gun that shows astronomers an accretion disc is present.

“The frequency of light changes depending on how fast the gas emitting the light is moving towards or away from us,”

explains Jonathan Henshaw, a research fellow at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, and co-author of the study.

“This is precisely the same phenomenon that occurs when the pitch of an ambulance siren changes as it passes you and the frequency of the sound goes from higher to lower.”

The detailed frequency measurements from ALMA allowed the authors to distinguish the characteristic spin of a disc, confirming the detection of the first disc around an extragalactic young star.

Massive stars, like the one observed here, form much more quickly and live far shorter lives than low-mass stars like our Sun. In our galaxy, these massive stars are notoriously challenging to observe and are often obscured from view by the dusty material from which they form at the time a disc is shaping around them. However, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy 160 000 light-years away, the material from which new stars are being born is fundamentally different from that in the Milky Way. Thanks to the lower dust content, HH 1177 is no longer cloaked in its natal cocoon, offering astronomers an unobstructed, if far away, view of star and planet formation.

“We are in an era of rapid technological advancement when it comes to astronomical facilities,” McLeod says. “Being able to study how stars form at such incredible distances and in a different galaxy is very exciting.”

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Astronomy, Education, Space participation

Night sky highlights for November 2023

November 2, 2023 TopSpacer

Check out the night sky this month, November 2023. Here are videos highlighting the top sights to observe.

** What’s Up: November 2023 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL

What are some skywatching highlights in November 2023?
The Leonid meteors peak, Saturn sits in the celestial sea, and Venus and Jupiter are visible on opposite sides of the sky.

0:00 Intro
0:13 Moon & planet highlights
1:31 Leonid meteors peak
2:21 The water constellations
3:46 November Moon phases

** Tonight’s Sky: November 2023 – Space Telescope Science Institute – Tonight’s Sky

In November, hunt for the fainter constellations of fall, including Pisces, Aries, and Triangulum. They will guide you to find several galaxies and a pair of white stars. Stay tuned for space-based views of spiral galaxy M74 and the Triangulum Galaxy, which are shown in visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light.

About this Series

“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning. This is a recurring show, and you can find more episodes—and other astronomy videos—at https://hubblesite.org/resource-galle….

** What to see in the night sky: November 2023 – BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal what to see in the night sky this month.

Find out what you can see in the night sky tonight, including Venus bright in the dark morning sky, Jupiter at opposition, the Leonid Meteor Shower, the Moon’s Mare Orientale, the Leonid Meteor Shower and the mighty Andromeda Galaxy.

Click on the time codes below to jump to some of November 2023’s night-sky highlights.

00:00 – Intro
01:07 – Venus as a bright morning star
03:30 – Jupiter at opposition
04:48 – Saturn and its moons
09:10 – Uranus and Neptune
10:35 – Jupiter moon events
11:55 – Lunar occultation of Venus
13:15 – Mare Orientale
15:03 – Leonid meteor shower
16:56 – Great Square of Pegasus
24:35 – Andromeda Galaxy

** Sky & Telescope’s Sky Tour Podcast – November 2023 | Shooting stars and the Andromeda Galaxy – Sky & Telescope Youtube

Our monthly Sky Tour #astronomy #podcast provides an informative and entertaining 10-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Listen to the November episode and seek out some shooting #stars, then spot some bright #planets, follow some celestial fish, and track down the #Andromeda #Galaxy. Grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

ESO: Observation of the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) to date

October 19, 2023 TopSpacer

A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO):

Astronomers detect most distant fast radio burst to date

An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This ‘fast radio burst’ (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was pinned down by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach us. The FRB is also one of the most energetic ever observed; in a tiny fraction of a second it released the equivalent of our Sun’s total emission over 30 years.

The discovery of the burst, named FRB 20220610A, was made in June last year by the ASKAP radio telescope in Australia [1] and it smashed the team’s previous distance record by 50 percent.

“Using ASKAP’s array of dishes, we were able to determine precisely where the burst came from,”

says Stuart Ryder, an astronomer from Macquarie University in Australia and the co-lead author of the study published today in Science.

“Then we used [ESO’s VLT] in Chile to search for the source galaxy, [2] finding it to be older and further away than any other FRB source found to date and likely within a small group of merging galaxies.”

The discovery confirms that FRBs can be used to measure the ‘missing’ matter between galaxies, providing a new way to ‘weigh’ the Universe.

Current methods of estimating the mass of the Universe are giving conflicting answers and challenging the standard model of cosmology.

“If we count up the amount of normal matter in the Universe — the atoms that we are all made of — we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing,”

says Ryan Shannon, a professor at the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, who also co-led the study.

“We think that the missing matter is hiding in the space between galaxies, but it may just be so hot and diffuse that it’s impossible to see using normal techniques.”

“Fast radio bursts sense this ionised material. Even in space that is nearly perfectly empty they can ‘see’ all the electrons, and that allows us to measure how much stuff is between the galaxies,”

Shannon says.

Finding distant FRBs is key to accurately measuring the Universe’s missing matter, as shown by the late Australian astronomer Jean-Pierre (‘J-P’) Macquart in 2020. “J-P showed that the further away a fast radio burst is, the more diffuse gas it reveals between the galaxies. This is now known as the Macquart relation. Some recent fast radio bursts appeared to break this relationship. Our measurements confirm the Macquart relation holds out to beyond half the known Universe,” says Ryder.

“While we still don’t know what causes these massive bursts of energy, the paper confirms that fast radio bursts are common events in the cosmos and that we will be able to use them to detect matter between galaxies, and better understand the structure of the Universe,”

says Shannon.

The result represents the limit of what is achievable with telescopes today, although astronomers will soon have the tools to detect even older and more distant bursts, pin down their source galaxies and measure the Universe’s missing matter. The international Square Kilometre Array Observatory is currently building two radio telescopes in South Africa and Australia that will be capable of finding thousands of FRBs, including very distant ones that cannot be detected with current facilities. ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, a 39-metre telescope under construction in the Chilean Atacama Desert, will be one of the few telescopes able to study the source galaxies of bursts even further away than FRB 20220610A.

Notes

[1] The ASKAP telescope is owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia.

[2] The team used data obtained with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2), the X-shooter and the High Acuity Wide-field K-band Imager (HAWK-I) instruments on ESO’s VLT. Data from the Keck Observatory in Hawai’i, US, was also used in the study.

Links