Category Archives: Astronomy

Astronomy, Education, Space Science

New Resources about Astronomy and Space Science – Andrew Fraknoi

Andrew Fraknoi (“The AstroProf“)  at Foothill College distributed this list of astronomy and space science resources:

1.  Talks by Noted Astronomers Now on YouTube

The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, featuring astronomers giving nontechnical lectures on recent developments in astronomy, are now available on their own YouTube Channel, at http://www.youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures/

The talks include:

  • Sandra Faber on galaxy formation,
  • Michael Brown on his discovery of Eris and the “demotion” of Pluto,
  • Alex Filippenko and Leonard Susskind on black holes,
  • Natalie Batalha on the latest discoveries from the Kepler mission,
  • Frank Drake on his modern view of the Drake Equation,
  • Gibor Basri on brown dwarfs and unattached planets,
  • Anthony Aguirre on multiple universes, and
  • Chris McKay updating the Cassini discoveries about Saturn’s moon Titan.

The lectures are taped at Foothill College near San Francisco, and co-sponsored by NASA’s Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

2. Resource Guide for Teaching about Extrasolar Planets

A new annotated guide to written, web, and audio-visual resources for teaching or learning about planets orbiting other stars is now available.  Materials in the guide to this rapidly-changing branch of astronomy include video and audio files of lectures and interviews with leading scientists in the field, phone and tablet apps, a citizen-science web site, popular-level books and articles, and more.

Published by the NASA Astrophysics Education and Outreach Forum and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the guide can be found as a PDF file at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astronomy-resource-guides/the-search-for-planets-around-other-stars/

3. Resource Guides on Music and on Apps

An annotated guide presenting 133 pieces of music inspired by astronomical ideas (organized into 22 topical categories, e.g. black holes, planets, etc.) is still available in Astronomy Education Review at: http://aer.aas.org/resource/1/aerscz/v11/i1/p010303_s1?view=fulltext

Both classical and popular music are included.

An annotated overview of 98 astronomy applications for smart phones and tablets has also been published in Astronomy Education Review and features brief descriptions and direct URLs: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2011036 (click on the PDF version under the author’s name for the easiest format for links.)   The listing includes a variety of apps for displaying and explaining the sky above you (some using the GPS function in your device); a series of astronomical clocks, calculators, and calendars; sky catalogs and observing planners; planet atlases and globes; citizens science tools and image displays; a directory of astronomy clubs in the U.S.; and even a graphic simulator for making galaxies collide. A number of the apps are free, and others cost just a dollar or two. A brief list of articles featuring astronomy app reviews is also included.

4. A Video about Interesting Studies of College Astronomy Teaching

At this summer’s Astronomical Society of the Pacific meeting, Douglas Duncan (U. of Colorado) and Alex Rudolph (Cal State Pomona) were part of a plenary session answering such questions as:  What do learning surveys tell us about the best teaching practices? Are students really the multitaskers they profess to be? Does student addiction to electronic devices and their in-class use impact learning outcomes?  See the tape at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7pqOjg154

5. Announcements

a. The journal Astronomy Education Review has been discontinued by the American Astronomical Society, although its archive of published papers will remain available on the web.   For the obituary, see:  http://aer.aas.org/resource/1/aerscz/v12/i1/p010402_s1?view=fulltext

b. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is looking for a new Executive Director. An international non-profit scientific and educational organization, founded in 1889, the ASP is headquartered in San Francisco. The Society includes and works with professional astronomers, educators at all levels and in many settings, amateur astronomers and the interested public.  ASP publications include a technical journal and conference books, a popular-level magazine, and a newsletter for K-12 teachers.  Activities include an annual meeting, workshops, outreach events, and on-line training programs. The Society seeks an experienced, articulate, and dynamic executive director, with management experience and a passion for science and education.  More information about the ASP can be found at www.astrosociety.org.  For a full position profile and application guidelines, please e-mail: search@astrosociety.org.

===

Andrew Fraknoi
Chair, Astronomy Department
Foothill College
12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Web site: www.foothill.edu/ast
AstroProf Facebook Pages: www.facebook.com/Fraknoi

 

Astronomy, Exoplanets, SETI

Video: A galaxy full of planets – discussing the Kepler conference results

SETI Institute scientists  Jason Rowe, Doug Caldwell and Kepler mission scientist Natalie Batalha discuss the latest Kepler exoplanet findings and the plans for the future in this Google+ Hangout  moderated by SETI Institute scientist Franck Marchis.

Check out also the recent talk by SETI pioneer Frank Drake: Kepler and Its Impact on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Astronomy, Events

Comet ISON lighting up

Comet ISON  has increased in brightness significantly in the past day : Comet ISON Comes to Life! – Homepage Observing/SkyandTelescope.com

Veteran comet observer John Bortle reports that Comet ISON is undergoing a major outburst. It was six times brighter when he observed it this morning (November 14th) than on the previous morning.

Astronomy, Multiple media

Comets ISON and Lovejoy in timelapse video

Photographer Justin Ng created these timelapse sequences of Comet ISON and Comet Lovejoy images (via Universe Today).

Timelapse of Comet ISON and Comet Lovejoy from Justin Ng Photo on Vimeo.

 Find the latest news and imagery for Comet ISON and Comet Lovejoy at these sites:

Astronomy, Multiple media, Space Science

Earth + Saturn in natural-color: new panoramic mosaic from NASA Cassini

A press release from NASA:

NASA Cassini Spacecraft Provides New View of Saturn and Earth

NASA has released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible.

The new panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which shows the view as it would be seen by human eyes, was unveiled at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday.

Saturn and it's moons
On July 19, 2013, in an event celebrated the world over, NASA’s Cassini
spacecraft slipped into Saturn’s shadow and turned to image the planet,
seven of its moons, its inner rings — and, in the background, our home planet,
Earth. Image Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI . Full image and caption

Cassini’s imaging team processed 141 wide-angle images to create the panorama. The image sweeps 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers) across Saturn and its inner ring system, including all of Saturn’s rings out to the E ring, which is Saturn’s second outermost ring. For perspective, the distance between Earth and our moon would fit comfortably inside the span of the E ring.

“In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels,” said Carolyn Porco, Cassini’s imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “And it did so on a day people all over the world, in unison, smiled in celebration at the sheer joy of being alive on a pale blue dot.”

The mosaic is part of Cassini’s “Wave at Saturn” campaign, where on July 19, people for the first time had advance notice a spacecraft was taking their picture from planetary distances. NASA invited the public to celebrate by finding Saturn in their part of the sky, waving at the ringed planet and sharing pictures over the Internet.

An annotated version of the Saturn system mosaic labels points of interest. Earth is a bright blue dot to the lower right of Saturn. Venus is a bright dot to Saturn’s upper left. Mars also appears, as a faint red dot, above and to the left of Venus. Seven Saturnian moons are visible, including Enceladus on the left side of the image. Zooming into the image reveals the moon and the icy plume emanating from its south pole, supplying fine, powder-sized icy particles that make up the E ring.

This collage includes about 1,600 images submitted by members of the public
This collage includes about 1,600 images submitted by members of the
public as part of the NASA Cassini mission’s “Wave at Saturn” campaign.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI Full image and caption

The E ring shines like a halo around Saturn and the inner rings. Because it is so tenuous, it is best seen with light shining from behind it, when the tiny particles are outlined with light because of the phenomenon of diffraction. Scientists who focus on Saturn’s rings look for patterns in optical bonanzas like these. They use computers to increase dramatically the contrast of the images and change the color balance, for example, to see evidence for material tracing out the full orbits of the tiny moons Anthe and Methone for the first time.

“This mosaic provides a remarkable amount of high-quality data on Saturn’s diffuse rings, revealing all sorts of intriguing structures we are currently trying to understand,” said Matt Hedman, a Cassini participating scientist at the University of Idaho in Moscow. “The E ring in particular shows patterns that likely reflect disturbances from such diverse sources as sunlight and Enceladus’ gravity.”

Cassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to our planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft’s sensitive detectors. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini’s point of view. A good opportunity came on July 19, when Cassini was able to capture a picture of Earth and its moon, and this multi-image, backlit panorama of the Saturn system.

“With a long, intricate dance around the Saturn system, Cassini aims to study the Saturn system from as many angles as possible,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Beyond showing us the beauty of the Ringed Planet, data like these also improve our understanding of the history of the faint rings around Saturn and the way disks around planets form — clues to how our own solar system formed around the sun.”

Launched in 1997, Cassini has explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. NASA plans to continue the mission through 2017, with the anticipation of many more images of Saturn, its rings and moons, as well as other scientific data.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

To view the image, visit: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia17172 .

A new version of the collage of photos shared by the public, with the Saturn system as backdrop, is available at: photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia17679 .

More information about Cassini is available at  www.nasa.gov/cassini and saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .