Holy Planets, Batman!

Quick, my young ward, run outside and view the planets!

No seriously!  Get outside, soon!  There are three planets currently gracing the early evening skies, and you do not want to miss this.

I've been waiting to post this because we've had a serious stretch of rainy weather here in Virginia, and it seemed cruel to write a post telling everybody about the amazing stuff they can't go outside and look at.  But this past weekend was brilliant, and hopefully some nice weather is here for a little while.  So let's talk planets.

Jupiter has been shining bright in our evening sky for some months now.  It's a dramatic, white star-like object high on the western side of the sky in the early evening.  You can't miss it.  It's the brightest thing out there, assuming the Moon is nowhere around.  Grab a pair of binoculars or a small telescope for a real treat - a quick zoom-in will reveal the colorful cloud stripes on the planet and as many as 5 moons orbiting the giant world.

Jupiter and its four largest moons as seen through a small telescope.

Looking more south-southwesterly, you still have time to catch the orangey glow of Mars before it fades away into the distance.  Mars made a close approach to us in April, and is now getting further and further away from us with each passing day.  A good-sized telescope will reveal a mottled surface and possibly a bit of a polar cap on our tiny next door neighbor.  Mars is only half the size of the Earth, so seeing any detail on the planet is difficult.  With Mars being a bit closer now than it normally is to us, here's your best shot at seeing some Martian surface detail for a while...the next close approach will be in about two years.

Mars as seen in a larger telescope during its close approach in April 2014.

Finally, lower in the southwest you will find the golden glow of Saturn.  Here's the big payoff for your binoculars or telescope - those oh-so-spectacular rings.  If you are using binoculars, you'll need to hold them very steady - a tripod will be your best bet.  Remember, you're looking at something about a billion miles away.  But oh, that view is so worth it!

Saturn as seen through a larger telescope.

Don't have a telescope or binoculars?  Not sure exactly where to look?  No worries.  Come on out to the Virginia Living Museum on Saturday May 10 and we'll do the leg work for you.  Our telescopes will be set up (weather permitting) and all you'll have to do is bend your eye to the eyepiece and stare.  Trust me, you'll be glad you came!  For more details on our monthly star party and laser light nights, please visit our website at www.thevlm.org.  And if you can't make the star party, get out there and look up anyway.  No matter which way you face, the universe has a lot to offer!  Enjoy!

Until next time...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Follow the KISS Principle

I so need to do that in my everyday life.

Well, it's yet again been a month since I could sit down and write a post.  Things have just been flat out crazy here!  Between wacky weather swings (including more snow days than I could shake a stick at), tons of special events (we've seen Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, tons of the general public, teachers, and lots of school kids), and the production of two shows just finished today (come see the public show - The Art of Hubble - beginning this Saturday in the planetarium!)...well...let's just say I've run myself ragged.  In fact, I'm so ragged, I've got a major back spasm going on...so yesterday was spent at the doctor.  Hopefully, I'll be getting back to what passes for normal for me soon.

But, in the spirit of the KISS Principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) I thought I'd just write a nice little post about what's going on up in the sky these days.

The big news right now is still Jupiter.  The king of the solar system is dominating the early evening skies, shining brightly in the constellation Gemini the Twins.  Look for a brilliant white star-like object high in the south in the early evening.  Trust me, you won't be able to miss it. 

Jupiter - King of the Solar System - and its four largest moons.  From left to right they are Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.  Image courtesy Wikipedia.

In the southeast, you'll see the Moon, on its way to being full in a few days.  It will be the only thing in the sky brighter than Jupiter.  The two will be separated by a fair bit, but will still be close enough to be a beautiful sight together in the evening sky.  The Moon will move further and further to the left of Jupiter as the days go by...so get outside and see them soon.

A lunar calendar, in case you wanted to know the phase of the Moon every day this month.  Available online for printing from http://www.calendar-printable.com/march/mar-2014-calendar.html

The stars of winter haven't given up yet...even though Spring is just around the corner (although you couldn't tell that from the temperature around here today!).   Orion still shines brightly in the south-southwest, just below and to the right of Jupiter.  You'll easily be able to see the three stars of Orion's famous belt, even in fairly bright skies.  Two stars above and two stars below the belt frame out this famous night sky hunter.

The constellation Orion as seen by a camera.  You won't see the intense colors of the stars, but you might notice slight tinges of color. Note the fuzzy pink bit below the belt - that's the famous Orion Nebula Complex.  Image from scienceblogs.

Looking ahead, Mars is going to be more and more prominent in the coming month or so.  It's approaching opposition, meaning it will be exactly opposite the Sun for us.  It's also approaching Earth - meaning that Mars will be at its brightest in the month of April.  Right now, the Red Planet rises late, and isn't well visible until after 1am.  Next month will see it rising at sunset, and hopefully clearing the cluttered horizons around here by about 10pm.  We'll be celebrating Mars next month at our monthly star party on April 12th - make plans to join us!

Now that the major show production push is out of the way, I'm hoping that things will settle down a bit and I can get back to more regular postings.  Tomorrow, by the way, is Pi day (3.14!) so enjoy some circle foods!  And today...well...there's a special shout-out I need to send to a friend.

This is your birthday message, on my blog
This is your birthday message, on my blog
Today is your birthday, so I'm writing you to say
Happy happy birthday to you, on my blog!

Happy birthday, John!  Hope it's a great one.

See you again...hopefully in two weeks!
Until then,
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Seeing Red

Look out Mars, here we come (again)!

Yep, we're about to launch another spacecraft to Mars.  It's exciting!  Hopefully, on November 18th, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft will liftoff from Cape Canaveral and begin the 10-month journey to the Red Planet.

An artist's concept of the MAVEN spacecraft at Mars.  Courtesy Wikipedia.

We've learned a great deal about the chilly little world next door over the years.  Rovers aplenty have driven its surface - two of which, Curiosity and Opportunity, are still active.  We've discovered an abundance of evidence that shows that water once flowed freely across the surface of Mars...it may have formed rivers, lakes, even oceans.

If that is so, the atmosphere of Mars must once have been thicker, for the current thin atmosphere of Mars does not allow water to remain on the surface in liquid form for very long.  Where did this atmosphere go?  What happened to all the water?  On a more global scale - how has the global climate of Mars evolved over the millennia?  And what does that teach us about global climate change here on the Earth?  The MAVEN mission will be headed to Mars to help us answer these questions.

The reddish-orange atmosphere of Mars is visible above the surface in this image from Viking.  Note the Galle "Smiley Face" Crater towards the center-left of the image.  Courtesy Wikipedia.

MAVEN will be an orbiter, remaining above the planet to inspect its atmosphere and how it changes over an extended period of time.  It's four primary mission objectives are:

• Determine the role that loss of volatiles to space from the Mars atmosphere has played through time.
• Determine the current state of the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the solar wind.
• Determine the current rates of escape of neutral gases and ions to space and the processes controlling them.
• Determine the ratios of stable isotopes in the Martian atmosphere.

This data will help us understand a lot about how Mars has changed over the long history of the solar system.  It's also important data to have as we continue to consider the possibility of sending humans to explore the surface of the Red Planet.

We're going to Mars now because Mars is making its way closer to us.  In April of next year, Mars will once again make a close approach to Earth, meaning that travel time from Earth to Mars is shorter now.  If problems force a delay in launching MAVEN beyond December 7, scientists will have to wait until 2016 before they can try again.  So hopefully, all systems will be go on November 18 for a great launch!  You can watch the launch activities online at NASA-TV.  And before we know it, even more exciting data will be coming our way from the Red Planet!

More from the universe in two weeks!
Until then,
Carpe Noctem!
Kelly

I'm Sorry I'm Confused...

Well, hello!

Sorry about the lack of a post two weeks ago...I wrote one, but for some reason Blogger never posted it.  I've gotten so used to this thing working so well, I never thought to check to see if the scheduled post properly popped up!  I'll have to be more diligent with this thing in future.

I am smack dab in the middle of summer camps this week.  I'm currently teaching rising first and second graders about the planets - and it's TONS of fun!  I love working with kids...they always seem to know way more than I think they will.  It's awesome.

Anyway, since I've got planets on the brain, I thought I'd share a few tidbits about planets that my kids know...but maybe some of our grownups out there don't!  Enjoy!

Did you know...

...Mercury has a thin "borrowed" atmosphere of solar wind surrounding it.  The gases streaming away from the Sun will wrap around Mercury for a little while before continuing their journey through space.  It's not a very nice hug, however...the impact of the gaseous material can blast sodium ions off the surface of the planet!

...Venus rotates backward.  Something quite traumatic must have happened to our neighbor in its early history, as the planet appears to have been tipped completely over by a massive impact.  This same event massively slowed Venus' rotation as well, leaving it with a day which is longer than its year!

...Earth has been visited by spacecraft more times than any other planet.  Indeed, the majority of the spacecraft launched by the various space agencies around the world have been placed in orbit around our home planet for a wide variety of purposes, including scientific study.

...Mars is only half the diameter of Earth.  The much-maligned Red Planet - long considered the home of aliens bent on taking over the Earth to gain its vast supply of precious water - actually boasts several geologic superlatives despite its small size.  Mars is home to one of the largest canyons in the solar system (the Valles Marineris - large enough to stretch from New York City to Los Angeles if placed here on Earth!) as well as the largest volcano in the solar system (Olympus Mons - standing two and a half times the height of Mt. Everest and with a base as large as the state of Virginia!).

...Jupiter has the longest-lived cyclonic storm ever seen.  The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is actually a storm that has been raging in the atmosphere of the giant planet for more than 400 years - at a minimum!  Galileo Galilei first noted the presence of the storm in 1609 when he observed the giant planet through his simple telescope...but of course, since he was the first person ever to see Jupiter in that way, we have no idea how long the storm had been there before he saw it.  The Great Red Spot continues to fascinate amateur and professional astronomers alike to this day.

...Saturn has such a low density that you could float it in a bathtub...if you could find one big enough!  Though the second largest planet in the solar system, Saturn is less dense than water.  So if we could get enough water together, Saturn could float in it.

...Uranus rotates on its side!  Like Venus, it appears this planet also suffered a major whack early on...resulting in an orbital tilt of 98 degrees.  So the moons and rings of Uranus appear vertically around the planet, rather than the horizontal aspect we might expect.

Uranus - the Sideways Planet!  Courtesy NASA.

...Neptune used to have an enormous hurricane too...but now it's gone!  When seen by the Voyager spacecraft in 1989, Neptune boasted the Great Dark Spot, an atmospheric storm of some kind that appeared as a darker blue splotch on the planet.  In 1995, Hubble was aimed at the 8th planet, hoping to get a another look at the dark spot - but it was nowhere to be seen.  Unlike Jupiter, Neptune's storms seem to be short-lived things.

And we really can't finish out a post about planets without mentioning the dwarf planets!  There are officially five dwarf planets in the solar system these days - Ceres, the largest of the asteroids, and 4 Kuiper Belt objects - Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.

Pluto now boasts five moons of its own - and they all finally have official names!  Recently, the International Astronomical Union officially named the two moons discovered in 2011 and 2012...so Pluto is now attended by Charon, Hydra, Nix, Kerberos, and Styx.  Not bad for the premiere dwarf planet of the solar system!

Pluto, now a virtual mini solar system of its own.  Courtesy NASA.

Well, that's about all I have time for just now.  Hope you discovered a little something new about the solar system in which you live!  See you in two weeks...assuming Blogger doesn't go crazy on me again.

Until then...Carpe Noctem!
Kelly

Resolved

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope your 2013 has gotten off to a great start.  For many of you, that may mean making some New Year's Resolutions.  I've never been much for them myself...I often find my enthusiasm for them wanes rapidly after the New Year's celebrations are over.  But if you find yourself in need of some resolutions this year...I humbly present to you these recommendations.

New Year's Resolution #1: Resolve to be more in touch with the universe around you.
Back in the day, humans were very in touch with the universe.  It was our clock, our calendar, a source of wonder and the home of the gods.  Today, many of us go through our lives without ever taking the time to look up.  Make it a mission to spend some time under the stars this year.  We can help!  Every second Saturday of the month, the museum hosts a Star Party.  The first one in 2013 is on January 12 - we'll look forward to seeing you!  Star Parties are FREE and everyone is welcome.

New Year's Resolution #2: Resolve to see some shooting stars.
Virtually every year there's a really good meteor shower to see...and 2013 is no exception.  This year, the Perseids are on tap to put on an excellent show, and that's great news for all you folks who hate having to be outside in the freezing cold weather to do your stargazing!  The Perseids peak on August 12th, so you'll be able to spend a balmy evening in your shorts and t-shirt watching "stars" fall from the sky!  On that night, the Moon will be just past first quarter and will set early, so you can drag out a lawn chair and stare upwards for the rest of the night with nothing to dim your view of the heavens (just get away from any city lights near you).  Some models are predicting a bump up in rates for the Perseids this year, so this one could be pretty neat.  Remember - no telescope or binoculars are needed; the more sky you can see, the better.  Put your back to the constellation Perseus and enjoy the show.

A bright Perseid meteor streaks across the sky.  Image by Stefano DeRosa

New Year's Resolution #3: Resolve to use that telescope in the closet to see something cool.
So many of us have a telescope sitting somewhere gathering dust.  Well, this year, you need to get it out and have it set up and ready to go on Friday, October 11, no later than 11:30pm.  Point it at Jupiter as early as you can, and watch.  Slowly but surely, the shadows of not one, not two, but THREE of the largest Jovian moons will make their way across the giant planet.  A triple eclipse for Jupiter...a triple shadow transit for those of us here on Earth.  It should be a lovely sight in a good sized telescope.

A rare triple shadow transit on Jupiter on March 28, 2004.  Image by Sid Leach.

New Year's Resolution #4: Resolve to watch a rocket take off.
If you can get to Cape Canaveral on November 18th, you'll have the opportunity to do it in person!  If not, tune in NASA TV and watch the launch of MAVEN: the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission.  MAVEN will study the Martian atmosphere to see how the loss of materials to space has affected Mars over its long history.  Launches are always cool to watch, and this one should be no different.

An artist's conception of the MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars.  Courtesy NASA.

New Year's Resolution #5: Resolve to see the comet of the century...maybe...
There's already a buzz in the astronomical community about Comet ISON - it could be the most amazing comet North America has seen since Hale-Bopp...or it could fizzle.  Currently located beyond Jupiter, this newly-discovered comet is making its way toward a close encounter with the Sun.  If it holds together, it could put on an incredible show during the last two months of 2013.  Early predictions indicate that Comet ISON could reach negative magnitudes (bright like Jupiter or Venus), or even outshine the Moon (2nd brightest object in the sky!) and have a gorgeous tail visible to the unaided eye for weeks or even months.  Other early predictions say it could completely collapse under the pressure of the Sun's light and heat and be a total washout.  The only way to find out will be to watch the skies.

The orbital path of Comet ISON.  Courtesy NASA.

So there you have it - five astronomical things to resolve to do in 2013.  Whatever you choose to do, may 2013 be a year full of joy for all of us.

Carpe noctem!
Kelly

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Hooray!  The election is over!

Okay, sorry, I couldn't help myself.  Whether your favored candidate won or lost, I think we can all agree it's been a long and rough election season.  I confess I am happy to be done with political ads, phone calls, and mail.  The holidays are just around the corner, and that is indeed my favorite time of year.

But before we get into the holiday season, we've got something fun coming up this Saturday!  Yes, it is once again time for our monthly Star Party and Laser Light Night here at the Virginia Living Museum.  While the flood damage has stopped us from using our lower level, the observatory is in great shape, and the planetarium is running just fine.  So we hope you'll be able to join us for some great sky watching and planetarium and laser shows this weekend!  Here's a quick preview of what we'll be looking at in the night sky (weather permitting, of course!).

Actually, I can pretty much sum it up in one word - Jupiter.  The largest planet of the solar system has once again returned to the evening skies and we cannot be more excited!  Mars (technically) remains low in the southwestern sky after sunset, but let's face it...it's nothing to write home about.  Even on the flattest western horizon you'll have difficulty finding our little neighbor planet.  It's not very bright, it's a dull orangey color, and at only half the size of Earth it's not particularly big, even in a telescope.  On the other hand, Jupiter is the second brightest of the planets (behind only Venus, now dominating the early morning skies), at ten times bigger than Earth it shines like a brilliant white star and shows amazing amounts of detail in a telescope, and rises in the early evening to then spend the rest of the night crossing the sky.  You can bet we'll have a telescope or two trained on Jupiter throughout the star party.  Join us to see how many Jovian moons we can spot, whether the Great Red Spot is facing towards us, and how many dark cloud bands can be seen on the face of the mighty planet. 

Jupiter, largest planet of the solar system.  Courtesy NASA

We often spend time hopping around various deep sky objects as well...galaxies, globular clusters, open star clusters and nebulae are frequent sights in our eyepieces.  There's also a chance you might see something impressive without even needing a telescope.  The North Taurid meteor shower will peak in the wee hours of Monday November 12...but it's not unthinkable that we might see a few early shooting stars on Saturday November 10.  The Taurids occasionally produce some brilliant fireballs, so if we do see a meteor, it's likely to be a doozy. 

A Taurid Fireball from 2005 photographed in Japan.  Courtesy NASA.  Photograph by Hiroyuki Iida

In the planetarium we'll be featuring the night sky and lots of great music.  At 7:30pm, I'll take you on tour of the evening sky with Virginia Skies.  Once you've seen the stars in the planetarium, step outside and check out the real thing!  Bring the kids for our 8:30pm laser show: iPop.  It's a great mix of some of today's hottest pop stars...including some of those super-popular teens from the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.  Hoping for some music more to an adult's taste?  No problem - stick around until 10pm for the psychedelic sounds of Laser Doors...and keep the trip rolling on with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at 11:30pm.  It all kicks off at sunset with FREE observing of the night sky...shows are $6 person, or any two for $10.  Members always get their tickets half price.

Okay, in the interests of full disclosure...there's another reason why I'm so excited for the star party this month...it's happening on my birthday, which I share with two wonderful people...a dear friend of mine (Happy Birthday, John David!) and Martin Luther, architect of the Reformation.  I suppose I could nail my doctoral thesis to my church door...nah, it wouldn't make much sense...plus the doors are made of glass anyway...

Until next time...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Keep Looking Up

Greetings all!

I know, I know, I'm a day late again.  Once again, the internets refused to let me in to my blog if I'm not at work.  I'm not sure what's broken, but I think I'm going to stop trying to fix it.

Things are still a little shaken up here at the museum as we work on recovering from the flood, but overall, we're trying to get everything settled down into something resembling a routine.  So I thought I'd go back to a routine here as well and just talk about what's visible in the sky right now.  Sometimes doing the "normal" things helps the most when things are decidedly not normal.

We're getting ready to make the transition into fall, with longer nights and cooler temperatures, thank goodness.  It's a pleasure to be outside in the evenings now...you might even find you need a light jacket if you plan to stay outside for any length of time.  What a wonderful thing!

It will still be a couple of months before the brilliant stars of winter begin to grace the evening skies, but until then you can enjoy the last hurrah of summer - The Summer Triangle.  Three bright stars form a brilliant triangle that sits high overhead just after sunset and descends towards the west as the evening passes on.  To the East, you'll find the familiar Great Square of Pegasus - four stars in an almost perfect square dominate the eastern sky and mark the location of the legendary winged horse.  Two simple bright shapes that are pretty tough to miss.

The Summer Triangle and its surrounds.  Courtesy the University of Illinois.  Note that the Milky Way passes directly through the center of the triangle.

Looking westward at sunset might allow you a final quick glimpse of the planets Mars and Saturn, both sinking rapidly towards the Sun.  By the end of the month, both planets will be lost to our view.  Mars will still be in the news regularly however, as Curiosity really gets rolling on its mission to explore the Red Planet.  Sadly, with Mars and Saturn so low, and both relatively dim, you might miss them if you have anything other than a totally clear flat western horizon...hard to come by on the east coast of the United States.

However, don't get too downcast just yet.  If you can stand an early morning wake up call, you can see a pair of beautifully brilliant planets in the early morning sky.  Head outside around 5am and look to the east to see Venus and Jupiter dominate the pre-dawn sky.  Jupiter stands high in the east (almost to the south) with Venus lower but still plenty high enough to be seen quite easily.  These two are the brightest of the planets visible to the unaided eye, and make a stunning pair.  Well worth the effort of rising before the Sun to enjoy them.

Venus, The Moon and Jupiter in the early morning sky.  Photograph by Alan Dyer.  The Moon is the brightest object in the field, with Venus slightly up and to the left.  Jupiter stands up towards the top of the image to the right of the Moon and Venus.

Ah.  Just talking about the beautiful skies of fall helps me feel a bit better.  There's plenty of work still to be done, but taking the time to enjoy the simple things in life really does renew your spirit.

See you in two weeks...and until then...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Beautiful...exciting...and short

Much better than nasty, brutish and short, don't you think?

Forgive my absence, dear readers, but I've been traveling for several weeks and the internets have not always been kind to me.  I couldn't get internet at all for the first few days, and then once I could, no power in the universe was allowing me in to my blog.

But back home again and trying to get caught up, I had to take a minute to share this with you in lieu of the post I should have made a week ago and more.  Please enjoy, and watch for regular postings beginning again this coming Wednesday!

Curiosity photographs itself (at least in part) on Mars.  Courtesy NASA.

Be sure to click the link above and watch the video.  And to think some people believe scientists are boring.
 
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Hey everyone!

So today I thought I'd share the story of how I got where I am today.  For some reason, I've been asked the question a lot lately, so the twisted tale of my journey to running a planetarium and observatory has been much on my mind lately.  Besides, it's so bloody hot outside, no one wants to do any observing anyway (but you still have a good shot at seeing Saturn and maybe even Mars in the early evening sky if you want to give it a try...look to the southwest just after sunset!  Saturn is the golden yellow bright "star"...Mars is a faint, dull orangey-looking "star" just to the right a bit).

The night sky of July 18, 2012.  Facing South.

So, me.  Everyone loves talking about themselves, don't they?

I've always been interested in the sky and astronomy, ever since I was a little kid.  I grew up in New York City (New York City!!??!!???) so my skies were most definitely not the best.  Still, when I was old enough to travel into Manhattan by myself, I would spend long days at the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium (now the Rose Center for Earth and Space) enjoying the darkest skies around.

I also loved music, and as I headed into Wagner College on Staten Island, I thought I'd major in that.  But the summer before I began college, I realized that to be a professional singer I needed more talent and an agent, not a degree.  I was also good at math, so I thought I might major in that.  Had no idea what I could do with a math degree except teach, which didn't excite me.  So I went undeclared and sampled lots of cool courses during my first year...including a physics class.  I was hooked.  I majored in physics, doing my senior thesis on energy audits of buildings.

I knew very quickly that I wanted to take a higher degree in physics, and was accepted to the Ph.D. program at the College of William and Mary.  I eventually did my thesis in theoretical nuclear physics, but during my studies I got to do some papers on astrophysics as well.  More importantly, I found I really needed a break from the work, so I started volunteering in the observatory at the Virginia Living Museum, giving me 4 hours a week where I wasn't obsessing about my thesis.

Seven years later I was still plodding along on the thesis, but I was also panicking.  Years of working in the ivory tower had taught me that research was not at all my favorite thing.  Suddenly, I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life.  Luckily, an opportunity came up at the Virginia Living Museum.  Their part-time planetarium lecturer was leaving.  I'd love to say they begged me to work for them, but the truth is I begged them to wait for me.  I needed to finish the thesis...but then I couldn't imagine anything more fun than working in the planetarium and observatory every day.  They were willing, and I got the job.

Fifteen years later I've worked my way around to being in charge of all the astronomy stuff here at the museum.  My job is a wonderful mix of teaching, live performance, film & theater production, and occasionally blowing things up.  It's the best thing I could ever imagine doing.  Okay, maybe the second best thing.  See the image below for the best thing ever.

My husband Philip, me, and our little girl, Margaret.  Totally the best thing ever.

So sometimes it really does pay off to follow your heart and do what you love.  It's worth a heck of a lot to be able to get up everyday and be happy to go to work.  So, I guess the point of today's post is try to find a way to do what you love to do.  When I was trying to figure out what that was for me, I got great help from a book called What Color is Your Parachute?  - I highly recommended it to anyone out there who's trying to figure out what they'd like to do with the rest of their life.

Next time, we'll probably be talking about a certain Mars rover...but until then...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Mars Attacks!

Well, actually, when you get right down to it...we're the ones attacking Mars.

Even as I write, the latest in a long series of robotic explorers is on its way to the Red Planet.  The Mars Science Laboratory, with its already-famous rover, Curiosity, launched toward Mars on November 26 of last year and is expected to touch down on the Martian soil in the wee morning hours of August 6, 2012.  If you're a devotee of Mars-exploring robots, you can sit up and watch the landing at the Virginia Air & Space Center, NASA Langley's Visitor Center.  Some folks from the Virginia Living Museum will be on hand too, discussing the ever-popular question of whether life ever got a foothold on Mars.

Mars is a tough planet to land on.

The road to Mars is a hard one, and landing on the surface is an even greater challenge.  Kind of like the superstitions surrounding the Scottish Play in the theater world, there's a long-held fear of Mars in the space exploration community.  It is definitely picky about what probes it chooses to welcome.  Half of all the missions ever sent to the Red Planet have ended in failure.

Russia's Phobos (meaning fear; also the name of one of Mars' two moons) 1 and 2 both suffered from the "Mars Curse."  Phobos 1 died of a software glitch - it lost its lock on the Sun, and since it was running on solar power, that was the end of that.  Phobos 2 seems to have suffered a similar fate - after a successful Mars orbit insertion and just prior to the scheduled release of two landing probes, contact was lost and never regained.  While the official explanation is an onboard computer failure...the subject of alien tampering was raised, and has never really been silenced.

The last image taken by the Phobos 2 spacecraft.  The dark object is often claimed to be a UFO responsible for the loss of the craft, but is most likely a distorted shadow of the craft itself on the surface of Mars.

The U.S. craft Mars Observer was also mysteriously lost.  Three days before a planned Mars orbit insertion, engineers lost contact with the spacecraft.  We'll never know exactly what happened, but the most likely cause seems to have been a ruptured fuel tank which sent the craft into a massive tailspin.

Russia tried again with Mars 96, with disastrous results.  The fourth stage of the rocket failed to ignite, and the whole kit and caboodle came crashing back down to Earth.  The bulk of the craft seems to have landed in Chile, though no pieces of it were ever recovered.  Russian telemetry on the rocket was severely limited, and no specific cause for the crash was ever identified.

The Japanese tried reaching Mars with the Nozomi (meaning Wish or Hope) spacecraft, but a malfunctioning valve resulted in a loss of fuel so great that the poor craft was left with insufficient fuel to reach Mars orbit.  Some science did come out of the mission though - Nozomi was able to make 2 successful fly-bys of Earth and one of Mars.

Probably the most embarrassing loss of a spacecraft goes to the United States and Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO).  MCO was lost when it traveled out of communications by passing behind Mars 49 seconds earlier than expected.  Contact with the spacecraft was never re-established.  Turns out that while the spacecraft software was written expecting flight data in metric units, engineers on the ground were uploading the data in English units.  The spacecraft ended up flying too close to Mars, and likely disintegrated in the Martian atmosphere.  Oops.

We didn't do much better with Mars Polar Lander (MPL).  Contact with the spacecraft was lost during the descent phase as MPL tried to land at the Martian South Pole.  We never heard from the spacecraft again.  No trace of the craft was ever found, but the official explanation for the loss states that vibrations during the descent phase may have tricked the lander into thinking it was on the ground, and it shut off its thrusters, causing it to plummet the last 130 feet or so to a very hard, fatal landing.

Even the British have had trouble with Mars, losing a lander, Beagle 2 (named for the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his famous voyages).  No explanation or cause has ever been agreed upon - the little lander simply disappeared and never made contact after descending towards the surface of the Red Planet.

Clearly, entry, descent and landing (EDL) is a tough time for a Mars-bound spacecraft.  NASA engineers often call the EDL phase the "7 minutes of terror."  This Saturday, we here at the Virginia Living Museum are going to be celebrating Mars with our monthly star party and laser light night...and we've got a special guest planned - NASA!  Exhibits all about Mars and Earth will be available, and Jill Prince, NASA's Mars EDL expert, will be giving a special talk about the 7 minutes of terror.  If the weather holds, we'll be looking at Mars with our telescopes all evening (plus peeking at Venus and Saturn too, I'm sure!), and there will even be a bit of Mars-themed music in the planetarium with Laser Mania!

So come join us for some Mars Mania this Saturday!  Mars activities and exhibits open at 5:30pm, Jill Prince speaks in the planetarium at 6pm, and observing begins after sunset.  All are FREE!  In the planetarium: at 7:30pm enjoy Virginia Skies (with a focus on Mars); 8:30pm see Laser Mania featuring "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars" by Weird Al Yankovic; finish the night with a Laser Pink Floyd double feature: The Wall at 10pm and Dark Side of the Moon at 11:30pm.  All planetarium shows are $6, $10 for any two.  Members are always half price!

Don't forget to watch the news for information on the Mars Science Laboratory landing in August...and let's hope the Great Galactic Ghoul keeps his mitts off this one.

Carpe noctem!
Kelly

The Planets Will Go On

Hey everyone!

So I am already excited for this Saturday's Star Party and Laser Light Night here at the Virginia Living Museum.  It's going to be awesome, for two reasons.  Number one is that we'll be enjoying a Titanic theme!  This Saturday, April 14, 2012, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  We'll be adding a Titanic flair to the night with a special showing of "Night of the Titanic" at 6:30pm.  Then at 7:30pm, we'll have our regularly scheduled "Virginia Skies" but we'll examine the stars of the Northern Atlantic as well and compare them to what we see here in Virginia.  Finally, at 8:30pm, "Laser Magic" features the theme from James Cameron's "Titanic" - Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."  The punned out version of that title which heads up my post tells you the other reason I'm super excited about this Saturday.

Have you looked up in the early evening sky recently?  There are four - count 'em, FOUR! - planets visible to the unaided eye gracing the sky just after sunset.  It's incredible!  If the weather holds and things cooperate, you've got the chance to see all four of these planets through telescopes at the museum this weekend.  And it's free to boot!  How can you beat that?

Looking to the west in the early evening, you can still see Venus and Jupiter decorating the sky after sunset.  Venus is now substantially higher in the sky than Jupiter - the two have been moving apart steadily since their close encounter in March.  Jupiter is lower and fainter than Venus, so look carefully at the western horizon.  Venus will pop right out at you (it is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon, after all), but look down below Venus for the brilliant jewel of the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter.

Venus above and Jupiter below. Credit: Kevin Jung.

Turning your attention to the East will show you two more planets!  Mars is high in the south-southeast just after sunset, and is a distinctive orange color.  If you turn and compare colors between Mars and Venus, the decidedly orange tinge of Mars becomes very clear.  Mars' unique color comes from rust - the soil on Mars is rich in iron, and over time that iron has combined with oxygen to form rust.  The legendary windstorms of Mars have carried that rusty dust all over the planet, resulting the The Red Planet's characteristic hue.

Look low to the eastern horizon to see the fourth and final planet - golden-yellow Saturn.  If you can join us this Saturday, it will be well worth hanging around until Saturn climbs above our treetops so you can see it through a telescope.  It is quite possibly one of the most amazing things you will ever see!  Even at a distance of roughly a billion miles, the rings are quite distinctive, and with our larger scopes, you might even glimpse a few details in the cloud layers.

Saturn through a moderate-sized telescope.

We'll start setting up our telescopes around sunset (about 7:30-8pm these days) and will continue to observe until about 11:30pm or so.  Observing is free!  Planetarium programs begin at 6:30pm and are $6 for one, $10 for two (members are always half price!).  Make an evening of it and grab dinner in the Wild Side Cafe beginning at 6pm - they'll remain open until 10pm for food, snacks and drinks (both kid-friendly and adult).  It's going to be a "Titanic" night - so come join us!

See you then...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Sorry, I Was Looking at the Planets

Holy cow, if you haven't been outside lately, get out there tonight.  It's amazing.

I should have updated yesterday, but circumstances beyond my control kept me away from my computer most of the day.  But no matter, one day late doesn't really make a big difference right now.  We've got a planet-palooza underway out there tonight, and there's more to come.

If you've been outside on any clear night in the early evening over the past month or so, you've likely seen two brilliant objects shining in the west.  They are well visible even before the Sun fully sets.  Two bright white shining "stars."  Guess what - those two stars are Venus and Jupiter.  Venus is the brighter of the two.  In fact, it's the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.  Jupiter may be the biggest planet in the solar system, but it's much further away (about half a billion miles) and so it looks fainter than our lovely next door planetary neighbor.  These two gorgeous planets have reached their closest approach to one another in our sky, and will now begin steadily moving away from one another.  Keep watching...it's going to be a phenomenal sight to watch these planets part from one another night after night.

Venus and Jupiter in the skies of Pennsylvania in February 2012.  Photo by Jack Fusco.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

To see our other planetary neighbor, the red planet Mars, simply turn around 180 degrees from where you see Venus and Jupiter.  Mars is shining a beautiful deep orange on the eastern side of the sky, again, easily visible well before the sky is truly dark.  A bit dimmer yet again than Jupiter, it is still an impressive sight, especially since the color of Mars is so very obvious.  Past its brightest and slowly fading, Mars will gently, and later more rapidly, dim from our view over the next few months or so.  Enjoy it while it lasts!

Still not enough?  Wait a while, until Venus and Jupiter have set.  By late evening, golden yellow Saturn will rise and join Mars on the eastern side of the sky.  The color difference is lovely between Mars and Saturn.  Break out your telescope and you'll be treated to an delightful view of Saturn's majestic rings.  Breathtaking!

Did you miss our March star party?  It was a fabulous night of clear crisp skies and brilliant planets.  But don't worry, we'll be doing it again on April 14.  Jupiter will have sunk too close to the Sun for good viewing by then, but Saturn will consent to rise earlier, joining Venus and Mars to maintain a powerful trifecta of planets in the early evening skies.  Plus we'll be marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with special shows in the planetairum.  You can get more information on our website.  See you in April!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to those planets.  :-)
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

2012: A Year of Astronomical Proportions

Happy New Year everyone!  Once again, I shall ride the current bandwagon, and this post will feature a list of things coming in 2012 that, if at all possible, you should not miss.  Mark these five dates on your calendar now!

March 3, 2012: The Opposition of Mars
No, this has nothing to do with us declaring war on the Martians.  A planetary opposition occurs when a planet is seen exactly opposite the Sun from the Earth, meaning that the planet will rise at sunset and set at sunrise, remaining visible in the sky all night long.  This also means the planet is generally closer to the Earth, as it is on the same side of the solar system as we are.  For Mars, this is a wonderful thing.  Mars has a highly elliptical orbit, and that means that opposition brings our little red neighbor (Mars is only half the diameter of Earth) close enough that details can be seen on the surface with a good telescope.  With a really big telescope...well...you can just imagine.

Mars during the 1997 opposition.  Courtesy NASA, HST & STSci.

This year's opposition is a poor one - even at close approach, Mars will not be as close as it has been in years past - and future oppositions will be better than this one too.  But it's worth seeing the planet nonetheless, even if you don't have a telescope.  Mars is usually a dull orange-ish star in our sky, and not very noteworthy.  But during opposition, Mars will rival Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky, in brightness - a stirring sight for sure.  Right now, Mars rises late in the evening and is visible high in the south around sunrise.  As the year progress, watch for it to rise earlier and earlier in the evening, making viewing this beautiful planet a pretty simple feat even for those who don't like staying up late.  Want to see Mars through a telescope?  Come visit us for our monthly Star Party & Laser Light Night on March 10th.  Mars will be a week past opposition, but still looking great!  Don't miss it!

May 20, 2012: An Annular Solar Eclipse
This one is especially for any readers I might have in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  On May 20th, as the Sun is setting across those states, the Moon will glide in front of the Sun.  But the Moon will be too far away to cover the entire disk of the Sun, resulting in what is called an annular solar eclipse.  Most of the Sun's disk will be covered, with only a ring of solar surface visible around the Moon.

The Sun during the annular solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 by Mikael Svalgaard.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT attempt to view the eclipse without proper eye protection!  Doing so can result in serious damage to your eyes, even blindness.  The Sun's surface, even only a small portion of it, is incredibly bright.  Never look at the Sun with unprotected eyes.  GOOD NEWS: You don't need a telescope to view this amazing event!  The best thing to get is a pair of eclipse glasses - they'll likely be available at your .local science center as the eclipses gets closer, or you can order them online.  Or, for a quick, inexpensive solution - buy a piece of Shade #14 Arc Welder's Glass from a local hardware store, and look at the Sun through that.  Make sure you get Shade #14 - no other shade will work.  Once you've protected your eyes - go outside about an hour before sunset (check your local paper for exact times for your area!) and watch the Sun as it goes down.  It will be an amazing view.

June 5, 2012: The Transit of Venus
Okay folks, this is the big one.  If you see no other astronomical event this year - see this one.  Why?  Because, quite literally, you will not have another chance to do so in your lifetime.  There will not be another transit of Venus for 105 years - so this is your one and only chance.

A transit is kind of the opposite of opposition - in this case, a planet is crossing in front of the disk of the Sun as seen from the Earth.  Naturally, we can only see transits of Mercury and Venus - the only two planets which lie closer to the Sun than we are.  You'd think these would happen all the time, but like eclipses, the geometry doesn't always work out.  Most times a planet passes above or below the Sun from our perspective.  But every so often the geometry is perfect, and we get to see a planet silhouetted against the brilliant face of the Sun.

The 2004 Transit of Venus photographed by Stefan Seip.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

The transit of Venus this June will occur close to sunset for us, and you can bet we'll be watching here at the Virginia Living Museum!  Stay tuned for more information on our Transit of Venus event.  While the transit will be visible unmagnified with suitable eye protection (remember the warning above!), it will be better through a telescope.  If you're local to Hampton Roads, plan to come join us!

December 13, 2012: The Geminid Meteor Shower
Meteor showers are always fun, and there are usually a couple good ones each year.  But if you're only going to bundle up and sit outside for several hours once in 2012, wait until the December Geminids.  The Moon will be new, making this a perfect night for stargazing in general.  The shower will peak around 7pm local time, meaning you don't have to go outside in the middle of the night to enjoy a good view.  Simply find a dark location (the fewer lights the better!), set up a comfortable lawn chair (laying back so you can see a lot of the sky without straining your neck is best), pile on some blankets and enjoy the show.  The meteors will seem to come from the constellation Gemini the Twins, so if you can place those stars at your back, so much the better.  You can watch until the wee hours of the morning if you like...2am is often a good time to see meteors as our part of the Earth will be turning into our direction of motion, making for good meteors!

A 2011 Geminid meteor over Iran photographed by Arman Golestaneh.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

December 21, 2012: The End of the World
Okay, this one really isn't an astronomical event.  In fact, it's not really an event at all.  Well, it is the Winter Solstice, but you can't really "watch" that event unless you plan on setting up a camera and waiting a year.

 The Analemma over the Porch of Maidens in Athens, Greece as photographed by Anthony Ayiomamitis.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.  The Winter Solstice is the Sun's lowest point in the sky. 

But you're probably aware of the numerous predictions of doom and gloom for our planet surrounding this date.  I always love it when such things come up, because it gives us a great opportunity to educate folks about science and how it works...and how it doesn't.  Want a primer on what all the fuss is about?  Join us for 2012: The End of the World? NOT!, a brand-new planetarium show which will be featured all year at the Abbitt Planetarium.  And stay tuned for more information about our End of the World Party, currently in the planning stages. 

So there it is - what not to miss in 2012.  May it be a year of astronomical proportions for all of us!
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

The Year in Review

It's that time of year, isn't it folks?  Everyone is doing a "Year in Review."  Well, who I am to miss that bandwagon!  So in this final installment of Cosmic Strings for 2011, I give you my personal five favorite astronomy stories of 2011.  Enjoy!


The Total Lunar Eclipse of June, 15, 2011
2011 was a banner year for eclipses...we had 4 solar and 2 lunar eclipses.  I wish we could have seen them.  Sadly, all 6 eclipses were basically not observable from the United States.  But many of our international friends got to see some amazing sights...and of the the eclipses this past year, the June 15th lunar eclipse was likely the most wonderful.  It was a rare lunar eclipse where Moon passed through virtually the exact center of the Earth's shadow, making it not only a very long eclipse (the total duration was almost 6 hours!), but also one where the Moon took on a fabulous color.

The lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011 by Javier Algarra.  Courtesy Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Atmospheric scientists can tell a great deal about the Earth's atmosphere from lunar eclipses.  The reddish color of the Moon during a lunar eclipse is caused by sunlight bending through the Earth's atmosphere and striking the lunar surface even when it is in the shadow of the Earth.  Usually only deep reddish light gets through, but depending on the various particulates found in the atmosphere of the Earth, the Moon may appear bright red, copper colored, and even a yellowish-orange.  If you got to see this wonderful eclipse, count yourself lucky!

The Launch of Curiosity
It might seem odd to include a spacecraft launch in my list, but I can't help it.  I'm excited!  Another plucky robot has successfully made it off the Earth and is on its way to Mars.  Launch is a dangerous time...second only in danger to landing.  So Curiosity still has a long way to go before it can get to work...and the greatest danger lies ahead.  Mars has been a tough planet to explore...about half of the missions headed there have ended badly.  And yet, Mars is well worth the effort, as it is the place in the solar system most like the Earth.  If life is, or ever was, present in the solar system beyond the Earth, Mars is the most likely place for it.  The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have shown us definitive proof that Mars was wet in the past and likely still has a fair amount of water.  Perhaps Curiosity will be able to provide definitive evidence of Martian life!  If so, that will certainly make the list in 2012!

The launch of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, called Curiosity.  Courtesy NASA.

The Uncookable Comet Lovejoy
A late entry - but an amazing one!  Kreutz sungrazer Comet Lovejoy was discovered by Australia's Terry Lovejoy a bit less than a month before its close encounter with the Sun.  No one expected the cosmic chunk of ice and rock to survive its passage a mere 87,000 miles above the solar surface (Earth is on average 93 million miles from the Sun and I can still get a sunburn in the winter!) on December 16.  But as I write this, Comet Lovejoy is still kicking, headed away from the Sun and sporting an enormous tail.  Sadly, we can't see it very well from here in the United States, but its discoverer is still getting a nice view!  Southern hemisphere dwellers - get outside before the sunrise and enjoy the view of Comet Lovejoy in the east.  It's well worth the effort!

Comet Lovejoy after its incredible solar encounter by Kosma Coronaios. Courtesy spaceweather.com

Pluto May Not Be a Planet...But it is a Moon Magnet!
First among dwarf planets Pluto was back in the news again this year - sporting a newly discovered moon.  The intrepid Hubble Space Telescope was searching for rings around the tiny body, but instead discovered a fourth moon circling this enigmatic little world.  Officially announced on July 20, 2011, little S/2011 P4 doesn't yet have a proper name.  But its discovery confirms that this world, though no longer considered a major planet, will remain a target for scientific curiosity and discovery for years to come.  New Horizons will arrive in 2015, increasing our understanding of the Plutonian system exponentially.  I can't wait!

The discovery of Pluto's newest moon, S2011/P4.  Courtesy STSci.

The End of an Era: NASA Retires the Space Shuttle
For 30 years, manned spaceflight was synonymous with the Space Shuttle.  NASA's fleet of launch-like-a-rocket-land-like-a-glider spacecraft were amazing machines, completing 135 missions to space, launching innumerable satellites and spacecraft, conducting thousands of experiments, and performing 37 construction and service visits to the International Space Station.  Groundbreaking mission like those of the Galileo spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope started with a launch from the cargo bay of a space shuttle.  While we mourn the loss of the 14 astronauts who died in the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, we must also acknowledge that the shuttle's work record of 30 years is nothing short of extraordinary.

Space Shuttle Discovery.  Courtesy NASA.

Now the United States has no manned spaceflight capability,. and the future of human exploration of space has never looked more bleak.  No other space agency has the same level of experience which NASA has in manned spaceflight.  But we will lose those skills rapidly if we can no longer send people into space to use them.  While NASA is actively seeking new astronauts, I wonder what they will do, since they must rely on the faltering Russian space agency to successfully carry them into space.  Human space exploration fires the imagination like few other things can, and the technological spinoffs from such efforts are too numerous to detail.  I hope that our government will be willing to make an investment in a future they can't imagine now, and not let the problems of today kill the dreams of tomorrow.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends, love and joy.  And may 2012 be a truly stellar year for us all.
Carpe annum!
Kelly