Worshipping Sol
Posted: October 26, 2010 Filed under: American Astronomical Society, astronomers, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, entertainment, European Space Agency, European Space Agency (ESA), Goddard Flight Center, Hinode spacecraft, International Astronomical Union, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japanese spacecraft, John Hopkins University, Magnetosphere, NASA, National Solar Observatory, Royal Astronomical Society, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Sol, Space Agencies, space history, star evolution, the heliosphere, the solar corona, the solar system, the solar wind | Tags: ancient star gazers, astronomers, astronomy, heliosphere, Sol, Sumerians, the corona, the Hinode spacecraft, the solar corona, the solar system, the Sun, the suns magnetic field, Utu Leave a comment »
Three separate instruments aboard Hinode will study Sol
The original source of energy for all life on Earth, Sol has always ruled the lives and minds of human beings in many ways. The ruler of the day time sky in ancient times and still today, Sol was worshipped by ancient humans of many cultures, and will always be a major force in the life of every human being on Earth. The Sumerians worshipped Utu as their sun god over two thousands years in the past and modern humans worship the sun in their own way. We send spacecraft toward Sol, to study the lifecycle and physical and chemical characteristics of our sun, and determine everything we can about the sun.
The Hinode (Solar B) is one spacecraft humans have sent out toward Sol in an attempt to delve deeper into the mysteries of the sun. A highly sophisticated observational satellite equipped with three solar telescopes, the Hinode has recently revealed that the solar corona isn’t quite as static as solar scientists were first thinking. Hinode has surprised solar scientists of late with views of complex structures in the solar chromosphere, solar scientists use to think were static, but now believe to be dynamic structures flowing in time. This is making solar scientists rethink some of the previous ideas they had about the heating mechanisms and dynamics of the active solar corona.
What questions will solar scientists working with Hinode try to answer next? They’ll be looking into why a hot corona exists above a cooler atmosphere? The origins and driving forces behind solar flares and the Sol’s magnetic field? The changes that the release of solar energy in its many forms has on interplanetary space in our solar system and life on Earth? The answers to these questions could be a key to eventually answering many of the questions the first star gazers and all humans have been asking for thousands of years. Solar scientists are also interested in knowing how magnetic changes near Sol’s surface effect the heliosphere, the outer atmosphere of Sol that extends beyond Pluto, and how severe changes in the heliosphere can cause satellites to malfunction and electrical blackouts on Earth.
Journey to the Small Near-Earth Asteroid 25143 Itokawa
Posted: September 21, 2010 Filed under: Asteroid 25143 Itokawa, asteroids, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, Earth, entertainment, Hayabusa spacecraft, Japanese spacecraft, NASA, Sol, The Earth, the planets, the solar system | Tags: asteroid 25143 Itokawa, asteroids, astronomy, Australia, Earth, Hayabusa spacecraft, Japan, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, space science, the universe Leave a comment »What do you think a little asteroid dust could tell us about the universe?
Hayabusa has returned from its mission to asteroid 25143 Itokawa
The return capsule of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s asteroid-hunting Hayabusa spacecraft splashed down safely near Australia on June 13. This marks the return of a space traveller that was launched in 2003 in order to journey to the small near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa to bring back a sample of the asteroid’s surface. Hayabusa has been designed and engineered to fire a projectile into the surface of asteroid 25143 Itokawa and hopefully kick up dust that can be collected by Hayabusa’s on-board collection container. The only problem is space scientists don’t know yet if Hayabusa was able to accomplish its mission, but they remain hopeful the projectile was able to fire and the collection container store some dust for them to study. Any dust they find could still be Earth dust that somehow entered the collection container, so any material they find in the collection container will still have to be verified to be true asteroid dust.
Asteroid 25143 Itokawa is a small near-Earth asteroid that will be remembered for all time
Hayabusa’s mission was a success, even if the projectile didn’t fire and the collection container didn’t collect any dust, because Japanese space scientists were able to conduct several other ground breaking experiments. Stay tuned to “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” in the days and weeks ahead in the century of the environment for new developments on this front.
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