Collisions Between Objects in the Solar Sytem is Absolute
Posted: October 10, 2010 Filed under: American Astronomical Society, asteroids, astronomers, astronomy, Goddard Flight Center, Hebe 6, International Astronomical Union, John Hopkins University, National Solar Observatory, Royal Astronomical Society, Sol, the solar system | Tags: asteroids, astronomers, astronomy, Hebe 6, how to locate asteroids, locating asteroids, solar system 1 Comment »Locating asteroids traveling through the solar system
Hebe 6 should be viewable in for the patient star-gazer
Locating smaller celestial objects in the night sky is harder and time-consuming, but with a little patience and perception all star-gazers, both amateur and professional, can journey to a nearby asteroid traveling through the solar system to view these smaller travelers through time and space.
How do astronomers locate small and distant celestial bodies traveling through the darkness of the solar system at speeds beyond human experience? We’ll use the story of asteroid Hebe 6 to illustrate the methods and techniques professional astronomers and even amateur astronomers can use to find asteroids in the darkness of space and time.
You'll need patience and time to locate Hebe 6 in the night sky
In the solar system’s distant past, two asteroids traveling through the inner solar system, collided in an explosion resulting in the formation of a huge cloud of floating debris. Fast forward to present time, these same pieces of space debris came falling to Earth one by one as meteorites. Scientists collecting the remains of these meteorites were able to follow the facts collected from their studies of these meteorites back to the source of the debris, Hebe 6.
Surprisingly, astronomers believe about 40 percent of the meteorites falling to Earth, share this same story of genesis from Hebe 6, during a collision with another unknown object in the darkness of the solar system in the distant past.
Hebe 6 appears to have survived the collision, and there haven’t been any estimates of the volume of debris comprising the dust cloud resulting from this distant collision in space and time, so scientists have no real way of determining the original size of Hebe 6, so far. Hebe 6 still spans at least 120 miles and shines at 8th magnitude, so using your time-machine-to-the-stars you should be able to view Hebe 6. Travel to your favorite dark sky spot for this adventure, you’ll need to point your viewer at 2nd magnitude star Beta Ceti. You’ll find Beta Ceti southeast of Jupiter in October’s southern night sky, just star-hop westward to 7 Ceti and then jump 2 degrees south to find Hebe 6. How will you know you have located Hebe 6 and not a background star? To make sure of the identity of Hebe 6, note the positions of the objects closest to your target, and then return in a couple of hours. Recheck the positions of the objects you recorded, if you’re found Hebe 6, your target will have moved relative to the objects you have noted close by in the night sky.
For the Space Traveller Constantly on the Go
Posted: October 2, 2010 Filed under: asteroids, astronomy, astronomy equipment, Astronomy Technologies, entertainment, NASA, Sol, telescope accessories, telescope mounts, telescopes, The Earth, the Milky Way galaxy, the planets, the solar system, the Universe, Voyager alt-azimuth mount | Tags: astronomy, Astronomy Technologies, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, telescope accessories, telescopes, Voyager alt-azimuth mount Leave a comment »
The perfect base for your time machine to the stars
Space travellers are always on the go and being able to quickly move from spot to spot can be the difference between the great view and the one the rest of your astronomy buddies are talking about seeing. For the star traveller on a “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” constantly on the move, Astronomy Technologies Voyager alt-azimuth mount is the perfect base for your time machine to the stars. All you need to do is place your telescope’s Vixen-style dovetail bar in the Voyager’s matching cradle on the altitude axis, tighten the thumbscrews provided, and your time machine to the stars is ready to blast off on your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time”. The axes of the Voyager are engineered and designed to smoothly move in all directions, with telescopes weighing up to 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms) mounted into place. Adjustable slip clutches enable you to point your time machine to the stars to any region of time and space in the night sky you select for your Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, and then manually track a celestial object using dual slow-motion controls.
This eye-piece tray is designed to be used with the Voyager mount
This extension tube will come in handy for certain views
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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