X-ray pulsar Swift J1749.4-2807 is the first pulsar astronomers have witnessed being eclipsed by its companion star

April signal from Sagittarius the Archer reveals pulsar

Astronomy News

Friday, December 30, 2011 – Astronomers recently detected a signal emanating from the constellation Sagittarius the Archer which after study turned out to be a type of x-ray pulsar often called an accretion-powered pulsar. Accretion-powered pulsars have to this point in the human journey to the beginning of time and space have always appeared as part of a binary star system with a normal type star. In this scenario the powerful gravity field of the neutron star is able to pull material from the surface of the normal star during a process astronomers refer to as accretion. Astronomers have designated this new x-ray pulsar Swift J1749.4-2807 and believe it’s the remnant of a supernova. Spinning wildly out of control, this accretion-powered pulsar is thought to be composed of dense material with properties astronomers know nothing about.

Astronomers believe the signal emanating from the constellation Sagittarius the Archer was produced during the accretion process as the material torn from the surface of the normal star spirals around the neutron star. They think the material heats up to the point where it radiates x-rays during the process of spiralling into the region of the neutron star’s magnetic poles. X-ray detectors on near Earth telescopes detect these x-rays when a spinning neutron star lines up directly with the line of sight to Earth.

Dawn sees the "Snowman" craters for the first time

Dawn is falling toward Vesta today as NASA’s spacecraft is currently circling one of the largest asteroids in the solar system and preparing to take a closer look at an asteroid first viewed by German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807. The picture above is one of the latest images taken by Dawn of three craters on the surface of Vesta called “Snowman”that are located in Vesta’s northern hemisphere. The associated picture below is of craters visible in the southern equatorial region of the giant asteroid taken at a height of around 3,200 miles above Vesta. Currently, astronomers indicate Dawn is about 1,800 miles above Vesta, and is slowly getting closer to the giant asteroid, while it takes additional pictures we expect to be released in a few days.

The southern regions of Vesta don't look like a vacation spot

The real work begins once Dawn begins orbiting Vesta at a height of around 1,700 miles, this orbital height will provide astronomers with an in depth view of the surface of the giant asteroid they can use to begin unravelling the current mystery surrounding the birth of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Planetary astronomers looking into the birth of our solar system believe Vesta and similar large asteroids in the asteroid belt could be the source of the large number of meteorites that fell on Earth in the past. Vesta and similar large asteroids in the asteroid belt could also be potential planet-killers we here on Earth need to be aware of if we want to possibly avoid future collisions.

What is this view of Mars worth?

Dawn is currently circling closer to Vesta at a distance of around 114 million miles from Earth and has travelled a total distance of around 1.7 billion miles during its journey through the inner solar system. All of this work has been done in order to give the human journey to the beginning of the universe a closer look at Mars, Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will travel to Ceres after it has finished taking a closer look at Vesta and use its on board instruments to detect subtle changes in the gravity field of Ceres. The data on the subtle changes occurring in the gravity field of Ceres can help astronomers determine some of the internal structure of Ceres by studying the mass distributed in the gravity field of each large body close to the dwarf planet.

Dawn will orbit Vesta for one year and then depart for Ceres, where it will arrive sometime in 2015. The present view we have of Vesta shows a dark world that has been bombarded by other asteroids throughout its history, the study of which could provide clues to the formation of the early inner solar system and the Earth. Future images and analysis of data collected by Dawn, once it reaches Ceres, could also provide the human journey to the beginning of the universe with clues to the reasons why life exists on Earth.

The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Other scientific partners include Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz.; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin; Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the Italian Space Agency. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft.

More information on Dawn and its mission to Mars, Vesta and Ceres can be found by visiting www.nasa.gov/dawn.

Alan Scott and the Green Lantern Corps battles against the forces of evil in the constellation Scorpius

Visitors from the stars have often been the main characters in myths, legends, comic book adventures and books and movies created by humans throughout the ages of mankind. Considering the diminutive knowledge humans have of space and time this choice provides the perfect context for adventure and the unknown. The Green Lantern is one of the most popular and beloved DC Comics heroes of all time and more recently a full length feature film starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard. The original Green Lantern Alan Scott was created by writer Bill Finger and commercial artist Martin Nodell for All American Comics #16 (July 1940) edition. Since this time the Green Lantern alias has been shared by several DC Comics superheroes and fictional characters that have all contributed to the popularity of this timeless character.

Astronomers on the leading edge of the human journey to the beginning of time and space recently glimpsed this emerald nebula using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Reminiscent of the emerald ring wielded by the Green Lantern, this emerald ring wasn’t forged by the Guardians of the Universe as the power rings of the Green Lantern Corps were in the original Green Lantern adventures. Astronomers viewing scenes like the one in the picture above believe emerald nebula like the one seen here are in fact born in the fire of the most massive stars astronomers have viewed on the human journey to the beginning of the universe O type stars. This particular emerald nebula lies deep within clouds of hot gas and glowing dust in the constellation Scorpius and has been given the name RCW 120 by astronomers. The green ring we see is in fact glowing in infrared colours our eyes aren’t designed to view, but using the infrared detectors of the Spitzer Space Telescope astronomers can produce images like this one.

The green ring viewed here was actually carved out by the intense ultraviolet radiation of a couple of giant stars near the centre of the nebula. The giant stars will be obscured by the light from the other stars nearby, when viewed by the infrared detectors of the Spitzer Space Telescope. Ring nebula like this one have actually been a common sight on the human journey to the beginning of space and time, so common that professional astronomers have asked amateur astronomers to take part in the search for ring nebula. People interested in taking part in the search for ring nebula should contact the people in charge of The Milky Way Project, at http://www.milkywayproject.org/.

NASA scientists and engineers preparing Curiosity for her journey to Mars

The human journey to the beginning of space and time will get a detailed view of Mars using the Mast Camera on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, once Curiosity lands on the surface of Mars, sometime around August 2012, according to the latest estimates by NASA. Space travel is by necessity extremely well planned and every detail must be worked out to a set time table if the Curiosity is to accomplish its mission. All aspects of the mission parameters must be analysed and reanalysed to ensure everything works as expected and the mission sticks to the timetable set by engineers and scientists working to get Curiosity ready to journey to Mars, sometime between November 25 and December 18, 2011. The Mast Camera on Curiosity is in fact two digital color cameras riding high on the mast, each capable of recording high-definition video at about 8 frames per second, and taking and storing thousands of full-color images of the Red Planet in an eight-gigabyte flash memory. Once they combine the information taken by both cameras scientists and engineers will get detailed 3-D images of Mars as good as or better than any taken before.

This sensor head will play a key role in the mission success of Curiosity

NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity will also have onboard a “chemical element reader” to measure the different chemical ingredients making up the soil and rocks of Mars. This particular instrument, along with nine others on board Curiosity will be looking at the present and past ability habitability of a specific spot on the Red Planet. The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument viewed here was designed by physics professor Ralf Gellert of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. This instrument uses alpha particles, or helium nuclei, and X-rays to bombard the Martian soil or a rock, which will cause the target to emit its own characteristic alpha particles and X-ray radiation. This emitted radiation will be detected by an X-ray detector inside the sensor head, which will be analysed by Mars scientists to see which elements are within the soil or rock. The exact identification of the elements that make up the Martian soil and rocks will help planet scientists determine the building blocks of the Martian crust, and any possible weathering of the soil or rock since it was formed.

The Mars Science Laboratory is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl . You can follow the mission on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MarsCuriosity and on Twitter @marscuriosity . A full listing of JPL social media accounts is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/social .

The services provided by AL-Razaq Computing Services will include operational and administrative support to the Office of Procurement, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and other Marshall Space Flight Center offices and directorates. The contract awarded to AL-Razaq Computing Services will start April 1 and continue for one year, with an option for four one-year extensions of services.

The grand old guy is still the king of the telescopes

The history of human science and astronomy are ripe with stories of defining moments in time and space that opened new avenues of thought and belief in an universe humans had never experienced, or dreamed of, before. The moment humans first looked upward into a sky they could neither understood, nor comprehended, the history of star gazing and astronomy was written. The story of the first images humanity glimpsed through the instruments of the Hubble Space Telescope is just one defining moment in space and time that has opened roads of thought and belief astronomers and scientists had never dreamed before. The 20 years since these first Hubble images has defined a period of human history that will be remembered for astronomy milestones that opened never-before-seen parts of the universe to humans and showed us glimpses of things we never dared imagine. The recent refurbishing of the Hubble Space Telescope has allowed astronomers to look even further back in space and time to the beginning of the universe and along with the James Webb Space Telescope will soon take humanity on a journey to the beginning of space and time.

Hubble has allowed astronomers to determine many things about the universe

The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit around planet Earth on April 24, 1990 marked a moment in human history as pivotal as the moment Galileo first looked through his telescope at a world he had never seen before. During about 110,000 orbits the Hubble Space Telescope has helped about 4,000 astronomers from around the world takes over 570,000 images of about 30,000 celestial objects that have helped astronomers ask questions that will help define the future of human space studies for centuries to come. The information and data collected by the studies astronomers have made of the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope has also provided content for about 8,700 scientific papers and 648 journal articles, opened windows giving humans a view of parts of the universe we have dreamed of seeing, and the latest astronomy and science books.

The early universe was likely a place unlike anything we can picture

To date the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us a view of the most distance celestial object we have viewed so far, about 13.2 billion years in the past. This view is about 150 million years further back in space and time than any previous view humans have seen of the universe. At the time in the life span of the universe in this view astronomers believe the universe was only about 500 million years old and the echoes of the big bang could still be heard.

The Hubble Space Telescope has also helped astronomers determine a number of different things about the universe scientists, like the presence of super massive black holes at the center of galaxies, planet forming processes at work in the universe, and the presence of the first organic molecule scientists have found outside our solar system.

The next twenty years of human space discovery will see the James Webb Space Telescope take up the torch-of-discovery the Hubble Space Telescope has carried for the past two decades. The grand old boy will still take astronomers on journeys of discovery for years to come, and show us views of reality that will open our eyes to the wonder of it all. The James Webb Space Telescope has yet to be launched into space and until this happens the Hubble Space Telescope is still the baddest telescope in the solar system.

13.2 billion years ago the universe was a totally different place

8.3 million pixels of resolution produces astroimages that will make your DSLR camera want to hide

Give the Orion Parsec 8300C, a try, and see if you still look at your DSLR camera?

The Orion Parsec 8300C is the latest CCD time-machine-to-the-stars capable of taking one-shot, full-frame, 8.3 megapixel color views during your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” in perfect resolution. The Orion Parsec 8300C Astronomical Imaging Camera is designed and engineered around Kodak’s 8.3-megapixel KAF-8300 sensor, and is one of the most advanced CCD time-machines-to-the-stars you can purchase to “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time.

The Orion Parsec 8300C Astronomical Imaging Camera’s color Kodak CCD chip is built around the 5.4 micron x 5.4 micron pixel size for superior resolution and uses Kodak’s microlens technology for maximum sensitivity. Regulated dual-stage thermoelectric cooling and the adjustable fan included with the Orion Parsec 8300C Astronomical Imaging Camera reduces the thermal noise you’ll experience, while the internal full-frame memory buffer allows you to reliably and efficiently download you images for later use.

You get all of this astroimaging power at a relatively low price, considering the quality of the views this outstanding CCD camera produces, and the Parsec 8300C Astronomical Imaging Camera is compatible with Windows XP and later operating systems. You just plug the Parsec 8300C Astronomical Imaging Camera into the USB 2.0 port on your computer with the included cable and power your time-machine-to-the-stars using the 12-volt DC power cable included that plugs into a car accessory jack, or other compatible power source.

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Your two-eyed time-machine-to-the-stars is ready to blast-off

Human beings were designed to view the universe using two eyes

Astronomical binoculars are a time-machine-to-the-stars that will make your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” a trip of a lifetime. The views you’ll experience during your journey will blow-your-mind using two eyes, rather than one, and you’ll return from your trip with tales of space and time your astronomy buddies will envy. The Orion BT100 Premium Binocular Telescope’s 100mm aperture helps to create bright, high-contrast 90 degree views of the universe at 24x magnification, using included 25mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces, that both your eyes will love.

A 4-inch refractor that accepts standard 1 1/4 eyepieces that are focused individually for optimal performance, the Orion BT100 Premium Binocular Telescope features an all-metal body, fully multicoated achromatic objective lenses, Porro prisms made of BaK-4 glass, and removable eyepieces. Just mount your two-eyed time-machine-to-the-stars on a sturdy heavy-duty tripod, which isn’t included, slip the 25mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces into place in the integrated 90 degree prism assemblies, and blast-off from the Earth and “Journey to the beginning of Space and Time” to experience the wonders of the universe through two eyes.

One of the best time-machine-to-the-stars you can buy

Flip the switch on your Meade LS-6 and being your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time”

Just set up your time-machine-to-the-stars, flick the ignition switch, and your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” begins. Incorporating GPS satellites, internal leveling sensors, a magnetic north compass, and a built-in ECLIPS CCD imager capable of displaying vibrant astroimages on the scope or filing them away so you can send them to all of your astronomy buddies, later, the Meade LS-6 ACF Telescope includes the industry’s most advanced go-to astronomy system, for truly hands-free star-gazing.

The Light Switch Technology included with the Meade LS-6 go-to telescope goes to work with the flick of the switch, turning over the job of connecting the global positioning system with overhead satellites to a built-in Integrated Sensor Module (ISM). The global positioning system pinpoints the exact location and local time of your time-machine-to-the-stars on the planet’s surface and then the Level North Technology sensors silently search for two alignment stars and automatically start charting out a real-time sky map of the night sky in its memory banks for the present time and your location on the Earth’s surface.

The perfect telescope for the educated amateur astronomer heading out into the universe for their first “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time”. The Meade LS-6 will automatically take you to points in space and time you’ll never forget and you can take a few pictures of your unforgettable views to show your friends, when you get back.

Experienced astronomers will love not having to remember the name of alignment stars or having to worry about the view being blocked by a tree or house, which can be frustrating and time-consuming to solve. The Meade LS-6 go-to telescope solves these problems and gives you more time for what you really want to do, “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time”.

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Your star gazing observatory is waiting

A lightweight and portable observatory you can set up anywhere