Posted: October 28, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: astronomy, astronomy equipment, go-to mounts, iOptron MiniTower Pro | Tags: astronomy, astronomy equipment, go-to astronomy mounts, iOpton MiniTower Pro, telescopes |
Lightweight and always ready to go, the iOpton MiniTower Pro is one of the best models around
Lightweight go-to mount for the star-gazer on the go
Tipping the scale at just 9 pounds, the iOptron MiniTower Pro is a portable atl-azimuth mount that can support a time-machine-to-the-stars weighing as much as 33 pounds, only takes 10 minutes to set on the launch pad, and has everything you need to “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” to view the universe. Totally portable, the iOpton MiniTower Pro fits in the included alloy metal carrying case like a glove, except for the tripod, and can be easily stored in the trunk of your car, or airline luggage, so you’re always ready to continue your journey at a moments notice, no matter your location on the Earth.
The iOptron Mini Tower Pro is equipped with two dovetail adapters capable of supporting the majority of standard telescopes on the market today. Includes metal worm gears with typical 1 arcminute accuracy, strong 2″ alloy legs and GPS capability that allows you to select the dark sky spot you desire to view the universe from. Add in a standard 8401 SmartStar hand controller with information that quickly allows you to locate over 130,000 celestial objects in the night sky, a USB port that allows you to easily connect to a wide variety of planetarium programs, an 8-inch LCD back-lit display, and you’re always ready to continue your “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time at a moments notice.
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Posted: October 28, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: American Astronomical Society, astronomers, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, entertainment, European Space Agency (ESA), Goddard Flight Center, scientists, space history, Spitzer Space Telescope, star evolution, supernovae, the Milky Way galaxy, the Universe | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, NASA, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, star dust obscuring supernova, supernovas, Venus |
Supernovas are some of the most powerful and visually striking events observed during the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time. Releasing more energy in a single moment than Sol will over its entire lifetime, a supernova is luminous enough to shine brighter in the night sky than entire galaxies during one moment in space and time, before slowly fading from view over several weeks or months. The force of a supernova expels a large percentage of a star’s mass into the darkness of space and time at about 10 percent of the speed of light, and creates a shockwave that sweeps up the expanding shell of gas and dust released during the explosion referred to by astronomers as a supernova remnant.
Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to search the night sky for active galactic nuclei (AGN), super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies, recently reported the discovery of a supernova smothered in the remnants of its own star-dust during their search. This has astronomers scratching their heads in amazement at something they have never viewed during the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time. Scientists think supernovas like this one probably occurred during the early universe, more than they do during present time, and this discovery has astronomers looking for answers to questions they never thought they would be asking.
The recorded temperature of the object they were viewing was about 1,000 Kelvin (about 700 degrees Celsius), which is slightly hotter than the surface of Venus. This means something was dissipating the light energy of the supernova as heat? Astronomers wondered if the dust from the supernova could be choking off the light from the supernova and creating the heat they were viewing? Taking data from studies of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope astronomers worked backward in space and time to see if they could figure out what kind of star could have theoretically created this supernova and if they could recreate a scenario where the dust from a supernova obscures the universe from the light released during the supernova. They calculated that the star in this supernova would have to be a giant star at least 50 times as massive as Sol. Astronomers have viewed these types of stars releasing huge clouds of dust as they near the end of their lives, but they calculated this particular star probably released clouds of star-dust several times during this same period of time. The last cloud of star-dust expelled would therefore be closer to this massive star, than earlier released clouds of star-dust, they reasoned. If the earlier dust cloud was also opaque, it would absorb the light energy released during later energy releases, and this could certainly account for the hot dust cloud they observed through NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.
This dust cloud obscures the dust from its parent star
Posted: October 27, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: American Astronomical Society, astronomers, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, entertainment, exo-planets, Gliese 581, Gliese 581g, Goddard Flight Center, Keck I Telescope, Libra, NASA, red dwarf stars, Space Agencies, space history, W.M. Keck Observatory, world observatories | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, constellation Libra, cradle for a new human genesis, Gliese 581, Gliese 581g, Keck I Telescope, Planet hunters, W.M Keck Observatory |
Six exo-planets are circling red dwarf star Gliese 581 20 light years distant in the constellation Libra
The human search for an exo-planet capable of being a cradle for a new human genesis found what many consider to be the first exo-planet with the physical makeup to make it possible. A team of planet hunters from the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz and the Carnegie Institute of Washington recently announced to the world the discovery of an exo-planet they believe has a few characteristics of an exo-planet with the right stuff to make life possible. Gliese 581g, as it’s referred too, has about three times the mass of Earth and appears to be situated in the right spot in the solar system of red dwarf star Gliese 581 for the ingredients of life to exist. This is about dead center in what planet scientists term the habitable zone of Gliese 581, a position planet scientist believe could make it possible for water and an atmosphere to exist on this exo-planet, necessary ingredients for the formation of life, planet scientists believe.
These planet hunters have been using one of the largest time-machine-to-the-stars on the planet, the Keck I Telescope in Hawaii’s W.M Keck Observatory, to journey 20 light years to the constellation of Libra to continue the search for more planets circling red dwarf star Gliese 581 that could be habitable. Planet hunters have been using the HIRES spectrometer to precisely measure the radial velocity of the host star – the motion of the star along the line of sight from Earth – and stars close to red dwarf star Gliese 581, in order to try to find other planets circling this red dwarf star. The gravitational pull of orbiting planets causes periodic changes in the radial velocity of the host star that astronomers can calculate using sophisticated mathematical techniques we’ll cover on another day. These are the techniques planet hunters used in order to find all of the stars they have found circling red dwarf star Gliese 581, which after the two most recent planet discoveries, brings the total to six exo-planets circling this distant star.
The discovery of six exo-planets circling red dwarf star Gliese 581 marks the high-planet mark for the human hunt for planets capable of being a cradle for a new human genesis. Gliese 581g is the only planet of the six exo-planets discovered that astronomers have indicated, so far, as being in the life zone of red dwarf star Gliese 581. This exo-planet orbits its parent star in about 37 days and measurements planet scientists have made of its mass indicates it’s probably a rocky planet with a definite surface and enough gravity to hang onto an atmosphere. Gliese 581g is also tidally locked to its parent star, which means that one side of the planet is always facing its host star and in perpetual daylight. This makes some planet scientists believe that the best place for life to exist would be in the terminator, the part of the planet between the day and night sides of the planet.
Is this how the day would look on the daylight side of Gliese 581g?
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Is there water on Gliese 581g and an atmosphere? Planet scientists are currently trying to find out
Posted: October 27, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: astronomers, astronomy, entertainment, Goddard Flight Center, IBEX, Interstellar Boundary Explorer, interstellar boundary region, NASA, Sol, space history, the heliosphere, the Milky Way galaxy, the solar system, the solar wind | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, heliosphere, IBEX, Interstellar Boundary Explorer, interstellar boundary region, NASA, outer solar system, sky maps of the solar system, Sol, spacecraft, the solar system, the solar wind |
The heliosphere is interacting with the galaxy more than we thought
IBEX recently completed a six-month job. The sky map below is the result.
Mankind is preparing to journey to the outer solar system in the decades ahead and part of the preparation is using NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft to take a look at conditions on the edge of the solar system to get an idea of the environment humans and the spacecraft we send to the edge of the solar system will have to withstand to survive. NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer has just finished producing a new set of maps of the dynamic conditions that exist near the boundary between the local interstellar medium of the galaxy and our own heliosphere. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft creates sky maps of the outer solar system by counting and measuring particles astronomers call energetic neutral atoms that are created near the interstellar boundary region in collisions between charged particles emanating from Sol and star-dust between the stars. These collisions send energetic neutral atoms towards Sol at velocities ranging from 100,000 to 2.4 million miles per hour.
Six months of observations later, this is the result
Astronomers looking at the edge of the solar system using the Interstellar Boundary Explorer recently announced that their views of the edge of the solar system over a six month period have revealed the outer solar system is a lot more dynamic than scientists first thought. That interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium on the other side of the interstellar boundary region are constantly changing as we move through space and time. The first map produced indicates an unpredicted bright ribbon of energetic neutral atoms emanating toward Sol from the edge of the solar system. A bright ribbon that currently has scientists studying the heliosphere scratching their heads in a confused manner because this scenario doesn’t fit any of the preconceived models they had created of the conditions and environment near the outer solar system.
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Posted: October 27, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: Caroline Herschel, constellations, entertainment, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, NGC 253, Sculptor constellation, September 2010, spiral galaxies, star evolution, the Sculptor Galaxy, the Silver Coin Galaxy, William Herschel, WISE | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, Caroline Herschel, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, NASA, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, NGC 253, Sculptor constellation, sister of astronomer William Herschel, South Polar Group, the Sculptor Galaxy, the Silver Coin Galaxy, WISE |
The Sculptor Galaxy heats up
WISE uses four infrared detectors to view the Sculptor Galaxy
In the next leg of the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” we travel 11.4 million light years, give or take a few hundred thousand, to the Sculptor Galaxy NGC 253 (the Silver Coin Galaxy) to view an infrared mosaic of images taken by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Part of the Sculptor group of galaxies (South Polar Group), the 7.6 magnitude Silver Coin Galaxy has infant stars in duty cocoons heating up the galaxies core and broadcasting infrared light into the universe, and is the brightest member of the Sculptor group of galaxies. Young emerging stars in the infrared images shown here are concentrated in the galaxies core and along the spiral arms. The green areas are tiny dust or soot particles left after the formation of these emerging stars that have absorbed the ultraviolet light from these young stars, which makes these particles glow with infrared light the four infrared detectors on WISE can detect. The blue image on the top was taken in the short wavelengths, about 3.4 and 4.6 microns, this photo has stars of all ages scattered all over the Sculptor Galaxy.
NGC 253 is considered a starburst galaxy, and an intermediary type of spiral galaxy, with stars forming and exploding at unusually high rates in an intense star forming period. First recorded by Caroline Herschel, the sister of astronomer William Herschel, on September 23, 1783, the Sculptor Galaxy can best be seen in the Sculptor constellation in the southern night sky in late September by star gazers using a time-machine-to-the-stars. Star gazers with good eyes and a dark sky can even view NGC 253 during this time, just be prepared to spend a little time in the search for the Silver Coin Galaxy.
This is why they call NGC 253 the Silver Coin Galaxy
Posted: October 27, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: Centaurus the Centaur, constellations, entertainment, globular clusters, Hubble Space Telescope, Jay Anderson, Omega Centauri, Ptolemy, Roeland van der Marel, Space Telescope Science Institute, the beehive, the Milky Way galaxy, the Universe | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, Centaurus the Centaur, globular cluster Omega Centauri, Hubble Space Telescope, Jay Anderson, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, Ptolemy, Roeland van der Marel, Space Telescope Science Institute, the beehive |
The bottom photo reminds many of bees moving around in a hive
We join the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” as it boards the Hubble Space Telescope to travel 15,800 light years (~ 4850 parsecs) into Centaurus the Centaur to globular cluster Omega Centauri to peer into the beehive and look at individual stars.The beehive as it’s called was first noted by early star-gazer Ptolemy 2,000 years ago, both the largest and brightest globular cluster orbiting the Milky Way, the beehive is about 12 billion years old. Ptolemy didn’t have the Hubble Space Telescope to view Omega Centauri, so in his writings he refers to the beehive as a single star. In reality, the beehive, or Omega Centauri, is a tightly packed group of about 10 million stars held together by gravity, and orbiting a central gravitation mass, of some kind. In fact, the stars in the beehive are on average only about 0.1 light years apart, so close together that astronomers had to use the powerful vision of the Hubble Space Telescope to resolve individual stars.
The view from the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope’s vision is so sharp astronomers have used the images they have collected over a four-year period of viewing globular cluster Omega Centauri to precisely measure the relative motions of over 100,000 individual stars in the beehive. In an effort to gain insight into the evolution and life cycle of tight groups of stars formed in the early universe, and try to determine if there’s in fact an intermediate mass black hole hidden in the beehive. This study was conducted over a four-year period by Jay Anderson and Roeland van der Marel of the Space Telescope Science Institute using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and high-speed, sophisticated computer programs to measure the relative motions of individual stars in the beehive.
On a clear night in the southern equatorial region of the night sky it’s even possible to view the 3.5 magnitude beehive with the naked eye. Globular cluster Omega Centauri will appear as a fuzzy star that early astronomers believed was a single star. Use astronomical binoculars as your time-machine-to-the-stars, or a telescope, and the view becomes a wonder to behold as wide across in your view finder as the Full Moon. Using an 8-inch time-machine-to-the-stars you’ll view about 1,000 stars, each a faint pinprick of light, and you should notice that the beehive isn’t completely circular. Globular cluster Omega Centauri in fact rotates at a pretty fast speed around its central gravitational mass and astronomers believe this is one reason it’s less than circular.
The Hubble Space Telescope takes the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” into the beehive
Posted: October 26, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: astronomers, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, entertainment, exo-planets, NASA, Spitzer Space Telescope, Upsilon Andromedae B | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, Upsilon Andromedae B |
Do we really know anything?
The more astronomers look around on the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, the more they realise we really have only scratched the surface of the known universe, and we really know nothing. This is exciting, for sure, for astronomers viewing the universe, but it means space scientists are constantly reworking theories and ideas concerning the universe and the way things really work. Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to view a distant gas-giant planet called Upsilon Andromedae b recently noticed a warm spot on this planet’s surface that according to previous ideas seems to be a bit out of position. Upsilon Andromedae b circles very closely to its parent star and belongs to a class of planets astronomers refer too as hot Jupiters, because of the intense temperatures and large, gaseous makeup of these planets. One face of this planet is always directly facing the intense heat produced by the sun and because of this it would seem logical that the hottest parts of this planet should be directly facing the sun. Previous views of hot Jupiters have shown astronomers that it was possible for hot spots on these types of planets to be slightly shifted away from the sun’s direct heat. The viewing of this hot spot on Upsilon Andromedae b using the Spitzer Space Telescope has thrown a wrench into this idea, though, because the hot spot on Upsilon Andromedae b, is offset by a whopping 80 degrees, and sits practically on the other side of the planet.
This is very disconcerting to astronomers who were thinking they were beginning to figure a few things out about hot Jupiter type planets. Scientists are presently working at trying to figure out how the hottest spot on Upsilon Andromedae b could be so far from the main source of heat in the solar system? In this effort they’re currently looking at similar hot Jupiters to Upsilon Andromedae b, to see if they can find any clue to this mystery, and we’ll keep you updated as the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time continues.
How did this warm spot get over here on the cool side of the planet?
Posted: October 26, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: American Astronomical Society, astronomers, Astronomical Societies, astronomy, Chandra observatory, entertainment, ESA's XMM-Newton Telescope, European Space Agency (ESA), Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Goddard Flight Center, International Astronomical Union, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), John Hopkins University, National Solar Observatory, neutron star SGR 0418+5729, Rossi X-ray observatory, Royal Astronomical Society, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Swift observatory | Tags: astronomers, astronomy, ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, NASA’s Chandra observatory, neutron star SGR 0418+5729, neutron stars, pulsars, Rossi X-ray observatory, Swift observatory |
This is an artists conception of a slowly rotating neutron star
Neutron star SGR 0418+5729 shows off
The human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time’ discovered another neutron star on June 5, 2009 that’s currently keeping astronomers and space scientists busy looking into the unusual properties of this newest member of the pulsar zoo. Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra, Swift and Rossi X-ray observatories, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope have been taking a look at this slowly rotating neutron star with an ordinary surface magnetic field as it gives off x-rays and gamma rays. Astronomers think the facts they have collected during their study of neutron star SGR 0418+5729 could indicate the presence of an internal magnetic field much more powerful than the surface magnetic field of this pulsar. This has definite implications in relation to the evolution of the most powerful magnets we have observed during the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” and astronomers are now delving into the mysteries they see within this neutron star to determine the facts.
Astronomers looking at neutron star SGR 0418+5729 think this pulsar is one of a strange breed of neutron stars they refer too as magnetars, which normally have strong to extreme magnetic fields 20 to 100 times above the average for galactic radio pulsars they have viewed in the universe. What really has astronomers viewing SGR 0418+5729 scratching their heads is the fact that over a 490 day period of observing this pulsar astronomers saw no detectable decrease in this neutron stars rotational rate. Astronomers think that the lack of rotational slowing of this neutron star could mean that the radiation of low-frequency waves is pretty weak, which leads them to believe the surface magnetic field of this pulsar must be quite a bit less powerful than normal. This conclusion gives astronomers another puzzle to solve, since with this thought astronomers are wondering where the energy for this neutron stars power bursts and x-ray emissions come from. Does the power and energy creating this neutron stars power bursts and x-ray emissions originate in the twisting and amplifying of this pulsars internal magnetic field in the chaotic interior of this neutron star? Present theories on this indicate that astronomers believe that if the internal magnetic field becomes ten or more times stronger than the surface magnetic field, the twisting or decay of the magnetic field could lead to the production of steady and bursting x-rays through the heating of the pulsar’s crust or the acceleration of particles in the magnetic field. The question astronomers want to answer now is how large can the imbalance between the surface and interior magnetic fields be? If further observations indicate that the surface magnetic field limit is pushed to low, then astronomers will have to dig a little deeper into SGR 0418+5729 to find out why this neutron star is rotating slower.
Posted: October 26, 2010 | Author: warrenh | Filed under: anomalous x-ray pulsars, astronomers, astronomy, compact central objects, Crab Nebula, entertainment, magnetars, neutron stars, rotating radio transients, soft gamma repeaters, supernovae, the Milky Way galaxy, the Universe | Tags: anomalous x-ray pulsars, astronomers, astronomy, compact central objects, Crab Nebula, Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time, magnetars, neutron stars, pulsars, rotating radio transients, soft gamma repeaters, time machine to the stars |
The Crab Nebula was one of the first pulsars viewed during the human "Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time"
Browsing through a popular and well-read book on astronomy from the 1980s, one might get the idea astronomers have pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding stellar bodies we refer to as neutron stars. Astronomers and star gazers have boarded their time-machine-to-the-stars to journey to exotic parts of space and time to view these strange celestial bodies for decades. Astronomers have been studying the central body of the Crab Nebula for hundreds of years, watching as it emits regular apparent emissions in the direction of Earth about 30 times per second as it rotates, in what astronomers have described as a lighthouse effect.
The description of neutron stars in astronomy books from the 1980s isn’t necessarily incorrect, but research in the intervening years has led scientists to believe astronomy books need to be rewritten in parts and filled in a bit more. Astronomers now believe that neutron stars aren’t all born crab-like and that this scenario is only one of a menagerie of weird and unusual celestial objects they refer too as neutron stars. A menagerie of bizarre stellar bodies representing a significant percentage of the total population of neutron stars they have viewed during the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time.”
The menagerie of stellar bodies astronomers are bringing into the pulsar zoo are weird characters, with names like magnetars, anomalous x-ray pulsars, rotating radio transients, compact central objects, and soft gamma repeaters, and properties unlike the famous Crab Nebula. All of these characters constitute at least ten percent of the total population of neutron stars observed and they could represent a much higher percentage. I guess it’s time to rewrite the astronomy books!
What kind of characters will you find in the pulsar zoo? All of the characters you’ll view in the pulsar zoo have a few common and bizarre properties. They all have masses upwards of half a million Earths crammed into a sphere about 12 miles in diameter. The second most compact objects astronomers have viewed during the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time”, at the center of a neutron star lies a reality we as humans have yet to comprehend, with densities at least ten times the densities scientists have recorded inside the atomic nucleus. The laws of nature in this environment are beyond anything we as humans can truly understand at present, but neutron stars also have other properties.
Neutron stars also rotate at a tremendously fast rate and astronomers have brought neutron stars to the pulsar zoo that rotate 700 times per second. A rate of rotation that despite the pull of gravity on the surface of this neutron star, is likely to create a slightly pancake-shaped body, due to the extreme rate of rotation of this neutron star. The question now is just how fast can a neutron star rotate?
What are some of the less common properties of the more bizarre members of the pulsar zoo? We’ll take you through the pulsar zoo on another day and show you some of these weird and unusual celestial bodies. Until then, “Live long and prosper”.
Posted: October 26, 2010 | Author: warrenh | 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 |
The energy of the sun effects all life on Earth in ways we don’t even imagine
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.
