Category Archives: Astronomy

Astronomers have investigated the nature of a very bright and long-duration gamma-ray burst, GRB 190114C, by studying its environment.

Hubbles observations suggest that GRB 190114C displayed powerful emission because the collapsing star was sitting in a very dense environment, right in the middle of a bright galaxy 5 billion light years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser.

Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic explosions in the Universe, beaming out mighty jets which travel through space at 0.99 times the speed of light, as a star much more massive than our Sun collapses at the end of its life to produce a black hole.

GRB 190114C was detected by a suite of telescopes, including NASAs Swift and Fermi telescopes, as well as by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescopes, on January 14, 2019.

Some of the light detected from the object had the highest energy ever observed: 1 TeV (Tera electron volt) about one trillion times as much energy per photon as visible light.

Follow-up observations were made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the environment around GRB 190114C and find out how this extreme emission is produced.

Hubbles observations suggest that this particular burst was sitting in a very dense environment, right in the middle of a bright galaxy 5 billion light years away. This is really unusual, and suggests that might be why it produced this exceptionally powerful light, said Dr. Andrew Levan a researcher at Radboud University.

GRB 190114C: the left panel shows a close pair of interacting galaxies, which is a host system of GRB 190114C; the location of GRB 190114C is indicated with a red circle; the right panel shows the optical counterpart of GRB 190114C. Image credit: de Ugarte Postigo et al, arXiv: 1911.07876.

The astronomers used Hubble, together with ESOs Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Milimeter/submilimeter Array (ALMA), to study the host galaxy of GRB 190114C.

They investigated whether the environmental properties of the host system, which is composed of a close pair of interacting galaxies, might have contributed to the production of these very-high-energy photons.

GRB 190114C occurred within the nuclear region of a massive galaxy, a location that is rather unique.

This is indicative of a denser environment than that in which gamma-ray bursts are typically observed and could have been crucial for the generation of the very-high-energy photons that were observed.

Scientists have been trying to observe very-high-energy emission from gamma-ray bursts for a long time, said Dr. Antonio de Ugarte Postigo, a scientist in the Instituto de Astrofsica de Andaluca.

This new observation is a vital step forward in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts, their immediate surroundings, and just how matter behaves when it is moving at 99.999% of the speed of light.

A paper outlining the Hubble observations appears in the journal Nature.

An additional paper that details an analysis of the galaxy hosting GRB 190114C will be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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V.A. Acciari et al. 2019. Observation of inverse Compton emission from a long -ray burst. Nature 575: 459-463; doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1754-6

A. de Ugarte Postigo et al. 2019. GRB 190114C in the nuclear region of an interacting galaxy A detailed host analysis using ALMA, HST and VLT. A&A, in press; arXiv: 1911.07876

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Astronomers Observe Host Galaxy of Extremely Bright and Long Gamma-Ray Burst | Astronomy - Sci-News.com

Astronomers at Cardiff University have done something nobody else has been able to do. A team, led by Dr. Phil Cigan from Cardiff Universitys School of Physics and Astronomy, has found the neutron star remnant from the famous supernova SN 1987A. Their evidence ends a 30 year search for the object.

SN 1987A was a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was a Type II supernova about 168,000 light years away, and the light reached Earth in 1987. Its scientifically significant because it presented a great opportunity to study core-collapse supernovae through its different phases.

For the very first time we can tell that there is a neutron star inside this cloud within the supernova remnant.

But even though scientists learned a lot by observing it, one question remained unanswered, until now. Where was the neutron star that should lie at the center of the expanding shock-wave? Supernova theory says it should be there, and neutrino data from the time provided the evidence.

Since nobody could find it, different reasons were advanced for why it wasnt there. Some wondered if SN 1987A formed a quark star instead of a neutron star. Another theory suggested that a pulsar was formed instead, and that its magnetic field was small or unusual, preventing us from detecting it. A third possibility was that gas and dust fell back into the neutron star, collapsing it into a black hole.

A more prosaic explanation was that it was there, just obscured by so much gas and dust that we cant see it.

Now this team says theyve found it with the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope. Its hiding in a particularly bright patch of dust, right where the neutron star should be. The prosaic explanation wins again.

The team published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal. The paper is titled High Angular Resolution ALMA Images of Dust and Molecules in the SN 1987A Ejecta. The lead author is Dr. Phil Cigan from Cardiff University.

For the very first time we can tell that there is a neutron star inside this cloud within the supernova remnant, Dr. Cigan said in a press release. Its light has been veiled by a very thick cloud of dust, blocking the direct light from the neutron star at many wavelengths like fog masking a spotlight.

Dr. Mikako Matsuura is a senior lecturer in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. Her research focuses on dust and molecules in supernova and supernova remnants, and she was one of the authors of this study.

Our new findings will now enable astronomers to better understand how massive stars end their lives

Although the light from the neutron star is absorbed by the dust cloud that surrounds it, this in turn makes the cloud shine in sub-millimetre light, which we can now see with the extremely sensitive ALMA telescope, said Matsuura.

Our new findings will now enable astronomers to better understand how massive stars end their lives, leaving behind these extremely dense neutron stars, continued Dr. Matsuura.

The light from SN 1987A was first spotted on February 23rd, 1987. It was about 160 million light years away, but it flared with light equal to 100 million Suns, and was bright for several months.

SN 1987A was the closest supernova in 400 years. Not since Keplers Supernova in 1604 has there been one this bright and this close. (Keplers Supernova was in the Milky Way, only 20,000 light years away.) Its been a constant object of attention to astronomers and astrophysicists, and theyve watched it closely for over three decades now.

The supernova explosion created a massive expanding shock-wave of gas, super-heated to over a million degrees F. As the gas cooled, some of it turned solid, forming a dense cloud of dust. Inside that dust is the neutron star, right where scientists thought it would be.

We are confident that this neutron star exists behind the cloud and that we know its precise location, said Matsuura. Perhaps when the dust cloud begins to clear up in the future, astronomers will be able to directly see the neutron star for the very first time.

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Astronomers Finally Find the Neutron Star Leftover from Supernova 1987A - Universe Today

NGC 6240 is an ongoing collision between three galaxies. Hard X-rays from two sources near the center of the merging galaxies indicated the presence of two supermassive black holes. Astronomers have now found a third. Image: P Weilbacher (AIP), NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) Image: P Weilbacher (AIP), NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

NGC 6240 is an irregular, chaotic-looking triple galaxy system 300 million light years from Earth where three galaxies are in the process of merging. Extensive observations indicated the presence of two supermassive black holes and now, researchers have found a third.

Through our observations with extremely high spatial resolution we were able to show that the interacting galaxy system NGC 6240 hosts not two, as previously assumed, but three supermassive black holes in its centre, said Wolfram Kollatschny of the University of Gttingen.

Each of the black holes has a mass of more than 90 million times that of the Sun, and all three are located within a region spanning just 3,000 light years.

Up until now, such a concentration of three supermassive black holes had never been discovered in the universe, said Peter Weilbacher of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. The present case provides evidence of a simultaneous merging process of three galaxies along with their central black holes.

The discovery of such a triple system sheds light on how galaxies grow over time and how massive galaxies seen in the present-day universe managed to evolve as rapidly as they did in the 14 billion years since the Big Bang.

If simultaneous merging processes of several galaxies took place, then the largest galaxies with their central supermassive black holes were able to evolve much faster, said Weilbacher. Our observations provide the first indication of this scenario.

To identify the third supermassive black hole, researchers used the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope, the 3D MUSE spectrograph and adaptive optics to collect high-resolution spectra.

All three supermassive black holes likely will merge in a few million years, generating powerful gravitational waves. Similar signatures may be detected in the more foreseeable future by Earth- or space-based gravity wave detectors.

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A galactic train wreck with three supermassive black holes - Astronomy Now Online

David, a NASA engineer, has dreamed about working in aerospace since the third grade. What his coworkers dont know: Hes been passionate about astrology for almost as long, and is a practicing astrologer.

For an hourly rate, David offers readings on the weekends to clients. Hes considering writing a book about his method of reading natal charts. But he keeps this passion tightly under wraps because hes afraid stigma against astrology in the scientific community and among lovers of astronomy, the study of celestial objects and phenomena, can cause problems at work. (David is not his real namehe agreed to this interview on the condition of anonymity.)

Im basically in the closet. It sounds terrible but I dont know how else to phrase it, he said.

In reality both astrology and astronomy date back at least thousands of years, with logs of observations by astrologers playing a key role in modern meteorology and other studies. Until the last several hundred years, many astronomers includingfamously, Johannes Kepler openly studied or practiced astrology and believed celestial bodies had an impact on people.

But from a steady parade of think pieces debating the merits of astrology, to an entire segment of Bill Nye Saves the World devoted to challenging the practice, astrology is a favorite target today for many space lovers. Astrologers believe the hate is based on a misunderstanding of what astrology is. Astrologers love astronomy but many astronomers hate astrology, said Annabel Gat, senior astrologer at VICE, adding that she could empathize with the frustration people feel when astrology and astronomy are confused.

A common misunderstanding by skeptics, for example, is that interpretations are based on the physical location of those constellations today. But if you look into a telescope, youll find they are not where theyre supposed to be, David said. Constellations are not equally spaced...Every 72 years, [they] drift by one degree, and every sign is 30 degrees, so after a certain amount of time you can be off by a whole sign.

When an astrologer calls something that is open to interpretation a science, then asserts that the sun is in Virgo right now when its really in Leo, then astronomers are not going to be very happy, he said. Non-astrologers often think the position of these constellations today prove that astrology isnt real.

Modern western astrology bases interpretations on the location of planets, the sun, and the moonalso called planets in astrology vocabularyfrom the perspective of a persons location on Earth. When reading natal charts or doing forecasting (readings of the cosmic weather of the day), astrologers use zodiacal archetypes, which are indeed linked to 12 constellations, but only symbolicallytheir locations do not matter.

Those who use the tropical zodiac base their interpretations on fixed zodiacal seasons that correspond with the seasonal movement of the sun. At one point, the constellations did align with the signs. That was meant to be a temporary guide. Whats really valuable is how the season progresses, how the sun travels through the season...not where the actual stars are, David said. Nature is driven mainly by the season...and we are linked to the natural cycles of nature.

This disconnect between how astrology is practiced and how astrology skeptics think it is practiced, is enough for David to practice astrology in secret. That wasnt always the casehe harbored passion for both science and astrology since age 11, when his parents first brought home a copy of Kepler, a computer program by Cosmic Patterns Software Inc. that generates and interprets natal charts. In high school, he began studying astrology and doing readings for his classmates.

When David went to college to study aerospace engineering, he didnt immediately tell his classmates he was into astrology since he wasnt sure how it would be received. But a writing class that was part of his honors program led to a paper on the correlation between space shuttle disasters and astrology, and his cover was blown. Everyone was impressed [by my presentation], and it helped that the teacher was a strong believer in astrology, he said.

David is careful again at work, howevernot because he thinks his coworkers would take issue with his interest in astrology, but because he worries about people outside of NASA causing trouble. NASA itself has published some literature, including this Tumblr post in 2016 about constellations and the beginnings of Babylonian astrologya post that seems to incorrectly position astrology as being related to current locations of constellations, but which astrology skeptics nevertheless seized on to pen pieces titled, Astrology is bullsh*t. NASA's scathing takedown perfectly explains why.

Astrology is not in our purview, but astronomy and space science is, a NASA spokeswoman said. The Tumblr post merely pointed out the history and math of how the 12 constellations used in astrology came to be. As for employees studying or practicing astrology, she said, What employees choose to pursue personally on their free time is up to them, and we have no concerns or comment.

David doesnt think the Tumblr post is representative of everyone at NASA. People who work at NASA are human..theyre open-minded, he said. But on the outside, people are ruthless with attacks on the Internet, and its those attacks he fears the most. Just like people attack astrologers online, they would attack a government agency like NASA probably ten times harder, he said.

On the list of ruthless critics? The science guy himself, Bill Nye, who debated with astrologer Samuel Reynolds on his Netflix show, Bill Nye Saves the World, in 2017, arguing that astrology is a pseudoscience. Reynolds response was that, in order for something to be a pseudoscience, its practitioners would first have to believe it is a science.

David said he feels the same way. Whereas an attribute of science is repeatability, astrology is an art...its subject to interpretation, he said. My reading will be different than another astrologers reading. He also uses astrology as a tool for self improvementnot as a predictor of the future. My specialty is using astrology to get to know yourself...It gives you clues for how to exploit your strengths and overcome your weaknesses.

Likening astrology to science makes it easier for skeptics to write astrology off, David said. On the scientific level, none of the known scientific forces apply to astrology, he said. Electromagnetic forces are too weak. The gravitational force between you and the person next to you is stronger than the gravitational force Pluto has on you, because its so far away.

Still, some aspects of aerospace design are also based on statistics, not science, David said. A lot of things in aerospace are based on empirical approaches, just as my belief in astrology is. In that sense, theyre both non-scientific. One may plot a bunch of data points on what other planes have looked like, to predict what would happen if the size or weight of a wing is changed.

In astrology, what Ive seen is significant beyond mere coincidence, by far, he said, noting what fans of astrology know well, which is that a persons chart involves not just their sun signthe most common way astrology is discussed in pop culturebut also their moon sign, and all the planets, asteroids, and more.

Even as astrology is enjoying as much popularity as ever, reactions to astrologers can be mixed. Ashley Otero, an astrologer who writes lunar horoscopes for VICEs Astro Guide app and also practices acupuncture, said people have fallen silent or seemed surprised when astrology came up in conversation as an acupuncturist. Once, she was told by a colleague that they didnt want to be associated with that part of her life.

Alice Bolen, an osteopath and astrologer who writes advanced horoscopes for Astro Guide, said negative perceptions of astrology are something every astrologer has to get over at some point. Because it takes so much time and energy to learn astrology, it will always be easy for skeptics to remain skeptical, she said, adding that she disagreed with the idea that things need to be this OR that, like both spiritual and scientific, or intuitive and logical. Arent we dynamic, fluid beings at this point capable of multi-modal analysis?

Meanwhile, Priya Kale, who writes Astro Guides rising horoscopes, likens staying in the proverbial closet to invalidating something David believes in. There comes the bigger question in every individuals lifedo I live in alignment with what I have experienced to be true, or in fear of what society will think? Kale said she was questioned by her family when she said she would be a full-time astrologer.

David disagreed. What I believe in, or what I dont believe in, doesnt need to be validated for the world, he said, adding that he believes he can have more of an impact in the scientific world if he avoids giving ammunition to people who want to attack or discredit his work.

The double life David lives is weighing on his decision of whether or not to publish a book on astrology. In fact, his day job at NASA is also secretive. It works both ways. Most of the things I do at work are non-sensitive, but there are a few things that I have to keep more on the downlow, he said.

Im still not sure how to come out and still be safe..I want to do it, but I have this invisible hand pulling me back, David said. For now, as a naturally private person and Geminithe sign represented by twins and known for dual personalitieshe doesnt mind. Geminis are good at keeping secrets, when they want to.

Download the Astro Guide app by VICE on an iOS device to read daily horoscopes personalized for your sun, moon, and rising signs, and learn how to apply cosmic events to self care, your friendships, and relationships.

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Meet the NASA Engineer Who Secretly Practices Astrology - Free

The most in-depth radio survey ever taken of the southern sky has helped astronomers find the remnants of dead massive stars nobody knew were there. It's also produced some gorgeous images in the process.

It's called GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM), an all-sky survey with the same resolution as the human eye - showing what the sky would look like if you could see it in radio wavelengths.

At radio wavelengths between 72 and 231 megahertz, the survey shows a whole passel o' things that are usually invisible.

"It's the power of this wide frequency range that makes it possible for us to disentangle different overlapping objects as we look toward the complexity of the Galactic Centre," said astrophysicist Natasha Hurley-Walker of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) node at Curtin University, Australia.

"Essentially, different objects have different 'radio colours', so we can use them to work out what kind of physics is at play."

The orange streak in the middle of the image (above) is the galactic plane and galactic centre, glowing brightly due to synchrotron radiation - electrons being accelerated along spiralling magnetic field lines.The blue is where red light is being blocked, for example by the plasma around stars. You can explore an interactive website here for a closer look.

Those bubble-shaped blobs are supernova remnants, left behind expanding into space after a star has exploded. The high-energy electrons that produce synchrotron radiation are thought to be produced by these supernova remnants; but to account for all the synchrotronradiation we see, there would need to be more supernova remnants out there than astronomers have discovered so far.

So, Hurley-Walker and her team conducted an investigation using the latest GLEAM data release to try and find these missing explosions. Younger and closer supernova remnants, or those in densely populated regions, are much easier to find - astronomers know of 295 of them - so the team looked farther away, and in regions that are relatively empty.

(Natasha Hurley-Walker/ICRAR/Curtin/GLEAM Team)

They found 27 previously unknown supernova remnants from massive stars, over eight times the mass of the Sun.

In one particularly empty region of sky, where supernova remnants are really faint, they even found a really young one.

"It's the remains of a star that died less than 9,000 years ago, meaning the explosion could have been visible to Indigenous people across Australia at that time," Hurley-Walker said.

We know that Indigenous Australians have a rich history of astronomy dating back 65,000 years, and their oral traditions often feature stars that vary in brightness. It's possible this supernova could be described in these traditions, although this is yet to be investigated.

Where the supernova would have appeared 9,000 years ago. (Paean Ng/Astrordinary Imaging)

Two of the other remnants identified appear in regions of the sky that have no massive stars, which means it's possible these previously overlooked regions may be a source of hidden dead stars. Others still were particularly old - an exciting find, because supernovae in this age range are very difficult to spot.

The Murchison Widefield Array, the radio telescope in the Australian desert used to conduct the observations, is one of the few radio observatories in a "stable western country" that can observe in frequencies between 80 and 300 megahertz without significant interference.

It's also recently received a significant upgrade. This means, the researchers wrote in their paper, there could be even more supernova remnants that can be found using the GLEAM survey, just waiting to be discovered.

The research has been published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

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This Is What The Galactic Centre Would Look Like if We Could See in Radio Wavelengths - ScienceAlert

The Alpha Monocerotids happened as predicted, even if not quite as we expected.

Michael Boyle Sr. caught an Alpha Monocerotid speeding through Orion last night. I saw 20 meteors in an hour (not 400) from a dark sky site. But they were faint," writes Boyle. Michael Boyle Sr.

Astronomy is just so weird. Sometimes you have to take it in stride. After the hype of the Alpha Monocerotids of which I'm partly to blame the shower proved to be very weak. Michael Boyle Sr., an amateur astronomer in Florida, an ideal spot from which to view the event, reported about 20 meteors per hour at peak. Others saw a few. I stood in a bitter cold wind for an hour and 15 minutes and saw exactly one.

I can't tell you exactly why the shower was a dud, but it's safe to say our understanding of the Alpha Monocerotids is imperfect. While the 400 meteors per hour rate was for ideal conditions over a short period of time, the radiant was low for many observers in the U.S., so fewer meteors were expected. Still, I was surprised that I saw almost none. My skies were excellent despite occasional clouds, with the winter Milky Way easily visible. The radiant stood a couple of fists above the horizon.

While waiting and watching for meteors, other sights made the outing a special one including seeing Sirius reflecting on Lake Superior. Bob King

While astronomers can predict the positions of planets and stars like clockwork, some phenomena remain elusive. The aurorae are a prime example infamous for either not showing up on time, not happening when they're "supposed to," or appearing unexpectedly.

Native American mythology makes room for nature's unpredictable side by including a character called the trickster, which usually takes the form of an animal. Locally, he's a coyote. The trickster is a supernatural being who likes to mess with humans and break the rules. If you're a skywatcher, it eventually becomes second-nature to allow for a potentially spectacular event to not happen at all. Yes, there is disappointment, but there is often joy in the occasion for the simple reason that you showed up.

Showing up means you invested a part of yourself and time to pay attention to something in that big world out there. In doing so, you've also opened yourself up to experiencing something unexpected. At the very minimum, those who did go out last night got to see Orion and Sirius in all their twinkling glory. I saw that . . . and a little more.

The sky over my house was solidly overcast an hour before the start of shower, but for some reason was clear over the neighboring Lake Superior. I wished for a boat. In lieu of that, I got in the car and drove the two miles down to the lake. Incredibly, a chunk of clear sky hung open in the southeastern sky in the direction of Orion and the shower. Elsewhere clouds hung thickly.

Spectacular shower, right? Nope. What you're seeing is actually a train of F-16 jets flying in a formation over Lake Superior. The bright star is Sirius. Bob King

I set up a camera, stood in the 20 mph, 20 wind, and watched. I saw a couple of sporadic or unrelated meteors but no shower members until around 10:37 p.m. That's when I noticed what looked like sparks flashing from the radiant (from where the meteors appear to stream), southwest of Procyon, a star near the constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn.

The sparking continued for several minutes and looked almost exactly like distant fireworks pop! pop pop! pop! I started yelling crazy "wows" into the wind, thinking this was it, the event we had all hoped for until I looked around and noticed there weren't any sister meteors plowing across the rest of the sky. That wasn't normal. A couple minutes later the flashes had shifted further west and eventually it became apparent: I was looking at a bunch of airplanes!

We have a national guard air base in Duluth, Minnesota, and the pilots will routinely practice flying at night over Lake Superior and the neighboring state of Wisconsin. I'd never seen so many bunched up so close at a distance. Their flashing lights mimicked head-on meteor flares and created the perfect fake meteor shower with a "radiant" or direction of travel from the southeast of Monoceros.

By 11 o'clock the Big Dipper began to climb the northeastern sky once again.Bob King

The sole Alpha Monocerotid I saw streaked slowly upward from the Unicorn and sliced across Orion, maxing out around first magnitude. For me, though, the Milky Way was enough, the Big Dipper standing on his handle above wispy clouds, and the roar of waves slapping the rocks below the road where I parked my car.

Now nearly frozen, I collapsed the tripod and got back into the car at 11:30 p.m., strangely content after not seeing what might have been the best meteor shower of my life.

This post originally appeared in AstroBob: Celestial happenings you can see from your own backyard.

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Meteor Shower Was a Dud, But Showing Up Was Half the Fun - Sky & Telescope

High on Cerro Tololo mountain in northern Chile stands the Inter-American Observatory. It is one of a growing number of astronomical observatories in the dry and clean air of the Andes mountains.

Telescopes have been increasingly located in Chile because many other sites in the world have slowly been compromised by air and light pollution or politics like that which stopped the worlds biggest telescope planned for Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Even in Chile, all is not well. Light from distant Chilean cities could threaten Cerro Tololo mountain where more than 20 telescopes now operate.

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Larger telescopes than those on Cerro Tololo already exist in Chile and other high mountains of the world. Such giant telescopes now cost more than a billion dollars each. Because of the high demand for their use and the need to recover costs, observation time on them is often very expensive. Astronomers can wait years for an open slot to make images for their project. Strangely then, it might be soon that the observatory site will no longer matter.

Think of this. How would researchers feel if their photos taken through a major telescope were vandalized by someone who drew bright streaks across them. No matter what telescope they used, no matter where on Earth, similar streaks would show up.

Unfortunately, we dont have to imagine this because just such a vandal has shown up, and he will continue unless we stop him. Elon Musks SpaceX corporation just ruined photos taken at the Inter-American Observatory. The wrecked images are part of a big project to survey the entire southern sky to look for dark matter in galaxies.

The angry astronomers have posted their photos on the internet for us to see. They are marred by multiple dotted tracks caused by SpaceXs latest batch of 60 Starlink satellites that were launched on Nov. 11. These 60 large satellites are the second batch of 60 on the way to as many as 42,000 of them! The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has already approved launch of 10,000.

The satellites are startlingly bright in the night sky, although they will soon climb to a higher orbit where it is claimed they will be just barely visible. While such satellites might not ruin the night sky for casual observers such as you and me with our naked eyes, they will still be ruinously bright in the giant telescopes that are so sensitive to light that they can pick up the equivalent of a candle 500 miles distant.

In a very modest gesture toward astronomy, Musk says the satellites will have their earthward-facing sides painted black, although this hasnt happened so far. It hardly matters because they will make just as big a photographic streak if painted black, and they will thoroughly disrupt radio astronomy, too.

Last spring, Musk said that as with the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomy as a whole needs to move its telescopes into space. That has already happened to a small degree, but there are no plans to move all instruments there even if it was possible. Almost all are far too large to move and/or to deploy in space. Billions of dollars and generations of work will become stranded assets, not to mention thousands of careers of astronomers, their support and thousands more in related disciplines and businesses. In addition, space, especially low orbit space, is not as safe as it might appear (more on this later).

SpaceX is not the only company with plans like this. Amazon and OneWeb have announced their intention to deploy their own giant internet webs. No doubt more entities are hatching similar plans.

Just as important as the future of Earth bound astronomy is the fate of low Earth orbit space. This is extremely valuable territory, and it is owned by no one. It is a commons. Like so many commons, it is being filled to the brim with no overall plan or limit.

The 1960s saw the first artificial Earth satellites. Since then, about 8,700 of them have been launched into orbit. About 4,700 are still up there. That means 4,000 have decayed, most burning up in uncontrolled atmospheric reentries. Taking in account the recent 120 SpaceX satellites launched by just two SpaceX rockets, there are about 1,900 functioning satellites in orbit now. Only a few of these can be deliberately deorbited. SpaceX claims its Starlink satellites will all be capable of planned deorbit. If any fail to orbit correctly or die there, they will be brought down, they say. Space junk, is something they are not intended to become.

Its too bad, but we already have a terrible space junk problem. Its not just the once useful, but now dead satellites whizzing around the Earth. On top of the operational satellites, and pieces of them that have found their way into space, there are the upper stages of used launch vehicles. These are spent rockets that got hung up in orbit once their fuel was expended. Nowadays, these are launched in a way that they will come down, but a number of early day empty rockets remain. These are big pieces of junk. Gases and fuel that came out near the end of the flight also remain in orbit as junk.

Last of all, paint chips come off of dead (and active) satellites and used rockets. These bits are extremely abundant. There are probably millions of chips in orbit. While the thousands of large pieces of space junk are meticulously tracked, its impossible to track the paint chips and other tiny pieces of junk that nonetheless travel in orbits going from 17 to 22,000 mph. This is about 11 to 15 times the speed of a typical rifle bullet.

So far, there has been one satellite collision. There will be more. The end result is many more pieces of junk than the original two satellites.

In 2009, an Iridium 33 and a Kosmos-2251, a commercial and a military satellite, smashed up 490 miles over Siberia at a combined speed of over 26,000 mph. The two objects suddenly exploded in more than a thousand pieces over 4 inches long.

About 70 percent of these pieces of debris are still in orbit.

In 2011, a chunk of the Kosmos-2251 threatened to hit the International Space Station (ISS) but the station was maneuvered out of the way. The chunk missed the ISS with a crew of six by just 130 yards.

A more recent shocker was a near smackup just this September between one of Space Xs Starlink satellites and the European Space Agencys (ESA) large Aeolus satellite. Ahead of time, both the ESA and SpaceX were notified of a possible collision. The ESA responded by increasing the Aeolus altitude. SpaceX missed the message. Later, they said there was a bug in their on-call paging system. The SpaceX satellite was one launched to see how well a deorbiting test went quite an irony.

A large collision does produce very many pieces. Some of these will cause further collisions and even more pieces. Such an event could set in process what is called the Kessler Syndrome.

This refers to a cascade of collisions when there is enough space debris in a low Earth orbit that a collision there would cause a cascade where each collision produces enough new space debris that further collisions will happen until that area of orbital space becomes unusable. That might even make it so that rockets could not fly through the debris cloud to reach high safer orbits.

Natural clearance (deorbiting) of such debris could take a century. Pollution of higher orbits would for practical purposes be permanent.

The movie, Gravity, staring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney was about this.

It would end all the space programs, and what would happen to our economy with its many critical devices that now use satellites?

There are few rules that govern the launch, use and abandonment of artificial satellites except for an old military satellite treaty. It used to be that launching a satellite was expensive. Now at least 60 of them can go up at once; and small organizations, even elementary school classes, can have their own classroom satellite launched. Worse though, in my opinion, SpaceX is acting just like the bandits of old.

At this point, I cant see much beyond adverse public opinion to stop their private grabbing and pollution of near Earth space and destruction of astronomy. These actions will only encourage similar ones by other corporations, organizations, and countries. Another tragedy of the commons is at hand. As usual, the public interest is far behind.

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Destruction of astronomy and the economy - Idaho State Journal

Gazing up at Ithacas clear night skies, one may wonder what exactly is up there just beyond the stratosphere. For anyone curious to learn about the workings of the universe, the stars and the planet, Ithaca Colleges new astronomy club is here to educate members.

Senior Mia Manzer, Astronomy Club president and co-founder, said the clubs leaders want to share their passion and engage students at the college with astronomy.

Manzer said the club will be holding biweekly meetings and will host different events, like movie nights, theme nights and star parties, which are outdoor observation nights. During the star parties, students will have the opportunity to use portable telescopes, look at constellations and learn about the universe beyond their lenses.

The club was created in Fall 2019 and is currently awaiting official recognition by the college, Manzer said.

Freshman Antara Sen, Astronomy Club secretary, said she is hoping to utilize the colleges Clinton B. Ford Observatory, a building on campus that is not currently in use, to hold open events for students and the greater Ithaca community. Sen said the club is going to host fundraisers to raise money to repair the observatory, but it does not have a set fundraising goal yet.

We have a really good observatory that does not get as much usage as it could, said Matthew Price, Astronomy Club adviser and associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Price said the club will be reaching out to students, alumni and faculty for donations to go toward repairing the observatory.

The club itself supports the Ford telescope, he said. It supports outreach. It helps the students to help to do these things. Its about taking the next step and getting everyone active.

Junior club member George Cozma said the club is looking to involve students in the refurbishing process for the observatory. He said the club may open up the observatory during repairs and have students come in to paint the panels of the observatory dome.

We want to generate interest in the beginning, Sen said. We also want to keep that interest alive for the rest of the year.

Cozma said that he is most excited to get the club fully recognized and to begin having regular meetings and hosting events and that planning club activities has been difficult. He said one of the greatest issues the club has is planning around unpredictable weather. The telescopes cannot be used in the rain or snow, so the outdoor star party events are subject to cancellation.

The clubs first star party was scheduled for Oct. 1 on the quad in front of Roy H. Park Hall but was canceled due to impending rain, Manzer said. The club is still working on rescheduling the first event, she said.

The telescopes, which are provided by the college, function better in colder temperatures, so the club will continue hosting outdoor events throughout the academic year and during the winter months as long as the weather permits, Sen said.

Manzer said her goal for the club is to promote engagement in astronomy from students outside of the colleges Department of Physics and Astronomy. Club meetings will be open to all students, and Manzer encourages anyone to attend regardless of their major or experience with astronomy.

We want people to feel involved and be interested in learning about space and our universe and just have fun with it, she said.

Sen said she believes all students could benefit from learning about astronomy. She said the club officials will help to teach and answer any questions inexperienced members may have.

Thats why were building the Astronomy Club, Sen said. In our club meetings, we want to educate our members about the night sky and about the constellations and planets that we will be able to see.

Price said the club is looking to engage the campus and act as an outlet for students who are interested in the topic and looking for help understanding the basics.

The club can be campuswide, he said. It can recruit across the campus and help people be involved. The telescope can be used by any human who has an interest. They just need a little training.

Sen said she believes the club offers useful information about astronomy and space exploration that students may not learn in their classes. She said that the club will make the topic more easily understood and will initiate discussions about current issues in the world.

We have so many crises on earth right now, like the energy crisis, she said. There are so many things wrong right now, and I think that space exploration gives at least a new avenue for research, a new avenue for looking into something that not a lot of people have ventured into.

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Astronomy Club plans events to engage with the community - The Ithacan

Professional and amateur astronomers from the NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project have spotted a co-moving pair of low-mass brown dwarfs in the solar neighborhood.

An artists rendering of two brown dwarfs. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa & Sergio Dieterich, Carnegie Institution for Science.

To shine bright, stars need the energy derived from the fusion of hydrogen atoms deep in their interiors. If too small, hydrogen fusion cant occur, so the object cools, darkens, and turns into something called a brown dwarf.

On the high mass end, brown dwarfs overlap in observable properties with the coolest stars like TRAPPIST-1 which hosts seven terrestrial worlds, said Dr. Jacqueline Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues.

On the low mass end, they overlap with the observable properties of directly imaged exoplanets like 51 Eri b and Beta Pictoris b.

One of the most important and outstanding questions in substellar mass science is how these objects form and evolve, they said.

Co-moving companions are a key sub-population for investigating questions of formation.

The newfound pair of brown dwarfs is older than 500 million years and younger than 10 billion years.

Designated WISE 2150-7520AB (W2150AB for short), it lies approximately 79 light-years away.

The system consists of two brown dwarfs of spectral types L1 and T8.

The primary member of the system, W2150A, has an estimated mass of 72 times that of Jupiter. The secondary member, W2150B, is 34 times heavier than Jupiter.

The distance between the two objects is around 341 AU (1 AU is the distance from the Sun to Earth).

This image shows the brown dwarf binary system WISE 2150-7520AB. Image credit: Faherty et al, arXiv: 1911.04600.

W2150AB was first spotted in data from NASAs Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) via the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project.

The BackyardWorlds: Planet 9 project has been operational since February 2017, Dr. Faherty and co-authors explained.

The scientific goal of the project is to complete the census of the solar neighborhood (including the Solar System, e.g. Planet 9) with objects that are detectable primarily at mid infrared wavelengths and that were missed by previous searches.

Three citizen science users (Sam Goodman, Dan Caselden, and Guillaume Colin) brought to our attention a WISE W2 only detected source with significant motion, the astronomers said.

They used the Google form and emphasized the objects importance by emailing the Backyard Worlds distribution list as well as key researchers on our team. In addition, these users easily noted a bright source that appeared to be co-moving.

The scientists then confirmed the discovery using the 6.5-m Baade Magellan telescope and the Folded-port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) spectrograph.

W2150AB resembles 2MASS J11011926-7732383AB (2M1101AB), the first brown dwarf binary discovered with a separation of over 20 AU, they said.

2M1101AB, discovered in the Chamaeleon star-forming region, was heralded as a source of definitive insight into the formation of brown dwarfs. But W2150AB leaves us with an intriguing question about whether it is an evolved version of 2M1101AB or perhaps a system that formed in a low density cluster that survived unperturbed by interactions with nearby stellar or giant molecular cloud.

Given that it is easily resolved with ground or space based observatories, W2150AB is an excellent benchmark system for understanding how brown dwarfs form and evolve together, the researchers concluded.

Their paper will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

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Jacqueline K. Faherty et al. 2019. WISE2150-7520AB: A very low mass, wide co-moving brown dwarf system discovered through the citizen science project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9. ApJ, in press; arXiv: 1911.04600

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Two Co-Moving Brown Dwarfs Spotted 79 Light-Years Away | Astronomy - Sci-News.com

S&T Associate Editor Sean Walker gives a rundown of last week's astro-imaging conference.

Astrophotography enthusiasts gathered at the San Jose Convention Center in California for the biennial Advanced Imaging Conference (AIC), which ran from November 15th through the 17th. The event, sponsored by various companies and groups involved with amateur and professional astronomy, featured presentations on all aspects of astrophotography from some of the most well-known imagers from around the globe.

With a record attendance of nearly 500, the show featured something for virtually every aspect of astro-imaging, ranging from techniques to improve data collection to processing demonstrations using popular software packages. Luminaries including Rogelio Bernal Andreo, Adam Block, Ron Brecher, and Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn demonstrated some of the work that goes into their eye-catching imagery. While I tried to attend as many talks as I could, three or four were often occurring simultaneously. Fortunately, most presenters gave repeat performances, so attendees had a chance to see everything.

Stephen Bisque readies Software Bisque's new Paramount Apollo Direct Drive Mount.

The AIC also hosts a large showroom floor with manufacturers displaying the latest in robotic telescope mounts, astrographs, and astro-cameras of all makes and models.

The talk of the town this year revolved around the impending end of CCD manufacturing, as well as the maturing state of CMOS technology. Many manufacturers on hand acknowledged the challenges posed by this development, which was not completely unexpected. They have been preparing for it for some time.

In fact, several new astronomical cameras from Atik Cameras, Diffraction Limited, Finger Lakes Instrumentation, and QHYCCD shown this weekend incorporate the latest CMOS sensors. Several new innovations debuted at the show, including a host of new gear from Software Bisque, including the Paramount Apollo Direct Drive mount, and TheSky Fusion integrated control system. Other neat gadgets that caught my eye included a new spectrograph from Starlight Xpress and the Stellina "observation station" (look for our review in the March 2020 issue).

Keynote speaker Professor Ann Zabludoff (University of Arizona), encouraged attendees to get involved with an upcoming program to work with professional observatories to rapidly discover the optical counterparts of gravitational wave events. A quick response to an alert is crucial to understanding the physics behind the progenitors of gravitational waves, and her group is hoping to enlist interested advanced imagers worldwide.

Organizer Ken Crawford presents R. Jay Gabany with the Hubble Award.

The organizers of AIC presented their Hubble Award for significant contribution to the astrophotography community this year to past president R. Jay GaBany for his image-processing innovations and his ongoing pro/am work. GaBany was instrumental in the discovery of galactic star-streams produced when a galaxy cannibalizes its smaller satellites.

Attendee Arora Deepanshu was the lucky winner of the door prize, an L-350 Direct Drive Mount provided by event sponsor PlaneWave Instruments.

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Report from the 2019 Advanced Imaging Conference - Sky & Telescope