Innehållsförteckning för No. 59 från All About Space

Welcome to issue 59! Gemma Lavender Editor @ NASA It’s one of the first targets that any beginner astronomer looks to on their very first tour of the night sky; it’s the host of dried-out lakebeds and bears the scars of space rocks that have smashed into its rugged, chalky surface. I am, of course, talking about our companion on our lap around the Sun: the Moon. While it’s easy to take its monthly appearance for granted, its very composition and structure can tell us a lot about how it was made in the construction yard of our early Solar System, when a Mars-sized planetary object – dubbed Theia – smashed into our young Earth. This issue, we reveal the new evidence that suggests our initial theories of how the…

Beagle 2 Mars mission ‘didn’t crash-land’, new research finds Fresh evidence suggests the ESA probe almost had a perfect landing in 2003 “ Far from smashing up on impact, the Beagle 2 probe had indeed landed intact” Beagle 2 may not have crash-landed 13 years ago, as once feared. That’s according to new research, which looks set to vindicate the efforts of Professor Colin Pillinger and his team. Fresh analysis suggests the probe didn’t stop communicating on 25 December 2003 after it separated from the Mars Express Orbiter – it was thought that it had smashed into pieces on the planet’s dusty surface, never to be seen or heard again. Instead, it appears that it not only survived but actually started to work. Researchers have been examining images from the…

New light shed on planetary evolution Observations by ESO’s VLT show newborn planets shaping protoplanetary discs New images taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope reveal a snapshot of the complex dynamics of young solar systems. The images, taken by the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE), are among many shedding new light on how planetary systems are made. To study planet formation, we can look at the protoplanetary discs around newly formed planets. SPHERE has enabled us to see how the interactions between the young planets and the discs create vast rings, spiral arms or shadowed voids. RX J1615, a young star some 600 light years from Earth, can be seen within a complex system of concentric rings that resemble those around Saturn. What’s more, the system appears to be just…

What made our Moon? How the Moon was made 1. Theia approaches Earth A Mars-sized object is on an unalterable collision course with the early Earth. 2. Earth gets hit The impactor hits the Earth in a head-on collision, vaporising both Theia and the mantle of the Earth. 3. Material is thrown out The vaporised material from both bodies mixes and is thrown outwards by the huge impact. 4. Debris gathers Smaller objects begin to condense out of the vapour while continuing to orbit around the Earth. 5. The Moon takes shape Many of the smaller objects stick together to form a proto-Moon in orbit around the Earth. 6. Our companion is formed Eventually, all the pieces come together to form the basis of the Moon that we see today.…

Focus on Gaia’s virtual Milky Way Gaia’s virtual Milky Way In order to build the most precise three-dimensional map of the Milky Way and answer the questions we have about our galaxy’s structure, origin and evolution, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Gaia mission is surveying the stars within it and in the local galactic neighbourhood. Pointing with ultra-high precision, the Gaia spacecraft enables its ground control team to monitor its performance, as it regularly reports information back to the ground about its status and the stars that it has observed. And it has been doing so ever since its launch in 2013. Acquired over the course of 18 months and combined to create a ‘map’ of the several million observed stars, the mission’s data creates a beautiful and ghostly virtual…

AKATSUKI at WORK “It took Akatsuki another five years to finally arrive and successfully enter its first orbit of Venus” 2μm camera (IR2) The second of the micron cameras also measures heat radiation, but instead of measuring heat radiation emitted on the surface, it studies the levels found in the lower atmosphere. 1μm camera (IR1) The first of the two micron cameras operating on board Akatsuki, the IR1 was designed to identify active volcanoes on Venus by measuring heat radiation emitted from its surface. Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) JAXA has been using the UVI to study the distribution of specific atmospheric gases, such as sulphur dioxide. It does this on ultraviolet wavelengths between 293 and 365 nanometres. Longwave Infrared Camera (LIR) The LIR instrument is used by JAXA to measure the…

What’s on board? Hall ion-powered thruster Hall thrusters are electric propulsion devices that create thrust by ionising and accelerating a noble gas (those which make up Group 0 of the periodic table, typically xenon). They offer better fuel economy and allow larger payloads and more on-orbit manoeuvring. This thruster is a modified version of those used on Advanced Extremely High Frequency military craft. LightSail The non-profit Planetary Society took advantage of the mission by hitching a ride, putting a small LightSail into Earth’s orbit. It carries four large, reflective sails that measure 32m2 (344ft2) and although too small to sail to the stars, the mirrored sails use the Sun’s energy to generate momentum. Photons within the Sun’s light push on the surface, lending a continuous thrust. CubeSats CubeSats are mini…

Space ANSWERS DEEP SPACE What are the dangers of using a warp bubble? Hannah Sheppard Intense radiation Researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, have calculated that particles and radiation could be caught up in the bow wave of a warp bubble as it travels. When the ship decelerates at its destination, the particles would be released in a burst that would destroy anything in the ship’s path, obliterating the place you’re visiting. Creating a black hole Even if the negative energy doesn’t explode, distorting space-time so heavily could create a singularity, where space-time curves in on itself completely – a black hole. Even if the ship escapes inside its own warp bubble, the consequences for those left behind would be disastrous. Violating causality Travelling faster than the speed of…

Jargon buster Conjunction A conjunction is an alignment of objects at the same celestial longitude. The conjunction of the Moon and the planets is determined with reference to the Sun. A planet is in conjunction with the Sun when it and Earth are aligned on opposite sides of the Sun. Right Ascension (RA) Right Ascension is to the sky what longitude is to the surface of the Earth, corresponding to east and west directions. It is measured in hours, minutes and seconds since, as the Earth rotates on its axis, we see different parts of the sky throughout the night. Declination (Dec) This tells you how high an object will rise in the sky. Like Earth’s latitude, Dec measures north and south. It’s measured in degrees, arcminutes and arcseconds. There…

Naked eye targets This month’s naked eye targets Possibly the most famous constellation in the entire night sky, Orion offers its splendours at this time of year… Betelgeuse Shining at magnitude +0.42, this red giant star – also designated Alpha Orionis – is the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and is easily visible to the naked eye. It’s thought that the star is due to explode in an astronomically short time. Orion’s Nebula The Orion Nebula is easily visible to the naked eye in favourable observing conditions, thanks to its magnitude of +4. Sweep 10x50 binoculars across the star-forming region and the star cluster and the Trapezium group will be visible. Orion’s Belt A faint chain of stars – from left to right, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka – cuts…

Deep sky challenge The Hunter’s nebulae and star clusters There are dozens of deep-sky objects in the constellation of Orion. Some are bright but others are less obvious… © Ken Crawford; ESO When thinking about the deep-sky objects in the constellation of Orion, the first one that springs to mind is – without a doubt – the Great Orion Nebula (M42). However, there are many other lesser known objects and while some are quite hard to see, they can be really rewarding given a little effort. Some are separate objects within or next to more complex regions of gas and dust. For example, there is the better known, but often hard to find, Horsehead Nebula and another ‘hidden’ gem, known as Messier 78, in the constellation of Orion. In fact,…

Contributors “I felt this science-fiction monster had grabbed me and was taking me far away from home”Mike Massimino, former NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle veteran [page 42] Colin Stuart This issue, we take a look at the almighty crash that made our Moon. Colin discovers that astronomers have found out more information about the evolution of our natural satellite. Kulvinder Singh Chadha What happened to the antimatter? Kulvinder is on the case and heads to CERN to uncover the answer to a great mystery of the universe. Jonathan O’Callaghan With the New Year almost upon us, Jonathan highlights the new mission launches and stargazing events of 2017. Don’t miss them! Giles Sparrow Giles reveals the real-life Star Wars worlds in our universe – from Death Star-like Mimas to Tatooine-like Kepler-16b…

News in Brief Los Angeles prepares for asteroid strike NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have worked with other government agencies to simulate what would happen if a fictitious asteroid were on course to impact Earth in 2020. Basing their exercises on Los Angeles, they looked at the various stages of response, bearing in mind that it could potentially destroy structures across a range of 48 kilometres (30 miles) and result in mass injuries. ‘Cosmic whistles’ release a lot of energy Fast radio bursts – or cosmic whistles as they are also known – were first discovered in 2007, and generate vast quantities of energy in just a few milliseconds. Astronomers from Penn State University have now found they also release 1 billion times more energy in gamma rays…

What made our Moon? Moon rock analysis The age of the Moon Analysis of lunar rocks suggests the Moon is almost as old as the Earth, meaning the collision happened within Earth’s first 100 million years. Matching oxygen isotopes The relative abundances of the three stable isotopes of oxygen are the same on Earth and the Moon, suggesting a common origin. No sign of water The Moon rocks show no signs of past interaction with water. All the geology can be explained as rocks being under pressure. Differing potassium isotopes There is slightly more of one particular potassium isotope on the Moon, pointing to it being vaporised during a head-on collision.…

TRACKING AKATSSUKI'S JOURNEY 1 Lift-off The Akatsuki craft successfully launches from the island of Tanegashima, Japan, on 20 May 2010 aboard a H-IIA rocket, along with an IKAROS solar sail. 2 Journeying to Venus After breaching our atmosphere, the Akatsuki spacecraft begins its planned six-month quest from the Earth to the second brightest object in the night sky. 3 Orbital insertion woes On 6 December 2010, JAXA begins the insertion sequence for orbit around Venus. But when the signal is blocked by Venus itself, the orbiter fails to complete the manoeuvre. 4 Prepare for re-insertion With a second attempt planned for five years later, a series of pre-insertion adjustments are made on 1, 10 and 21 November 2010, as well as 17 July and 11 September 2015. 5 In orbit…

Planning a secret space mission 1995 August 1998 Boeing drop tests X-40A vehicle Boeing creates the X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle to 85 per cent scale and it is successfully drop-tested, pleasing the US Air Force. July 1999 NASA plans experimental space plane NASA says it wants to build two vehicles, an Orbital Vehicle and an Approach and Landing Test Vehicle as a test bed for new reusable rocket technologies. 2000 May 2000 A test vehicle is delivered to NASA With a $173mn (£141mn) deal struck between NASA and Boeing, the X-37 project gets underway and is based upon the X-40A. May 2001 Test flights are successful Boeing announce their fifth straight flight of the X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle, dropping it from a Chinook at 4,572m (15,000ft). November 2002 Boeing asked…

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY OUR EXPERTS In proud association with the National Space Centre www.spacecentre.co.uk Sophie Cottis-Allan National Space Academy Education Officer Sophie studied astrophysics at university. She has a special interest in astrobiology and planetary science. Josh Barker Education Team Presenter Having earned a master’s in physics and astrophysics, Josh continues to pursue his interest in space at the National Space Centre. Gemma Lavender Editor Gemma holds a master's degree in astrophysics, is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an Associate Member of the Institute of Physics. Robin Hague ScienceWriter Robin has a degree in physics with space technology and a master's in hybrid rocket engine design. He contributes regularly to All About Space. Tamela Maciel Space Communications Manager Tamela has a degree in astrophysics and writes…

STARGAZER In the shops The latest books, apps, software, tech and accessories for space and astronomy fans alike Book Philip’s Essential Guide To Space Cost: £14.99 (approx. $18.70) From: Waterstones Up-to-date and beautifully illustrated, Philip’s Essential Guide To Space is sure to be a winner for children (and even their parents!) interested in the universe. Printed in a large format and written by space journalist, Paul Sutherland, this hardback book flows in a thoughtfully chronological order, leading the reader through the early days of manned space exploration – most notably the Apollo Moon landing missions – before exploring the planets of the Solar System and out into the wider universe. Vibrant to look at and very well researched and written, Sutherland has packed - what appears to be a small…

Theia by numbers 6,000km The width of the Theia impactor, which is about the same size as Mars 60-80° The axial tilt of the Earth after Theia collided with the planet 2000 The year that the name Theia was proposed by English geochemist, Alex Halliday 1974 The year the giant impact hypothesis was first presented at a conference 45° Although new research suggests a head-on collision, the old picture had a 45-degree glancing blow 4.31 billion The number of years ago it is thought Theia collided with the Earth to form the Moon…

Antimatter universe Road to antimatter 1892 English mathematician Karl Pearson proposes the concept of ‘negative matter’ in a book called The Grammar Of Science. This relied on the concept of the aether, which has since been debunked. 1928 French physicist Paul Dirac re-derives the equation of Austrian scientist Erwin Schrödinger, for quantum particles travelling at light speed. In doing so, he rediscovers the concept of antimatter. 1929 Soviet physicist Dmitri Skobeltsyn and Caltech student Chung-Yao Chao both independently observe electron-like particles, behaving in the opposite way; Skobeltsyn with a cloud chamber and Chao via gamma rays in lead. 1932 American physicist Carl D Anderson conclusively discovered positrons in cosmic rays using a cloud chamber. It confirmed Dirac’s predictions and Anderson received the Nobel Prize as a result. 1954 The European…

Space events 2017 Unmissable SPACE EVENTS of 2017 The most exciting space missions and astronomy events over the next 12 months Written by Jonathan O’Callaghan Every year we see an array of missions launch into space and are treated to many astronomical events. 2017 is no different. We’ll see exciting developments in private spaceflight; SpaceX, for example, will be hoping to debut its new Falcon Heavy, and also become the first private company to launch people into orbit. There are some exciting astronomy missions launching too, most notably exoplanet-hunting satellites from NASA and ESA. Both should teach us more about worlds like and unlike our own. It will be a sombre year, too, as we say goodbye to NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for over a decade,…

MISSION PROFILE JAXA's Akatsuki The Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter has travelled on a rocky path on its journey to study the second planet from the Sun  Mission type: Orbiter “ The Akatsuki mission is intended to uncover dynamic atmospheric ” motions at different altitudes on Venus Operator: JAXA Launch date: 20 May 2010 Target: Venus Arrival in space: 6 December 2010 Primary objective: To study the atmosphere of Venus Status: Operational While JAXA – the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – has only been in operation since 2003, in less than 15 years the organisation has already made many unmanned voyages to the stars. One such operation, the Venus Climate Orbiter (known as ‘Akatsuki’) launched from Earth in 2010, bound to study Venus and its atmosphere. And while its journey has…

A KATSUKI: ATTEMPTING A SECOND ORBIT 6 Dec 2015 Assuming orbit position Following five years of additional travel back towards Venus, the Akatsuki craft begins to shift its telemetry towards the planet it was built to study. 7 Dec 2015 04:30 Tracking Akatsuki begins Now that Akatsuki is beginning its final preparations, the Usuda Deep Space Center begins tracking the craft with its 64m (210ft) beam waveguide antenna. 7 Dec 2015 08:22 Entering the penumbra Roughly four hours later, the Akatsuki spacecraft is tracked entering the penumbra of Venus (in other words, the craft passes through the planet’s shadow). 7 Dec 2015 08:51 Firing the thrusters Half an hour later, the craft begins firing its RCS (reaction control system) thrusters. It does this for around 20 minutes or so in…

REAL LIFE STAR WARS WORLDS As Rogue One hits the cinema, take a tour of some of the planets and moons that could serve as locales in the Star Wars universe Written by Giles Sparrow Saturn’s Mimas Death Star The film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story promises to give us an up-close view of the Empire’s original Death Star space station but, of course, Grand Moff Tarkin’s moon-sized technological terror made its debut in 1977 and was dreamt up by George Lucas and his designers years before that. So it was a big surprise when in 1980 the Voyager space probes found a duplicate for the Death Star on our cosmic doorstep. Even the best Earth-based telescopes showed Saturn’s small inner moon Mimas as just a tiny disc of…

Capture the phases of Venus Improving your pictures It can be quite tricky to get sharp images of Venus… The atmosphere can make it difficult to get sharp images. Make sure you have good focus and that the telescope is sturdy, still and not jiggling in the breeze. You’ll need to adjust the exposure time for each phase, but keep each shot as short as possible to alleviate the effects of the atmosphere. Adjust the ISO to get the best image possible and take lots of shots. The atmosphere will affect some shots, but taking lots will improve your chances of getting a good one. Remember, take care when shooting near the Sun! 1 Set up your equipment Find a flat location and set up your equipment. Attach the camera…