Innehållsförteckning för No. 63 från All About Space

First ever data on a black hole’s wind temperatures Observations of outflows from these objects shows temperatures increase and fall sharply © SpaceX; Wade Henning; ESO; M. Kornmesser; NASA; M. Weiss; ESA Scientists using one of NASA’s telescopes have measured the temperature swings of a black hole for the very first time. In a groundbreaking study, they have been checking the rapidly varying temperatures of hot gas emanating from around a black hole and they have discovered that the powerful winds are able to heat up and cool down within hours, leading to ultrafast and extreme changes in temperature. The hot streams of gas result from a black hole’s feeding process. Material in what is called the accretion disc – a “halo” of gas, dust and other material – warms…

Phantom energy Dark matter's radiation and gravity Whatever comprises dark matter, even darker elements could be responsible for its behaviour Dark matter What could dark matter be made of? Higgsino The super-partner of the Higgs boson, if the Higgsino comprised dark matter, then it would have a mass of 1.783kg x 10- 24, which is considerably massive for a particle. Dark photons Another proposed ‘dark force carrier’ for dark matter, dark photons are elementary particles that could be seen by mixing with the particles of light we know as photons, along with how they effect the interactions between known particles. Dark radiation Whatever particle comprises dark matter, some believe that dark electromagnetism mediates the interactions of its constituents. Axion These particles, if they exist and have a low mass, could…

Evolution of the American spacesuit Spacewear has been under constant development since the first launches in 1961 Mercury programme Years active: 1950s to 1960s Missions used for: Mercury programme This started off as the Navy Mk4 pressure suit, developed for unpressurised aircraft, and it was the best option when the Mercury programme began in 1959. Its silver reflective coating set the pattern for fictional spacesuits for years to come. Aluminium coating The silver look of the Mercury suit was an aluminium-coated nylon to reflect heat. Oxygen input Oxygen was supplied to the suit at waist level so it also provided cooling. Biomed connection The spacesuit incorporated medical sensors for checking on astronaut health. Gemini programme Years active: 1965 to 1967 Missions used for: All Gemini missions and Apollo 1 The…

Ocean worlds OCEAN THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S WORLDS Pack your swimming trunks – the Solar System is much wetter than you think Written by Luis Villazon Europa   Size: 25% diameter of Earth Distance from Sun: 4.9-5.4 AU (778mn km or 483mn mi) Biological potential: Possible Type of ocean: Active Size of ocean: Two times Earth’s EARTH Diameter: 12,742km Surface area: 510mn km2 Average ocean depth: 3.7km Ocean volume: 1.35bn km3 Surface: 26% land, 64% water and 10% ice EUROPA Diameter: 3,120km Surface area: 31mn km2 Average ocean depth: 100km Ocean volume: 3bn km3 Surface: 100% ice Europa is Jupiter’s fourth largest moon and the smoothest of all the celestial bodies. There are almost no craters and despite a dense network of cracks and ridges covering this moon, none are higher…

Space junk protection Despite the nature of the problem, a vanguard of missions stand ready to tackle space junk Future NASA & Us air Force Laser broom Fntended to alter the orbit of space junk and induce re-entry, the use of a ground-based ‘laser broom’ was investigated by the US Air Force in the 1990s as part of Project Orion. Ft would impose sufficient thrust on the target to increase atmospheric drag. A 2011 NASA study indicated that repeated high-power laser impingements could alter the course of a piece of debris by ten millimetres (0.4 inches) per second, causing it to re-enter the atmosphere or be prevented from hitting another craft. Conversely though, it has been argued that laser brooms risk fragmenting debris into smaller pieces. Current JAXA KITE Fn…

STARGAZER What’s in the sky? Red light friendly In order to preserve your night vision, you should read our observing guide under red light Jargon buster Conjunction This 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. Ft 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. Greatest elongation This is when the inner…

Deep sky challenge The ‘Realm of the Galaxies’ Evenings reveal a gaggle of must-see structures when we look out into deep space and in the direction of one of the most well-known constellations The region of sky around the constellations of Leo, Coma Berenices and Virgo is known as the ‘Realm of the Galaxies’ and this is a perfect time of year to go hunting for those faint, fuzzy and very distant objects. Galaxies come in all shapes, sizes and distances and this means that they can seem larger and brighter or smaller and fainter, depending on their individual attributes. They can also come in groups. This can be a line of sight effect or it can be the result of gravitational interactions between individual galaxies. Some larger, brighter galaxies…

HEROES OF SPACE James Irwin The deeply religious astronaut who found inspiration during his time on the Moon © NASA To date, just 12 people have ever walked on the Moon. James Irwin was one of them, landing on the lunar surface alongside David Scott on 31 July 1971 in order to embark on the three-day Apollo 15 mission. It was the fourth Moon landing and Irwin was number eight to walk on the Moon, but it was the realisation of a long-held dream for the then 41-year-old pilot. Born on 17 March 1930, Irwin had grown up wanting to go to the Moon. He studied naval science, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1951 and while his mother had wanted him to become a preacher, his sights…

Volcanoes could enable frigid worlds to flourish with life It is possible that planets far away from stars can still have the right conditions to become habitable Volcanoes may be able to boost the temperature of icy alien worlds to such a degree that life may be able to take hold. At least, that’s the theory being put forward by a study that says hydrogen-spewing volcanoes can warm up extremely cold planets located far from their stars – making the scientists behind it rethink the potential habitability of frigid bodies. A report by academics from Cornell University, New York, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, points out that the chance of a planet supporting liquid water increases when there is hydrogen present in its atmosphere. However, since hydrogen is a…

LAUNCH PAD Old stardust detected in young, most-distant galaxy A2744_YD4 contained an amount of dust equivalent to 6 million times the mass of our Sun Astronomers have shed fresh light on the first stars by detecting ancient stardust in a galaxy just 600 million years old. The fascinating discovery of an abundance of interstellar dust at a time when the A2744_YD4 Galaxy was four per cent of its age was made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array. It’s the youngest and most remote galaxy ever seen by ALMA and the dust is said to have been formed by the deaths of an earlier generation of stars. While there is much cosmic dust around today because there have been many supernova explosions over many millions of years, back then the…

Phantom energy SHEDDING LIGHT ON PHANTOM ENERGY And the dark side of the universe Understanding the ‘undetectable’ cosmos could well lead to significant changes in some highly-cherished theories that govern space-time Written by Paul Cockburn “ Distances between cosmic objects are likely to double in another 9.8bn years” We live in an age of precision cosmology. As we continue to observe and study the universe around us, using ever more precise instruments and increasingly sophisticated data processing systems, the findings have invariably proved to be unexpected – if not frankly bizarre. Perhaps the most famous of these findings was the gradual realisation that everything we can see in the universe – every dust-cloud, asteroid field, planet, star, nebula and galaxy cluster – simply doesn’t have sufficient mass to…

Focus on TRAPPIST-1 A system of 7 eArthsized Worlds At a distance of 40 light years away, the ultracool TRAPPIST-1 star has the largest number of planets that could support oceans of liquid water © ESO; N. Bartmann; O. Furtak; R. Hurt; T. Pyle; NASA; JPL-Caltech TRAPPIST-1 system compared to Solar System orbits “ TRAPPIST-1 is the first such system that’s a promising target for extraterrestrial life” With the aid of ground-based and space-based telescopes, astronomers have uncovered a system of seven worlds with sizes similar to our Earth, orbiting a cool red dwarf star. Owning the title of the star with both the largest number of Earth-sized planets and biggest collection of worlds that could support liquid water, TRAPPIST-1 possesses just eight per cent the mass of the Sun…

Interview Return to the Moon Man’s return to the Moon NASA is planning to take astronauts around our natural satellite for the first time since 1972 with the help of the European Space Agency. ESA’s director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration, Dr David Parker, tells us more Interviewed by David Crookes “ It was very much the long-term ambition of ESA to have astronauts heading out beyond low-Earth orbit” INTERVIEW BIO Dr David Parker Dr David Parker is the former chief executive of the UK Space Agency and ESA’s current director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration. He has a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Southampton University and began working for British Aerospace Space Systems in 1990 on technology research for missions. During his career, he has worked…

How cluttered is it up there? The near-Earth environment has gone from one kid on the block to a littered neighbourhood 1957 Amount of space debris: Two objects, plus rocket stage debris Launched in October and November 1957, Russia’s Sputnik 1 and 2 were the first artificial satellites. Within weeks, both satellites’ batteries had expired and they were de-orbited in early 1958. 1992 Amount of space debris: More than 5,000 tracked objects Anti-satellite tests in the 1960s, as well as rocket explosions, left a significant amount of debris in orbit. Damage to crewed spacecraft, including Apollo and the Shuttle, increased in frequency. 2017 Amount of space debris: Over 21,000 tracked objects, although total figure extends into millions The 2007 Chinese missile test and the 2009 collision produced thousands of fragments…

Observing our nearest star The Sun Our nearest star offers an impressive amount of activity for you to view Some of the best views of our Sun are the easiest to capture, especially with the help of white light and hydrogen-alpha filters, which you can attach to your telescope. When observing the Sun through a white light filter, we see the photosphere as naturally as if we could look at it with the naked eye. Views will be affected by conditions, the Sun’s activity and your equipment. Telescopes with apertures of 4” will reveal granulation, caused by the convection of material from the Sun’s interior to the surface. Under poor conditions, you’ll witness very coarse mottling across the surface. They are extremely short-lived, with individual granules lasting 20 minutes.…

How to use Planet Hunters 1 Get started Log onto planethunters.org for the first time and you’ll receive a short and simple tutorial that teaches you what you need to know. 2 Get to know the light curve You’ll see a light curve, with time on the X-axis and brightness on the Y-axis. Each point represents a measurement of the star’s brightness. 3 Spot the dips The transits appear as measurements that are much dimmer than the rest of the light curve. This shows a planet transiting three times in 22 weeks. 4 Seeing variable stars Some stars have natural dips; they are intrinsically variable stars or eclipsing binaries. This shows in the wavy nature of this light curve. 5 Cepheid variable light curves The website encourages you to tag…

Planet of the month This month’s planets The king of the Solar System heads for opposition this April, while Mars and Saturn remain good targets for evening and morning astronomers Jupiter Constellation: Virgo Magnitude: -2.5 Direction: Southeast Jupiter is now a beautiful object, rising in the east as the Sun is setting in the west, and is so bright it demands you look at it. As Jupiter rises around the same time as the Sun sets it is visible all night, which means you can observe changes on and around it. Look at Jupiter through a small telescope at any point between sunset and sunrise and you’ll see dark bands of cloud crossing its flattened disc – two or four depending on the aperture of your telescope and the magnification.…

How to… Set up a GoTo telescope Some mounts come with sophisticated computer systems that allow you to find night-sky objects and track them automatically You’ll need: • A GoTo telescope • A power supply • A compass • A finderscope Many modern telescope mounts, even for small telescopes, come with what are known as ‘GoTo’ computers. There are several manufacturers who supply such systems with their telescopes and each varies a little from the other. Some are more powerful, while others are more intuitive. They all, though, do basically the same thing – that is, they enable your telescope to find and track thousands of objects in the night sky. This is great for beginners who perhaps are not very familiar with the heavens, but also for the more…

How to… Watch the storms of Jupiter The king of the Solar System is a fascinating world. It is easily seen through a small telescope and you can watch its gaseous dynamic atmosphere in action © NASA You’ll need: • A telescope • A selection of eyepieces • Coloured filters • A notebook/drawing pad The largest planet in our Solar System is also one of the most active. It has a thick, dense atmosphere and due to its very fast rotation about its polar axis (it rotates in just under 10 hours), it has striking looking cloud belts, which wrap around the planet like hoops. The atmosphere is made of dense, toxic gases such as methane, ammonia and hydrogen. The huge gravitational pull of the giant planet also means that…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FFRST CONTACT WFTH THE UNFVERSE @ ESO A celestial cat meets a cosmic lobster This superb new image captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Survey Telescope (VST) reveals the glowing cosmic clouds of gas and dust catalogued as NGC 6334 and NGC 6357 – also known as the Cat’s Paw Nebula and the Lobster Nebula thanks to their evocative shapes – in the constellation of Scorpius. The three ‘toe-pads’ of the Cat’s Paw Nebula and the ‘claw-like’ regions of the nearby Lobster Nebula are comprised mostly of hydrogen, which has been energised by the hot, ultraviolet light of brilliant newborn stars. These baby stars are massive, weighing in at around ten times the mass of the Sun. Thanks to the impressive power of the…

Highest-ever resolution map of dark matter is created A 3D image using data from the Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most detailed maps of the elusive material Yale University astrophysicists have produced one of the most detailed maps of dark matter ever created. It has been compiled using Frontier Fields data from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been observing a trio of galaxy clusters using a technique called gravitational lensing, allowing it to peer into more distant and older parts of the universe. They say it has let them map the granularity of dark matter within the clusters “in exquisite detail.” The scientists also claim it has served up a compelling case for the existence of cold dark matter since it closely matches computer simulations of dark…

Phantom energy and the expansion of the universe The mysterious form of dark energy could very well cause our cosmos to end by being torn apart © Nicholas Forder The first stars Some 300mn years in, stars begin to burn, creating heavier elements from hydrogen and helium. The very first stars are thought to be Population III stars, which are extremely hot, massive and contain next-to-no metals. Universe begins to inflate Not long after the birth of the universe, an inflationary period begins and ends within much less than a second. Today, the cosmos continues to expand but at a much slower rate. The Big Bang Some 13.8bn years ago, the universe began in a rapid expansion that originated from an area of high temperatures and high density. Galaxies are…

Best spacesuit yet IS THIS THE BEST SPACESUIT YET? With the launch of its new capsule, Boeing is also launching a new spacesuit. All About Space finds out if its stylish design is a cut above the rest Written by Robin Hague “We needed a suit that was airtight, could withstand the pressure differential, and could get the crew down in an extremis situation” Chris Ferguson, director of Crew and Mission Operations, Boeing Gloves The gloves are still fitted by rotating metal rings but these have been re-engineered to be smaller, lighter and comfortable. Also included is touch-screen capable fingers, as touch-screen interfaces have great advantages in spacecraft; they are reconfigurable and have no moving parts. Boots Commercial crew suits will be used extensively…

Future Tech Moonstream Moonstream NASA’s art and design outreach projects have produced a stylish Moon rover © Nicholas Forder “ The Moonstream is the ultimate luxury space lounge, designed to entice people to be more interested in a mission to the Moon” Propulsion and power The study doesn’t cover how the Moonstream is powered. The Moon has abundant solar energy but in the absence of large panels, the Moonstream would probably have to be nuclear powered. Driving cab The driver would be leaning forward in a reverse seating position, with their head in the top of the inclined window for a clear view forwards and downwards. Central chassis The body sits on a central chassis that will carry all the critical propulsion, power and life support systems, and it also…

Andromeda Galaxy Explorer’s Guide Andromeda Galaxy The closest major galaxy to our own is a complex spiral containing up to 1 trillion stars The Andromeda Galaxy is famously the most distant object visible to the naked eye from Earth – a cloud of stars so far away that its light takes 2.5 million years to reach us, but so big and bright that its nucleus still appears to our eyes as a smudge of light that resembles a star. Known since ancient times, it takes its name from its home constellation of Andromeda (The Princess), and is often known simply as Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, or M31, from its designation in French astronomer Charles Messier’s famous catalogue of non-stellar objects in the sky. M31 is the…

Danger zone: historic problems with space debris Dodging forgotten satellites to recovering radioactive debris, space junk endangers life on Earth and in space JAN 1978 Kosmos-954 incident a nuclear-powered soviet reconnaissance satellite deviated from its orbit and re-entered the atmosphere over Canada on 24 January 1978, depositing radioactive debris over 124,300 square kilometres (48,000 square miles). as part of Operation Morning Light, a team recovered debris, which included fragments whose radioactivity could kill a human within hours. The incident led to the soviets paying Canada $3 million (£2.4 million) in compensation. SEP 1991 STS-48 debris manoeuvre Fn September 1991, the crew of Shuttle Discovery were forced to perform the first Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (COLA), when it became apparent that the Soviet Union’s Kosmos-955 satellite might pass within 1.1 kilometres (0.7…

Using your instrument The basic principle of using a telescope is pretty much the same, whatever the type you choose Focuser The focuser enables you to obtain clear views of your target. Each eyepiece has a slightly different point of focus, so you might need to adjust the focuser much more from one eyepiece to the next. Star diagonal Employed to make viewing comfortable, star diagonals hold the eyepiece and bend light at an angle of 90 degrees. Objective Serving as the eye of the telescope, the objective – a mirror or lens – gathers light from the object you’re observing and directs it to create an image for the observer. Eyepiece The eyepiece slots into the star diagonal and magnifies the image, putting the focused image where your eye…

Moon tour Messier and Messier A These two small craters are an intriguing sight through a telescope this month © NASA Look at the Moon through a powerful telescope, a simple pair of binoculars or even just your naked eyes, and you can tell it had a violent past. Countless craters spatter its surface, each one a wound blasted out of the crust by the impact of a piece of rock or metal that came barrelling in from deep space. Most are so old that they’re now just pits, empty eye sockets staring sightlessly from the Moon. But a few craters are young enough that they are still surrounded by systems of rays, bright lines of debris thrown out across the lunar surface when they were formed. The largest ray…

Watch the storms of Jupiter Observe the Great Red Spot Jupiter's greatest anticyclone never fails to disappoint One of the best times to view Jupiter and its atmosphere is around opposition, when it is closest to us and directly opposite the Sun in the sky. It will appear as large as it can be and so seeing detail will be that bit easier. Use as high a magnification as the atmosphere allows but don’t be afraid to go down a level, as your eye is remarkably good at seeing detail, even if the planet seems quite small in the field of view. Experiment with coloured filters, too, as these can really bring out some of the details. 1 Use a tracking motor Set up your telescope with a tracking motor…

Telescope advice Meade Polaris 130MD Looking for an upgrade? This reflector is ideal for those on a budget, allowing the user to track night-sky objects and observe the planets and the deep sky “ For a relatively low price, we were impressed with the build of the 130MD” If you’re on a strict budget but you’re looking for a telescope that’s a bit more advanced than a standard beginner’s instrument, then we can highly recommend the Meade Polaris 130MD. If you’re new to astronomy or have never owned a telescope before, we strongly suggest going for a telescope with a much more simple alt-azimuth mount – the Polaris 130MD employs an equatorial mount that a novice will find frustrating to use and set up. On the plus side though, if…