Innehållsförteckning för No. 105 från All About Space

Love isolation? NASA wants you to spend eight months locked in a Russian lab Words by Chelsea Gohd © ESA Do you thrive in social isolation? NASA is looking for people to spend eight months locked in a Russian lab for a new experiment. When humans return to the Moon and travel to Mars, they will need to be prepared for long-duration space travel and even longer stays on these far-off destinations. Currently NASA’s Artemis program aims to land humans on the Moon for the first time since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission landed in 1972. While the Moon is the main goal of NASA’s Artemis program, the agency’s larger goal is to send crewed missions to Mars. But long-term space travel and habitation won’t be easy. Such missions will present…

Future of the Solar System WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE SOLAR SYSTEM? It may be a model of long-term stability, but our solar neighbourhood’s future holds some cataclysmic events and spectacular changes Reported by Giles Sparrow Ever since it settled down from a period of early turbulence about 4 billion years ago, our Solar System has provided a more or less stable home to Earth and the other planets and bodies that orbit the Sun. But how long will it stay that way? It’s certain that the Sun is ultimately doomed to brighten and swell enormously in size, becoming a red giant whose bloated outer atmosphere will threaten to engulf the Solar System’s inner worlds 7 billion years from now – but long before then there are…

The Sun’s evolution to a black dwarf The long-term fate of the Solar System is governed by the star found at its centre. Fortunately we have several billion years before the Sun goes through any major changes © Tobias Roetsch Ageing Sun As our star uses up the hydrogen fuel in its core, it brightens slowly over the next 5 billion years. Monster star At its greatest extent the Sun will probably have a diameter equivalent to Earth’s current orbit. White dwarf remnant Eventually the Sun’s core is exposed as an incandescent, slowly cooling white dwarf star. Over billions of years this fades away to become a cold black dwarf. Black dwarf Due to the time it takes for them to evolve, a black dwarf has never been observed. Growing…

THE NANOCRAFT What is StarChip? © Adrian Mann Multiple launch Hundreds or maybe thousands of StarChips will be sent into space at the same time by the launcher. Beam them up Earth-based lasers create a single powerful beam that will point at the StarChips, accelerating them to 160.9 million kilometres (100 million miles) per hour. Sailing across the universe The nanocrafts will carry a light sail measuring one metre squared (10.8 square feet) – large enough to capture the incoming laser beam. Lightweight Both the StarChip and the light sail – which will be just a few hundred atoms thick and made of metamaterials – will weigh less than one gram (0.04 ounces). Reflective coating It is important that the light sail is highly reflective so that it doesn’t absorb…

Could the Higgs destroy us? THE HIGGS BOSON COULD IT DESTROY THE UNIVERSE ? Could the God Particle cause space and time to collapse, as supposedly quoted by Stephen Hawking? Reported by Kulvinder Singh Chadha © Tobias Roetsch Big Bang 0.00 seconds Widely considered to be the beginning of our universe. This point contains all of time and space, all of the universe’s fundamental forces and is made of pure energy. Inflation 10 -  38 seconds A brief and rapid period of expansion of the universe begins, thought to be a consequence of the strong nuclear force becoming distinct. Quarks and hadrons 10 -10  seconds The expanding universe cools enough for fundamental matter particles to form. These will combine into protons and neutrons as the universe nears…

Perseverance PREPARE FOR PERSEVERANCE THE NEXT MARTIAN ROVER Launching on 17 July, NASA’s new craft will hunt for signs of past microbial life, cache rock and dig for soil samples – all while preparing for human exploration of the Red Planet Reported by Lee Cavendish © NASA/JPL-Caltech Meet the new Martian rover from NASA, Perseverance. This next-generation explorer was built upon the successes of its predecessors Spirit, Opportunity and the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), also known as Curiosity. All of these robot explorers have worked towards helping us better understand the planet next door, Mars, and in the wider scope of science understanding the past biology and geology of other worlds. Now the Mars 2020 mission’s Perseverance rover is looking to go even further. The launch date for this…

Sound on other worlds WHAT WOULD YOU SOUND LIKE ON OTHER WORLDS? ALL ABOUT SPACE REVEALS HOW THE HUMAN VOICE WOULD DIFFER IF ASTRONAUTS WERE ABLE TO TALK ON OTHER WORLDS Written by Lee Cavendish © Kevin McGivern; Getty Testing your vocal cords on another planet is a deadly experiment. If you were to voyage to another planet, step out of your spaceship and remove your helmet in order to announce your arrival, you’d be dead within minutes… or even seconds. However, if you were able to speak on other planets and moons throughout the Solar System, the varied atmospheres and surface conditions would affect your vocal cords in a different way than on Earth, making you sound like a different person. Your ability to speak is possible because of…

Sizzling summer nebulae SIZZLING SIZZLING SUMMER SUMMER NEBULAE NEBULAE Take a tour of some of the treasures held in the warm Northern Hemisphere © Adrian Mann© NASA/ JPL-Caltech Summer: where the days are longer and the nights are shorter and lighter. Many look forward to the warmer weather as spring makes way for the extra hours of daylight. But more often than not the astronomer has turned their attention to the most obvious target in the sky – the Sun. Many find that unless you’re willing to stay up late and wait for our star’s very last rays to leave the sky and plummet the hemisphere into darkness, night-sky astronomy needs to take a back seat until the cooler and longer nights draw back in.…

ASK Space Our experts answer your questions SPACE EXPLORATION Why are space-based Earth observations so important? Satellites can trace the transport and transformation of atmospheric gases like ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and even some organic compounds. Some of these gases can also be seen day and night. We use these gases to study how emissions from cars, industry, trees and fires all mix and change as they travel across the globe. Studying atmospheric chemistry from the ground is like if you are trying to make a map but you can only walk over a few square kilometres and look around. If you get in a hot-air balloon, helicopter or aeroplane, you see the connections and context. It’s like that for us, except with something that is evolving and changing. ©…

Moon tour Theophilus How to find one of the most striking but overlooked craters on the lunar surface © NASA Lunar observers often feel frustrated during summer because the Moon’s low altitude means they have to see it through the murk and haze that lingers above the horizon, so the Moon often appears bloated and its image wobbles and warps in eyepieces. However, the Moon is always a lovely sight through a telescope, so this summer why not try and track down something new – or something you’ll almost certainly have seen before but not spent time looking at properly. Set between the dark stain of Mare Nectaris to the southeast and Sinus Asperitatis in the north, Theophilus is one of the most striking craters on the whole of the…

First super-fast pulsar found snacking on companion in far-flung star cluster © ESA China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) has uncovered the first known pulsar in Messier 92, a globular star cluster roughly 27,000 light years away in the constellation of Hercules. The swiftly spinning and pulsating object, which goes by two names – PSR J1717+4307A and M92A – forms one part of an eclipsing binary system in which it is siphoning material from a stellar companion. A research team led by Zhichen Pan and Di Li from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), which operates FAST, has shown that M92A spins at a rapid speed of 316.5 rotations per second and co-orbits a star lighter than our Sun, weighing in at 0.18 solar masses.…

Colonising the Solar System Earth has a few billion years left before the brightening Sun makes its surface uninhabitable, so where could we go next? The Moon 2050 -180°C to 120°C (-292°F to 248°F) Pressurised environment No atmosphere – however, this means that environmental conditions on the Moon will change less dramatically than they will back here on Earth. Mars 2100 -55°C (-67°F) Pressurised environment or terraformed planet Carbon dioxide – but planetary engineering could trigger a greenhouse effect and release trapped ice, warming the planet to produce breathable air. Callisto 2200 -140°C (-220°F) Pressurised environment None. Callisto would remain too cold to terraform until the Sun enters its red giant phase, but is the safest of all Jupiter’s moons in terms of radiation risk. Titan 2300 -180°C (-292°F) Pressurised…

Destination Alpha Centauri Source: Wikipedia Commons © Skatebiker© ESO Alpha Centauri A The fourth-brightest star that can be seen from Earth. It is 4.37 light years away and 1.1 times the mass of our Sun, but with a luminosity 1.52 times our own star’s. A third star A faint red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri is our closest star – about 4.25 light years from the Sun. Alpha Centauri B The star is not alone. It is part of a binary star system that includes Alpha Centauri B – a star slightly smaller than our Sun but with half its luminosity and a lower temperature. A discovered planet A world called Proxima Centauri b was discovered by astronomers in August 2016, orbiting parent star Proxima Centauri. The aim is for…

What is the Higgs boson? This particle was discovered in 2012 and mediates mass via an energy field Finding hints of the Higgs Was mass mediated by the Higgs boson? That’s what the Large Hadron Collider tried to find out by using electromagnetic fields to whip beams of protons around and around to nearly the speed of light. When these protons collide, energy is released and new particles are made – which can provide evidence for the Higgs boson! When particles collide, excess bosons or quarks may appear. How? They were formed from the Higgs boson. Mass and matter Matter particles, such as those that constitute atoms, contain mass. These particles come in two categories – quarks and leptons – while forces such as electromagnetism are carried by bosons. Higgs…

Ingenuity: meet the Mars Helicopter The success of this prototype could transform planetary exploration forever © NASA/JPL-Caltech Mass 1.8 kilograms (four pounds) Rotor blade span Approximately 1.2 metres (four feet) Length of mission One or more flights within 30 days Propulsion method Counter-rotating blades that spin at about 2,400 revolutions per minute (rpm) Key objective The first-ever technology demonstration of powered flight on Mars Onboard equipment Navigation sensors, computers and two cameras: one colour and one black and white Landing site Jezero crater – the helicopter will be in the belly of the Perseverance rover Height Approximately 0.5 metres (19 inches) Power system Purely solar-powered…

Sizzling summer nebulae NEBULAE WITH YOUR BINOCULARS Sweep the summer skies for the best nebulae using nothing more than a pair of binoculars Eagle Nebula (M16) Constellation: Serpens (the Serpent) Right ascension: 18h 18m 48s Declination: -13° 49’ Magnitude: +6.0 The Eagle Nebula is a bit tricky during the summer nights, but with a careful eye you can spot it. It’s home to a cluster of stars that are easier to see than the nebula itself. It’s also famous for being the home of the Pillars of Creation, but you’ll need a 12-inch telescope or an astrophotography camera to see those. © NASA; Source: Wikipedia Commons © Martin MacPhee Trifid Nebula (M20) Constellation: Sagittarius (the Archer) Right ascension: 18h 02m 23s Declination: -23° 01’ 48”’ Magnitude: +6.3 Near to the…

STARGAZER What’s in the sky? ESSENTIAL GUIDES AND ADVICE FOR AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Source: Wiki commons© Roberto Mura 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…

STARGAZER The Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere Myriad targets are on offer for astronomers with the right equipment The constellations of Lyra, Aquila, Hercules, Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ophiuchus are in easy reach this month. Fans of tight-knit globular star clusters should turn their attention to the constellations of Ophiuchus and Hercules, where they will be rewarded with sights of the extremely stellar-rich Messier 10, Messier 12, Messier 13, Messier 14 and Messier 92. Meanwhile, astrophotographers will get great enjoyment from the binary star system Rho Ophiuchi in Ophiuchus, which is surrounded with a red emission nebula and very impressive light and dark dust lanes. Cygnus is another goldmine, with the Veil Nebula, Fireworks Galaxy and the Crescent Nebula being excellent choices for observation in particular. Using the sky chart This…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE Nighttime rover exploration © Fernando Gandía/GMV Unfortunately you can’t test a rover’s ability to traverse the Moon without actually going there. European Space Agency (ESA) engineers have done the next best thing: drive a test rover across Tenerife at night in order to simulate the low-light conditions on the lunar surface. Tenerife’s Teide National Park recently accommodated the ESA’s Heavy Duty Planetary Rover to gain experience with the craft’s navigation hardware and software on volcanic and rocky ground. This terrain at night is supposed to simulate the conditions at the Moon’s poles, which the space agency hopes to explore in the near future. Blue marks the spot for baby stars © NASA/ ESA & Hubble This is certainly a peculiar galaxy, but…

Massive galactic disc could change our understanding of galaxies A massive, rotating disc galaxy that first formed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang could upend our understanding of galaxy formation, scientists suggest in a new study. In traditional galaxy formation models and according to modern cosmology, galaxies are built beginning with dark-matter halos. Over time those halos pull in gases and material, eventually building up full-fledged galaxies. Disc galaxies, like our own Milky Way, form with prominent discs of stars and gas and are thought to be created in a method known as ‘hot-mode’ galaxy formation, where gas falls inward towards the galaxy’s central region where it then cools and condenses. This process is thought to be fairly gradual, taking a long time. But the newly discovered galaxy…

IN COOPERATION WITH SPACE.COM Scientists peer back in time to find new evidence for watery plumes on Europa Words by Chelsea Gohd Scientists looked back in time to offer new evidence suggesting that plumes of water vapour shoot out into space from Jupiter’s moon Europa. In this new study researchers used observations made by the Galileo spacecraft to simulate the movement of positively charged subatomic particles called protons near the moon. While flying by the icy world in 2000, Galileo found fewer protons around Europa than researchers expected. They chalked this up to issues with the probe’s instrument. The team found that some of these ‘missing protons’ weren’t registered because a water plume shooting out from the moon blocked them from the instrument. A different instrument on Galileo conducted magnetic…

Future tech Satellite repair droids SATELLITE REPAIR DROIDS What to do when an outer space satellite breaks down? Send in the robots! © Adrian Mann Droids could soon be placed on satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) around Earth to make the job of repairing and maintaining them much easier – and cheaper. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking at the possibility of installing robots on satellites before they are launched into orbit. Once on board the droids would be responsible for a number of tasks, including inspecting the satellites, fixing any problems and performing orbit adjustments. This project, named Phoenix, would slash the cost of dealing with problems of satellites that orbit at a distance of 35,400 kilometres (22,000 miles) above Earth. Satellites operating in a low-Earth…

3 FREE DIGITAL BOOKS FOR EVERY READER! 60 SECOND SCIENCE Welcome to 60 Second Science. This fact-packed guide introduces fundamental principles in physics, biology and chemistry with clear, concise explanations, infographics and illustrations. From the Big Bang to quantum mechanics and from fossils to Wi-Fi, you’ll be up to speed with the latest breakthroughs in no time. Throughout the book you’ll also have the opportunity to put these theories into practice with some easy-to-follow experiments. See how circuits work with batteries made from lemons, detect Earth’s magnetic field by making your own compass, learn how to instantly freeze water with a single touch and much more. What are you waiting for? Dive in to discover how the wonderful world around you works. HOW IT WORKS BOOK OF SPACE Space has…

Could the Higgs destroy us? Understanding the Higgs and the universe’s destruction It took two detectors at the LHC to find the Higgs boson © Nicholas Forder © Adrian Mann 1 LHC Accelerator ring A large vacuum tube accelerates protons via powerful electromagnets to near-light speed. 2 ATLAS Collision detector With solenoid magnets and radiation trackers, ATLAS can detect different particles from beam collisions. 3 CMS Compact Muon Solenoid Using different technologies, the CMS confirmed ATLAS’ detection of the Higgs boson. 4 Muon detectors Detecting the charged particles known as muons is an important task for ATLAS. The muon is similar to an electron, but 200-times more massive. Decay into muons is one of the ‘signatures’ of the Higgs boson. 5 Shielding 6 Hadronic…

Perseverance’s instrumental suite This investigative arsenal will reveal remarkable things about ancient Martian life and habitability x3 images © NASA/JPL-Caltech 1 Mastcam-Z Its objective is to take high-definition videos, panoramic colour and 3D images of Mars, with the added ability to zoom in on distant objects. 2 Radar Imager for Mars’ subsurface experiment (RIMFAX) Designed to see beneath the surface, RIMFAX will use ground-penetrating radar to detect underground geological features. 3 Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) This experiment will test if we can produce oxygen from Mars’ carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. This will have implications for the production of breathable oxygen and rocket propellant on other worlds. 4 SuperCam SuperCam will search for signs of ancient life by analysing the chemical composition of rocks and…

TARGET NEBULAE WITH YOUR TELESCOPE Peer deeper into the universe using greater optical aids © NASA; Source: Wikipedia Commons © s58y The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) Constellation: Cassiopeia (the Queen) Right ascension: 02h 33m 22s Declination: 61° 26’ 36” Magnitude: +6.5 This area of star formation can be tricky to find at first, but it has an associated star cluster called Melotte 15 that’s a good signpost. By using a low magnification in a small four- to eight-inch telescope, armed with an OIII or UHC filter, you can tease out this heart-shaped nebula from the darkness of space. Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) Constellation: Draco (the Dragon) Right ascension: 17h 58m 33.4s Declination: 66° 37’ 59.5” Magnitude: +9.8 © NASA; Source: Wikipedia Commons© Michael F. Schönitzer The Cat’s Eye Nebula…

STARGAZER Celestron NexStar 6SE A high-quality telescope for beginners and intermediate astronomers alike, the Celestron NexStar 6SE is an instrument that promises years of usage It’s not often that we come across a telescope that’s an ‘all-rounder’, but we were quite taken with the Celestron NexStar 6SE, especially since it can be used by both beginners and astronomers who have a good night-sky knowledge. It’s also quite difficult to outgrow this telescope given what it can offer and how easy it is to accessorise with extra eyepieces and other kit. The 25mm Plössl eyepiece supplied gives a magnification of 60x, but we’d advise purchasing a selection of eyepieces and filters – bearing in mind that the highest useful magnification is 354x – to get the very best out of this…