BERENICES - SPIDERMAN - THE SWAN
CONSTELLATIONS
Compiled By Dee Finney
| DREAM - 4-11-07 - I spent the evening with my young daughter alone.
We ate a large home-cooked meal and had a glass of wine with it.
The men, my husband, his friend and our sons had gone to a basketball game
for the evening.
Around 2 - 3 a.m. they all came home. There were some women with
them, they seemed to be relatives of mine, like my cousin, my sister, and
another woman, plus my daughter, so there were 5 men and 5 women.
I offered to put a meal on the table for the men - some were hungry
and some were not.
I put all the food on the table anyway, a large cooked turkey still
in the rectangular pan, a lemon meringue pie, a chocolate cake, -
everything they could want.
I could barely stay awake, having waited for them, but they were all
excited from the basketball game. I mentioned to the other man that we
seemed to be on different time schedules, which he agreed with.
In the pantry, there was a lunch box with a thermos of hot
coffee,
which I thought about drinking myself, but I didn't want to be awake all
night, and nobody else wanted any, so I left the coffee in the thermos.
I sat down in the kitchen with the men and my husband's friend sat
next to me with the food because he was hungry. I noticed how handsome he
was. His shirt was sleeveless, and I could see a large patterned
tattoo on his arms and back like the character 'Spiderman' though it was
subtle, and I could see his skin too. I wondered if he was the real
'Spiderman'.
Two of the women came over to me. One was tall and blonde, my cousin
- she had a long neck like a swan and she tilted her head from side to
side, swaying it, while the other woman, who was shorter and darker,
kissed me on both sides of my face and on my neck, leaving lipstick
prints. She kissed me 5 times. Someone said, "It looks like
you've been
initiated.!"
My daughter then came into the kitchen with a big bag of sugar and
dumped it all into a big white bucket. I asked her why she was doing that.
She said that each of my 5 sons had had their own container of sugar, each
with their names on it and that didn't seem right to do.
I then walked into the next room, which was dark, except for the
reflected light from the kitchen. My sister Bernice was standing there -
stark naked.
I told her to go into her room and go to bed, because there were 5
men in the house. I reached out to grab her arm and she said that if I
touched her she was going to call the police.
I told her that if she didn't go into her room and go to bed, I was
going to call the mental hospital.
So she went into her room and crawled under a huge pile of blankets
which had a big bear fur coat laying on top of the pile.
I made sure she was well covered, then when I went to leave the room,
the door was closed and the bed was too far over so I couldn't leave the
room without moving the bed.
So, I was virtually trapped in the room with a woman who could be
crazy out of her mind and I became afraid.
I leaned against the bed frame and fortunately the bed shifted over
enough so I could open the door and leave.
I awoke as I opened the door.
|
READER COMMENTS:
Hi Dee,
4-12-07
That dream made me daze out for a few moments...and next thing I
knew 30 Minutes past. I think your dream refers to the returning of
a comet that maybe the end of life as we know it. The reunion...of
the Father, Quetzalcoatl or Buffalo Calf Woman...or a comet coming
from ComA Bereneices...or that star cluster. You had a last supper for
when the men arrived...and were trying to supress the "exposure" of
your sister or allow others to see her nakedness. Maybe deep within
you know what is coming but can't allow it to come out due to the
fear and panick it would bring.
The great bear, the swan were constellations...maybe timing and
direction of approach...at 2am. (like a thief in the night)..
The synchonistic song...like a lover returning to shower you with
kisses... Maybe the kisses were like the meteor storm dream I had.Showering the earth with kisses may not be so romantic as what we
usually think of.. Look at all of it as metaphors...numbers 5 +
5
could be a time frame.
I understand your quest to find the meaning...but Dee, I think that
meaning won't be found on Google..it is buried inside of you.
luv ya...Cassie
see: Comet coming dream:
NOTE: The earth was hit by
several meteors, and Hale Bopp Comet came by and we ... This fits
in with my own dreams and visions and David Booth's visions ...
www.greatdreams.com/disaster-dreams.htm |
page recently where I received a
message from IESOUS OF NAZARETH in a dream: THE BLEEDING ... A
mighty comet will fall to earth and great destruction will ...
www.greatdreams.com/disaster-dreams3.htm |
At present, it is too dim for the
naked eye, but "the comet is a spectacular ... fits in with my own
dreams and visions and David Booth's visions about an ...
www.greatdreams.com/incoming_comet_2006.htm |
|
When I got up, wrote down my dream and walked into the
computer room to research the symbolism of the dream,
my radio had turned itself on and was playing this song:
Artist/Band: Montgomery John Michael
Lyrics for Song: Cover You In Kisses
Lyrics for Album: Leave A Mark
You say it's cold back there in Denver
A foot of new snow on the ground
You're all bundled up in blankets
I'd give anything to be there with you now
I'd cover you in kisses
Hold you in my arms
That's all that I can think of
Every minute we're apart
Darlin' I've been livin'
For the moment that we touch
So I can cover you in kisses
And wrap you in my love
Baby keep that fire burnin'
Pour a glass of that sweet wine
Let your hair down on your shoulders
And I'll be there just in time
To cover you in kisses
Hold you in my arms
That's all that I can think of
Every minute we're apart
Darlin' I've been livin'
For the moment that we touch
So I can cover you in kisses
And wrap you in my love
Darlin' I've been livin'
For the moment that we touch
So I can cover you in kisses
And wrap you in my love
I wanna cover you in kisses
And wrap you in my love
|
Coma Berenices (abbr. Com, gen. Comae Berenices)
April 9th
A very faint northern
constellation considered to be part of
Leo by the Greeks but made separate by Gerardus Mercator in 1551. It
lies between
Canes Venatici to the north,
Virgo to the south,
Leo to the west, and
Bootes to the east, and contains the north galactic pole. Although
devoid of bright stars, Coma Berenices abounds in galaxies and other deep
sky objects.
|
Objects of Interest
|
|
Name |
Type
of Object |
Notes |
|
Coma Star Cluster |
open cluster |
See separate entry |
|
M53
(NGC 2287) |
globular cluster |
Appears as a misty patch in small telescopes, close to Alpha Com.
Magnitude 7.7; diameter 12.6'; R.A. 13h 12.9m, Dec. +18° 10' |
|
Black Eye Galaxy |
galaxy |
M64
(NGC 4826). See separate entry |
|
M88
(NGC 4501) |
galaxy |
SBb
galaxy. Magnitude 9.5; diameter 6.9' × 3.9'; R.A. 12h 32.0m, Dec. +14°
25' |
|
M98
(NGC 4192) |
galaxy |
Sb
galaxy. Magnitude 10.1; diameter 9.5' × 3.2'; R.A. 12h 13.8m, Dec. +14°
45' |
|
M99
(NGC 4254) |
galaxy |
Sc
galaxy. Magnitude 9.8; diameter 5.4' × 4.8'; R.A. 12h 18.8m, Dec. +14°
25' |
|
M100
(NGC 4321) |
galaxy |
Sc
galaxy. Magnitude 9.4; diameter 6.9' × 6.2'; R.A. 12h 22.9m, Dec. +15°
49' |
|
Coma Cluster |
cluster of galaxies |
See
separate entry |
|
| Name |
Abbreviation |
Pronunciation |
|
Coma Berenices |
COM |
CO muh BER uh NI ceez |
| Size (Degrees ²) |
Meaning |
Classification |
| 386 |
hair of Berenice |
object |
About 243 B.C. Ptolemy Euergetes set out on a military expedition
against the Assyrians, who had murdered his sister. Berenice, who was
proud if her beautiful long golden hair, vowed to sacrifice her "amber
tresses" if he returned victorious. When he did, Berenice, cut off her
hair, and placed it in the temple of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. That
night the hair disappeared, enraging the king and the queen. To save the
situation, and the lives of the temple priests, Conon the court
astronomer, announced that Berenice’s gift had received such favor that
Aphrodite had taken the hair and placed it in the sky for all to admire.
Messier Objects in Coma Berenices:
M-53 M-64
M-85
M-88
M-91
M-98
M-99
M-100
|
History: This
dim Northern constellation lies between Ursa Major and Leo. It was introduced in
1687 by the Polish astronomer Johannes Havelius. The
French Petit Lion, the German Kleine Lowe,
and the Italian Leoncino. Proctor gave it the title
Leaena, the Lioness. Formed from eighteen stars between the
greater Lion and Bear.
Aratos is supposed to have alluded to
these "ungrouped, unnamed" stars under the hind paws of Ursa Major (saying "Each
after each, ungrouped, unnamed, revolve." - Brown's Aratos.).
Ideler (translator of Kazwini, an
Arabian book) surmised that they were the Arabs' Al Thiba’
wa-Auladuha, the Gazelle with
her Young, shown in this location on the Borgian globe. [The gazelle left tracks
in the sky as they ran, they are the three pairs in Ursa Major, the 3 sets of
"leaps," closely-spaced pairs of stars on the feet of the bear.]
Lach (Frederick W., German scholar),
that the stars of Leo Minor were Al Haud, the Pond, into which the Gazelle
sprang, as noted under Coma Berenices. Allen says this on p.168 under Coma
Berenice. "In early Arabia Coma Berenice was Al Haud,
the Pond, into which the Gazelle, our Leo Minor, sprang when frightened at the
lashing of the Lion's tail (Coma Berenice is the tuft of the Lion's tail in
their figure of Leo.); although some of the Desert observers (Arabian
astronomers) claimed that this Pond lay among the stars of the neck, breast, and
knees of the Greater Bear; and Lach substituted it for the Gazelle in our
location of Leo Minor. The Gazelle being imagined from
the unformed stars since gathered up as Leo Minor, and the springing of the
animal being due to its fear of the greater Lion's tail. Ideler adopted this
from Al Tizini and the Cufic globe at Dresden; while the Borgian globe shows a
Gazelle and her Young in the same location. Kazwini (an
Arabian book), however, described this group as extending over the eyes,
eyebrows, ears, and muzzle of the figure of our Ursa Major". - Allen
p.168. (under the constellation Coma Berenice)
The Denderah planisphere located
here the zodiacal Crab, but whether by design, or in error, is unknown; although
some see in the Lesser Lion's stars, with others from the Bear's feet, a
well-marked Scarab (the Nile dung beetle) that was
Egypt's idea of Cancer. This was in a part of the sky thought to have been
sacred to the great god Ptah.
Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair
You can find Coma Berenices -- and the Coma Berenices star cluster --
between these tail stars, too. The cluster stands about one-third the way from
Denebola to Alkaid. (See star chart).
A casualty of light pollution, Coma Berenice's beautiful star cluster once
enraptured people in the ancient world. Nowadays, stargazers must seek out the
inky darkness of night to recover its lost glory. A relatively modern
constellation, stargazers of olden times saw the cluster's wispy luminescence as
the tufted tail of Leo, the Lion, or a sheaf of wheat waved by Virgo, Goddess of
the Harvest.
The diffuse star cluster -- described as "a curious twinkling, as if
gossamers spangled with dewdrops"* -- has provided much yarn for sky lore. Of
the many tales handed down, the story of "Berenice's Hair" wins modern acclaim.
When, in the third century B.C., Berenice's husband safely returned home to
Egypt after battle, Queen Berenice (who never had a bad hair day) cut off her
gorgeous locks, to offer thanksgiving to the gods. According to legend, Venus
became so pleased that she placed Berenice's golden tresses amidst the stars.
Transit Date of principal star:
9 April
|
The constellation Coma
Berenices refers to a classical story concerning the hair of Berenice,
the wife of Ptolemy III of Egypt. While the story is an old one, the
constellation is relatively new, being introduced by Tycho Brahe
(1546-1601).
- According to the story, Ptolemy had waged a long war on the Assyrians,
since it was they who had killed his sister. As Ptolemy returned
successfully from the war, his wife Berenice had her beautiful tresses
ceremoniously clipped and given to Aphrodite, laid out on the temple
altar.
As the evening's festivities continued, the shorn hair was discovered
to be missing. The priests might be sacrificed, if the queen's hair
couldn't be found. It was the astronomer Conon of Samos who came to their
rescue - proclaiming that Aphrodite had accepted the gift of Berenice's
hair, which now shown brightly in the heavens next to Leo.
The stars that form the constellation really aren't that remarkable to
look at, only a handful of fourth-magnitude stars, including three Bayer
stars. Yet there are
several fine binaries, eight Messier objects and the Coma Star cluster, not
included in Messier's list.
-
- From Denebola (beta Leonis) draw a line to the bright star to
the southeast, Arcturus (alpha Bootis). Alpha Comae is found on
this line at about the midpoint.
Now proceed north from alpha Comae to beta Comae and then
west about the same distance to gamma Comae. These three stars form
half of a nearly perfect square. They aren't very prominent, and you will
have to have a nice dark night in order to study them.
Alpha Comae, sometimes called Diadem, has the same diameter as
our Sun, and is 62 light years away with a luminosity of nearly three. It's
a rapid motion binary (see below) and in the same field is the globular
cluster M53 (see below).
Beta Comae is actually the brightest star in the constellation,
and certainly the closest at 27 light years. It too has a diameter equal to
the Sun.
Gamma Comae is an orange star about 260 light years away. It is in
the same region as the well-known Coma Star Cluster, but isn't a member of
that group.
Double stars in Coma Berenices:
Alpha Comae is a rapid binary of two equal stars (5.05, 5.08). The
companion orbits every 25.87 years and is presently decreasing; the current
(2000) separation is less than 0.05". The
orbit is an unusual one,
seen perfectly edge-on.
Zeta Comae is a fixed binary: (6.0, 7.5; PA 237º, separation
3.6").
17 Comae and 24 Comae are two binaries with contrasting
companions.
-
- 17 Comae is one of the members of the Coma Star Cluster. The
primary is white, the companion a soft blue: 5.3, 6.6; PA 251º, separation
145.3".
From gamma Comae follow the slight arc of stars south that
bend to the east. First comes 14 Comae, then 15, and finally 17.
24 Comae is even more spectacular: a fixed binary with an orange
primary and emerald component. (5.2, 6.5; PA 271º, separation 20.3").
-
- This binary is located eight degrees west of alpha Comae and one
degree north.
35 Comae is a slow double with an
orbit of over 300 years.
However, unlike most long period binaries, this one is presently quite
close. The companion is beginning to emerge from its close pass with the
primary, gradually lengthening its separation, recently having achieved one
arc second of separation. The present values are: 5.2, 7.2; PA 185º and
separation 1.04".
-
- 35 Comae is in a fairly barren part of the sky, found five
degrees northwest of alpha Comae.
Struve 1633 is a very pleasant fixed binary: 7.1, 7.2; PA 245º,
separation 9.0". To find it start from gamma Comae, then drop down
exactly one degree south where you'll find 14 Comae. Struve 1633 is one
degree to the west.
Struve 1639 is a closer binary: 6.8, 7.8; PA 327º, 1.6". This is a
slow moving binary with an
orbit of 678 years.
-
- This double star makes a small triangle with 12 Comae and 13 Comae.
Start at 14 Comae and look south. The bright star to the east is 15 Comae,
while below this and to the west is 13 Comae. Nearby, immediately
southwest, is 12 Comae. Now look between these two stars to the southeast,
where you'll find the third point in the triangle. This is Struve 1639.
(Not shown on the chart due to crowding.)
Variable stars in Coma Berenices:
The constellation doesn't have a wealth of variable stars. We list the
two variables that might be of some interest.
-
- 13 Comae is an alpha-CV type variable with very small range
(5.15-5.18).
R Comae is a long-period variable with period of 362.82 days,
and range of 7.1 to 14.6. Thus the maximums are nearly a year apart. In
the year 2000 the maximum should occur in the first week of December.
Deep Sky Objects in Coma Berenices:
There are eight Messier objects (M53, M64, M85, M88, M91, M98, M99, and
M100), as well as a number of other fine galaxies, with NGC 4565 being the
best of the bunch.
However the best object is the unrivalled open cluster known as ‘The Coma
Star Cluster’.
The Coma Star Cluster
-
- Best seen in binoculars, the cluster fills the entire field of view:
about 40 stars spread out over a five degree area.
The cluster was once known as the tuft of hair at the end of Leo's
tail. It now constitutes Berenice's golden tresses.
The cluster extends south from gamma Com (which is not, however,
a member). At about 270 light years away, the cluster is one of the
closest to our solar system.
-
- The brightest member of the cluster is 12 Comae. Other
fourth-magnitude members are 13 and 14 Comae, and another thirty or so
fainter stars go to make this one of the loveliest sight in the heavens.
The Messier Objects in Coma Berenices
-
- M53 is a globular star cluster one degree northeast of alpha
Comae. The brightest Messier in the constellation (7.7), it tends to
be most impressive with larger telescopes, which are needed to resolve the
individual stars. The cluster is thought to be 65,000 light years away.
M64, the Black Eye Galaxy, is a bright (8.5) compact
spiral one degree east-northeast of 35 Comae. The "black eye" can only be
seen under ideal conditions with large telescopes. The galaxy is over 20
million light years away.
M85 is a bright spiral galaxy and member of the Virgo Galaxy
Cluster, most of which is found about five degrees further south. All the
remaining deep sky objects discussed also belong to this cluster.
M88 is a many-armed spiral galaxy some forty million light years
away. Quite bright (9.5), it's a favourite with many Messier observers.
M91 (NGC 4548) is another spiral galaxy, but is a rather
confusing object, sometimes being labelled M58. It is a rather faint
galaxy (10.2) and one wonders why, with so many galaxies in the region,
spreading down through Virgo, that this one was chosen by Messier.
M98 is a faint (10.1) spiral seen practically edge-on, lying
just half a degree west of 6 Comae.
M99 is roughly one and a half degrees east-southeast of M98. An
open spiral seen face on, its several arms are visible in large scopes. It
has a brightness of 9.8.
M100 is the largest of these spiral galaxies, although difficult
to appreciate in small telescopes. It's seen face-on, and has a brightness
of 9.4.
NGC 4565 is a well-known edge-on spiral with highly visible dust lane
from end to end. It's the largest galaxy of its type and has a visual
magnitude of 9.6. The galaxy is found one degree due east of 17 Comae.
Coma Berenices has many more deep sky objects, particularly the southern
regions, where it borders Virgo. This is a fertile part of the sky to
investigate, as the evenings grow a little warmer and more inviting.
|
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
2006 April 13
Star Cluster Dreams
Montage Credit & Copyright: Jose Suro
Explanation: Located some 7,000 light-years away toward the
constellation Perseus,
this pair of open or galactic star clusters really is visible to the unaided
eye and was cataloged in 130 BC by Greek astronomer
Hipparchus. Now
known as h and chi
Persei (NGC 869/884), the clusters themselves are separated by a few hundred
light-years and contain stars much younger, and hotter than the Sun. But what if
this famous double star cluster were closer, say only 700 light-years distant
from our fair solar system,
crowding our sky
with stars? Astrophotographer Jose Suro also imagines a
clear, moonless,
dark night sky on a warm evening near tranquil waters. The foreground is
illuminated by starlight in
his
composited dreamlike image of the cluster pair. He notes that while the
solar system is not in the vicinity of such rich clusters of stars,
dark night skies and warm evenings
can still
be inspiring on planet Earth.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2006 October 27
The Spider and The Fly
Credit & Copyright:
Steve Cannistra (StarryWonders)
Explanation: Star clusters and nebulae
abound in the
ancient northern constellation
Auriga - a region that
includes the
interesting pair NGC 1931 (lower left) and IC 417. In this
gorgeous color image, an
imaginative eye toward the expansive
IC 417 and diminutive
NGC 1931 suggests a
cosmic
spider and fly. About 10,000 light-years distant, both are young open star
clusters formed in interstellar clouds and still embedded in
glowing hydrogen gas. The more compact NGC 1931 is about 10 light-years
across with contrasting blue hues characteristic of dust
reflected starlight.
The Spider and the Fly (poem)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Spider and the Fly is a poem by
Mary Howitt (1799-1888), published in 1829.
- "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spider to the Fly,
- "'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy;
- The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
- And I have many curious things to show you when you are there."
- "Oh no, no," said the Fly, "to ask me is in vain;
- For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."
- "I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
- Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
- "There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and
thin;
- And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
- "Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said
- They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"
- Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, "Dear friend, what can I do
- To prove that warm affection I've always felt for you?
- I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
- I'm sure you're very welcome - will you please take a slice?"
- "Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind sir, that cannot be,
- I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"
- "Sweet creature," said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise;
- How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
- I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
- If you step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
- "I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to
say;
- And bidding good morning now, I'll call another day."
- The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
- For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again;
- So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
- And set his table ready to dine upon the Fly.
- then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
- "Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
- Your robes are green and purple, there's a crest upon your head;
- Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are as dull as
lead."
- Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
- Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
- With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew, -
- Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
- Thinking only of her crested head - poor foolish thing! At last,
- Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
- He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den
- Within his little parlor - but she ne'er came out again!
- And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
- To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er heed;
- Unto an evil counsellor close heart, and ear, and eye,
- And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.
-
The Hopi creation myth
depicts three chambers underground, where animals develop into
humans, and progress upward, with the help of Spider
Grandmother. ...
www.greatdreams.com/spiders.htm
|
The ten vortices of
the third chakra may have been indicated in the Spider Web
formation that appeared next to Avebury in 1994. This can be a
way that a clairvoyant sees the third chakra from the front,
with the sub-elements forming the shape. In the middle is the
Hara-Line centering the whole crop circle.
http://www.greatdreams.com/crpchk2.htm
|
Spiders and
weaving, are related symbols. The Nordic, Yggdrasil Tree
has ... Arachne was changed into a spider, and her skill
in weaving was left to her. ...
www.greatdreams.com/myth/weaving.html
|
10 Fold Spider Web, 11
August 1994, Avebury, Wiltshire ... (The Spider Web
formation appeared next to Avebury Stone circle. ...
www.greatdreams.com/numbers/music/joemusic.htm |
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2006 October 28
Comet SWAN Outburst
Credit & Copyright: Paolo Candy
Explanation: Near its closest approach to planet Earth,
comet SWAN (C/2006
M4) brightened unexpectedly
earlier this
week, becoming visible to naked-eye observers under dark night skies.
Telescopic observers also noticed
dramatic changes in
the comet's colorful
coma and tail,
seen in this view recorded on October 25th. To make the picture, images totaling
eight minutes in exposure time were stacked and centered on the comet as it
moved relatively quickly against the background star field. The picture covers
about 1 degree on the sky. Northern hemisphere observers should still
find the comet an easy
binocular target in the early evening, even though moonlight will increase the
overall sky brightness in the next few days.
Look toward the
northwestern horizon and the constellation Hercules.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2007 January 4
Central Cygnus
Credit & Copyright: Processing -
Noel Carboni,
Imaging -
Greg
Parker
Explanation: Supergiant
star Gamma
Cygni lies at the center of the Northern Cross, famous
asterism in the
constellation
Cygnus the Swan. Known by the proper
name Sadr, the
bright star also lies at the center of this gorgeous skyscape, featuring
a complex of stars,
dust clouds, and glowing nebulae along the
plane of our Milky Way
galaxy. The field of view
spans over 3
degrees (six Full Moons) on the sky
and includes
emission nebula IC 1318 and open star cluster NGC 6910. Left of Gamma Cyg and
shaped like two glowing cosmic wings divided by a long dark dust lane, IC 1318's
popular name is understandably the Butterfly Nebula. Above and left of Gamma Cyg,
are the young, still tightly
grouped stars of
NGC 6910. Some distance estimates for Gamma Cyg place it at around 750
light-years while estimates for IC 1318 and
NGC
6910 range from 2,000 to 5,000 light-years.
Then a huge swan came up to her and she
bent to kiss it on the beak. Suddenly, the swan dipped his whole head
into her mouth and pulled out her heart and ...
www.greatdreams.com/leda/leda-swan.htm
|
Deneb is the tail of the swan,
which is flying south for the winter along the Milky ... Brahma ' s
vehicle is the swan or goose, the symbol of knowledge. ...
www.greatdreams.com/constellations/ursas-bootes.htm |
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
2004 October 3
Comet Hale-Bopp and the North America Nebula
Credit & Copyright:
Juan Carlos Casado
Explanation: Comet Hale-Bopp's
1997 encounter with the inner
Solar System allowed
many
breath-taking pictures.
Above, Comet
Hale-Bopp was photographed crossing the constellation of Cygnus, sporting
spectacular yellow
dust and blue ion tails. Visible on the right in red is the
North America Nebula,
a bright
emission nebula observable from a dark location with binoculars. The
North America Nebula
is about 1500
light-years away, much farther than the comet, which was only about 8 light
minutes away. Several bright blue stars from the
open cluster
M39 are visible
just above the comet's
blue ion
tail.
Farsight Professional 1: Hale-Bopp.
NOTE: All SRV sessions are conducted blind. ... The target cue for this
session was "Anomalous object near Hale-Bopp ...
www.greatdreams.com/nostra1.htm
|
Goro reports that the appearance of
Comet Hale-Bopp, first discovered in July 1995, was clearly predicted in
the GWN material. One of the subjects in the ...
www.greatdreams.com/nostra2.htm
|
A controversy developed after the
announcement of the object near Hale-Bopp. Some experts claimed that
Chuck Shramek had misinterpreted his observations, ...
www.greatdreams.com/nostra3.htm
|
Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp
intersected the star on the same date (APR-11) on two adjacent years (Hyakutake
in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997). ...
www.greatdreams.com/proph.htm
|
There are some indications that the
comet Hale-Bopp may be related. ... NOTE: The earth was hit by several
meteors, and Hale Bopp Comet came by and we went ...
www.greatdreams.com/comets_database.htm |
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
2004 July 28
A Cygnus Starfield
Credit & Copyright:
Steve Cannistra (StarryWonders)
Explanation: In the constellation of the
swan near the
nebula of the pelican
lies the gas cloud of the
butterfly
surrounding a star known as the
hen.
That star, given the proper name
Sadr, is visible to
the unaided eye but found here as the brightest object on the upper left. Sadr,
at 1500
light years distant, is near the center of the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318) in
a bright region given the comparatively staid label of IC 1318B. The
fantastic starfield
that surrounds Sadr
contains stars old and young, an
open cluster
of stars (NGC 6910
visible on the image left), vast clouds of
hydrogen gas
that glow red, and picturesque pockets and filaments of dark
dust. The
above image is a digital
fusion of several different color images of the gamma Cygni (Sadr) region
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
September 21, 1999
The Quintuplet Star Cluster
Credit: Don Figer (STScI)
et al., NASA
Explanation: Bright clusters of stars form and disperse near the
center of our Galaxy.
Four million years ago the Quintuplet Cluster,
pictured above,
formed and is now slowly dispersing. The Quintuplet Cluster is located within
100 light-years
of the Galactic center,
and is home to the brightest star yet cataloged in our Galaxy: the
Pistol Star.
Objects near our
Galactic center are usually hidden from view by opaque
dust. This
recently-released
picture was able to capture the cluster in
infrared light,
though, with the NICMOS camera
onboard the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The young
Quintuplet Cluster is one of the most massive
open clusters yet
discovered, but still much less massive than the ancient
globular clusters
that orbit in the distant halo. Some of the bright white stars visible above may
be on the verge of
blowing themselves up in a spectacular
supernova.
THE FIRST CHAKRA
We get our life force from nature and the earth through the first
chakra. It consists of four vortices, with the Hara-Line in the middle. This may
be the meaning of the famous "quincunx" (or "quintuplet set") type crop
formation. Jens did not show an illustration, but we found these including
another possibility in the flower-like formation below:
|
|
 |
|
August 14th, 1997
Upham, Bishop`s
Waltham, Hampshire
Quintuplet with rings |
July 14th, 1996
Near Luton
Quintuplet with a
thin ring joining the
satellites |
http://www.greatdreams.com/crpchk1.htm
Italy - 2006
| 2006-06-24 |
Marche |
Montegranaro (AP) |
Wheat |
The quintuplet set also hints at a
pyramid from above (N). ... The "quintuplet pyramid" pair suggest a
sequence of triplets, starting with . ...
www.greatdreams.com/pyramid_database.htm
|
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the
cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe
is featured,
along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
August 12, 1997
Sher 25: A Pending Supernova?
Credit & Copyright: W.
Brandner (UIUC),
E.K. Grebel
(U. Wuerzburg),
et al., ESO,
1.54-m
Telescope, Chile
Explanation: No
supernova has ever been predicted - yet. These
dramatic stellar
explosions that destroy stars, that create and disperse the
elements
that compose people
and planets, that
light up the night sky,
are not so well understood that astronomers can accurately predict when a star
will explode - yet. Perhaps
Sher 25 will be the first. Sher 25, designated by the arrow, is a blue
supergiant star
located just outside the
open star cluster
and ionized region
named NGC 3603. Sher 25 lies in the center of an
hourglass shaped nebula
much like the one that surrounds the last bright supernova visible from Earth:
SN1987a. Now the
hourglass shaped rings around
SN1987a were
emitted before that blue supergiant
exploded. Maybe Sher 25
has expelled these bipolar rings in a step that closely precedes a
supernova. Maybe not.
If so,
Sher 25 may be within a few thousand years of its spectacular finale.
The 1987 supernova is now brightening
again from a collision of gases in space, ... Note the hourglass shape
of this gas bubble around the supernova may ...
www.greatdreams.com/end_time_flood.htm
|
[Blue] ... when you know and own
yourself, this occurs naturally ... but we will let you all in on a tiny
secret .... you supernova's play a major role in ...
www.greatdreams.com/dna_past_future.htm
|
URL: www.DarrenDelaye.com Date: 11 Jul 2006
http://mushroomastronomy.blogspot.com/2006_08_20_archive.html
as retrieved on Feb 21, 2007 06:20:56 GMT
The official blog for the
Mushroom Astronomy Club! Enjoy :)
New Crew Exploration Vehicle Named Orion
NASA officially announced today that the crew exploration
vehicle will be named Orion. This is the new capsule that will
first take astronauts to the International Space Station by
2014, and fly to the Moon by 2020. The agency also recently
renamed the crew launch rocket Ares, and the larger cargo
rocket Ares V. Orion will be capable of carrying 6 astronauts
to the space station, or 4 astronauts to the Moon.
NASA announced Tuesday that its new crew exploration vehicle
will be named Orion.
Orion is the vehicle NASA’s Constellation Program is
developing to carry a new generation of explorers back to the
moon and later to Mars. Orion will succeed the space shuttle
as NASA’s primary vehicle for human space exploration.
Orion’s first flight with astronauts onboard is planned for no
later than 2014 to the International Space Station. Its first
flight to the moon is planned for no later than 2020.
Orion is named for one of the brightest, most familiar and
easily identifiable
constellations.
“Many of its stars have been used for navigation and guided
explorers to new worlds for centuries,” said Orion Project
Manager Skip Hatfield. “Our team, and all of NASA - and, I
believe, our country - grows more excited with every step
forward this program takes. The future for space exploration
is coming quickly.”
In June, NASA announced the launch vehicles under development
by the Constellation Program have been named Ares, a synonym
for Mars. The booster that will launch Orion will be called
Ares I, and a larger heavy-lift launch vehicle will be known
as Ares V.
Orion will be capable of transporting cargo and up to six crew
members to and from the International Space Station. It can
carry four crewmembers for lunar missions. Later, it can
support crew transfers for Mars missions.
Orion borrows its shape from space capsules of the past, but
takes advantage of the latest technology in computers,
electronics, life support, propulsion and heat protection
systems. The capsule’s conical shape is the safest and most
reliable for re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, especially at
the velocities required for a direct return form the moon.
Orion will be 16.5 feet in diameter and have a mass of about
25 tons. Inside, it will have more than 2.5 times the volume
of an Apollo capsule. The spacecraft will return humans to the
moon to stay for long periods as a testing ground for the
longer journey to Mars.
NASA\’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, manages the
Constellation Program and the agency\’s Marshall Space Flight
Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the Exploration Launch
Projects’ office for the Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate, Washington.
Original Source: NASA News Release
China, Russia plan joint Mars mission
Scientist: Unmanned exploration of Red Planet and Phobos in
2009MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 12:05 a.m. ET Aug 23, 2006
BEIJING - China and Russia plan to launch a joint mission to
Mars in 2009 to scoop up samples from the Red Planet and one
of its moons, a Chinese scientist was quoted as saying on
Wednesday.
Russia will launch the spacecraft, while China will provide
the survey equipment to carry out the unmanned exploration, Ye
Peijian, a senior scientist at the Chinese Academy of Space
Technology, told a meeting in Beijing, according to the
official Xinhua news agency.
Other Chinese news reports identified the joint mission as
Russia's Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) expedition. That mission
calls for an unmanned probe to be sent to the Martian moon
Phobos to collect samples for return to Earth. The probe also
would monitor Martian climate and the radiation environment —
but earlier mission plans had not called for samples to be
taken from the Martian surface itself.
The mission would be another step in China's ambitious program
to jump to the forefront of space exploration.
Last month, Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space
Administration, said China would seek international
cooperation as it prepares to explore Earth's moon and beyond.
China expects to launch its first lunar probe next year, state
media has said. It will spend a year orbiting the moon to
collect images and data on the moon's surface and environment.
In 2003, China became only the third country — after the
United States and Soviet Union — to launch a man into space
aboard its own rocket.
In October 2005, it sent two men into orbit, and another
manned orbit is slated for 2007.
Galaxy Collision Separates Out the Dark Matter
There’s more dark matter than regular matter in the Universe,
and they’re normally all mixed up together in galaxies. But
astronomers using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have found a
situation where dark matter and normal matter can be wrenched
apart. In a collision between giant galaxy clusters, normal
matter, like stars and planets, encounters friction as it
passes through hot gas and slows down. But the dark matter
isn’t affected by this friction, so it’s able to separate from
the regular matter.
Dark matter and normal matter have been wrenched apart by the
tremendous collision of two large clusters of galaxies. The
discovery, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other
telescopes, gives direct evidence for the existence of dark
matter.
“This is the most energetic cosmic event, besides the Big
Bang, which we know about,” said team member Maxim Markevitch
of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in
Cambridge, Mass.
These observations provide the strongest evidence yet that
most of the matter in the universe is dark. Despite
considerable evidence for dark matter, some scientists have
proposed alternative theories for gravity where it is stronger
on intergalactic scales than predicted by Newton and Einstein,
removing the need for dark matter. However, such theories
cannot explain the observed effects of this collision.
“A universe that’s dominated by dark stuff seems preposterous,
so we wanted to test whether there were any basic flaws in our
thinking,” said Doug Clowe of the University of Arizona at
Tucson, and leader of the study. “These results are direct
proof that dark matter exists.”
In galaxy clusters, the normal matter, like the atoms that
make up the stars, planets, and everything on Earth, is
primarily in the form of hot gas and stars. The mass of the
hot gas between the galaxies is far greater than the mass of
the stars in all of the galaxies. This normal matter is bound
in the cluster by the gravity of an even greater mass of dark
matter. Without dark matter, which is invisible and can only
be detected through its gravity, the fast-moving galaxies and
the hot gas would quickly fly apart.
The team was granted more than 100 hours on the Chandra
telescope to observe the galaxy cluster 1E0657-56. The cluster
is also known as the bullet cluster, because it contains a
spectacular bullet-shaped cloud of hundred-million-degree gas.
The X-ray image shows the bullet shape is due to a wind
produced by the high-speed collision of a smaller cluster with
a larger one.
In addition to the Chandra observation, the Hubble Space
Telescope, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large
Telescope and the Magellan optical telescopes were used to
determine the location of the mass in the clusters. This was
done by measuring the effect of gravitational lensing, where
gravity from the clusters distorts light from background
galaxies as predicted by Einstein’s theory of general
relativity.
The hot gas in this collision was slowed by a drag force,
similar to air resistance. In contrast, the dark matter was
not slowed by the impact, because it does not interact
directly with itself or the gas except through gravity. This
produced the separation of the dark and normal matter seen in
the data. If hot gas was the most massive component in the
clusters, as proposed by alternative gravity theories, such a
separation would not have been seen. Instead, dark matter is
required.
“This is the type of result that future theories will have to
take into account,” said Sean Carroll, a cosmologist at the
University of Chicago, who was not involved with the study.
\”As we move forward to understand the true nature of dark
matter, this new result will be impossible to ignore.”
This result also gives scientists more confidence that the
Newtonian gravity familiar on Earth and in the solar system
also works on the huge scales of galaxy clusters.
“We’ve closed this loophole about gravity, and we’ve come
closer than ever to seeing this invisible matter,” Clowe said.
These results are being published in an upcoming issue of The
Astrophysical Journal Letters. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for the
agency’s Science Mission Directorate. The Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight
operations from the Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass.
Original Source: Chandra News Release
Universe Has Used Up a Fifth of Its Gas Tank
Since the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, the Universe has
converted 20% of its original matter into stars. This is
according to a new survey by an international team of
astronomers. Other than stars, a tiny fraction of
non-primordial material is dust expelled from massive stars
and supermassive black holes. The survey was made using the
Millennium Galaxy Catalogue, which contains more than 10,000
large galaxies. It looks like the Universe will need another
70 billion years to use up all its original fuel.
The Universe has guzzled its way through about 20 per cent of
its normal matter, or original fuel reserves, according to
findings from a survey of the nearby Universe by an
international team of astronomers involving researchers at The
Australian National University.
The survey, to be released at the General Assembly of the
International Astronomical Union in Prague today, revealed
that about 20 per cent of the normal matter or fuel that was
produced by the Big Bang 14 billion years ago is now in stars,
a further 0.1 per cent lies in dust expelled from massive
stars (and from which solid structures like the Earth and
humans are made), and about 0.01 per cent is in super-massive
black holes.
The survey data, which forms a 21st century database called
the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue, was gathered from over 100
nights of telescope time in Australia, the Canary Islands and
Chile, and contains over ten thousand giant galaxies, each of
these containing 10 million to 10 billion stars.
According to the survey leader Dr Simon Driver of St Andrews
University, Scotland, the remaining material is almost
completely in gaseous form lying both within and between the
galaxies, forming a reservoir from which future generations of
stars may develop.
“I guess the simplest prognosis is that the Universe will be
able to form stars for a further 70 billion years or so after
which it will start to go dark,” said Dr Driver. “However,
unlike our stewardship of the Earth the Universe is definitely
tightening its belt with a steady decline in the rate at which
new stars are forming.”
Dr Alister Graham, an astronomer at The Australian National
University who worked on the survey, said that the team of
researchers were able determine how much of matter is in the
stars through a ‘cosmic stocktake.’
“We needed to measure the stellar mass within a representative
volume of the local Universe. This required accurate and
complete distance information for all the galaxies of stars
that we imaged. This is where the Australian telescopes played
a key role,” Dr Graham said.
One of the unique aspects of this program was the careful
separation of a galaxy’s stars into its central bulge
component and surrounding disc-like structure. This allowed
the researchers to determine that, on average, roughly half of
the stars in galaxies reside in discs and the other half in
bulges.
“Measuring the concentration of stars in each galaxy’s bulge
is what enabled us to determine their central super-massive
black hole masses,” said Dr Graham. “Some of these are up to
one million billion times more massive than the Earth. Once we
had these masses it was a simple task of summing them up to
determine how much of the Universe’s matter is locked away in
black holes at the centres of galaxies.”
Dr Graham said next-generation telescopes such as the Giant
Magellan Telescope, currently in production, will enable
astronomers to directly measure black hole masses in galaxies
ten times further away and thus ten times further back in
time. “In effect, we’ll soon be able to observe how galaxies
and their black holes evolved into what we see around us
today.”
Other members of the research team include Paul Allen and Ewan
Cameron of The Australian National University, Jochen Liske of
the European Southern Observatory, and Roberto De Propris of
the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue consists of data from the
Anglo-Australian Telescope, The Australian National
University’s 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, the
Isaac Newton Telescope and the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at
the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and also from the Gemini
and ESO New Technology Telescopes in Chile.
Original Source: ANU News Release
Hidden Stores of Deuterium Discovered in the Milky Way
A six year study by NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic
Explorer, or FUSE, satellite has turned up previously hidden
quantities of deuterium - a heavier isotope of hydrogen.
Astronomers have wondered for years why the levels of
deuterium in the Milky Way vary across the galaxy. FUSE has
found that deuterium tends to bind to interstellar grains of
dust, hiding it from view. Extreme events, like supernovae
shockwaves, can vapourize the grains of dust, freeing the
deuterium, and making it visible.
A heavy form of hydrogen created just moments after the Big
Bang has been found to exist in larger quantities than
expected in the Milky Way, a finding that could radically
alter theories about star and galaxy formation, says a new
international study led by the University of Colorado at
Boulder.
CU-Boulder astrophysicist Jeffrey Linsky said new data
gathered by NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or
FUSE, satellite, shows why deuterium appears to be distributed
unevenly in the Milky Way Galaxy. It apparently has been
binding to interstellar dust grains, changing from an easily
detectable gaseous form to an unobservable solid form, said
Linsky, a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and
the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The FUSE deuterium study, six years in the making, solves a
35-year-old mystery concerning the distribution of deuterium
in the Milky Way while posing new questions about how stars
and galaxies are made, according to the research team. A paper
on the subject by a team of international researchers led by
Linsky is being published in the Aug. 20 issue of The
Astrophysical Journal.
“Since the 1970s, we have been unable to explain why deuterium
levels vary all over the place,” said Linsky. “The answer we
found is as unsettling as it is exciting.”
Since deuterium — a hydrogen isotope containing a proton and a
neutron — is believed burned and lost forever during star
formation, scientists think the amount of deuterium present in
the universe is “pure” and serves as a tracer for star
creation and galaxy building over billions of years, said
Linsky. While primordial deuterium in the distant, early
universe has been measured at concentrations of about 27 parts
per million parts hydrogen atoms, measurements by FUSE and
NASA’s Copernicus satellite have shown a “patchy” distribution
of the element in the Milky Way galaxy, often at far lower
levels.
In 2003, Princeton University’s Bruce Draine, a co-author on
the new study, developed a model showing that deuterium, when
compared to hydrogen, might preferentially bind to
interstellar dust grains. The observations by FUSE — which can
detect the telltale spectral fingerprints of deuterium in the
ultraviolet energy range — strongly support the theory,
according to The Astrophysical Journal paper authors.
“Where there are high concentrations of interstellar dust in
the galaxy, we see lower concentrations of deuterium gas with
FUSE,” said Linsky. “And where there is less interstellar
dust, we are measuring higher levels of deuterium gas.”
In relatively undisturbed areas of the universe — like regions
around Earth’s sun, for example — deuterium atoms
systematically “leave” the gas phase and replace normal
hydrogen atoms in dust grains, said Linsky. When a pocket of
the universe is disturbed by events like a supernova shock
wave or violent activity triggered by nearby hot stars, the
dust grains are vaporized, releasing deuterium atoms back into
a gas, which has been measured by FUSE, the researchers said.
Scientists assumed from astrophysical theories that at least
one-third of the primordial deuterium present in the Milky Way
was destroyed over time as it cycled through the stars, said
Linsky. But according to the new FUSE findings, the
present-day deuterium abundance is less than 15 percent below
the primordial values.
“This implies that either significantly less material has been
converted to helium and heavier elements in stars or that much
more primordial gas has rained down onto the galaxy over its
lifetime than had been thought,” said Linsky. “In either case,
our models of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way will
have to be revised significantly to explain this important new
result.”
Launched in 1999, FUSE is a NASA Explorer mission developed in
cooperation with the French and Canadian Space Agencies and by
Johns Hopkins University, CU-Boulder and the University of
California, Berkeley. CU-Boulder’s Center for Astrophysics and
Space Astronomy designed and built the mission’s $9 million
spectrograph, which collects and funnels UV light from the
satellite’s four telescopes.
The paper was co-authored by scientists from Princeton, Johns
Hopkins and Northwestern universities, the Space Telescope
Science Institute, CU-Boulder, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Texas-Austin,
NASA-Goddard, the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique in Marseille,
France, and the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon in Meudon,
France. Other CU-Boulder co-authors include JILA’s Brian Wood,
CASA’s Michael Shull and CASA doctoral graduate Seth Redfield.
Original Source: UCB News Release
Linking the Formation of the Earth and Moon
Did the Earth capture the Moon with its gravity, did they form
together in the early Solar System, or did the Moon form when
a Mars-sized object smashed into the Earth. New data from
ESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft has turned up deposits of calcium on
the lunar surface. By measuring these minerals, as well as
aluminium, magnesium and silicon, scientists can better map
out the composition of the Moon, and predict what kind of
impact might have happened.
The D-CIXS instrument on ESA’s Moon mission SMART-1 has
produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the
lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step
towards answering the old question: did the Moon form from
part of the Earth?
Scientists responsible for the D-CIXS instrument on SMART-1
are also announcing that they have detected aluminium,
magnesium and silicon. “We have good maps of iron across the
lunar surface. Now we can look forward to making maps of the
other elements,” says Manuel Grande of the University of
Wales, Aberystwyth UK, and D-CIXS’ Principal Investigator.
Knowing how to translate the D-CIXS orbital data into ‘ground
truth’ has been helped by a cosmic coincidence. On 9 August
1976, the Russian spacecraft Luna 24 was launched. On 18
August it touched down in a region of the Moon known as Mare
Crisium and returned a sample of the lunar soil to Earth.
In January 2005, SMART-1 was high above Mare Crisium when a
giant explosion took place on the Sun. Scientists often dread
these storms because they can damage spacecraft but, for the
scientists responsible for D-CIXS, it was just what they
needed.
The D-CIXS instrument depends on X-ray emission from the Sun
to excite elements on the lunar surface, which then emit
X-rays at characteristic wavelengths. D-CIXS collects these
X-ray fingerprints and translates them into the abundance of
each chemical element found on the surface of the Moon. Grande
and his colleagues could relate the D-CIXS Mare Crisium
results to the laboratory analysis of the Russian lunar
samples.
They found that the calcium detected from orbit was in
agreement with that found by Luna 24 on the surface of Mare
Crisium. As SMART-1 flew on, it swept D-CIXS over the nearby
highland regions. Calcium showed up here too, which was a
surprise until the scientists looked at the data from another
Russian moon mission, Luna 20. That lander had also found
calcium back in the 1970s. This boosted the scientists’
confidence in the D-CIXS results.
Ever since American astronauts brought back samples of
moonrock during the Apollo Moon landings of the late
1960s/early 1970s, planetary scientists have been struck by
the broad similarity of the moonrocks and the rocks found deep
in the Earth, in a region known as the mantle. This boosted
the theory that the Moon formed from debris left over after
the Earth was struck a glancing blow by a Mars-sized planet.
However, the more scientists looked at the details of the
moonrock, the more discrepancies they found between them and
the earthrocks. Most importantly, the isotopes found in the
moonrocks did not agree with those found on Earth.
“The get-out clause is that the rocks returned by the Apollo
missions represent only highly specific areas on the lunar
surface and so may not be representative of the lunar surface
in its entirety,” says Grande; hence the need for D-CIXS and
its data.
By measuring the abundance of several elements across the
lunar surface, scientists can better constrain the
contribution of material from the young Earth and its possible
impactor to condense and form the Moon. Current models suggest
that more came from the impactor than from Earth. Models of
the Moon’s evolution and interior structure are necessary to
translate the surface measurements into the Moon’s bulk
composition.
D-CIXS was a small experimental device, only about the size of
a toaster. ESA is now collaborating with India to fly an
upgraded version on the Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan, due
for launch in 2007–2008. It will map the chemistry of the
lunar surface, including the other landing sites from where
samples have been brought back to Earth. In this way it will
show whether the Apollo and Russian landing sites were typical
or special.
“From SMART-1 observations of previous landing sites we can
compare orbital observations to the ground truth and expand
from the local to global views of the Moon,” says Bernard
Foing, Project Scientist for SMART-1.
Then, perhaps planetary scientists can decide whether the Moon
was indeed once part of the Earth.
Original Source: ESA News Release
Seasonal Jets Darken the Surface of Mars
Scientists now have an answer for the strange dark spots near
the south polar ice caps on Mars. As the ice cap warms in
spring, jets of carbon dioxide erupt, spraying dark material
onto the surface. The discovery was made using the cameras on
board NASA’s Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. They
provided detailed images of the fan-shaped dark markings,
which are typically 15 to 46 metres (50 to 100 feet) across,
and can appear within a week.
Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice
cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new
observations by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter.
Jets of carbon dioxide gas erupting from the ice cap as it
warms in the spring carry dark sand and dust high aloft. The
dark material falls back to the surface, creating dark patches
on the ice cap which have long puzzled scientists. Deducing
the eruptions of carbon dioxide gas from under the warming ice
cap solves the riddle of the spots. It also reveals that this
part of Mars is much more dynamically active than had been
expected for any part of the planet.
“If you were there, you’d be standing on a slab of
carbon-dioxide ice,” said Phil Christensen of Arizona State
University, Tempe, principal investigator for Odyssey’s
camera. “All around you, roaring jets of carbon dioxide gas
are throwing sand and dust a couple hundred feet into the
air.”
You’d also feel vibration through your spacesuit boots, he
said. “The ice slab you’re standing on is levitated above the
ground by the pressure of gas at the base of the ice.”
The team began its research in an attempt to explain
mysterious dark spots, fan-like markings, and
spider-shaped
features seen in images that cameras on Odyssey and on NASA’s
Mars Global Surveyor have observed on the ice cap at the
Martian south pole.
The dark spots, typically 15 to 46 meters (50 to 150 feet)
wide and spaced several hundred feet apart, appear every
southern spring as the sun rises over the ice cap. They last
for several months and then vanish — only to reappear the next
year, after winter’s cold has deposited a fresh layer of ice
on the cap. Most spots even seem to recur at the same
locations.
An earlier theory proposed that the spots were patches of
warm, bare ground exposed as the ice disappeared. However, the
camera on Odyssey, which sees in both infrared and
visible-light wavelengths, discovered that the spots are
nearly as cold as the carbon dioxide ice, suggesting they were
just a thin layer of dark material lying on top of the ice and
kept chilled by it. To understand how that layer is produced,
Christensen’s team used the camera — the Thermal Emission
Imaging System — to collect more than 200 images of one area
of the ice cap from the end of winter through midsummer.
Some places remained spot-free for more than 100 days, then
developed many spots in a week. Fan-shaped dark markings
didn’t form until days or weeks after the spots appeared, yet
some fans grew to half a mile in length. Even more puzzling
was the origin of the “spiders,” grooves eroded into the
surface under the ice. The grooves converge at points directly
beneath a spot.
“
The key to figuring out the spiders and the spots was
thinking through a physical model for what was happening,”
said Christensen. The process begins in the sunless polar
winter when carbon dioxide from the atmosphere freezes into a
layer about three feet thick on top of a permanent ice cap of
water ice, with a thin layer of dark sand and dust in between.
In spring, sunlight passing through the slab of carbon dioxide
ice reaches the dark material and warms it enough that the ice
touching the ground sublimates — turns into gas.
Before long, the swelling reservoir of trapped gas lifts the
slab and eventually breaks through at weak spots that become
vents. High-pressure gas roars through at speeds of 161
kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) or more. Under the
slab, the gas erodes ground as it rushes toward the vents,
snatching up loose particles of sand and carving the spidery
network of grooves.
Christensen, Hugh Kieffer (U.S. Geological Survey, retired)
and Timothy Titus (USGS) report the new interpretation in the
Aug. 17, 2006, issue of the journal “Nature.”
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, manages Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor
missions for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Odyssey’s
Thermal Emission Imaging System is operated by Arizona State
University.
For additional information about Odyssey and the new findings,
visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars and http://themis.asu.edu .
Original Source: NASA/JPL News Release
STEREO Spacecraft Set for Launch
Get set to see the Sun… in thrilling 3-D! At the end of
August, NASA will launch its twin STEREO spacecraft into orbit
