Sub-Orbital Space Flights & Satellite Exploration
“Of all the sciences cultivated by mankind, Astronomy is acknowledged to be, and undoubtedly is, the most sublime, the most interesting, and the most useful. For, by knowledge derived from this science, not only the bulk of the Earth is discovered …; but our very faculties are enlarged with the grandeur of the ideas it conveys, our minds exalted above [their] low contracted prejudices.” –James Ferguson, “Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newtons Principles, And Made Easy To Those Who Have Not Studied Mathematics” (1757) — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — The Cosmic Perspective Long before anyone knew that the universe had a beginning, before we knew that the nearest large galaxy lies two and a half million light-years from Earth, before we knew how stars work or whether atoms exist, James Ferguson’s enthusiastic introduction to his favorite science rang true. Yet his words, apart from their eighteenth-century flourish, could have been written yesterday. But who gets to think that way? Who gets to celebrate this cosmic view of life? Not the migrant farmworker. Not the sweatshop worker. Certainly not the homeless person rummaging through the trash for food. You need the luxury of time not spent on mere survival. You need to live in a nation whose government values the search to understand humanity’s place in the universe. You need a society in which intellectual pursuit can take you to the frontiers of discovery …
Tags: of, Astro, time, Black
Hubblecast 01: ‘Comet Galaxy’ Being Ripped Apart By Galaxy Cluster. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with several other ground- and space-based telescopes, has captured a galaxy being ripped apart by a galaxy cluster’s gravitational field and harsh environment. The finding sheds light on the mysterious process by which gas-rich spiral-shaped galaxies might evolve into gas-poor irregular- or elliptical-shaped galaxies over billions of years. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — Credit: • ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & LL Christensen) • Narration: Dr. Robert Fosbury, Francesca Granato • Design: Martin Kornmesser, Francesca Granato •Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen, Raquel Yumi Shida • Cinematographer: Peter Rixner (www.perix.de) • Script: Lars Lindberg Christensen, Aitana Vargas • Director: Lars Lindberg Christensen Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in astronomy. Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre Garching/Munich, Germany • www.eso.org • http • hubblesite.org .
Tags: Hubblecast, Energy, Supernova, physics
Hubblecast 31: Sky merger yields sparkling dividends. A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab). This object was a target of Hubble’s and a handful of its “sibling” spacecraft as part of a massive comprehensive sky survey called GOALS. — • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — Not surprisingly, interacting galaxies have a dramatic effect on each other. Studies have revealed that as galaxies approach one another massive amounts of gas are pulled from each galaxy towards the centre of the other, until ultimately, the two merge into one massive galaxy. The object in the image, NGC 2623, is in the late stages of the merging process with the centres of the original galaxy pair now merged into one nucleus. However, stretching out from the centre are two tidal tails of young stars showing that a merger has taken place. During such a collision, the dramatic exchange of mass and gases initiates star formation, seen here in both the tails. The prominent lower tail is richly populated with bright star clusters — 100 of them have been found in these observations. The large star clusters that the team have observed in the merged galaxy are brighter …
Tags: way, cancer, Electromagnetic, ultraviolet
Hubble’s Universe Unfiltered 03: Hubble Servicing Delayed (Part 1). On September 27, 2008, NASA was two weeks away from a space shuttle mission to upgrade and repair the Hubble Space Telescope. That night, Hubble suffered an electronics failure and went into its protective safe mode. The servicing mission was soon put on hold as engineers scrambled to diagnose the problem and activate hardware that had not been used in eighteen years. Managers also had to consider whether the failure left Hubble without a backup for a critical system. Now, a month later, Hubble’s vision has been restored, and the servicing mission, while delayed, has been expanded to include a complete fix for the problems encountered. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — * The next servicing mission to Hubble is commonly referred to as Servicing Mission 4, or SM4. It will be, however, the fifth servicing mission to Hubble. The third servicing mission was split into two pieces: SM3a occurred in 1999, while SM3b took place in 2002. The numbering of the servicing missions has stuck with the original plans, and was not updated to reflect the true count of the missions. * In contrast with Hubble’s low Earth orbit of about 600 km above the planet’s surface, most communications satellites reside much higher in the sky. Communications satellites are generally in geosynchronous orbits, an orbit where the orbital period matches Earth’s rotational period …
Tags: Repair, astronomy, Hubblecast, Columbia
SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH RARE CLOSE-UP LAUNCH VIDEO EXELENT HUBBLE TELESCOPE VIDEO. BACKGROUND MUSIC BY THE VENTURES – “SLEEP WALK”
Tags: noaa, io, northern, astronomy
Hubblecast 25: What’s Next? Amazing Telescopes Of The Future. The telescope has been mankind’s window on the Universe for four hundred years. It has provided scientists with unprecedented views of planets, stars and galaxies from our cosmic doorstep to the very depths of space and time. But despite their incredible performance, even the newest and most powerful telescopes leave room for improvement. Astronomers always want to venture beyond their current horizons. In this final chapter we take a look at things to come – the revolutionary ground-based telescopes and space observatories of the future. One thing is certain: there is much left to discover. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — Welcome to the Hubblecast! Hubblecast features news and Images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Hubblecast is the name for Video Podcast produced by the ESA/Hubble team. Now anyone can follow the hottest and coolest discoveries from the near and far Universe – anywhere, anytime, for free! Credit: • ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & LL Christensen) • Visual design & Editing: Martin Kornmesser • Animations: Martin Kornmesser & Luis Calçada • Web Hosting: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ) •Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen, Raquel Yumi Shida • Written by: Govert Schilling & Lars Lindberg Christensen • Host: Dr. J • Narration: Howard Cooper & Bob Fosbury • Design: Martin Kornmesser • Cinematography: Peter Rixner • Music: movetwo …
Tags: milky, JPL, cosmic, Energy
Hubblecast 08: Where Do We Come From? A Step Closer To Our Origin. By scrutinising the Hubble Ultra Deep field – the deepest image of the sky ever made – the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope have joined forces to discover nine of the smallest, faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant Universe. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & LL Christensen), Hubble Ultra Deep Field and GOODS Flythroughs: NASA, ESA and F. Summers (STScI) – Narration: Dr. Robert Fosbury – Special Guest: Dr. Martin Kümmel – Design: Martin Kornmesser -Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen, Raquel Yumi Shida – Cinematographer: Peter Rixner (www.perix.de) – Script: Lars Lindberg Christensen – Director: Lars Lindberg Christensen Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in astronomy. Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre Garching/Munich, Germany • www.eso.org • http • hubblesite.org .
Tags: physics, ESO, solar, Holes
Hubblecast 28: The fifth and final Hubble servicing mission. Shuttle astronauts will visit the Hubble Space Telescope for the final time in May 2009. In five bold and daring spacewalks, they will upgrade Hubble’s instruments allowing it to continue making remarkable scientific discoveries well into the next decade. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — Credits: • ESA/Hubble (Martin Kornmesser, Lars Lindberg Christensen, Colleen Sharkey) • Visual design: Martin Kornmesser • Animations: Martin Kornmesser • Host: Dr. J • Narration: Gaitee Hussain • Cinematography: Peter Rixner • Music: movetwo • Web Hosting: Leibniz Rechenzentrum (LRZ) •Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen & Raquel Yumi Shida • Music: movetwo • Additional photos and footage: NASA • Written by: Chris Lawton & Lars Lindberg Christensen • Directed by: Lars Lindberg Christensen & Colleen Sharkey Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in astronomy. Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre Garching/Munich, Germany • www.eso.org • http • hubblesite.org .
Tags: Herschel, cosmic, gamma, shuttle
Hubblecast 24: Beyond Earth – Telescopes In Space. There’s no better place for a telescope than space itself. Above the Earth’s atmosphere observations are no longer hampered by air turbulence, so telescopic images of distant stars and galaxies are razor-sharp. Unlike a ground-based telescope, an instrument in Earth orbit can operate twenty-four hours a day and reach every part of the sky. Observing from space also makes it possible to study types of radiation that are otherwise absorbed by the atmosphere. Little wonder that the Hubble Space Telescope has made so many contributions to astronomy. And Hubble is not alone – more than 100 space observatories have been launched since the 1960s. Watch this Hubblecast episode and find out more. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com • www.YouTube.com — Credit: • ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & LL Christensen) • Host: Dr. J • Narration: Howard Cooper & Bob Fosbury • Visual design & Editing: Martin Kornmesser • Animations: Martin Kornmesser & Luis Calçada • Web Hosting: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ) •Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen & Raquel Yumi Shida • Cinematographer: Peter Rixner • Written by: Govert Schilling & Lars Lindberg Christensen • Executive Producers: Raquel Yumi Shida, Lars Lindberg Christensen • Music: movetwo • Director: Lars Lindberg Christensen Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr …
Tags: Hubblecast, Cast, Hubble, physics
ESOcast 10: GigaGalaxy Zoom Project – The Sky, From The Eye To The Telescope. — Subscribe to Science & Reason: • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, ESO has launched a new project aimed at connecting the sky as seen by the unaided eye with that seen by hobby and professional astronomers. The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, reveals three amazing, ultra-high-resolution images of the night sky that online stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level of detail. The reward is the most breathtaking dive ever made into our Galaxy, linking the sky seen by all with the cosmos studied by astronomers. In this episode of ESOcast we will explore the unique and amazing GigaGalaxy Zoom project, which reveals the whole night sky as it appears with the unaided eye from one of the darkest deserts on Earth. The project allows users to zoom in on a rich region of the Milky Way with the magnification offered by a hobby telescope and then to go one step further, using the power of a professional telescope to explore details of an iconic nebula. Most of the photographs comprising the three GigaGalaxy Zoom images were taken from La Silla and Paranal, two of ESOs observing sites in Chile. The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at these ESO sites, which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world. — ESOcast is produced by ESO, the …
Tags: Telescopes, observatories, nebulae, gigagalaxy