Great Image: A Gathering of Galaxies

This Hubble Space Telescope image is labeled "A Day in the Lives of Galaxies" on the hubblesite.org website.  Here is the rest of the story: 

Like a photographer clicking random snapshots of a crowd of people, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken a view of an eclectic mix of galaxies. In taking this picture, Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys was not looking at any particular target. The camera was taking a picture of a typical patch of sky, while Hubble's infrared camera was viewing a target in an adjacent galaxy-rich region. 

The jumble of galaxies in this image, taken in September 2003, includes a yellow spiral whose arms have been stretched by a possible collision [lower right]; a young, blue galaxy [top] bursting with star birth; and several smaller, red galaxies.

But the most peculiar-looking galaxy of the bunch – the dramatic blue arc in the center of the photo — is actually an optical illusion. The blue arc is an image of a distant galaxy that has been smeared into the odd shape by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. This "funhouse- mirror effect" occurs when light from a distant object is bent and stretched by the mass of an intervening object. In this case the gravitational lens, or intervening object, is a red elliptical galaxy nearly 6 billion light-years from Earth. The red color suggests that the galaxy contains older, cooler stars.

The distant object whose image is smeared into the long blue arc is about 10 billion light-years away. This ancient galaxy existed just a few billion years after the Big Bang, when the universe was about a quarter of its present age. The blue color indicates that the galaxy contains hot, young stars.
Gravitational lenses can be seen throughout the sky because the cosmos is crowded with galaxies. Light from distant galaxies, therefore, cannot always travel through space without another galaxy getting in the way. It is like walking through a crowded airport. In space, a faraway galaxy's light will travel through a galaxy that is in the way. But if the galaxy is massive enough, its gravity will bend and distort the light.

Long arcs, such as the one in this image, are commonly seen in large clusters of galaxies because of their huge concentrations of mass. But they are not as common in isolated galaxies such as this one. For the gravitational lens to occur, the galaxies must be almost perfectly aligned with each other.
Gravitational lenses yield important information about galaxies. They are a unique and extremely useful way of directly determining the amount of mass, including dark matter, in a galaxy. Galaxies are not just made up of stars, gas, and dust. An invisible form of matter, called dark matter, makes up most of a galaxy's mass. A study of this newly discovered system, dubbed J033238-275653, was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. This study, together with similar observations, may allow astronomers to make the first direct measurements of the masses of bright, nearby galaxies.

A New Earth Like Planet

Scientists have discovered a new Earth like planet, but do not worry - it is not Nibiru.  The new planet, dubbed Tau Ceti e, is about four times the size of the Earth and orbits within the "habitable zone" of its sun Tau Ceti.  The star itself is only 12 light years from Earth, making it the closest Earth like planet located thus far.  Not to say it 12 light years is just a skip away. 

James Jenkins, an astronomer from the Universidad de Chile and Visiting Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, noted in a recent paper:

Tau Ceti is one of our nearest cosmic neighbours and so bright that we may be able to study the atmospheres of these planets in the not too distant future. Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our Sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy.

In the same paper, Steve Vogt from the University of California Santa Cruz stated:

This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets. They are everywhere, even right next door! We are now beginning to understand that Nature seems to overwhelmingly prefer systems that have a multiple planets with orbits of less than one hundred days. This is quite unlike our own solar system where there is nothing with an orbit inside that of Mercury. So our solar system is, in some sense, a bit of a freak and not the most typical kind of system that Nature cooks up.

And we thought we might be the model for other planetary systems. I guess our ideas needed to start somewhere.

As far as locating a promising planet around Tau Ceti, this would not be all that surprising to science fiction writers such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Niven.  For example, in Larry Niven's 1968 story A Gift from Earth, he discusses the planet of Plateau circling Tau Ceti, as noted in this Wikipedia summary:

Plateau, a colony in the Tau Ceti system, was settled by humans some 300 years before the plot begins. The colony world itself is a Venusian type planet with a dense, hot, poisonous atmosphere. It would be otherwise uninhabitable, except for a tall monolithic mesa that rises 40 miles up into a breathable layer in the upper atmosphere. This gives the planet a habitable area about half the size of California.

Man's imagination can be quite a source of inspiration for later science.

Note:  Not to say it is always inspirational.  Here is the description of Norman Spinrad's The Iron Dream:

In this satirical alternate history, Adolph Hitler emigrates as a youth to the United States, where he becomes first a pulp science fiction illustrator, then a hack genre author of distinctly limited talents. In a story-within-a-story he pens a potboiler novel entitled Lord of the Swastika, which culminates in legions of seven-foot, blond, superintelligent male SS clones being shipped off to Tau Ceti where they will establish a colony as the first step to a literal thousand-year reich and galactic domination.

Russian Rocket Problems

With all of the attention earlier this month directed at the North Korean rocket launch, most of the newspapers were ignoring a Russian rocket launch that went awry.  On December 8th, a Russian Proton rocket failed to place a satellite into correct orbit.  This was the third such failure in the last 16 months. 

The communications satellite, built by France's Thales Alenia Space, belonged to Russian oil giant Gazprom.  The Proton rocket's upper stage failed after launch, placing the satellite outside its intended orbit.  While the Russian government ordered an investigation of the mishap, Thales Alenia Space was working to get the satellite into its proper slot by firing on-board thrusters, though this is expected to reduce the life of the spacecraft. 

The satellite is expected to be in its proper orbit and functioning as intended by January 8, 2013. 

Mars News: New Rover and More

Earlier this month, NASA announced plans to send a new rover to Mars as well as other initiatives designed to better understand Mars and prepare for a human mission.  Here is the key part of NASA's Mars announcement:  

On Dec. 4, NASA announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program, including a new robotic science rover based on the Curiosity design set to launch in 2020. The planned portfolio includes the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers; two NASA spacecraft and contributions to one European spacecraft currently orbiting Mars; the 2013 launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter to study the Martian upper atmosphere; the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars; and participation in ESA's 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing "Electra" telecommunication radios to ESA's 2016 mission and a critical element of the premier astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover. With InSight, there will be a total of seven NASA missions operating or being planned to study and explore our Earth-like neighbor. 

The 2020 mission will constitute another step toward being responsive to high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s. 

What is interesting is that the "multi-year" plan discusses putting human in "orbit" around Mars in the 2030s.  I cannot imagine we would send humans all that way just to take pictures from above.  I think robotic missions can do that just as well.  We need humans on the surface. 

I was also surprised to see NASA contributions to ExoMars after the space agency pulled out of the mission earlier this year because of funding difficulties.  Maybe NASA found funds, since it now has plans to support ExoMars and build another Mars rover, though the ExoMars mission was to include an orbiter and rover.  Here is what NASA originally planned to do, which can still be found on its website here:

The ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter mission was a joint mission proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. This mission was proposed as the first in a series of joint missions to Mars for ESA and NASA. The two space agencies signed the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative agreement in 2009. Under the former proposed plan, NASA would have supplied the launch vehicle, four science instruments, and a communications system. This joint mission is not currently in NASA’s Mars Exploration Program plans. See information on ESA’s ExoMars mission: http://exploration.esa.int/.

 After NASA has walked away from ExoMars, our European friends reached out to Russia for support.  Under a new agreement, Roscosmos with provide the European Space Agency with two launch vehicles.  The Voice of Russia shared more:   

The Naples meeting was crucial for Russian space research as it was to approve the ExoMars mission deal between ESA and Russia’s Roskosmos space agency. The project has been approved and the deal will be sealed November 27.

Thus, Russia got another chance to explore Mars, five years after the Phobos mission failure. The first phase of the ExoMars mission is planned for 2016 and Russia’s Academy of Sciences has already begun research to design equipment for the Trace Gas Orbiter robotic orbit carrier which includes ACS spectrometers and the FREND neutron detector to study water distribution on the Mars surface. It also includes the EDL demonstrator module to exploit the entry descent and landing. Russia is also expected to contribute its Proton carrier rocket to the project.

The second ExoMars phase will be the launch of the Pasteur rover scheduled for 2018. Russia is providing a carrier rocket and a landing platform with research equipment as well as two gadgets for the rover.

The Secret Shuttle is Airborne Again

On December 11, 2012, the U.S. Air force launched its X-37b unmanned shuttle on its third mission.  It is interesting how the shuttle went up one day before the North Korean's launched their rocket to place a satellite in orbit.  However, it appears to be a coincidence since the X-37b was initially scheduled to launch on October 25, 2012, but was delayed due to rocket problems.

Even so, could the U.S. be monitoring this North Korean mission as well as others?  We may never know since the X-37b missions are classified.  However, the U.S. has other assets in the region and in orbit that can do this work just fine.  As noted by Wired magazine:

The US has at least two infrared sensors in HEO orbits as part of the Space-Based Infrared System. Open source information indicates that they are hosted on two classified satellites, USA 184 and USA 200. The same satellites are also believed to carry a signals intelligence payload that can collect electromagnetic emissions. Observations from amateur satellite observers indicate that their orbits "hang" over Asia, indicating that they likely could have been used to monitor the launch site and observe the launch.

Changing of the Guard on the ISS

NASA reported that the latest International Space Station (ISS) crew has safely arrived:

Expedition 34 Flight Engineers Tom Marshburn, Roman Romanenko and Chris Hadfield docked their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft to the International Space Station’s Rassvet module at 9:09 a.m. EST on Friday after spending two days in orbit.

The hatches between the Soyuz and the Rassvet module are set to be opened at 11:45 a.m. when Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin will greet their new crewmates. Once the hatches are opened, the six-member crew is set to take part in a welcome ceremony with family members and mission officials then participate in a safety briefing. 

Expedition 34 will be a six-member crew until March 2013 when Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin undock from the Poisk module and return home inside the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft for a landing in Kazakhstan. When they undock Expedition 35 will officially begin as Hadfield becomes commander staying behind with Marshburn and Romanenko before finally returning home in May 2013. 

You can watch the December 19th launch in Kazakhstan of the Expedition 34 flight crew here.  

A Year on the International Space Station

It is nice to see that the United States and Russia can agree on a few things. Back in October, NASA announced plans to leave an astronaut on the International Space Station for more than a year.  U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russia cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will start their mission in 2015. 

In its press release, NASA stated:

"In order for us to eventually move beyond low Earth orbit, we need to better understand how humans adapt to long-term spaceflight," said Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager. "The space station serves as a vital scientific resource for teaching us those lessons, and this yearlong expedition aboard the complex will help us move closer to those journeys."

But then I had a case of deja vu.  I thought the Russians did this years ago.  And they did on that often forgotten Russian space station Mir (Russian for "Peace" or "World").  Mir operated from 1986 to 2001 and during that time the Russians became very familiar with long durations in space. Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov still holds the record for the longest period in space, remaining on Mir for more than 14 months (437 days 18 hours) in one trip. 

So a year in space has already been tested, and the Russians should be proud of this feat.  What NASA needs to do is look to new adventures, such as the gateway spacecraft on the far side of the moon.

If You Don't Believe Me, Here is the U.S. Government's Statement

I wanted to follow up on my earlier message about the end of the world, as foretold by the Mayans.  Here is what the U.S. Government released to the public:

False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet for some time. Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won’t), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us (no and no), and many others.  The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012.

NASA has also contributed to the argument, tackling the various doomsday scenarios circling the world, such as a collision with Nibiru:

The waxing obsession with Nibiru, which conspiracy theorists say is a planet swinging in from the outskirts of our solar system that is going to crash into Earth and wipe out humanity in 2012 — or, in some opinions, 2011 — shows that an astonishing number of people “are watching YouTube videos and visiting slick websites with nothing in their skeptical toolkit,” in the words of David Morrison, a planetary astronomer at NASA Ames Research Center and senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute and NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Morrison estimates that there are 2 million websites discussing the impending Nibiru-Earth collision. He receives, on average, five email inquiries about Nibiru every day. “At least a once a week I get a message from a young person ― as young as 11 ― who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday,” Morrison said.
 
The Russian government and others are making similar statements.  As with the Year 2000 scare, I expect we shall see continued chatter up until the next morning (December 22) when we all wake up and get back to our daily chores.

By the way, if you are interested in recent doomsday films, check out my earlier story.  Enjoy them and relax.

North Korea: A New Space Race?

With North Korea threatening to launch another rocket to place a satellite into orbit, are we looking at a future with North Korean outposts on the moon?  I think this is unlikely, but a more local space race (and arms race) seems to be capturing everyone's attention.  The planned launch this month (more or less corresponding to the anniversary of death of Kim Jong II) will be the country's second attempt to launch such a rocket, with the first attempt (Galaxy 3) ending in failure. 

So what is North Korea really up to?  The country says it has a right to establish a space program, though the U.S. and many others believe this is really part of North Korea's efforts to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile to threaten an even wider ring of nations.  The planned launch may be delayed by snow, but various countries are readying themselves for a potential mission.  The U.S. is sending additional warships to the area while Japan is preparing its Patriot missiles to intercept the rocket if it comes anywhere near the country.  Not exactly a peaceful space venture here. 

This has always been the risk of this technology from the time of Sputnik - will we explore and learn about the universe around us or concentrate on national politics and exploit space to conquer others?  Maybe North Korea can join the rest of the world at some point with more peaceful space missions, but for now it seems reasonable to doubt their sincerity on launching satellites that monitor agriculture.  I would rather other nations share their space images for now while North Korea concentrates on more pressing issues, such as how it can feed its population.  One step at a time.  First pass through the dark ages, North Korea, and then maybe you will be more credible in the space age.

 

Update:  The North Koreans successfully launched their rocket on December 12th to place a weather satellite in orbit (see the photo provided by North Korea below).  While the rocket flew over Japan, the government did not attempt to destroy it.  Nations around the world condemned the launch and the South Korean military recovered wreckage of the rocket.