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I agree with you, DW. Also one must consider the great distance of the exoplanets a distance that is measured in light years. So I think that they either must discover a planet with earth like living conditions, that is near enough to the earth or they must create artificially the means of survival in very different conditions. Both of these possibilities demand time, high financial and technological investments.
Thanks Danik. This is a quiet period for astronomy posts, but I stay on the lookout for new ones.
Just got a new monthly series of Popular Astronomy posts. This one shows developments in cameras (lighter weight and better quality pictures).
The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
Electronic News Bulletin No. 457 2017 November 19
Here is the latest round-up of news from the Society for Popular
Astronomy. The SPA is arguably Britain's liveliest astronomical
society, with members all over the world. We accept subscription
payments online at our secure site and can take credit and debit
cards. You can join or renew via a secure server or just see how
much we have to offer by visiting http://www.popastro.com/
NEXT MARS ROVER WILL HAVE 23 EYES
NASA
When the Mars Pathfinder touched down in 1997, it had five cameras: two
on a mast that popped up from the lander, and three on NASA's first
rover, Sojourner. Since then, camera technology has seen appreciable
improvement. Photo-sensors that were improved by the space programme
have become commercially ubiquitous. Cameras have shrunk in size,
increased in quality and are now carried in every cellphone and laptop.
That same evolution has returned to space. The Mars 2020 mission will
have more 'eyes' than any rover before it -- a grand total of 23, to
create sweeping panoramas, reveal obstacles, study the atmosphere, and
assist instruments. They will provide dramatic views during the rover's
descent to Mars and be the first to capture images of a parachute as it
opens in the atmosphere of another planet. There will even be a camera
inside the rover's body, which will study samples as they are stored and
left on the surface for collection by a future mission. They represent
a steady progression since Pathfinder: after that mission, the Spirit
and Opportunity rovers were designed with 10 cameras each, including on
their landers; Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover has 17. Camera
technology keeps improving; each successive mission is able to utilize
the improvements, with better performance and lower cost. The cameras
on Mars 2020 will include more colour and 3-D imaging than on Curiosity.
On the new rover, the engineering cameras have been upgraded to acquire
high-resolution, 20-megapixel colour images.
Me too.Yes, themes tend to repeat themselves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
An important development!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
I found this article on aboriginal observation of stars interesting:
"
How Variable Stars Shine in the Oral Traditions of Aboriginal Australians
Are there any clear records from oral or Indigenous cultures that demonstrate knowledge of variable stars?
Emerging research reveals two Aboriginal traditions from South Australia that show the answer is a clear 'yes.'"
https://www.space.com/38789-variable...raditions.html
I had no idea that stars vary in their magnitude, and that the variability follows clear patterns. Very interesting.
I guess that not all stars vary like this, ours, the sun, does not as far as I know? Variability is frequent, like every 4 years. I'm puzzled...
Neither had I.
"Meet 'Oumuamua! The 1st Interstellar Visitor Ever Seen Gets a Name
We now know what to call the mysterious object from interstellar space that zoomed past Earth last month.
The interloper — the first known interstellar body observed within our own solar system — has been named 'Oumuamua, which means "a messenger from afar arriving first" in Hawaiian, representatives of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced yesterday (Nov. 14).
The IAU also approved an official scientific designation for 'Oumuamua: 1I/2017 U1. This is a first-of-its-kind moniker; the "I" stands for "interstellar." Previously, small objects like 'Oumuamua have received standard comet or asteroid designations, which sport a "C" or "A," respectively, in place of the "I." [Solar System Explained from the Inside Out (Infographic)]"
http://www.online-literature.com/for...nomy&p=1345697
The link for Oumuamua on universe today is https://www.universetoday.com/137944...range-looking/.
The visualization is better on your link. It looks like a log. Maybe its just a piece of celestial debris.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
"Ever since the project was first conceived, scientists have been eagerly awaiting the day that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will take to space. As the planned successor to Hubble, the JWST will use its powerful infrared imaging capabilities to study some of the most distant objects in the Universe (such as the formation of the first galaxies) and study extra-solar planets around nearby stars."Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
https://www.universetoday.com/137892...-itll-hunting/
EarthSky has a more detailed presentation of Oumuamua. See http://earthsky.org/space/1st-inters...amua-1i2017-u1. It is certainly weird and an object from beyond the solar system, from interstellar space.
Yes, indeed. And they have now classified it as an interstellar asteroid.
It is like a long thin sausage, very odd! There may be other wonders in interstellar space.
Pardon my irreverence, but does anyone else have this song in their head as they imagine Oumuamua flying through space... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQrQjNNZCAo
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
The astronomers probably not. But I think Oumuamua would welcome the fitting sound track.:lol:
I've often wondered how one of those sails heading fast to a rendezvous with a target object would slow down. The answer is not obvious, though it is good that they are beginning to consider it:
https://www.universetoday.com/137942...ecraft-enough/
https://www.universetoday.com/137954...ife-star-star/
Is this how life spread through the universe? its just a theory and the microbes that could be the means of transport are indeed tiny.
https://astronomynow.com/2017/11/20/...-mars-mission/
"NASA announced Thursday it will fund development of a scientific instrument that will fly on Japan’s Martian Moons Exploration mission, a robotic probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars’ largest moon Phobos."
There are, of course, only 2 moons circling Mars, Phobos being the larger.
"GALACTIC PANSPERMIA: INTERSTELLAR DUST COULD TRANSPORT LIFE FROM STAR TO STAR
The theory of Panspermia states that life exists through the cosmos, and is distributed between planets, stars and even galaxies by asteroids, comets, meteors and planetoids. In this respect, life began on Earth about 4 billion years ago after microorganisms hitching a ride on space rocks landed on the surface. Over the years, considerable research has been devoted towards demonstrating that the various aspects of this theory work.
The latest comes from the University of Edinburgh, where Professor Arjun Berera offers another possible method for the transport of life-bearing molecules. According to his recent study, space dust that periodically comes into contact with Earth’s atmosphere could be what brought life to our world billions of years ago. If true, this same mechanism could be responsible for the distribution of life throughout the Universe."
https://www.universetoday.com/137954...ife-star-star/
A very curious theory. Maybe the existence of almost invisible organism like mites would be a proof of the pudding. But all that remains to be proved. What we have currently is the fertile imagination of the astronomers.
I didn't know that the interstellar interloper Oumuamua, had already passed us by in 2017. Here is a project proposal to study such phenomena in detail:
https://www.universetoday.com/137960...ar-asteroid-1/
"Observations of the asteroid’s orbit have also revealed that it made its closest pass to our Sun back in September of 2017, and it is currently on its way back to interstellar space. Because of the mysteries this body holds, there are those who are advocating that it be intercepted and explored. One such group is Project Lyra, which recently released a study detailing the challenges and benefits such a mission would present."
https://www.universetoday.com/137960...ar-asteroid-1/
I wonder if Oumuamua is worth the expenditure. It was only a courtesy call, it´s already traveling back.
Unless its second visit was just the first the astronomers had noticed. Perhaps it comes back every other year?
If it does it won´t pass unoticed any more I think. The astronomers are fascinated by it:
"Surveys like Pan-STARRS and the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST, currently under construction near the Gemini South telescope in Chile) will undoubtedly increase the detections of these interstellar wanderers. “The discoveries of rare surprises like ‘Oumuamua from outside our Solar System will be greatly accelerated by the power and grasp of the LSST,” said Richard Green of the US National Science Foundation (NSF). “LSST is going to produce a torrent of data and revolutionize this sort of time domain astronomy when it begins operations early in the next decade,” adds Green. LSST is funded by a partnership with the NSF, the Department of Energy, and the LSST Corporation.
‘Oumuamua loosely means “a messenger that reaches out from the distant past,” fitting the nature of the object’s interstellar origin. In Hawaiian ‘ou means “to reach out for,” while mua means “first” and is repeated for emphasis." "
https://www.technology.org/2017/11/2...is-an-oddball/
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will broaden our view of space beyond th solar system:
"The goal of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) project is to conduct a 10-year survey of the sky that will deliver a 200 petabyte set of images and data products that will address some of the most pressing questions about the structure and evolution of the universe and the objects in it. The LSST survey is designed to address four science areas:
• Understanding the Mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy
• Hazardous Asteroids and the Remote Solar System
• The Transient Optical Sky
• The Formation and Structure of the Milky Way
The scientific questions that LSST will address are profound, and yet the concept behind the design of the LSST project is remarkably simple: conduct a deep survey over an enormous area of sky; do it with a frequency that enables images of every part of the visible sky to be obtained every few nights; and continue in this mode for ten years to achieve astronomical catalogs thousands of times larger than have ever previously been compiled."
So the sighting of the Oumuamua is redirecting attention to the larger issues around our interest in Space. That is a major step.
I agree with you. I think this is true specially for the celestial bodies that don´t fit into the usual categories as planets, stars, suns, moons, asteroids, etc.
I thought this was interesting: we still do not have a clear understanding of dynamics of the life-cycle of stars
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/1...ng-white-dwarf
https://www.space.com/38880-james-we...ay-freeze.html
The launch is scheduled for mid-2019.
"Consider a Sun-like star, a red giant, and a white dwarf. They all seem pretty different. But really, one star can be all three of these throughout its life. In about 5 billion years, the Sun will turn into a red giant, bloating until it swallows the Earth. Then about a billion years after that, it will expand too far and lose its outer layers, leaving just its hot, dense core behind. This core will be a white dwarf. "Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/1...ng-white-dwarf
I am astonished at this sistematization of processes that started so many billions of years ago.
https://www.space.com/38880-james-we...ay-freeze.html
The launch is scheduled for mid-2019.
That might be interesting too.
"Unexpected atmospheric vortex behavior on Saturn's moon Titan
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, is bigger than the planet Mercury, and is the only moon in our solar system to have a substantial atmosphere.
Usually, the high altitude polar atmosphere in a planet's winter hemisphere is warm because of sinking air being compressed and heated -- similar to what happens in a bicycle pump.
Puzzlingly, Titan's atmospheric polar vortex seems to be extremely cold instead."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...1121121510.htm
It´s probably going to be a big event. Hopefully the results will justify it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
Yes, that's the general idea. But it is complicated by the variety of situations the white dwarf can be in:
"This simplified graphic displays the different evolutionary pathways stars can take depending on their mass. Sun-like stars (top) typically end up going through a red giant phase before eventually forming a white dwarf."
and:
"A lot of white dwarfs have been spotted over the years, but a study published this week in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society presented the first observational evidence of a shrinking white dwarf, which they found has been consistently contracting for the past 2 million years.
According to theory, a typical white dwarf can shrink its radius by several hundred kilometers during its first million years, but astronomers have never actually witnessed this behavior before. “For decades it has been theoretically clear that young white dwarfs are contracting,” said astrophysicist and lead author of the study, Sergei Popov, in a press release. “Yet, that very phase of contraction has never been observed in ‘real time.’”
The sheer variety of different situations within which the star can be in will require observations of different situations enough times to develop the empirical validation.
This shrinking of white dwarfs (and maybe of other celestial bodies) takes million years. Our planet might be shrinking and expanding and with our current technology we might not notice it.
Another interesting question:
Will the tardigrade be the first interstellar pet?
"Since some bacteria, plants, and even small animals — known as tardigrades — can survive in space, it is possible that these organisms could also get caught in the dust conveyor belt and hitch a ride to another planet. The same mechanism outlined in the study also allows for distant planets within the same solar system to exchange atmospheric particles with one another. "
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/11/life-in-dust
I´m linking this to the video about the tardigrade from the link "About Animals":
http://www.online-literature.com/for...=1#post1336621
Tardigrades are tiny, under 0.5 of a millimetre long: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade. They are very tough, so they can likely survive anywhere. How much wiser would we be if their presence were confirmed on other planets/moons? Unless also other animals were discovered there as well...