Remembering Challenger

Liz and myself were at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Oahu on our trip to Hawaii this month.  An incredible setting in the Punchbowl Crater of an inactive volcano.  

As well as honouring the fallen in the Pacific battle arenas, we paid our respects to Ellison S Onizuka, Hawaii's first astronaut.  He was one of the seven astronauts killed on that dreadful day in January 1986 when the Challenger Space Shuttle disintegrated just after take off.  Also buried at the Punchbowl is the NASA astronaut Charles L Veach.

Close shave with an asteroid tonight

Try to get out and see an asteroid tonight.  You will need to use binoculars or a telescope as the asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye at magnitude 7.  You should see the asteroid moving against the background stars because it is so close to us - closest approach is just 27,700km away at 19.26.  Use the Plough as your guide. Look at the stars in the Plough to judge the position of the asteroid at any given time from 21.00 onwards.  

Meteorite injures 500 in Russia today

A fireball was seen by thousands zooming across the morning sky in Russia. The meteorite hit a zinc factory and 500 people were injured by the explosion and flying glass from buildings in the town of Chelyabinsk.  Drivers caught views of the fireball on their car video cameras.  Spectacular! 

The smoke trail was then followed by the impact on the zinc factory in Chelyabinsk.

Have a look at some video clips of the meteorite on its way to impact Earth:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqZmaves5c

See the news cast from Russia Today:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36MEsWC1Pzc

A sparkling meteor

Take a look at this superb image of a meteor captured as star trails were being photographed.  This is a beginner's photo!

           Picture Credit : David Leece

I have just been sent this terrific picture showing a meteor in the night sky of early November.  David is new to astrophotography!  I've adjusted the brightness as 30 second exposures were made to show the star trails over one hour and the lights from the town made the image appear as if it was in daylight.  You can see the dots in the star trails showing each separate exposure.  Not only that, you can pick out the colours of the stars too - some blue stars can be seen quite easily.  During one of the 30 second exposures, a meteor shot across the sky and has been captured heading on its way down towards the horizon.  This is one of David's early astrophotos.  I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Hubble Extreme Deep Field

Hubble has done it again!  Two million seconds exposure picked out 5,500 galaxies in an area near the constellation of Cetus - the Sea Monster, found in the southern skies.  The area is similar in size to the Sea of Crises on the Moon.  All sorts of colours, shapes and sizes.   

Picture credit: NASA; ESA; G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch, University of California, Santa Cruz; R. Bouwens, Leiden University; and the HUDF09 Team

To view where in the night sky the image was taken, just copy the URL below and open:-

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/xdf.html

Astrophotographer of the Year 2012

When you see a photo like this you think of Hubble.  Think again.  An amateur won the Deep Space category with this terrific image.  Fully deserved.

M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy by Martin Pugh (UK/Australia)

If you are at school and think that you have no chance of matching this, have a look at the following picture taken by a 15 year old, to win the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year section.
Pleiades Cluster by Jacob von Chorus (Canada)



















I love the detail in the image below showing the shattered remains of a star after a supernova explosion.

Simeis 147 Supernova Remnant by Rogelio Bernal Andreo (USA) 

Thank you Sir Bernard

The world has lost a wonderful astronomer today.  Sir Bernard Lovell was a great visionary who opened up the new branch of radio astronomy.  I looked across the Cheshire plain in July and took this photo from the Staffordshire hills about 10 miles away.  What an impressive telescope Jodrell Bank is - the brainchild of Sir Bernard.  We have learnt so much about the universe because of his great ideas.

And a special family link.  Sir Bernard realised there was a possibility of developing a radio telescope because of the work he was involved with in developing radar during World War Two.  My father was at Worth Matravers in Dorset, helping to protect the very secret work.  Then he moved to Malvern as Churchill realised the secrets could be too easily grabbed being so close to the coast.  Dad's war was very much shaped by this work.

The great thing is that Sir Bernard Lovell has shaped the future of Astronomy.  By looking at radio waves, others realised that other bands of the electromagnetic spectrum needed to be investigated as well - leading to X-ray and gamma ray work.  What an incredible legacy Sir Bernard has left us all.