Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dancing Polar Auroras Captured by Thierry Legault

Dancing Polar Auroras Captured by Thierry Legault:
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Aurora over Komagfjord, Norway (northern end of Scandinavia, 70°N). Credit and Copyright: Thierry Legault. Used by permission
One of our favorite astrophotographers, Thierry Legault from France, took a trip to Finland and Norway so he could see and photograph the Northern Lights for the first time. Socked in with clouds in Finland, Thierry traveled to the Alta region in Norway to find clear skies. “We were rewarded with incredible auroras,” he said via Skype. “At moments, the auroras moved like curtains in the wind, too fast to be photographed!”
See below for a stunning video compilation of two nights of observing the Northern Lights over the Kamagfjord in Norway, as well as more gorgeous images of aurora and a view of the fjord in the “twilight” of midday, since there was no sunrise that far north for several days in December.
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New Images Show a “Living” Mars

New Images Show a “Living” Mars:
Wet Mars
A conception of an ancient and/or future Mars, flush with oceans, clouds and life. Credit: Kevin Gill
Over the years, scientists have found evidence revealing that an ocean may have covered parts of the Red Planet billions of years ago. Others suggest that a future terraformed Mars could be lush with oceans and vegetation. In either scenario, what would Mars look like as a planet alive with water and life? By combining data from several sources — along with a bit of creative license — software engineer Kevin Gill has created some gorgeous images showing concepts of what a “living Mars” might look like from orbit, turning the Red Planet into its own version of the Blue Marble.
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Astrophoto: Comet Shower at Captain Cook’s Monument

Astrophoto: Comet Shower at Captain Cook’s Monument:
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Comet shower at Captain Cook’s Monument. Credit: Peter Greig
An obelisk dedicated to Captain Cook sits atop of Easby Moor in North Yorkshire, England. In this stunning image, Peter Greig and his colleague David Relph captured ‘comet like’ star trails during the Geminid meteor shower last month. This is a composite of twenty 30-second exposures that give the stars a comet-like appearance. It almost looks like a snow-shower, too!
Be on the lookout tonight for the Quadrantid meteor shower. Best viewing will be in the northern hemisphere.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

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Kepler Finds Hundreds of New Exoplanet Candidates

Kepler Finds Hundreds of New Exoplanet Candidates:
Kepler exoplanets 10c and 10b
Artist’s depiction of the Kepler 10 system, which contains planets 2.2 and 1.4 times the size of Earth. (NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech)
Kepler mission scientists announced today the discovery of literally hundreds of new exoplanet candidates — 461, to be exact — orbiting distant stars within a relatively small cross-section of our galaxy, bringing the total number of potential planets awaiting confirmation to 2,740. What’s more, at least 4 of these new candidates appear to be fairly Earth-sized worlds located within their stars’ habitable zone, the orbital “sweet spot” where surface water could exist as a liquid.
Impressive results, considering that NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft was launched a little under 4 years ago (and watching 150,000 stars to spot the shadows of planets is no easy task!)
“… the ways by which men arrive at knowledge of the celestial things are hardly less wonderful than the nature of these things themselves.”
— Johannes Kepler
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Exciting Potential for Habitable ExoMoons

Exciting Potential for Habitable ExoMoons:
Artistic rendition of a sunset view<br /> from the perspective of an imagined Earth-like moon orbiting the giant planet, PH2 b. Image Credit: H. Giguere, M. Giguere/Yale University
Artistic rendition of a sunset view
from the perspective of an imagined Earth-like moon orbiting the giant planet, PH2 b. Image Credit: H. Giguere, M. Giguere/Yale University
Imagine moons like Europa or Enceladus that are orbiting distant gas giant exoplanets located in the habitable zone of their star. What would be the potential for life on those moons? Hopefully one day we’ll find out, as that could be the scenario at an exoplanet that has been found by the Planet Hunter citizen science project. This is the second confirmed planet found by Planet Hunters, and the newest planet, PH2 b, is a Jupiter-size world in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star.
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4 Cool Views of the Hot, Loopy, Spotty Sun

4 Cool Views of the Hot, Loopy, Spotty Sun:
The Sun in H-Alpha on 01-07-2013, as seen with a Lunt Solar LS60Scope/LS50, and Hydrogen Alpha Solar filter. Credit: John Chumack
The Sun in H-Alpha on 01-07-2013, as seen with a Lunt Solar LS60Scope/LS50, and Hydrogen Alpha Solar filter. Credit: John Chumack
A few sunspots are now ‘peppering” the surface of our Sun — Spaceweather.com lists about 12 different sunspot groups today. Yesterday (January 7, 2013), astrophotographer John Chumack stepped outside over his lunch break and captured some cool-looking views of the Sun from his observatory in Ohio, using different filters.
See more below, plus the Solar Dynamics Observatory has a spectacular video of coronal loops on the Sun during January 5 through 7.
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Clouds of Sand and Iron Swirl in a Failed Star’s Extreme Atmosphere

Clouds of Sand and Iron Swirl in a Failed Star’s Extreme Atmosphere:
This artist's conception illustrates the brown dwarf named 2MASSJ22282889-431026.
Artist’s concept of brown dwarf  2MASSJ22282889-431026 (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The complex weather patterns within the atmosphere of a rapidly-rotating brown dwarf have been mapped in the highest detail ever by researchers using the infrared abilities of NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes… talk about solar wind!
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Astrophoto: Beautiful Electric Blue Pleiades

Astrophoto: Beautiful Electric Blue Pleiades:
M 45: The Pleiades. Credit: Chuck Manges
M 45: The Pleiades. Credit: Chuck Manges
What a great shot of the Seven Sisters! M45, or the Pleiades is a cluster of stars that contains hundreds of stars, but just a handful are commonly visible to the unaided eye. The stars in the Pleiades are thought to have formed together around 100 million years ago, making them 1/50th the age of our Sun, and they lie about 450 light years from Earth. Chuck Manges, (astrochuck on Flickr) took this image on January 5, 2013 with a QHY9M camera and an Orion ED102CF telescope, and processed it in Photoshop. Gorgeous!
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

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The Orion Nebula as You’ve Never Seen it Before: Jaw-dropping New Image from Gemini

The Orion Nebula as You’ve Never Seen it Before: Jaw-dropping New Image from Gemini:
This image, obtained during the late commissioning phase of the GeMS adaptive optics system, with the Gemini South AO Imager (GSAOI) on the night of December 28, 2012, reveals exquisite details in the outskirts of the Orion Nebula. Gemini Observatory/AURA
This image, obtained during the late commissioning phase of the GeMS adaptive optics system, with the Gemini South AO Imager (GSAOI) on the night of December 28, 2012, reveals exquisite details in the outskirts of the Orion Nebula. Gemini Observatory/AURA
This is the part of the Orion nebula. Recognize it? You may not, as this stunning new image comes from the Gemini Observatory’s recently-commissioned advanced adaptive optics (AO) system named GeMS. It shows clumps of gas ejected from deep within the Orion Nebula which are nicknamed ‘Orion Bullets.’
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What Craters on the Moon Teach Us About Earth

What Craters on the Moon Teach Us About Earth:
EarthMoonCratering
When the Moon was receiving its highest number of impacts, so was Earth. (NASA/LPI)
Some questions about our own planet are best answered by looking someplace else entirely… in the case of impact craters and when, how and how often they were formed, that someplace can be found shining down on us nearly every night: our own companion in space, the Moon.
By studying lunar impact craters both young and old scientists can piece together the physical processes that took place during the violent moments of their creation, as well as determine how often Earth — a considerably bigger target — was experiencing similar events (and likely in much larger numbers as well.)
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Behold: The Largest Known Spiral Galaxy

Behold: The Largest Known Spiral Galaxy:
This composite of the giant barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 combines visible light images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope with far-ultraviolet (1,528 angstroms) data from NASA's GALEX and 3.6-micron infrared data acquired by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ESO/JPL-Caltech/DSS
This composite of the giant barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 combines visible light images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope with far-ultraviolet data from NASA's GALEX and 3.6-micron infrared data acquired by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ESO/JPL-Caltech/DSS
Astronomers have long known that a spectacular barred spiral galaxy named NGC 6872 is a behemoth, but by compiling data from several space- and ground-based observatories and running a few computer simulations, they have now determined this is the largest spiral galaxy we know of.
Measuring tip-to-tip across its two outsized spiral arms, NGC 6872 spans more than 522,000 light-years, making it more than five times the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
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So. Many. Stars…

So. Many. Stars…:
The globular star cluster 47 Tucanae
Infrared image of globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) captured by ESO’s VISTA telescope.
“My god, it’s full of stars!” said Dave Bowman in the movie 2010 as he entered the monolith, and one could imagine that the breathtaking view before him looked something like this.
Except this isn’t science fiction, it’s reality — this is an image of globular cluster 47 Tucanae taken by the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. It reveals in stunning detail a brilliant collection of literally millions of stars, orbiting our Milky Way galaxy at a distance of 15,000 light-years.
The full image can be seen below.
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AR1654 is a Monster Sunspot. (And It’s Aiming Our Way.)

AR1654 is a Monster Sunspot. (And It’s Aiming Our Way.):
AR1654
Active Region 1654 on the Sun’s western limb, seen by SDO on Jan. 11 (NASA/SDO/HMI team. Diagram by J. Major.)
Like an enormous cannon that is slowly turning its barrel toward us, the latest giant sunspot region AR1654 is steadily moving into position to face Earth, loaded with plenty of magnetic energy to create M-class flares — moderate-sized outbursts of solar energy that have the potential to cause brief radio blackouts on Earth and, at the very least, spark bright aurorae around the upper latitudes.
According to SpaceWeather.com, AR1654 “could be the sunspot that breaks the recent lengthy spell of calm space weather around our planet.”
The image above, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory earlier today, shows the structure of AR1654 upon the Sun’s photosphere — its light-emitting “surface” layer. Stretching many tens of thousands of miles, this magnetic solar blemish easily dwarfs our entire planet. And it’s not just a prediction that this sunspot will unleash a flare — it already has.
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A Moon With Two Suns: Making Art from Science

A Moon With Two Suns: Making Art from Science:
Screen Shot 2013-01-13 at 9.08.20 PM
A view of Kepler 47c and binary stars. ©Digital Drew. All rights reserved.
What would it look like on a hypothetical icy moon orbiting the exoplanet Kepler 47c? Perhaps something like this.
This is an illustration by an artist who goes by the name Digital Drew on Flickr. Drew creates landscapes of imagined alien worlds orbiting stars (and sometimes planets) that actually exist in the Universe. With 3D software, a little science and a lot of imagination, Drew shows us what skies might look like on other planets.
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Saturn’s Mini-Moons Align for Family Portrait

Saturn’s Mini-Moons Align for Family Portrait:
Saturn, its rings and three moons are visible in this image from Cassini. Credit: NASA/ESA
Saturn, its rings and three moons are visible in this image from Cassini. Credit: NASA/ESA
It’s a good thing NASA labeled the moons in this image of Saturn, because they are pretty hard to see. But they are there, keeping each other company in this Cassini spacecraft image of Saturn’s night side. And as the Cassini team says, it seems fitting that they should do so since in Greek mythology, their namesakes were brothers.
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Crescent Moon Photos from Around the World

Crescent Moon Photos from Around the World:
Venus and the Moon on 1-10-13 from Tucson, Arizona. Credit: Robert Sparks
Venus and the Moon on 1-10-13 from Tucson, Arizona. Credit and copyright: Robert Sparks
For the past week or so, we’ve had either a waxing or waning crescent Moon (save for the New Moon on January 11) and astrophotographers have been out in full force capturing the beauty of this sliver of light, and sometimes, like the image above by Rob Sparks (hale_bopp37 on Flickr) even a little Earthshine. Enjoy these stunning photos from our readers around the world!
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Absolutely Stunning 3-D View of a Cosmic Cloud

Absolutely Stunning 3-D View of a Cosmic Cloud:

An animated 3D-study of Melotte 15. Credit and copyright: J-P Metsävainio.
To call Finnish astrophotographer J-P Metsävainio a magician is definitely not an exaggeration! Take a look at his latest handiwork, this amazing 3-D animation of Melotte 15 in the Heart Nebula, IC 1805.
Metsävainio has previously produced outstanding images in 3-D the usual way, with stereo pairs and anaglyphs, but his new experimental 3-D work is incredible!
He explained to Universe Today how he created this and other 3-D animations:
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A Hi-Res Mosaic of Mercury’s Crescent

A Hi-Res Mosaic of Mercury’s Crescent:
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A view of Mercury from MESSENGER’s October 2008 flyby (NASA / JHUAPL / Gordan Ugarkovic)
Every now and then a new gem of a color-composite appears in the Flickr photostream of Gordan Ugarkovic, and this one is the latest to materialize.
This is a view of Mercury as seen by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft during a flyby in October 2008. The image is a composite of twenty separate frames acquired with MESSENGER’s narrow-angle camera from distances ranging from 18,900 to 17,700 kilometers and colorized with color data from the spacecraft’s wide-angle camera. (North is to the right.)
Click the image for a closer look, and for an even bigger planet-sized version click here. Beautiful!
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Dark Nebula Hides Star Birth

Dark Nebula Hides Star Birth:
A new image from ESO shows a dark cloud where new stars are forming along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery.  Credit: ESO/F. Comeron.
A new image from ESO shows a dark cloud where new stars are forming along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery. Credit: ESO/F. Comeron.
Dark nebulas, or dark clouds in space are intriguing because they appear to be “holes” in the sky where there aren’t any stars. But they really are just blocking our view. Also called absorption nebulas, these dark, smokey clouds of gas and dust block light from the regions of space behind it. This new image from ESO shows a dark cloud called Lupus 3 along with a cluster of brilliant stars.
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Global Temperatures Continue to Rise

Global Temperatures Continue to Rise:
This map represents global temperature anomalies averaged from 2008 through 2012. Credit: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio.
This map represents global temperature anomalies averaged from 2008 through 2012. Credit: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio.
This week, scientists at NASA released their global climate analysis for 2012 which revealed that Earth continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago. The past year was the ninth warmest year on record since 1880, continuing what appears to be a long-term global trend of rising temperatures. The ten warmest years in the 132-year record have all occurred since 1998, and the last year that was cooler than average was 1976. The hottest years on record were 2010 and 2005.
The analysis was done by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) which monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, comparing temperatures around the globe to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century.
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Gorgeous Images: Ancient River on Mars?

Gorgeous Images: Ancient River on Mars?:
Perspective view of Reull Vallis. Credit and Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
A computer-generated perspective view of Reull Vallis was created using data obtained from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express. Credit and Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
The Mars Express has long been taking pictures of what appears to be an ancient riverbed on Mars. In fact, Reull Vallis was one of the first objects on the Red Planet that Mars Express ever imaged back in 2004 when the spacecraft arrived in orbit. The latest images show the sinuous river-like feature that stretches for nearly 1,500 km across the Martian landscape. This winding depression is 6-10 km wide, and its depth varies from 100-600 meters. In comparison, the Amazon River on Earth is about 6,500 km long and 11 km wide in places.
So, is this really an ancient river?
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Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition Now Open for 2013

Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition Now Open for 2013:
Winning photograph in the Earth and Space category in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition,  'Star Icefall' by Masahiro Miyasaka (Japan).
Winning photograph in the Earth and Space category in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition, 'Star Icefall' by Masahiro Miyasaka (Japan).
It’s back! The 2013 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is now open and accepting submissions. This is the fifth year of the competition, which is is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Sky at Night Magazine. Every year it produces some of the most beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos, whether they are striking pictures of vast galaxies millions of light years away, or dramatic images of the night sky taken much closer to home.
“Every year brings something new to see in the sky and the arrival in March of the predicted Comet C/2011 PANSTARRS will hopefully inspire some memorable pictures in this year’s competition,” said Dr. Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the ROG and judge in the competition. “It will be great to see even more entries from talented young photographers and newcomers to astrophotography who prove year after year that all you need to do is pick up a camera.”
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Why the Moon Landings Weren’t Faked

Why the Moon Landings Weren’t Faked:

I’ll just leave this here.
Video by SG Collins/Postwar Media H/T to Gizmodo.

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Astrophotos: Jupiter and the Moon Conjunction

Astrophotos: Jupiter and the Moon Conjunction:
The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter are clearly visible just above a halo around the Moon, seen over central Italy on January 21, 2013. Credit: Giuseppe Petricca
The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter are clearly visible just above a halo around the Moon, seen over central Italy on January 21, 2013. Credit: Giuseppe Petricca
Last night, the Moon and Jupiter snuggled up in the sky, coming within 29 arcminutes of each other. This will be the closest conjunction of these two bodies in the sky until 2026. The waxing gibbous Moon and the gas giant planet made for a great pair in the western night sky, and some astrophotographers, like Giuseppe Petricca in the image above, were also able to capture some of the Moons of Jupiter as well.
See more images from around the world, below.
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PHOTO : Detailed View of Betelgeuse, on a Collision Course with a Nearby Wall of Dust

Detailed View of Betelgeuse, on a Collision Course with a Nearby Wall of Dust:
Betelgeuse
A photograph of the red supergiant Betelgeuse interacting with a mysterious dusty wall. Image credit: Herschel/ESA
Betelgeuse is one of my favorite objects to look at, partly because of its pure red color, and mostly because my imagination fills in the rest. That bright red star, the shoulder of Orion is a supergiant, with dozens of times the mass of the Sun, and ready to detonate as a supernova any day now (any day within the next few million years).
But look at Betelgeuse with a really powerful telescope, like the European Space Agency’s Herschel telescope, and you’ll see something like this: the red supergiant Betelgeuse in all its glory, smashing its ferocious solar winds into its environment.
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