Voyager nearing interstellar space.

Set out almost 30 years ago, the voyager probes are coming close to exiting the Heliosphere. The probes have collected some immensely important discoveries of our solar system, such as the ocean under the frozen surface of Europa and the frenzied magnetic poles on Uranus. By 2020, it is predicted that the plutonium powering the probes will become inert and the Voyager 1 and 2 will become soaring containers that carry the 'Golden Record'.

As pictured above, the discs contain music, photos, and greetings in 55 languages along with a message from the Secretary General of the United Nations.

It is not old news that Pluto has lost planet status. The definition of a planet has been changed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and according to the new definition, Pluto is now categorized as a dwarf planet. A round celestial object, which orbits the moon, should have enough gravitational force to 'dominate' the objects around it to be defined as a planet. The latter is a difficult requirement for Pluto to manage because of its small size.

Many dwarf planets have already been discovered and many are, in fact, larger than Pluto. According to a National Geographic article by Mason Inman "there are more than 40 of these dwarfs, including the large asteroid Ceres and 2003 UB313, nicknamed Xena—a distant object slightly larger than Pluto discovered by Brown last year." Pluto would be in a very awkward position because of all of the larger asteroids and other planets that are being discovered and defined as dwarf planets. The line between planet and dwarf planet would be far too thin for Pluto to remain as a planet.

I think of it as scientific progress that the definitions of planets are being changed and that we can re-evaluate the objects that make up our solar system. We have discovered so many other objects in space that we now have to categorize them differently.

Here is the National Geographic article.

The Dangers of Private Space Flight

This article details how private space flight could potentially be very dangerous. The writer uses records for past private space flights do make his point that private space flight is not space.

The problem with these records is the records are all from Cold War era private space programs. He is neglecting that since those programs went on, private space industries of today, such as Virgin Galactic have gone much further in craft design. Companies are using other methods, such as motherships(carrier airplanes that loft spacecraft) , as opposed to conventional launches. This author gives no mention at all to the safety records of current companies. As the main point of his argument, he is saying that it is not worth the money to fund these companies.

There is no evidence of argument from the side of the private flight companies themselves. It is most likely that companies are aware of any dangers, such as those presupposed here, and have or are currently coping with that specific danger that could hurt the prospects of space tourism as a successful industry.

Does anyone have a spare $200,000 lying around?

That's how much it costs to book a trip on the Virgin Galactic shuttle.

This whole private space travel thing is really exciting. While most private companies aren't necessarily going into space for scientific reasons, this is still a large stepping stone for space travel.

We can only hope that someday everyone without $200,000 will spend some time among the stars.

If we need to find some habitable planets, we'll know where to look.

According to recent findings, white dwarfs may be the best places to find those heavily sought after, habitable planets. That's thanks to the fact that the habitable zone around a white dwarf is very close to the actual star.

An exoplanet that close is observable by earth based telescopes.

These planets in the habitable could, of course, harbor liquid water, an proponent aspect of a planet that may have the potential for life. Here's the link.

One of the more recent discoveries in astronomy lately is a very 'cool' one. A Brown Dwarf in a binary system has the temperature just around that of a cup of coffee.

The internet provides different information for different audiences of this discovery. Here are the two links:
This is the news report of the discovery.
This is a scholarly report of the discovery.

Each site provides different context of information for a different reader. The news report cites the most basic information about the star. The primary focus of the article is the fact that the star is so low in temperature and it goes to show that the article is more of an attention getter than a hub of valuable information. It only provides enough information to make sense in the context of the subject as well as information that an audience of common astronomy knowledge can understand. It is also this audience that would only be interested in astronomy news that they could either understand the scope of or the scientific importance of the discovery or event.

The other site is a scholarly report of the discovery. The report is filled with astronomer jargon that would be useless to the news article because this is also useless information to that audience. This article would really only be used to scholars in the field. When compared to any other analysis of a celestial object, it is not immediately recognizable as anything special. As a scholarly report, it also does not have any entertainment value. Its only purpose is to inform provide information to someone who could actually make use of it.

For the first time, we have a satellite orbiting Mercury.

The craft will be measuring the planet's for gravitational fields to determine the size of the core. Scientists are also hoping to create a high definition map of the planet, as well as search for frozen water.

here's the link

Observable Dark Matter

Here's an interesting article on dark matter research.

Researchers have a dark matter detector with which they can actually observe the mysterious 'stuff'' that is dark matter.

Researchers have a collection of xenon atoms. The xenon reacts when dark matter particles referred to as 'WIMPs' collide with the xenon particles.

You can get more details here.

Dark matter has made a name for itself in astronomy research. If you didn't know what it is, this video explains just about everything.

This video is several years old, so there may have been some new discoveries in dark matter since then. I'll try to find that information for a future post.

A good view of the final space launch.

If you haven't already heard, the Discovery space shuttle has made its final voyage to the International Space Station. The shuttle program is coming to a close to focus more on space exploration and scientific research as opposed to launching people or heavy cargo into space. Discovery docked at the ISS with a humanoid robot lab assistant and a storage module along with some random spare parts. They also did a 360 degree flip to view the heat shield panels on the underside of the ship. This is a precaution the shuttles have been taking since the heat shield on the Columbia failed during re-entry in 2003. It was an emotional moment for the entire team, which consisted of flight veterans who had spent a lot of time on the ISS.

This is a significant turning point in space travel. Shuttle launches will soon be stopping indefinitely until a more efficient method of fueling can be found. While this may be heart-breaking for many, scientific exploration further into the solar system will continue. Probably the most difficult part for the astronauts involved is parting ways with the beloved space station.

The video is from Youtube,
and the link is right here:
http://www.space.com/10976-shuttle-discovery-astronauts-space-station-final-mission.html

Our telescopes are peering further and further into the the Universe and very recently astronomers have hit a distance milestone.

The Very Large Baseline Array can produce images hundreds of times more detailed than the famous Hubble Telescope. Imagining sitting and Los Angeles and being able to read a newspaper in New York is akin to the power of the VLBA. The numbers are astounding; the VLBA can produce an image 450 million light years away.

This should help astronomers measure the distances of celestial bodies and in the long run aid i the pursuits of mapping the Milky Way. This is one of several useful perks of the VLBA, others include the search for extrasolar planets and piecing together the ominous puzzle that is dark matter.
Every day more and more is being learned about the outer reaches of space and it's something to get excited about. Here's the link:
http://www.universetoday.com/83420/continent-wide-telescope-array-now-seeing-450-million-light-years-into-space/

The sun from all angles

Thanks to the STEREO spacecraft we are now able to get a view of the sun from a 360 degree angle. I guess now we can know what's happening on the other side of the sun when we're not looking at it.

This is important though...space weathermen/women can flesh out their observations and planning missions for spacecraft could be made easier.



Here's the link
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110207102145.htm

The most distant galaxy thus far

In astronomy's common fashion of having the largest, brightest, fastest, hottest things...basically in existence, astronomers at the Carnegie Observatory have discovered the farthest thing ever.

This is an infrared section of the Hubble Deep Field. That blue splotch is 13.2 billion light years away, its light being emitted 480,000,000 years after the Big Bang.

480,000,000 years is 3% the age of the Universe, this is a celestial fossil.

Check the link.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126131711.htm

Welcome

Welcome to Riding The Ecliptic Plane, a blog about movements forward in the study of astronomy and/or space travel.

I'll provide news and other intriguing astronomy tidbits floating around the internet.



Enjoy!