Skywatch

[Bo D]

You look at that "thing" in the sky and then you see a picture like this and wonder at it. This thing that gives us life itself. No wonder some cultures worship it.



http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/08/solar-dynamics-observatory-captures-images-lunar-transit?et_cid=4096130&et_rid=54725525&location=top
On July 26, 2014, from 10:57 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. EDT, the moon crossed between NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the sun, a phenomenon called a lunar transit. A lunar transit happens approximately twice a year, causing a partial solar eclipse that can only be seen from SDO's point of view. Images of the eclipse show a crisp lunar horizon, because the moon has no atmosphere that would distort light. This image shows the blended result of two SDO wavelengths — one in 304 wavelength and another in 171 wavelength.

[Purplelady1040]

You look at that "thing" in the sky and then you see a picture like this and wonder at it. This thing that gives us life itself. No wonder some cultures worship it.



http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/08/solar-dynamics-observatory-captures-images-lunar-transit?et_cid=4096130&et_rid=54725525&location=top
On July 26, 2014, from 10:57 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. EDT, the moon crossed between NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the sun, a phenomenon called a lunar transit. A lunar transit happens approximately twice a year, causing a partial solar eclipse that can only be seen from SDO's point of view. Images of the eclipse show a crisp lunar horizon, because the moon has no atmosphere that would distort light. This image shows the blended result of two SDO wavelengths — one in 304 wavelength and another in 171 wavelength.

That is a neat picture!

[libby]

Got a surprise this morning: A spacecraft launched by India has landed on Mars! I did not think they were that advanced technologically.


India becomes first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, joins elite global space club

India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit Wednesday, crowning what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said was a "near impossible" push to complete the trip on its first attempt. (Reuters

By Rama Lakshmi September 24  at 4:05 AM

NEW DELHI — India became the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet when its indigenously made unmanned spacecraft entered the orbit of Mars on Wednesday — and the first nation in the world to successfully reach Mars on its first attempt.

The spacecraft called "Mangalyaan," or "Mars-craft" in Hindi, which was launched last November, slowed down just enough to reach orbit early Wednesday, securing India a place in the elite global space club of Martian explorers.

Images of beaming scientists clapping and hugging each other at the command center in the southern city of Bangalore were shown live in a nationally televised broadcast after a breathless, nail-biting countdown during the spacecraft's final leg.

Over an hour after reaching the orbit, the space agency received the first photographic data of the red planet's terrain which were transmitted via an antenna located in Canberra, Australia.

Calling it the "national pride event," the Indian Space Research Organization also showed it live on Facebook and Twitter.

. . . History has been created today," Modi said from mission control after entry into orbit was confirmed."

Country puts spacecraft in orbit around Red Planet to demonstrate its abilities and advance technologies for space travel.

Sept. 24, 2014 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, meets scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore before the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft successfully entered Mars's orbit. Indian Press Information Bureau/via AFP/Getty Images

The Headline Today news TV channel called it "India's date with the Red Planet," and NDTV 24x7 called it "India's big leap," reflecting the surge of national pride. NASA tweeted congratulations to India for its "Mars arrival."

Wearing a symbolic red vest, India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, witnessed the final insertion of the Mission Orbiter Mars, or MOM as it is fondly called here.

"Mars has found MOM today," Modi said in his short address. "When this mission's short name became MOM, I was convinced that Mom never disappoints. History has been created today. India is the only country to have succeeded to reach the Red Planet on its first attempt."

The official Twitter account of NASA's Curiosity Rover — which has been on the Martian surface since Aug. 6, 2012 — tweeted, "Namaste, @MarsOrbiter! Congratulations to @ISRO and India's first interplanetary mission upon achieving Mars orbit."

To which MOM's Twitter account replied, "Howdy @MarsCuriosity ? Keep in touch. I'll be around."
Officials at the space agency said that for the past two months, scientists worked more than 12 hours a day brainstorming every possible problem and coming up with exhaustive recovery options.
MOM has built-in intelligence, autonomy and a stand-by control system to prevent a breakdown in communication, said M. Pitchaimani, deputy director of the control center at the Indian Space Research Organization.

"Many countries have failed in their first attempt. India got success the first time itself," said Pitchaimani in a telephone interview. "But this has come after intense study of others' failures and the reasons for failure, and building our satellite accordingly. We also had gained from their accumulated knowledge about the gravity field of the planet and we built robust instruments based on that data."

More than half of the 51 Mars missions launched globally have failed. India's successful mission follows those of the United States, Europe and Russia. But India's mission cost a fraction of NASA's $670 million Maven, which entered Mars orbit Sunday. The Curiosity Rover, which touched down on Mars in 2012, cost nearly $2 billion.

By comparison, India's $72 million Mars orbiter is the cheapest interplanetary mission ever. Modi said that India's Mars mission cost less than what it took to make the famous Hollywood space movie "Gravity."

"We kept it low cost, high technology. That is the Indian way of working," Sandip Bhattacharya, assistant director of B.M. Birla Planetarium in the northern city of Jaipur, said in a telephone interview. " . . . Our goal was to reach Mars and send few pictures and scientific data. Now in the coming years, this will give us leverage to plan for newer Mars missions in a more aggressive manner with heavier payload with larger exploration goals."

Over the next six months, India's Mangalyaan will study the mineral composition on Mars and also look for the presence of methane, a chemical key to life on Earth.

India has launched 75 satellites since 1975, and its space program has over the years worked on collecting weather data, predicting natural disasters, feeding television and radio stations and also teaching children in remote villages without schools.

Wednesday's feat mirrors the country's growing ambition to sprint ahead in the Asian space race by competing with China, which has a bigger program than India's.

"The success of our space program is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation," Modi said. "Modern India must continue and it must become a world guru. Let us push our boundaries. And then push some more, push some more."

India's Mars mission has its share of critics, who have said it is an extravagant indulgence for a country where one-third of the population of 1.2 billion have no access to electricity.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the weight of the spacecraft. According to Indian space agency officials, at the time of launch, the Mangalyaan weighed 1.337 tons. After launch and the firing to achieve orbit, the spacecraft weighs 0.55 tons, the officials said.

Rama Lakshmi has been with The Post's India bureau since 1990. She is a staff writer and India social media editor for Post World.

[me]

Figures, between the neighbors house and their tree our view of the eclipse was totally blocked.   

[Henry Hawk]

I had the honor of watching some of the eclipse this morning as I drove to work....pretty cool.   

[libby]

I missed it. I knew about the eclipse and meant to post a reminder here, but yesterday was a busy catch-up day for me, and I just plain forgot.

[Bo D]

When I went out to get the paper at 5:45 this morning, it had just started. By 6:30 it was nearly total. Pretty spectacular!

[Palehorse]

I knew about it, andwhen I arrived at work this morning, made a note to step outside and view the moon. Went out around quarter to 6 and saw it had begun. I then intentionally unlocked the gate leading to the patio, (a dock pad that is rarely used that is just outside my office), and undocked my laptop, and rolled my chair out there. I sat and watched the entire thing from that spot while working this morning.

I was the talk of the plant this morning, but felt really good about the fact I was one of a handful of employees there that knew what was going on, and figured out a way to watch it while working. (Thankfully IT upped the power on our WiFi, so the signal was strong! They put a station right outside my office since I was one of the lead butchers about the piss poor signal strength we used to have.)

At the daily, tiered accountability meetings, I had a lot to talk about; and a lot of jealous co-workers who had forgotten about it. At each one though, someone spoke up and said, "So that's why you were working on the patio this morning?"

Damned Skippy! 

[libby]

I had the honor of watching some of the eclipse this morning as I drove to work....pretty cool.   

When I went out to get the paper at 5:45 this morning, it had just started. By 6:30 it was nearly total. Pretty spectacular!

I knew about it, andwhen I arrived at work this morning, made a note to step outside and view the moon. Went out around quarter to 6 and saw it had begun. I then intentionally unlocked the gate leading to the patio, (a dock pad that is rarely used that is just outside my office), and undocked my laptop, and rolled my chair out there. I sat and watched the entire thing from that spot while working this morning.

I was the talk of the plant this morning, but felt really good about the fact I was one of a handful of employees there that knew what was going on, and figured out a way to watch it while working. (Thankfully IT upped the power on our WiFi, so the signal was strong! They put a station right outside my office since I was one of the lead butchers about the piss poor signal strength we used to have.)

At the daily, tiered accountability meetings, I had a lot to talk about; and a lot of jealous co-workers who had forgotten about it. At each one though, someone spoke up and said, "So that's why you were working on the patio this morning?"

Damned Skippy! 

Well, I'm glad the three of you saw it.   Thanks for sharing!  (says the amateur astronomer who forgot and slept through it  )

[Locutus]

I started to set the alarm and get up and see it, but decided against it. 

[Bo D]

The Sun celebrates the season .....

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/10/nasa-captures-haunting-image-jack-o-lantern-sun?et_cid=4205862&et_rid=54725525&location=top
On October 8, 2014, active regions on the sun combined to look something like a jack-o-lantern's face. This image is a blend of 171 and 193 angstrom light as captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The active regions appear brighter, because those are areas that emit more light and energy — markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona. This image blends together two sets of wavelengths at 171 and 193 Angstroms, typically colorized in gold and yellow, to create a particularly Halloween-like appearance.

[Locutus]

That's pretty cool.

[Locutus]

This won't get you into space, but it will get your name into space.  Sign up to have your name taken into space aboard the test flight of the new Orion spacecraft in early December.  Who's joining me?  I just signed up! 

http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/orion-first-flight/#name-form

[Locutus]

BTW, the chip that holds the names will go on the test flight, but will also eventually be taken to Mars where it will be left on the Martian surface.  Pretty cool for a geek like me to have my name on the surface of Mars.   

[libby]

The Sun celebrates the season .....

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/10/nasa-captures-haunting-image-jack-o-lantern-sun?et_cid=4205862&et_rid=54725525&location=top
On October 8, 2014, active regions on the sun combined to look something like a jack-o-lantern's face. This image is a blend of 171 and 193 angstrom light as captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The active regions appear brighter, because those are areas that emit more light and energy — markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona. This image blends together two sets of wavelengths at 171 and 193 Angstroms, typically colorized in gold and yellow, to create a particularly Halloween-like appearance.

That's pretty cool.

Yes, it is. No wonder ancient people, like the Egyptians, worshiped the Sun.