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The Moon and All the Crashes
| Title |
The Moon and All the Crashes |
| Explanation |
A clear blue summer sky finally grows dark and the new telescope, hastily set up in the backyard, generates excitment and anticipation. "I bought it for the kids.", Dad assures himself as he anxiously supervises two young boys' efforts to center a bright, first quarter Moon [ http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html ] in the finder. The evening's [ http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/lessons/html/ moon.html ] first target acquired, James adjusts the focus knob and falls silent. Suddenly, "Wow, looks just like on Apollo 13 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950708.html ]!". His younger brother Christopher takes his turn. "Do you see the Moon [ http://www.salzgeber.at/astro/moon/ index.html ]?", James asks, eager to provide guidance based on his own observing experience. Christopher echoes his brother's enthusiasm, "Yes, and I see all the crashes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991208.html ] too!". The view they shared was not too different from this image of the seven day old moon, recorded in July 2000 by kids and staff during an observing session at Space Camp [ http://www.spacecampturkey.com/ ] in Izmir, Turkey. Along the terminator, the line between lunar night and day [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ lo4_m123.html ], the shadows outline to advantage the spectacular craters -- caused by all the crashes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990326.html ]. |
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Diamond Ring in the Sun
| Title |
Diamond Ring in the Sun |
| Explanation |
Today, earthbound skygazers can celebrate a solstice [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sseason.htm ], a new Moon [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.html ], the closest approach [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] of planet Mars since 1988 ... oh yes, and a total eclipse of the Sun, the first total solar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2001/TSE2001.html ] of the third millennium. Of course for some, today's most spectacular celestial views will be of the eclipsed Sun [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19jun_1.htm ] from along the path of totality as the new Moon's shadow tracks across southern Africa and Madagascar [ http://www.madagascar-eclipse2001.com/eclipse_.htm ]. This picture from the August 1999 total solar eclipse captures the shimmering solar corona just as that eclipse's total phase ended, as seen from eastern Turkey. The first rays of bright sunlight shinning through edge-on [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2001/TSE2001fig/ TSE2001fig08.GIF ] lunar mountains and valleys create the fleeting appearance of glistening diamonds set in a ring around the Moon's silhouette. Do you want to see today's solar eclipse? Eclipse expeditions are offering live webcasts [ http://www.bit-net.com/~pauer/eclipse01/ ]. |
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Hubble Telescope Maps Pluto
| Title |
Hubble Telescope Maps Pluto |
| Explanation |
No spacecraft from Earth has yet explored Pluto [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960212.html ] but astronomers have found ways of mapping its surface [ http://www.lowell.edu/users/buie/pluto/plutomap1.html ]. A stunning map of this distant, diminutive planet [ http://www.lowell.edu/users/buie/pluto/sites.html ], the first based on direct images, was revealed late last week in a Hubble Space Telescope press release [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/96/09.html ]. Above are two opposite hemisphere views of the computer constructed map of Pluto's surface [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/96/09/B.html ] (north is up). The grid pattern is due to the computer technique used where each grid element is over 100 miles across. The map is based on Hubble images made when Pluto [ http://www.lowell.edu/users/buie/pluto/pluto.html ] was a mere 3 billion miles distant. It shows strong brightness variations - confirming and substantially improving upon ground based observations [ http://eggfoo.arc.nasa.gov/HTML/PLUTO/PlutoSym/EFY/EFY.html ]. While the brightness variations may be due to surface features like craters and basins they are more likely caused by regions of nitrogen and methane frost. The frost regions should show "seasonal" changes which can be tracked in future Hubble observations. Yes, Pluto is a planet [ http://www.lowell.edu/users/buie/pluto/planet.html ] even though it is only 2/3 the size of Earth's Moon! |
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Ringed Planet Uranus
| Title |
Ringed Planet Uranus |
| Explanation |
Yes it does look like Saturn, but Saturn is only one of four [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020616.html ] giant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020215.html ] ringed [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981020.html ] planets [ http://ringmaster.arc.nasa.gov/neptune/neptune.html ] in our Solar System. And while Saturn has the brightest rings, this system of rings and moons actually belongs to planet Uranus, imaged here [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2002/ phot-31-02.html ] in near-infrared light by the Antu [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. Since gas giant Uranus' [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/uranus.html ] methane-laced atmosphere absorbs sunlight at near-infrared wavelengths the planet appears substantially darkened, improving the contrast between the otherwise relatively bright planet and the normally faint rings. In fact, the narrow Uranian rings [ http://ringmaster.arc.nasa.gov/uranus/ uranus.html ] are all but impossible to see in visible light with earthbound telescopes and were discovered [ http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/occultations/ uranus25/ ] only in 1977 as careful astronomers noticed the then unknown rings blocking light from background stars. The rings are thought to be younger than 100 million years and may be formed of debris from the collision of a small moon with a passing comet or asteroid-like object. With moons [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000930.html ] named for characters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990227.html ] in Shakespeare's plays, the distant ringed world Uranus [ http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager/vgrur_fs.html ] was last visited in 1986 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. |
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The Moon and All the Crashes
| Title |
The Moon and All the Crashes |
| Explanation |
A clear blue [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960730.html ] summer sky finally grows dark and the new telescope, hastily set up in the backyard, generates excitment and anticipation. "I bought it for the kids ...", Dad assures himself as he over-anxiously supervises the two young boys' efforts to center a bright, first quarter Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/moon.html ], in the finder. The evening's first target acquired, James adjusts the focus knob and falls silent. Suddenly, "Wow, looks just like on Apollo 13 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950707.html ]!". His younger brother Christopher takes his turn. "Do you see the Moon?", James asks, eager to provide guidance based on his own observing experience. Christopher echoes his brother's enthusiasm, "Yes, and I see all the crashes too!". The view they shared was not too different from the above image [ http://www.tiac.net/users/jhendric/6day.html ] of a six day old moon, recorded in July 1995 by Rhode Island amateur astronomer Jim Hendrickson [ http://www.tiac.net/users/jhendric/skyphoto.html ]. Along the terminator, the line between lunar night and day, the shadows outline to advantage the spectacular craters [ http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/edu/craters.htm ] -- caused by all the crashes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960906.html ]. |
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