160,000,000,000 Milky Way Planets? 01.13.11

Have you ever played the party game where you try to guess how many candies were in a jar? You would look at the size of the candies, the size of the container, and try to visualize how many could fit in the space. Now, put that on a galactic scale.

Astronomers use math, not guessing, when trying to determine the number of the planets in our galaxy. There is not much guessing to this at all, really. There is, however, a great deal of calculations and observations. For years, scientists have been trying to track down planets elsewhere in our galaxy  using the “transit method” and “radial velocity.” The transit method measures light from distant stars. If the readings from the planet show regular dips in light, that indicates an object passing in front of the star at regular intervals, which, to cause such a measurable dip, must mean a planet in orbit. The radial velocity method measures how much stars “wobble” because of the pull of the planets in orbit around them.

A new observation method is being employed that is not so biased towards close-orbiting planets, called gravitational  microlensing. According to SPACE.com, microlensing measures how light is magnified and bent by gravitational fields from distant bodies. Based on the researcher’s calculations, they estimate at least 1.6 planets per star in our galaxy, in orbits from their stars roughly the same orbital range of Venus to Saturn from our own sun.

Based on that estimate—1.6 planets per star—and their estimate of about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, that comes out to quite a few planets. When we here at the    Wetherbee Planetarium start to think about how many galaxies are estimated to be in existence in our Universe—100 trillion—it is mind-boggling to try to comprehend how many planets may be in existence outside our tiny little terrestrial world.

An artist's impression of the prevalence of planets in our galaxy.

CREDIT: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Information credit: SPACE.com

Top 11 in 2011, 12.30.11

2011 has been a tremendous year for astronomy. It has been a marvelous year for discoveries, yet we look forward to the future as the space program evolves to continue without the space shuttles. Here at the Wetherbee Planetarium, we would like to take a moment to reflect on some of our favorite stories we covered this past year.


11. Diamonds in the Sky, originally published 08.29.11. A diamond planet companion was found orbiting J1719-1438. How is that for twinkle?


10. De Blob, it glows!, originally published 08.19.11. Lyman-alpha blob 1 (LAB-1), a giant, intergalactic green blob, was discovered. No one knows what it is, but it is big, it glows, and it is green. We think that is pretty awesome.


9. The sky is falling!, originally published 09.14.11. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) took a spiraling descent back to Earth over late September-early October, mostly breaking apart and burning in the atmosphere.


8. A Geriatric Non-Planet, Non-Asteroid…Thing…, originally published 04.04.11. The gargantuan asteroid Vesta was visited by NASA’s Dawn mission in July of this year for a photoshoot rendezvous.


7. “Spinstars” May Have Helped Seed the Universe, originally published 05.02.11. Astronomers working with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) theorized the existence of “spinstars,” possibly the fastest rotating objects in the universe.


6. Gamma Ray Flares in Binary Star are a Mystery, originally published 07.07.11. A binary star system in January and February of this year was found emitting gamma ray flares as a companion pulsar grazed through the Be-class star’s gaseous disc.


5. “It’s Alive!” Zombie Satellite Galaxy 15 Springs Back to Life, originally published 01.04.11. Rebellious satellite-gone-rogue Galaxy 15 came to its senses and rebooted after months of failing to respond to commands and joyriding.


4. Life-Friendly Zones in the Galaxy?, originally published 09.30.11. Astronomers theorized the possibility of a “life zone” or area in galaxies that is most likely to support life as we know it.


3. Hubble Celebrates Millionth Observation, originally published 07.12.11. The Hubble Space Telescope made its historic millionth observation of outer space, a spectroscopic observation of planet HAT-P-7b.


2. The Star of Bethlehem, originally published 12.20.10, reprinted 12.20.11. The staff at the Wetherbee Planetarium delved into possible explanations for one of the most iconic symbols of the Christmas season.


1. Launch Week: Last Flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour Scheduled Friday, originally published 04.25.11. NASA set the launch date for the last flight of space shuttle Endeavour, one of the final missions for the shuttle program.


So, what do we expect for 2012? NASA’s Dawn mission will wrap up its study of Vesta, the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission will make its descent back to Earth after its failed launch, Kepler is confident about the odds of finding an Earth-like planet in the life zone, and the biggest non-event: the supposed “alignment with the core of the galaxy” on December 21. Here’s to 2012!

The Star of Bethlehem, 12.20.11

Originally published December 20, 2010


Throughout time, one object in astronomy has continually puzzled astronomers. Only one source in all of history has recorded it, yet it has fascinated the faithful and obsessed the scientific. Like history, astronomy is not repeatable, and the truth of the matter can only be postulated from the evidence that remains. The evidence left for scientists to mull over, in this case, is everywhere but on Earth, and the mystery is a “star” that is no more. We are, of course, speaking of the Star of Bethlehem, mentioned in manuscripts included in the Christian Bible, and supposedly occurred over 2,000 years ago in what we now refer to as the Middle East, west of the Mesopotamian region.


Let us establish the context first. As we mentioned before, the Christian Bible contains the only written records of the Star. While there are multiple allusions to a star throughout the Scriptures, there is one section in particular that directly mentions the Star in question: Matthew, chapter 2.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is e that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him”. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, “in Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, For out of thee shall come a Governor; that shall rule my people Israel.” Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. And when they heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. –Matthew 2:1-10

The wise men, or magi, were elite scholars of their day who practically knew the night sky and the movements of the objects in our solar system (that they could see) like the backs of their hands. Most likely from ancient Babylon, the magi used the skies to help them establish a calendar, know when to plant and harvest crops, how to plot navigation courses using them as guides, and more pertinent to this case, how to make predications or divinations about their current events.


Why would an elite group of astrologers (astronomy, the scientific study of space, had its roots in and was still closely entwined in astrology—the belief that our lives on earth are affected by the movements of objects in space—at this point, and would not emerge as a respected science for several hundreds of years) care about the birth of a poor Jewish boy several hundreds of miles away? The answer can be inferred from the Biblical book of Daniel. Hundreds of years prior, the astrologers were still busy reading the heavens and, more importantly, attempting to make predications based on the movements of what they saw. Whether he was attempting to test the wise men or merely gain a clear answer is not certain, but the Babylonian king at the time, Nebuchadnezzar, demanded of the wise men that they interpret his dream. Realizing their inability to do so using on astrology, they had to admit to the king that all they had been telling the king before was a bunch of lies. In a rage, the king commanded they all be put to death. Daniel,
a young Jewish noble who had been brought captive to Babylon intervened and asked the king to give him time. According to the Bible, Daniel prayed to God for an answer, he pleased the king when he provided an interpretation of the dream, and the king made Daniel the ruler of the wise men. It is more than plausible that Daniel would have shared the Jewish prophecies with the wise men about a Messiah, which is probably why they were able to quote the prophecy recorded in the book of Isaiah to king Herod when they arrived near Bethlehem hundreds of years later seeking the Christ child.


It is also important to note, concerning the magi, that it was the significance they attributed to the sign that they sought, not so much the object itself that fascinated them. Most ancient cultures had their own sect of sky watchers (even the general population, on average, had a working familiarity with the night sky). That they had their own, unique significance for whatever it was they had seen is evident in the surprise and dismay that Matthew recorded the king Herod and his scribes having. Had they missed something important? Had they seen the sign and not even recognized it? One can only imagine the hurried conversation that took place between the Jewish scholars and their king before these foreign magi regarding a sign in their own, native skies.


So we know at least that the magi were expecting some sort of sign to herald the coming of the Messiah. Finding Him, though, was another story entirely. The journey from Babylon, where they most likely began, to Jerusalem, where they met with king Herod, as the crow flies, is a journey of a little over 400 miles. That, of course, would take the wise men straight across the middle of a barren wasteland. More than likely, they would have taken a more northerly course following along the Euphrates and then descending through Judaea, stopping from town to town along their way to Jerusalem. This would have been an even longer course. Granted, it is plausible that they could have gone straight through the desert if they had wished—there is no way to know for sure which route they took, whether just a really long route, or a much longer, really long route. The point of this is that it would have taken them several weeks, even if riding, to make it to Jerusalem. That is a very long amount of time to be “following” an object in the night sky.


So what was the star that sent wise men across the desert to bring gifts and worship the Christ child? Let us examine the candidates from an astronomical point of view. From supernovas to UFO’s, comets, a shooting star, supernovas, and a planetary conjunction, none of these fit exactly.


We can dismiss “shooting stars” without a chance. “Shooting stars” are meteors that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere as they fly past our planet. They only last the briefest of moments, and they fall at regular times throughout the year.There would have been nothing remarkable or noteworthy to the magi about just another meteor, or even another meteor shower. Small and only a few seconds in duration each, they were just another sparkly, streaking speck in the sky.


Supernovas can probably be disqualified as well. Supernovas are stars that, for all intents and purposes, explode and end their lives in violent chaos, creating a black hole and emitting a burst of light hundreds of times their normal brightness. While the light from a supernova would have lasted 3-5 weeks at best, the wise men would have had to have made record time to make it to Jerusalem before the light faded. Supernovas also leave behind trace dust clouds that can be seen today with special astronomy equipment, and also many of them have been recorded in history. No mention was made in history of a supernova occurring at this time. The Chinese called them guess stars, and astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572 made the first scientific records of supernova behavior. The supernova of 1054 AD was recorded by ancient peoples around the world, and is now known as the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus the bull. No supernovas are recorded in the time frame surrounding the period during which Jesus was born (somewhere between 8 BC and 4 AD), but then again it is very likely that not all novas and supernovas are recorded. Astronomers have recently discovered that a supernova occurred about 400 years ago that would have been visible in Earth’s southern hemisphere, yet it somehow went without being recorded by a single historian (that they know of). In a period so plentiful with scholars and with such a wide network of communication provided by the Roman Empire at the time, it is curious that no written record of a supernova remains. The absolute lack of such a record makes us more likely to lean towards no such observation having been made in the first place.


As for a comet, that theory is laughable. In this day and age, comets are regarded as something unique and special, especially since some comets only pass by earth once and are never to be seen again. Just a few hundred years ago, however, comets were regarded as something to be feared. How much more so for people thousands of years ago who lacked equipment for their closer observation? Comets were often considered heralds of doom and destruction. Even our own Nelson Tift, one of the founders of Albany, GA, had the opportunity to observe a comet in 1835 and recorded some of the reactions of people around the town in his personal diary. He writes:

I saw the comet this evening about 7 o’clock, I think about west 45 degrees above the horizon…it was asserted by some that it would some so near the earth as to set it on fire! & by others that they would come in contact!

If people not even 200 years ago were terrified at the sight of a comet, how much more might have been the people thousands of years ago. Least of all, comets have tails. The wise men referred to the object they saw as a star, and stars simply do not have tails.


Now for the most plausible theory, but by no means a sure bet: a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction including Jupiter and Saturn, next to the star Regulus in the constellation Leo the lion would have been highly steeped in symbolism for the magi. The three of them also would have made a great show, but a conjunction is extremely predictable and the wise men, being very familiar with the course of the planets, would have known it was coming for months. Granted, Jupiter is considered a kingly planet and Regulus, the star, is also associated with kings, but it is a far stretch of interpretation to bring the Greek word used in Matthew chapter 2 for the star, astare’, to mean planet. Several months later the planet Venus and the star Regulus overlap, but that is still just a conjunction. In fact, just to have a better understanding of just what the Matthew meant when he recorded his Gospel 2,000 years ago, let us examine the word he used for “star.” When the book was first written, it was recorded in an ancient Greek dialect. Could something have been lost in translation?


The word he used was άστήρ, which pronunciation we mentioned before is astare’. According to the New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, a long respected resource by Bible scholars, the Greek word can either literally or figuratively mean a star. According to E.W. Bullinger’s Critical Lexicon of the English and Greek New Testment, there is a very slim chance the word could also mean planet or even meteor, but more digging into the roots of the word itself back in Strong’s lends more insight. According to Strong’s, astare’ comes from the roots of another Greek word, strōnnumi, which relates the idea of “strewing” or spreading something out in a space, which certainly brings up images of the stars laid out across the heavens. That word, in turn, is connected to another word, stĕrĕŏs, which have more connotations of something that is “stedfast, strong,” or “sure.” So, now we know that whatever the star was, we can rest assured it was not some fleeting or flickering object. It was solidly there.


Stĕrĕŏs, Strong’s claims, is connected to another word, histēmi, and its primary word staō, which can be used “in various applications” either literally or figuratively, to mean bide or appoint, among other things.


The last stop is tithēmi, a word tied to histēmi, from the primary word thĕō, with the widest application as an “upright and active position” of placing something. A curious ending, indeed. It would seem that the etymological trail of the word used for “star” in the book of Matthew, at its deepest roots, means that the “star” really was some object that was deliberately placed, as a solid, enduring object, for a particular appointment. This is what the etymology of that particular word for “star” tells us. Science may lead us to believe otherwise.


Despite all of the theories and conjecture, there really is no way to know for sure. Anything is possible, though, whether you favor a scientific theory or just choose to believe in a miracle. One fact
does remain, though: the star has stood for over 2,000 years as a symbol of the coming of the Messiah to people worldwide. That the imagery of stars to Christmas and the subsequent importance that is placed on stars as shining beacons of hope and light in a dark world is undeniable. Perhaps the star is meant to remain a mystery, symbolic in its very nature of the paradox that was the Christ child Jesus, a person fully God yet fully man, ruler of the world born to a poor teenage girl and a carpenter in a stable among the filth and stench of pack animals. A beacon of hope that defies all reason, it is only fitting that it ushered in the single most controversial figure in history.


Information credit: The Bible, E.W. Bullinger (1999), the New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (2003).

Diamonds in the sky, 08.29.11

Apparently stars can turn into diamonds—entire planets of diamond. One such planet has just recently been discovered.

*Not an actual photograph, sorry, just in case the orbital track didn't give it away :)
This is just an artist's concept of the system.

According to Matthew Bailes of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, in 2009 a millisecond pulsar was detected in the constellations Serpens, but its elusive orbiting neighbor had yet to be spotted until recently.

Let us back up for a moment first. We have talked about pulsars a lot in the past, but what is a millisecond pulsar? Like a regular pulsar, it rotates very quickly. Millisecond pulsars leave normal pulsars in the dust, though. This particular millisecond pulsar, designated J1719-1438, completely rotates over 10,000 times in a minute. It is only 12 miles in diameter, but it is still 1.4 times more massive than our own sun.

The entire system is so compact, that the distance for the pulsar at which the diamond planet orbits is still actually within the measure of our own sun’s diameter! The astronomers studying the system believe that the diamond planet used to be a white dwarf star, and that it went through as much fusion as it could until all that was left at its center was diamond. 

So how big is this galactic diamond? Oh, only 37,300 miles in diameter. Yeah, that is five times the size of Earth, people—a solid diamond five times the size of Earth! We can only imagine what other literal treasures the cosmos holds in store.

Credit: NASA. Image credit: Swinburne Astronomy Productions.

Pin the tail on the pulsar, 07.18.11

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has seen something very interesting in recent months. In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, several astronomers note how they have witnessed a tail of sorts that appears to be spreading out from a pulsar. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star, lovingly dubbed PSR J0357+3205.

The blue in this composite image is the Chandra x-ray data, and the yellow is a digitized sky survey. The pulsar is actually at the upper right-hand edge of the “tail,” which is part of the reason why astronomers are left scratching their heads over the situation. If the tail were really originating from the pulsar, the brightest portion should most likely be nearest the star, yet in this case the brightest portion is at the opposite end. This is even more shocking when you do a little math and realize that the tail is somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.2 light years long. This would be a record-setting tail for a rotation-powered pulsar.

There are more reasons than one why this tail should not be originating from the star. We have to keep in mind, too, that astronomers are not 100% certain that this really is PSR J0357’s tail. More observations will need to be made to know for certain if this really is the pulsar’s tail and why it is providing such odd data readings.

Image and story credit: NASA.

Gamma ray flares in binary star are a mystery, 07.07.11

Image credit: NASA.

Something very odd has happened 8,000 light years away in the southern constellation Crux. A binary star system has emitted strange gamma ray flares as the small pulsar star of the pair approached and passed through its closest point in orbit around the large Be-class star.

The Be-class star, designated LS 2883, is surrounded by a disc of gas. As the small neutron star, the pulsar B1259-63, approaches, it emits some gamma rays as it grazes through either side of the disc every 3.4 years.

On January 20 and February 21 of this year, however, when the pulsar approached the larger star, a strange series of powerful gamma ray flares occurred, which was highly out of character. A thorough barrage of scans and studies revealed no anomalies in the stars; no foreign objects, no strange chemical reactions, nothing that would elicit flares like those.

Since the two stars pass by each other that closely only every 3.4 years, it is going to be a while before scientists get another chance to study it again. it is believed that as the pulsar passes thru the disk of gas and dust, that the pulsars powerful magnetic field is accelerating captured electrons to very high energies causing these weird month-long gamma ray displays. It is truly a case where astronomers are finding more and more strange objects or events that can cause a gamma ray burst.

 Credit: NASA.

"Spinstars" may have helped seed the universe, 05.02.11

NGC 6522. Image credit: Anglo-Australian Observatory and David Malin. 

Astrophysicists have theorized a new type of star that they claim may have helped seed our galaxy with heavier elements. Called "spinstars," they are thought to have been super-massive stars that spun in excess of one million miles per hour.

Using data recently gathered from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory in the mountains of Chile, astrophysicist Cristina Chiappini and her colleagues have gathered data from NGC 6522, a globular cluster, and theorized that the spinstars would explain the rapid and widespread dispersal of heavier elements in the universe. The layers of stars hardly ever mix together, but the extreme rotation speeds of a spinstar would cause the layers to overlap and blend a little, like a stellar emulsion, and spark nuclear reactions that would eventually cause the formation of heavy elements strontium and yttrium, rare elements that have been found at perplexingly high levels in older stars Chiappini studied.

For comparison, SPACE.com reminds us that our own star, the sun, rotates at only about 4,400 miles per hour--fast by any stretch of the imagination, but a snail's pace compared to the proposed spinstars.

It is a pity no spinstars have been found to date, either. They would probably look quite strange. The centrifugal force from rotating so quickly actually causes objects in space to flatten out in the center. Even our own sun is a little chubby in the middle because of its rotation speed.

Altair. Image credit: SPACE.com.

Take this star, Altair, for example, a star that spins a good deal faster than our sun. As fast as Altair spins, an actual spinstar would probably look even more obscured, like a football, or maybe even just a rounded disc with a lump in the center.

Chiappini says she and her team have already reserved more research time to use the VLT, gather more data and, hopefully, evidence to help test their theories.

Credit: SPACE.com.

The laziest star in the universe, 03.18.11

Astronomers have recently discovered the laziest stars to date. By lazy, we mean they are just barely stars; they are actually “failed” stars.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

CFBDSIR 1458+10B is a binary, brown dwarf system located about 75 light-years from Earth. They are roughly the same size as Jupiter, but astronomers say they lack the gusto needed to kick off the nuclear reactions needed to make them shine. Right now, they are only burning at about 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, that is the boiling temperature of water, just a tad hotter than your average cup of coffee. So far as stars are concerned, that is pathetic. For comparison, our own Sun burns at an average of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. You would definitely need more than a Styrofoam cup to handle that.

Michael Liu, of the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy and lead author of the study, said that astronomers could even expect CFBDSIR 1458+10B to have properties much like giant exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), and that “it could even have water clouds in its atmosphere.”

For now, Liu and his team will continue to track the system, and in about 10 years or so they will hopefully have enough data to determine the system’s mass, which will open up all manner of future number-crunching possibilities.

When all the heat on CFBDSIR 1458+10B burns away, it will look like another Jupiter-type planet, only super-sized.

Credit: SPACE.com.

Further up and further in, 03.21.11

New Horizons, NASA’s Pluto probe, passed a milestone on the 19^th of this month. It passed the orbit of Uranus. The mission was slated at launch to take 9 ½ years before the probe even reaches its destination. Patience is a must.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

Scientists have been guiding New Horizons as it speeds through our solar system on its way out to photograph Pluto, its moons Charon, Nix, and Hydra, and maybe even encounter other objects in the Kuiper Belt (the band of dust, dwarf planets, and smaller objects that surrounds our solar system). New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft to date, travelling at a rate of approximately 36,000 miles per hour. It is expected to reach its destination by July 2015.


The Messenger (short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft also made space history last week by orbiting Mercury. The primary purpose of the $446 million, 1-year mission is to discover whether or not ice actually exists on the planet of extremes. At only an average of 35,983,605.7 miles from the sun, and too small for its gravity to retain an atmosphere, the surface is blasted with unimaginable heat on the sunny side and drops to hundreds of degrees below zero on the shady side. Messenger is the first spacecraft to visit Mercury since NASA’s Mariner 10 mission in 1970.


Credit: SPACE.com.

Asteroid Apophis a threat in 2029? 03.14.11

Astronomers have been tracking a 900-foot wide rock that is hurtling towards earth. Will it strike us? Only the math can tell.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

Photographed on January 31, astronomers said on March 9 that this was the first clear shot they have been able to take of the approaching asteroid in at least 3 years. The photo was taken from atop one of Hawai’i’s dormant volcanoes, Mauna Kea, using a telescope. It was originally thought that the rock had a 1-in-37 chance of hitting earth, but new calculations made the number grow substantially; it now has a 1-in-250,000 chance of dashing earth to bits. Oh, joy!


All of the calculations are made by doing some careful comparisons with the “known” distances of stars near the asteroid. As stars move very slowly, they can be fairly reliable space-scale distance markers, but the passage of time still has to be taken into consideration upon each new measurement. 


If it does not smash into earth in 2029, it should pass by again in 2036 and 2068. The pass in 2029 will likely alter its path, too, making it slide ever so much closer to earth. The pass in 2029, in fact, will most definitely be closer to earth than a lot of communications satellites are! You can expect to see Apophis without the aid of a telescope or even binoculars, weather permitting. Until then, all we can do is sit, measure, and crunch some more numbers.


Credit: SPACE.com.

A quasar's lesson in death, 03.02.11

There is a supermassive black hole at the center of Markarian 231, about 600 million light years away, near the constellation Ursa Major, which is giving scientists some clues into the life cycles of black holes. Irony objectified, it turns out that their massive appetites actually starve them out in the end.

Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA, artwork by Lynette Cook.

Mrk 231 is under observation by the Gemini Observatory in Hilo, Hawai’I, and the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. The observatory has estimated that the total flow of matter from Mrk 231 is about 400 times the mass of the Sun, and that it puts out this much every year. Such an enormous appetite, however, cannot go on forever, scientists say.


Black holes are a normal find in the center of galaxies; we even have one of our own in the center of the Milky Way. Mrk 231has allowed scientists to glean data that demonstrates how black holes can be choked out. They are calling their findings a “negative feedback loop,” in which the black hole sucks in matter and energy around it, compresses it into an unimaginably fine stream (probably because of magnetic fields), and then spews it back out. The problem, they say, is that it is spitting its food out too far and too fast. “This is really a last gasp of this galaxy;” says Sylvain Veilleux of the University of Maryland, “The black hole is belching its next meal into oblivion!”


In the final, violent stages of merging with another galaxy, it spits out the material it needs faster and farther away than it can be retrieved. Soon, it will be stripped down to its energetic central quasar.


Quasar is actually a shortened term for “quasi-stellar radio source.” This is a bit of a misnomer, however, as some quasars emit very little of a radio signal, if any, at all. They also are some of the brightest and presumably oldest objects in the universe, and are still being extensively studied.


Credit: NASA.

Solar storms are growing threat: emergency backup plan neeeded now, 02.21.11

Last Monday, February 14, one of the largest solar storms in over a decade took place. It knocked out radio transmissions in the Western Pacific, parts of Asia, and even caused some polar flights to reroute for the sake of regaining communications. It could have been much worse, though, say space weather experts. The solar flare in this picture took place last September.

Image credit: NASA.

The sun goes through a weather cycle about every 11 years, and it was long overdue to begin its more active phases. It is difficult to say for sure when to expect the next big burst of solar activity. Experts guesstimate that it will probably reach its peak in 2013 or 2014.


One way solar storms can occur is a solar flare, a large burst of radiation that sends photons careening towards Earth. They are categorized according to their intensity: C, M, and X, with the latter being the most severe. The storm of last Monday was an X 2.2, which is strong, but by no means the strongest on record. In 1859, a solar flare was recorded that was intense enough to knock out telegraph signals and even spark fires in electrical lines, but it is difficult to say exactly how strong that particular flare was; estimates are about 30 times more powerful than Monday’s storm.


Had the same magnitude of storm that occurred in 1859 happened in this day and age, though, experts say the results would be devastating. Ships and planes would be “blind” as their communications and GPS devices would go down, cell phones, radio, and televisions would no longer work… the list of damages goes on and on. Experts estimate that the initial damages would be about $2 trillion, with on-going and clean up costs being even more. For perspective, let us remind you that the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina ranged from $80-$125 billion.


According to Helena Lindberg of the Swedish Civil Contigencies Agency, the world must “start sharing expertise and connecting our systems for warning and for response.” Waiting until everything is down is too late to take action. Imagine what happens when everything that relies on a radio or satellite is suddenly “dead” or malfunctioning. They may be 93 million miles away, but with our current technology, solar storms affect us in as little as eight minutes.


Credit: Spaceweather.com.

Shockwaves and invisible colors: Zeta Ophiuchi, 01.31.11

A huge star, 20 times the mass of our own sun, is hurtling through space. Possibly sent on its course by its former binary star companion’s supernova, the star has been surfing the heavens at roughly 54,000 miles per hour. NASA’s WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) telescope has captured the star as it hurtled through a giant dust cloud, creating a massive shockwave, called “bow shock,” like the wave preceding a ship in the ocean. Zeta Ophiuchi, of the constellation Ophiuchus (of recent zodiac fame/infamy), can be seen here creating the giant, golden arc before its path.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

Although a beautiful spectacle to behold, it is important to remember the colors we are seeing are not really there at all, at least not as visible light. The colors are actually a result of the infrared imaging. Otherwise, the image would just look like a big, fuzzy, dust smudge with small, lighter bits. That dust, by the way, is obscuring the light from Zeta Ophiuchi. Astronomers believe it would be 65,000 times brighter without the surrounding dust cloud.


But wait a minute, you say, back up! Stars move? Yes, they do indeed, says Thronateeska’s staff astronomer, Jim Friese. “I don’t think people realize that stars are not fixed,” he says, “and some move a lot. This is a great example of how dynamic and changeable stars are; it just takes a long time.”


Credit: SPACE.com.

Will Betelgeuse be Earth's second sun? 01.24.11

Some news agencies, including the Huffington Post, have recently been running reports that Earth will “soon” be warmed by a second sun beginning in 2012. Betelgeuse is losing mass and is due to explode, or go “supernova.” When it does so, it is expected to become significantly brighter for a period of time, even gaining the ability to cast shadows.


Now, “soon,” we must remember, is being used in astronomical terms, reminds astronomer Jim Kaler at the University of Illinois, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on stars. “It’s as likely to happen a million years from now as it is tomorrow,” he cautions, so Earth can rest easy and breathe a collective sigh of relief. There is only a laughably slim chance that it could actually blow in 2012.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

Betelgeuse is about 10-20 times as massive as our Sun, and is about 600 light years away in the constellation Orion. A light year is a measure of distance that denotes the distance a ray of light can travel in one year; about 6 trillion miles. So at that distance, Earth is in no danger from any sort of gamma-ray bursts or radiation, says Kaler. He notes, too, that Betelgeuse is not even the correct kind of star to emit gamma-bursts when it goes supernova. It will, however, make a ghastly mess of the constellation Orion when it does finally decide to kick the bucket, however, as supernovas usually destroy everything within a 30 light year, 360 degree perimeter with the powerful shock wave they emit. So, think death star explosion, but oh, so much bigger. This image is an artist’s rendition of what the supernova may look like.


So will it be Earth’s second sun? Not likely, Kaler says. It will be noticeably brighter outside for a time, but it will probably only cast about as much light as a crescent moon.


Credit: SPACE.com.

10 Year old begins supernova hunting career, 01.10.11

Kathryn Aurora Gray of Fredricton, New Brunswick thought she was just in for another night of star gazing with her family and astronomy-enthusiast friend. Little did she know she was about to become the youngest recorded discoverer of a supernova, an exploding star.


The supernova, in galaxy UGC 3378, was located in the constellation Camelopardalis, located not too far away from the North Star. The galaxy UGC 3378 is approximately 240 million light years away. Gray discovered the supernova on January 2 using a telescope belonging to a friend of the family, David Lane. The group had taken photographs through the telescope on New Years Eve, and upon closer inspection of the photographs on January 2, Gray discovered the supernova. Her father, Paul, himself a discoverer of no less than six supernovas, passed the information on to be verified by the proper authorities. The International Astronomical Union’s Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams has finalized Gray’s discovery.

Image credit: David Lane.

Supernovas, the rather violent death of stars as they explode, are considered rare events and can be difficult to spot, as they present themselves merely as bright points of light that were not previously there. They can last for several days, possibly even weeks, and then their light fades from view, leaving their own unique pattern in the night sky that is only visible with high-powered telescopes. Supernovas, however, can be seen with relatively light-powered telescopes, but take an extremely good sense of familiarity with the night sky (or at least that particular patch of night sky) to spot.


Despite her keen observation, Gray has not been allowed to officially name the supernova. The IAU has deemed it simply as Supernova 2010lt.


Credit: SPACE.com

Man's passion inspires personal planetarium, 12.27.10

A man in Wisconsin who had the dream but not the grades decided to skip the institution and bring the stars to his fingertips… by making them himself.  Frank Kovac, a 45 year-old paper mill worker, once aspired to be an astrophysicist but could not make it through college math at university. Despite this, Kovac was determined to build—completely by hand—his own planetarium.


A mammoth labor of love that took him no less than 15 years to construct, Kovac built a spherical planetarium with a 22 foot diameter, and weighs in at 2 tons. It has been deemed “the world’s largest, rolling, mechanical, globe planetarium.” To manipulate his rolling monster, Kovac rigged it to an “electric, variable-speed motor controller.”


There are multiple types of planetarium systems. Globe planetaria like Kovac’s are generally viewed from an angle and almost have 360 degree coverage of the night sky all at once. Dome planetaria, like our own Wetherbee Planetarium, cover half of a sphere and can either be directly overhead, or on an angle, generally leaning forward. Planetaria can either make use of multiple kinds of projection systems, or they can have a fixed image of the night sky put on their surface.

Image credit: SPACE.com.

Not possessing the funds to purchase his own projection system for the planetarium, Kovac underwent the arduous task of hand painting 5,000 stars on the inside of his planetarium. These were no simple blobs of paint, either. Kovac carefully mapped out the interior of his globe planetarium and painted each star in its correct position, and made sure to reflect their proper brightness with luminous paint.


Kovac recently spoke to CBS about his planetarium, and said it is now open to the public in Monico, Wisconsin ($12 admission). He said he still works at the paper mill, but spends most of his time with his planetarium.


“To be a planetarium director, you need college,” he said, “but if you build your own, you can run it!”


Credit: SPACE.com.

The Star of Bethlehem, 12.20.10

Throughout time, one object in astronomy has continually puzzled astronomers. Only one source in all of history has recorded it, yet it has fascinated the faithful and obsessed the scientific. Like history, astronomy is not repeatable, and the truth of the matter can only be postulated from the evidence that remains. The evidence left for scientists to mull over, in this case, is everywhere but on Earth, and the mystery is a “star” that is no more. We are, of course, speaking of the Star of Bethlehem, mentioned in manuscripts included in the Christian Bible, and supposedly occurred over 2,000 years ago in what we now refer to as the Middle East, west of the Mesopotamian region.


Let us establish the context first. As we mentioned before, the Christian Bible contains the only written records of the Star. While there are multiple allusions to a star throughout the Scriptures, there is one section in particular that directly mentions the Star in question: Matthew, chapter 2.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is e that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him”. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, “in Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, For out of thee shall come a Governor; that shall rule my people Israel.” Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. And when they heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. –Matthew 2:1-10

The wise men, or magi, were elite scholars of their day who practically knew the night sky and the movements of the objects in our solar system (that they could see) like the backs of their hands. Most likely from ancient Babylon, the magi used the skies to help them establish a calendar, know when to plant and harvest crops, how to plot navigation courses using them as guides, and more pertinent to this case, how to make predications or divinations about their current events.


Why would an elite group of astrologers (astronomy, the scientific study of space, had its roots in and was still closely entwined in astrology—the belief that our lives on earth are affected by the movements of objects in space—at this point, and would not emerge as a respected science for several hundreds of years) care about the birth of a poor Jewish boy several hundreds of miles away? The answer can be inferred from the Biblical book of Daniel. Hundreds of years prior, the astrologers were still busy reading the heavens and, more importantly, attempting to make predications based on the movements of what they saw. Whether he was attempting to test the wise men or merely gain a clear answer is not certain, but the Babylonian king at the time, Nebuchadnezzar, demanded of the wise men that they interpret his dream. Realizing their inability to do so using on astrology, they had to admit to the king that all they had been telling the king before was a bunch of lies. In a rage, the king commanded they all be put to death. Daniel, a young Jewish noble who had been brought captive to Babylon intervened and asked the king to give him time. According to the Bible, Daniel prayed to God for an answer, he pleased the king when he provided an interpretation of the dream, and the king made Daniel the ruler of the wise men. It is more than plausible that Daniel would have shared the Jewish prophecies with the wise men about a Messiah, which is probably why they were able to quote the prophecy recorded in the book of Isaiah to king Herod when they arrived near Bethlehem hundreds of years later seeking the Christ child.


It is also important to note, concerning the magi, that it was the significance they attributed to the sign that they sought, not so much the object itself that fascinated them. Most ancient cultures had their own sect of sky watchers (even the general population, on average, had a working familiarity with the night sky). That they had their own, unique significance for whatever it was they had seen is evident in the surprise and dismay that Matthew recorded the king Herod and his scribes having. Had they missed something important? Had they seen the sign and not even recognized it? One can only imagine the hurried conversation that took place between the Jewish scholars and their king before these foreign magi regarding a sign in their own, native skies.


So we know at least that the magi were expecting some sort of sign to herald the coming of the Messiah. Finding Him, though, was another story entirely. The journey from Babylon, where they most likely began, to Jerusalem, where they met with king Herod, as the crow flies, is a journey of a little over 400 miles. That, of course, would take the wise men straight across the middle of a barren wasteland. More than likely, they would have taken a more northerly course following along the Euphrates and then descending through Judaea, stopping from town to town along their way to Jerusalem. This would have been an even longer course. Granted, it is plausible that they could have gone straight through the desert if they had wished—there is no way to know for sure which route they took, whether just a really long route, or a much longer, really long route. The point of this is that it would have taken them several weeks, even if riding, to make it to Jerusalem. That is a very long amount of time to be “following” an object in the night sky.


So what was the star that sent wise men across the desert to bring gifts and worship the Christ child? Let us examine the candidates from an astronomical point of view. From supernovas to UFO’s, comets, a shooting star, supernovas, and a planetary conjunction, none of these fit exactly.


We can dismiss “shooting stars” without a chance. “Shooting stars” are meteors that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere as they fly past our planet. They only last the briefest of moments, and they fall at regular times throughout the year. There would have been nothing remarkable or noteworthy to the magi about just another meteor, or even another meteor shower. Small and only a few seconds in duration each, they were just another sparkly, streaking speck in the sky.


Supernovas can probably be disqualified as well. Supernovas are stars that, for all intents and purposes, explode and end their lives in violent chaos, creating a black hole and emitting a burst of light hundreds of times their normal brightness. While the light from a supernova would have lasted 3-5 weeks at best, the wise men would have had to have made record time to make it to Jerusalem before the light faded. Supernovas also leave behind trace dust clouds that can be seen today with special astronomy equipment, and also many of them have been recorded in history. No mention was made in history of a supernova occurring at this time. The Chinese called them guess stars, and astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572 made the first scientific records of supernova behavior. The supernova of 1054 AD was recorded by ancient peoples around the world, and is now known as the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus the bull. No supernovas are recorded in the time frame surrounding the period during which Jesus was born (somewhere between 8 BC and 4 AD), but then again it is very likely that not all novas and supernovas are recorded. Astronomers have recently discovered that a supernova occurred about 400 years ago that would have been visible in Earth’s southern hemisphere, yet it somehow went without being recorded by a single historian (that they know of). In a period so plentiful with scholars and with such a wide network of communication provided by the Roman Empire at the time, it is curious that no written record of a supernova remains. The absolute lack of such a record makes us more likely to lean towards no such observation having been made in the first place.


As for a comet, that theory is laughable. In this day and age, comets are regarded as something unique and special, especially since some comets only pass by earth once and are never to be seen again. Just a few hundred years ago, however, comets were regarded as something to be feared. How much more so for people thousands of years ago who lacked equipment for their closer observation? Comets were often considered heralds of doom and destruction. Even our own Nelson Tift, one of the founders of Albany, GA, had the opportunity to observe a comet in 1835 and recorded some of the reactions of people around the town in his personal diary. He writes:

I saw the comet this evening about 7 o’clock, I think about west 45 degrees above the horizon…it was asserted by some that it would some so near the earth as to set it on fire! & by others that they would come in contact!

If people not even 200 years ago were terrified at the sight of a comet, how much more might have been the people thousands of years ago. Least of all, comets have tails. The wise men referred to the object they saw as a star, and stars simply do not have tails.


Now for the most plausible theory, but by no means a sure bet: a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction including Jupiter and Saturn, next to the star Regulus in the constellation Leo the lion would have been highly steeped in symbolism for the magi. The three of them also would have made a great show, but a conjunction is extremely predictable and the wise men, being very familiar with the course of the planets, would have known it was coming for months. Granted,  Jupiter is considered a kingly planet and Regulus, the star, is also associated with kings, but it is a far stretch of interpretation to bring the Greek word used in Matthew chapter 2 for the star, astare’, to mean planet. Several months later the planet Venus and the star Regulus overlap, but that is still just a conjunction.


In fact, just to have a better understanding of just what the Matthew meant when he recorded his Gospel 2,000 years ago, let us examine the word he used for “star.” When the book was first written, it was recorded in an ancient Greek dialect. Could something have been lost in translation?


The word he used was άστήρ, which pronunciation we mentioned before is astare’. According to the New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, a long respected resource by Bible scholars, the Greek word can either literally or figuratively mean a star. According to E.W. Bullinger’s Critical Lexicon of the English and Greek New Testment, there is a very slim chance the word could also mean planet or even meteor, but more digging into the roots of the word itself back in Strong’s lends more insight. According to Strong’s, astare’ comes from the roots of another Greek word, strōnnumi, which relates the idea of “strewing” or spreading something out in a space, which certainly brings up images of the stars laid out across the heavens. That word, in turn, is connected to another word, stĕrĕŏs, which have more connotations of something that is “stedfast, strong,” or “sure.” So, now we know that whatever the star was, we can rest assured it was not some fleeting or flickering object. It was solidly there.


Stĕrĕŏs, Strong’s claims, is connected to another word, histēmi,  and its primary word staō, which can be used “in various applications” either literally or figuratively, to mean bide or appoint, among other things.


The last stop is tithēmi, a word tied to histēmi, from the primary word thĕō, with the widest application as an “upright and active position” of placing something. A curious ending, indeed. It would seem that the etymological trail of the word used for “star” in the book of Matthew, at its deepest roots, means that the “star” really was some object that was deliberately placed, as a solid, enduring object, for a particular appointment. This is what the etymology of that particular word for “star” tells us. Science may lead us to believe otherwise. 


Despite all of the theories and conjecture, there really is no way to know for sure. Anything is possible, though, whether you favor a scientific theory or just choose to believe in a miracle. One fact does remain, though: the star has stood for over 2,000 years as a symbol of the coming of the Messiah to people worldwide. That the imagery of stars to Christmas and the subsequent importance that is placed on stars as shining beacons of hope and light in a dark world is undeniable. Perhaps the star is meant to remain a mystery, symbolic in its very nature of the paradox that was the Christ child Jesus, a person fully God yet fully man, ruler of the world born to a poor teenage girl and a carpenter in a stable among the filth and stench of pack animals.  A beacon of hope that defies all reason, it is only fitting that it ushered in the single most controversial figure in history.


Credit: The Bible, E.W. Bullinger (1999), the New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (2003).