Moon Transit

Solar Eclipse

Welcome home STS-119

Discovery touched down on Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, completing the 13-day, 5.3-million mile journey on the STS-119 mission. Discovery delivered the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment. The mission was the 28th flight to the station, the 36th flight of Discovery and the 125th in the Space Shuttle Program, as well as the 70th landing at Kennedy.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1316.html

NGC 3132

NGC 3132 (Eight-burst Nebula / Southern Ring Nebula) is a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the constellation Vela. From the available spectroscopic data, presently the observed gas shell is expanding at about 24 kms-1.

Distance is estimated to be about 550 kpc. or 2,000 light years from Earth.

Planetary nebula nucleus(PNN)

Images of NGC 3132 reveal two stars close together within the nebulosity, one of 10th magnitude, the other 16th. The central planetary nebula nucleus (PNN) or white dwarf central star is the fainter of these two stars. This hot central star of about 100,000 K has now blown off its layers and is making the nebula fluoresce brightly from the emission of its intense ultraviolet radiation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3132

Vela

Vela is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the sails of a ship, and it was originally part of a larger constellation, the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Puppis.

Stars

The brightest star in the constellation, γ Velorum, is a bright 1.75m supergiant star. The star is actually quintuple, the primary component is famous for being the brightest Wolf-Rayet star in the sky. This star is also sometimes called Regor, which is Roger backwards.

Deep sky objects

Of the deep sky objects of interest in Vela is a planetary nebula known as the NGC 3132 (nicknamed Eight-burst nebula). Also of interest within the constellation is the Vela Supernova Remnant. This is the nebula of a supernova explosion which is believed to have been visible from the Earth around 10,000 years ago. The remnant contains a pulsar which was the first pulsar to be identified optically.

The Gum Nebula is a faint emission nebula, believed to be the remains of a million year old supernova.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_(constellation)

Pyxis

Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (it should not be confused with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis is completely visible in latitudes south of 53 degrees north from January through March.

Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the eighteenth century; he called it Pyxis Nautica, but the name was shortened. The constellation is located close to those forming the old constellation of Argo Navis (the ship Argo), and in the nineteenth century astronomer John Herschel suggested renaming Pyxis to 'Malus, the mast', but the suggestion was not followed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyxis

Saturnian Transits

Check out the following link to watch four moons transit across Saturn. It is pretty wicked cool...

http://www.space.com/common/media/video/player.php?videoRef=SP_090317_saturn_moons

M47

Open Cluster M47 (also known as Messier Object 47 or NGC 2422) is an open cluster in the constellation Puppis. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently discovered by Charles Messier on February 19, 1771.

M47 is at a distance of about 1,600 light-years from Earth with an estimated age of about 78 million years. There are about 50 stars in this cluster, the brightest one being of magnitude +5.7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Cluster_M47

M46

Messier 46 (also known as M 46 or NGC 2437) is an open cluster in the constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771. Dreyer described it as "very bright, very rich, very large." M46 is about 5,500 light-years away with an estimated age on the order of several 100 million years.

The planetary nebula NGC 2438 appears to lie within the cluster near its northern edge (the faint smudge at the top center of the image), but it is most likely unrelated since it does not share the cluster's radial velocity. The case is yet another example of a superposed pair, joining the famed case of NGC 2818.

M46 is about a degree east of M47 in the sky, so the two fit well in a binocular or wide-angle telescope field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Cluster_M46

Puppis

Puppis is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the poop deck of a ship, and it was originally part of a larger constellation, the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Vela; Puppis is the largest of the three.

Planetary systems

Several extrasolar planet systems have been found around stars in the constellation Puppis.

On July 1, 2003, a planet was found orbiting the star HD 70642. This planetary system is much like Jupiter with a wide, circular orbit and a long-period.

On May 17, 2006, HD 69830 (the nearest star of this constellation) was discovered to have three Neptune-mass planets, the first multi-planetary system without any Jupiter-like or Saturn-like planets. The star also hosts an asteroid belt at the region between middle planet to outer planet.

On June 21, 2007, the first extrasolar planet found in the open cluster NGC 2423, was discovered around the red giant star NGC 2423-3. The planet is at least 10.6 times the mass of Jupiter and orbits at 2.1 AU distance.

On September 22, 2008, two Jupiter-like planets were discovered around HD 60532. HD 60532 b has a minimum mass of 1.03 MJ and orbits at 0.759 AU and takes 201.3 days to complete the orbit. HD 60532 c has a minimum mass of 2.46 MJ and orbits at 1.58 AU and takes 604 days to complete the orbit.

Deep sky objects

As the Milky Way runs through Puppis, there are a large number of open clusters in the constellation. Messier 46 (M46) and Messier 47 (M47) are two open clusters in the same binocular field. M47 can be seen with the naked eye under dark skies, and its brightest stars are 6th magnitude. Messier 93 (M93) is another open cluster somewhat to the south. NGC 2451 is a very bright open cluster containing the star c Puppis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppis

STS-119

Well, Spaceshuttle Discovery (STS-119) is on it's way to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch was originally scheduled last month, but they didn't get going until today. They are taking some additional solar panels to attach. This will make the occupancy go up from three to six. Also, this increased surface area will make it the third brightest object in the sky, behind only the Sun and the Moon.

I am keeping this short, but I am posting some links that I always go to for space travel information. If you have any you would like to share, please do.

Current Space Shuttle News:
http://www.nasa.gov/
Real Time Tracking Data:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html
Overhead Observation Opportunities:
http://www.heavens-above.com/

Lynx

Lynx is a constellation in the northern hemisphere's sky, introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is named after the lynx, a genus of cat. It is a very faint constellation; its brighest stars from a zigzag line.

History

Johannes Hevelius defined the constellation in the 17th century because he wanted to fill the open gap between the constellations Ursa Major and Auriga. He supposedly named it Lynx because of its faintness; only the lynx-eyed (or those of good sight) would have been able to recognise it.

Notable features

The star 31 Lyncis, or κ Lyn, is also known as Alsciaukat (from the Arabic for the thorn), is the only named star in this constellation.

Lynx's most notable deep sky object is the Intergalactic Tramp NGC 2419, a globular cluster that is the most distant known of its kind. It is moving faster than escape velocity at that distance; however, it appears to be in a long elliptical orbit around our galaxy, the Milky Way, and is thus not expected to escape. [The two facts in the previous sentence are contradictory: escape velocity means the velocity at which it will escape.] It also contains, nearly at the border with Cancer, the galaxy NGC 2683.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(constellation)

Carina

Carina is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the keel of a ship, and it was formerly part of the larger constellation of Argo Navis (the ship Argo) until that constellation was divided in three.

Notable features

Carina contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky, and the supermassive star η Carinae which is embedded in the giant Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372).

Since the Milky Way runs through Carina, there are a large number of open clusters in the constellation. These include NGC 2516 and IC 2602, the latter popularly known as the "Southern Pleiades." The most notable object in Carina is Homunculus Nebula in NGC 3372, the Eta Carinae Nebula. It is a planetary nebula visible to the naked eye that is being ejected by the erratic variable star Eta Carinae, one of the Milky Way's largest stars and one not far from becoming a supernova. NGC 3532 is a large binocular cluster having about 150 stars. Carina also contains the naked-eye globular cluster NGC 2808. Epsilon Carinae and Upsilon Carinae are double stars visible in small telescopes.

Carina contains the radiant of the Eta Carinids meteor shower, which peaks around January 21 each year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_(constellation)

Canis Minor

Canis Minor is a small constellation. It was included in the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is still included among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "smaller dog" in contrast to Canis Major, the larger dog, and it is commonly represented as one of the dogs following the constellation of Orion the hunter.

Canis Minor is a small constellation containing only two bright stars, Procyon (α CMi, 0.38m) and Gomeisa (β CMi , 2.9m). Procyon is the eighth brightest star in the night sky. Procyon means "before the dog" in Greek, as it rises an hour before the 'Dog Star', Sirius, of Canis Major.

Canis Minor has no deep sky object brighter than magnitude 15.

History and mythology

The ancient Greeks did not recognise Canis Minor it as a distinct constellation, and considered Orion to have had one dog, Canis Major.[citation needed]

Canis Minor is sometimes connected with the Teumessian Fox, beast turned into stone with its hunter, Laelaps, by Zeus, who placed them in heaven as Canis Major (Laelaps) and Canis Minor (Teumessian Fox).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Minor

M44

The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger"), M44 or NGC 2632) is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. It is one of the nearest open clusters to the Solar System, and it contains a larger star population than most other nearby clusters. Under dark skies the Beehive Cluster looks like a nebulous object to the naked eye; thus it has been known since ancient times. The classical astronomer Ptolemy called it "the nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer," and it was among the first objects that Galileo studied with his telescope.[3]

The cluster's age and proper motion coincide with those of the Hyades open cluster, suggesting that both share a similar origin.[4][5] Both clusters also contain red giants and white dwarfs, which represent later stages of stellar evolution, along with main sequence stars of spectral classes A, F, G, K, and M.

Currently there is no consensus on the cluster's distance, with recent sources suggesting 160 to 187 parsecs (520-610 light years).[6][7][8] There is better agreement on its age, at about 600 million years.[9][7][5] This is equivalent to the age of the Hyades (~625 million years).[10] The bright central core of the cluster has a diameter of about 7 parsecs (22.8 light years).[9]

The Beehive is most easily observed when Cancer is high in the sky; in northern latitudes this occurs during the evening from February to May. At 95 arcminutes across, the cluster fits well in the field of view of a pair of binoculars or a telescope of low power.

History

Galileo was the first to observe the Beehive in a telescope, in 1609, and was able to resolve it into 40 stars. Charles Messier added it to his famous catalog in 1769 after precisely measuring its position in the sky. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Beehive has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with comets. One possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects, and so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost his list.[11]

Ancient Greeks and Romans saw this object as a manger from which two donkeys, the adjacent stars Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis, are eating; these are the donkeys that Dionysos and Silenus rode into battle against the Titans.[12]

This perceived nebulous object is the main celestial object in the 23rd lunar mansion (Hsiu Kuei or Xiu Gui) of ancient Chinese astrology. Ancient Chinese skywatchers saw this as a ghost or demon riding in a carriage and likened its appearance to a "cloud of pollen blown from willow catkins."

Cancer

Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as such. Its symbol is (Unicode ♋). Cancer is small and its stars are faint. It lies between Gemini to the west and Leo to the east, Lynx to the north and Canis Minor and Hydra to the south.

Planetary system

Cancri is a quintruple planet system with four gas giants and one terrestrial planet.

Deep sky objects

Cancer is the best noted among stargazers as the home of Praesepe (Messier 44), an open cluster also called the Beehive Cluster or the Gate of Men, which contains the star ε Cancri. The smaller, denser open cluster Messier 67 can also be found here.

Mythology

Cancer the crab, plays a minor role in the Twelve Labors of Hercules. While Hercules was busy fighting the multi-headed monster, Hydra, the goddess Hera, who did not like Hercules, sent the Crab to distract him. Cancer grabbed onto the hero's toe with its claws, but barely breaking the rhythm of his great battle with Hydra, Hercules crushed the crab with his foot. Hera, grateful for the little crustacean's heroic but pitiful effort, gave it a place in the sky.

Cancer is said to have been the place for the Akkadian Sun of the South, perhaps from its position at the winter solstice in very remote antiquity. But afterwards it was associated with the fourth month Duzu (June-July in the modern western calendar), and was known as the Northern Gate of Sun.[citation needed]

Showing but few stars, and its brightest stars being of only 4th magnitude, Cancer was often considered the "Dark Sign", quaintly described as black and without eyes. Dante, alluding to this faintness and position of heavens, wrote in Paradiso:

Then a light among them brightened,
So that, if Cancer one such crystal had,
Winter would have a month of one sole day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_(constellation)

Pictor

Pictor is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky (declination −50° to −60°), located between the brilliant star Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its name is Latin for painter, but it is in fact an abbreviation of its original name Equuleus Pictoris, the 'painter's easel', and it is normally represented as an easel. It was invented and named by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 17th century.

Pictor has attracted attention in recent years because of its second-brightest star β Pictoris, 62.9 light-years distant, which is surrounded by an unusual dust disk rich in carbon. Kapteyn's Star, a nearby red dwarf at the distance of 12.78 light years, is the closest halo star known.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictor

New General Catalogue

The New General Catalogue (NGC) is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in amateur astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects. The NGC is one of the largest comprehensive catalogues, as it includes all types of deep space objects and is not confined to, for example, galaxies.

The catalogue was compiled in the 1880s by J. L. E. Dreyer using observations mostly from William Herschel and his son John, for total of 7,840 objects. Dreyer had already published an update to the Herschel's Catalogue of Nebulae, but a new update was turned down by the Royal Astronomical Society, who asked Dreyer to compile a New General Catalogue.

The NGC was later expanded with two Index Catalogues (IC I in 1896 & IC II in 1905), adding a further 5,326 objects. Most of these later discoveries had been made possible by the advent of photography.

Objects in the southern hemisphere sky are somewhat less thoroughly catalogued, but many were observed by John Herschel or James Dunlop. The NGC contained many errors, but a serious if not complete attempt to eliminate them has been undertaken by The NGC/IC Project www.ngcic.org, after partial attempts with the Revised New General Catalog (RNGC) by Sulentic and Tifft in 1973, and NGC2000.0 by Sinnott in 1988.

The NGC was published in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society as "A New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, being the Catalogue of the late Sir John F.W. Herschel, Bart., revised, corrected, and enlarged." (Dreyer J. L. E., 1888, Mem. R. Astron. Soc., 49, 1-237).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_General_Catalogue

M50

Messier 50 (also known as M 50 or NGC 2323) is an open cluster in the constellation Monoceros. It was perhaps discovered by G.D. Cassini before 1711 and independently discovered by Charles Messier in 1772. M50 is at a distance of about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. It is described as a 'heart-shaped' figure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Cluster_M50

Monoceros

Monoceros is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Greek for unicorn. Its creation is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the south and Hydra to the east. Other bordering constellations include Canis Minor, Lepus and Puppis.

Notable features
Monoceros is a constellation that is not very easily seen with the naked eye, with only a few fourth magnitude stars. Alpha Monocerotis has a visual magnitude of 3.93, slightly brighter than Gamma Monocerotis, which has a visual magnitude of 3.98.

However, Monoceros does have some interesting features to observe with the aid of a small telescope. Beta Monocerotis is an impressive triple star system, the three stars forming a triangle which seems to be fixed. The visual magnitudes of the stars are 4.7, 5.2 and 6.1. William Herschel discovered it in 1781 and commented that it is "one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens".

Epsilon Monocerotis is a fixed binary, with visual magnitudes of 4.5 and 6.5.

S Monocerotis, or 15 Monocerotis, is a bluish white variable star and is located at the center of NGC 2264. However, the variation of its magnitude is not too great. It has a companion star of visual magnitude 8.

V838 Monocerotis had an outburst starting on January 6, 2002.

Monoceros also contains Plaskett's Star, which is a massive binary system whose combined mass is estimated to be that of almost 100 Suns put together.

History
Monoceros is a relatively modern constellation. Its first certain appearance is on a globe created by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius in 1612 or 1613, and was later charted by Jakob Bartsch as Unicornus in his star chart of 1624. Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers and Ludwig Ideler indicate the constellation may be older, quoting an astrological work from 1564 that mentioned "the second horse between the Twins and the Crab has many stars, but not very bright"; these references may ultimately be due to Michael Scot of the 13th century, but refer to a horse and not a unicorn, and its position does not quite match. Joseph Scaliger is reported to have found Monoceros on an ancient Persian sphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoceros

M79

Messier 79 (also known as M79 or NGC 1904) is a globular cluster in the Lepus constellation. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. M79 is at a distance of about 41,000 light years away from Earth and 60,000 light years away from the Galactic Center.

Like Messier 54 (the other extragalactic globular on Messier's list), it is thought that M79 is not native to the Milky Way galaxy at all, but instead to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy which is currently experiencing a very close encounter with the Milky Way, one it is unlikely to survive intact. This is, however, a contentious subject as astronomers are still debating the nature of the Canis Major dwarf galaxy itself; care must therefore be taken when associating any object with the Canis Major dwarf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_79

Lepus

Lepus is a constellation lying just south of the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for hare. Lepus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is located below the constellation Orion (the hunter), and is sometimes represented as a hare being chased by Orion.

This constellation should not be confused with Lupus, the wolf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepus_(constellation)

M35

Messier 35 (also known as M 35, or NGC 2168) is an open cluster in the constellation Gemini. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and independently discovered by John Bevis before 1750.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_35

Gemini

Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology. Its symbol is (Unicode ♊). It lies between Taurus to the west and the dim Cancer to the east, with Auriga and Lynx to the north and Monoceros and Canis Minor to the south.

Notable features
Gemini includes the Open Cluster M35. NGC 2158 is just southeast of M35. Also of note is the unique Eskimo Nebula, (also known as the Clownface Nebula) just southeast of the NGC 2420 open star cluster. Far northeast of this cluster lies NGC 2371, a planetary nebula next to the Gemini twin on the right. Another popular nebula in Gemini lies in the southern tip of the constellation, Abell 21 the Medusa Nebula.

Visualizations
Gemini is dominated by Castor and Pollux, two bright stars that appear relatively close together, encouraging the mythological link between the constellation and twinship. The twin to the right is Castor, whose brightest star is α Geminorum (more commonly called Castor), is of the second magnitude, and represents Castor's head. The twin to the left is Pollux, whose brightest star is β Geminorum (more commonly called Pollux), is of the first magnitude, and represents Pollux's head. Furthermore, the other stars can be visualized as two parallel lines descending from the two main stars, making it look like two figures.

Mythology
Gemini was associated with the myth of Castor and Pollux, collectively known as the Dioscuri. One myth of these twins concerns cattle theft, and may be connected to early myths that described the Milky Way as a herd of dairy cows. On star maps, the twins are usually viewed as leaning away from the Milky Way, but are sometimes depicted with one of the twins residing in the Milky Way, and the other outside it, a situation making it appear that one of the twins is stealing the cattle, and the other is observing. Along with the other features of the area in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. Orion, Auriga, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Heracles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(constellation)

Columba

Columba is a small, faint constellation created in the sixteenth century. Its name is Latin for dove. It is located just south of Canis Major and Lepus.

History

Columba was created by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in 1592 in order to differentiate the 'unformed stars' of the large constellation Canis Major. Plancius first depicted Columba on the small celestial planispheres of his large wall map of 1592. It is also shown on his smaller world map of 1594 and on early Dutch celestial globes.

Plancius originally named the constellation Columba Noachi ("Noah's Dove"), referring to the dove that gave Noah the information that the Great Flood was receding. This name is found on early 17th-century celestial globes and star atlases (such as Bayer's Uranometria of 1603[1]).

Notable features

Columba is rather inconspicuous, the brightest star α Columbae having the magnitude of 2.65m. α Columbae is called Phact, which comes from Arabic Al-Fakhita (the dove). The only other named star is Beta, β, Columbae, which has the name Wazn or Wezn, from the Arabic for a weight.

The constellation contains the runaway star μ Columbae, which was probably expelled from the ι Orionis system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba_(constellation)