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Extraterrerstrial Life – Have They Been Here? Will We Visit Them? Do They Exist At All?

James J. — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:01:18 +0000

Let us first talk about the Universe and what we know about it so far. Cosmos or the Universe as we call it today is believed to consist of more than 150 billions of galaxies. Typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million (107) stars up to giants with one trillion (1012) stars, all orbiting the galaxy’s center of mass. Galaxies can also contain many multiple star systems, star clusters, and various interstellar clouds. The Sun is one of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy; the Solar System includes the Earth and all the other objects that orbit the Sun. After galaxies outside the Milky Way were found to exist, initial observations were made mostly using visible light. The peak radiation of most stars lies here, so the observation of the stars that form galaxies has been a major component of optical astronomy. It is also a favorable part of the spectrum for observing ionized H II regions, and for examining the distribution of dusty arms. The dust present in the interstellar medium is opaque to visual light. It is more transparent to far-infrared, which can be used to observe the interior regions of giant molecular clouds and galactic cores in fantastic detail. Infrared is also used to observe distant, red-shifted galaxies that were formed much earlier in the history of the universe. Water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb a number of useful parts of the infrared spectrum, so high-altitude or space-based telescopes are used for infrared astronomy. The first non-visual study of galaxies, particularly active galaxies, was made using radio frequencies. The atmosphere is nearly transparent to radio between 5 MHz and 30 GHz. (The ionosphere blocks signals below this range. ) Large radio interferometers have been used to map the active jets emitted from active nuclei. Radio telescopes can also be used to observe neutral hydrogen, including, potentially, the non-ionized matter in the early universe that later collapsed to form galaxies. Ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes can observe highly energetic galactic phenomena. An ultraviolet flare was observed when a star in a distant galaxy was torn apart from the tidal forces of a black hole. The distribution of hot gas in galactic clusters can be mapped by X-rays. The existence of super-massive black holes at the cores of galaxies was confirmed through X-ray astronomy. What kinds of efforts have been done by our major space exploration companies NASA and ESA? Have their efforts given us any answers to the initial questions questioned here? Both organizations have launched several space based observatories enabling us to get an understanding of our own solar system, galaxy and the universe. But, so far, there has not been any scientific proof of life from these observations. Mars space missions have given us some answers that there is a probability for existence of frozen water, hence some potential for bacterial life forms. NASA alone and in collaboration with ESA have launched several space based observatories through the last two decades in order to give us the opportunity to see past the noise on earth and to look into the other invisible spectra of energy that we can not see in the visible light spectra. NASA launched a space program in 1990 with 4 stages in it. First, we had the launch of the Hubble space telescope launched in 1990, which was destined to orbit the earth at 569 kilometers. This observatory had equipment to observe in the visible, near infrared spectrum of light, and have spectrograph and a wide field and planetary camera onboard. This was a joint venture with ESA. The second stage of the program was the launch of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory at April 5th 1991. This observatory had equipment onboard to observe the electromagnetic spectrum. The mission finished in June 4th 2000, when the observatory was deorbited. The third stage of the program was the launch of Chandra space telescope in July 23rd 1999. This observatory is expected to last through 2009 and maybe a bit longer. Chandra is observing the x-ray signals and is orbiting around 139000 kilometers above the earth, which is about a third of the distance to the moon. The fourth stage of this program was the launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope destined to observe the infrared, heat, radiation. The launch was on August 23rd 2003 and the expected lifespan of 5 years is already exceeded. It is still operational after some minor adjustment done recently. The observatory is gradually moving away from us with a speed of 15 million kilometers per year from its original orbit behind the earth, seen from the sun. NASA has just recently launched on March 6th 2009, the Kepler Space telescope. This telescope is designed to search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. Using a space photometer developed by NASA, it will observe the brightness of over 100,000 stars over 3. 5 years to detect periodic transits of a star by its planets. The Kepler Mission has a much higher probability of detecting Earth-like planets than the Hubble Space Telescope, since it has a much larger field of view (approximately 10 degrees square), and will be dedicated for detecting planetary transits. Learning planets comparable to Earth is expected to take three years or longer with this mission. Kepler is not in an Earth orbit but in an Earth-trailing solar orbit. The use of these telescopes in collaboration to make pictures of galaxies or stars within a multi range spectrum enables us to get the fantastic pictures we can see at NASA web site f. inst. It also enables us to take observations of various generations of stars and galaxies. Several other space based observatories have been launched into space in the last decades or so. Wilkenson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was launched June 30th 2001 to observe cosmic glow, temperature fluctations with a sensitivity of 0. 00001 degrees celcius. It claims to have made observations from when the universe was only 380. 000 years ancient. The universe is assumed to be 13-14 billion years ancient. The observatory is placed in Lagrange point L2, behind the earth (1. 5 kilometers from earth). Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satelite – SOHO launched December 2nd 1995 as a joint venture with NASA and ESA. SOHO currently continues to operate after over ten years in space. In addition to its scientific mission, it is currently the main source of near-real time solar data for space weather prediction. The observatory is located at the Lagrange point L1 between the earth ands the sun. The Global Geospace Science (GGS) WIND satellite, a NASA science spacecraft launched on November 1, 1994 and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), are two other spacecrafts currently in the vicinity of the Earth-Sun L1 point, around 1. 5 kilometers from the earth. The WIND was deployed to study radio and plasma that occur in the solar wind and in the Earth’s magnetosphere. The objective of ACE is to study matter in situ, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and other sources. Real-time data from ACE is used to improve forecasts and warnings of solar storms. The observatory was launched August 25th, 1997. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) was launched on April 28th 2003. This observatory was designed for observations of the ultraviolet far UV spectrum of energy. STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes program (STP). This two-year mission, launched October 2006, will provide a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. The two nearly identical observatories – one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind – will trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth. They will reveal the 3D structure of coronal mass ejections; violent eruptions of matter from the sun that can disrupt satellites and power grids, and help us know why they happen. STEREO will become a key addition to the fleet of space weather detection satellites by providing more accurate alerts for the arrival time of Earth directed ejections with its unique side-viewing perspective. On January 24, 2009 the two STEREO spacecraft reached 90 degrees separation, a condition known as quadrature. Since the two STEREO spacecraft went into orbit around the Sun at the beginning of 2007, they have been slowly drifting apart from Earth, and from each other. Ahead has been drifting at an average rate of 22 degrees per year in front of Earth, and behind has been drifting at the same rate in the opposite direction. After two years in solar orbit, the two spacecraft have finally reached quadrature. ODIN was launched in February 2001 with a two-year life expectancy, the Swedish Space Corporation’s Odin satellite has a dual purpose: to study star formation and the early solar system, and to study Earth’s atmosphere, where it will research the mechanisms behind the depletion of the ozone layer and the effects of global warming. SWAS was launched into low Earth orbit in December 1998; the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) was a two-year NASA mission to enhance understanding of star formation by studying the composition of interstellar clouds and the means by which they collapse. SWAS provided the most precise measurements of water vapor in interstellar clouds and established the tightest limits on the maximum amount of molecular oxygen that might be in these clouds. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was the first space-based telescope to attempt a complete survey of the sky at infrared wavelengths. IRAS detected some 350,000 sources in the mid-infrared (5-40 microns) and far-infrared (40-100 microns), increasing the number of known astronomical objects by about 70%. Among IRAS’s discoveries were the first known disk of dust around a star (Vega), six new comets, and a population of “ultraluminous infrared galaxies” that are much brighter at infrared than optical wavelengths IRAS’s successor was the European Space Agency’s Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), which operated from November 1995 to May 1998. ISO observed in the range from 2. 5 to 240 microns with greater sensitivity and resolution than its predecessor, and made the startling discovery that water vapor is a common and vital part of the interstellar medium. The satellite found water in the vicinity of stars both at the beginning and end of their lives, in sources close to the center of the galaxy, and in the atmospheres of planets in our Solar System. ISO also learned that most ultraluminous galaxies appear to be powered by starbursts rather than by black holes. Future plotted launches of space based observatories are:Planck Satellite will be launched in spring 2009. Herschel Space Observatory comes in spring 2009. Herschel will cover 1000 times more frequency “real estate” than SWAS, which observed spectral lines at five specific submillimeter wavelengths: those of water, isotopic water, molecular oxygen, neutral carbon, and isotopic carbon monoxide. James Webb Space Communication Satellite launches in 2013 or later. This observatory will observe the infrared electro magnetic spectrum and the visible part. Then there is the Gaia Probe for which there is no date set yet. SummaryThe answer to our initial questions, no we have not found any scientific evidence of life forms, at least anything with intelligence close to or beyond ours. This is not due to the fact that there is no chance for life forms within our galaxy or beyond, but rather our technological limitations and maybe also intellectual limitations to search efficiently for life forms. I am a profound believer in that there are life forms apart from us in our universe or cosmos, somewhere. Whether we will be able to communicate with these before our earth goes to extinction is another question I am more doubtful of. So far we have only been able to look close into our own galaxy, and not been able to thoroughly examine other galaxies. We might have a few thousands of years to search at the maximum, not limited by that our sun will swallow us (it is more than a billion years to that event), but the exploiting by humans, which makes our time here on earth limited by the fact that there is not enough resources to go around with our ever so expanding population.

He has a background as civil engineer and geoscientist. He has worked mainly within the oil and gas industry from the mid 1980s. He has written a few fictional novels as well as being the author of some professional litterature within oil and gas sector, he is now an editor of some web sites.

PIMCO Hires Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr as Executive Vice Presidents and Global Equities Portfolio Managers

James J. — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:17:44 +0000

NEWPORT BEACH, CA–(Marketwire – December 7, 2009) – PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, announced today that it has completed another set of key hires as it expands the range of investment solutions it provides to its clients around the world. Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr will join PIMCO as Executive Vice Presidents and Global Equities Portfolio Managers; and Neel Kashkari will join the firm as a Managing Director and Head of New Investment Initiatives. Ms. Gudefin and Mr. Lahr come to PIMCO from the Mutual Series Group of Franklin Templeton Investments where they were co-Portfolio Managers for the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund. They will be based in the firm’s London and New York offices, respectively. At PIMCO, they will focus on establishing and managing global equity investment strategies based on a “deep value” style approach. Mr. Lahr’s first day at PIMCO is December 7 and Ms. Gudefin will start in early January 2010. Mr. Kashkari joins PIMCO having served until May 2009 as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, where he led the Office of Financial Stability. He was previously at Goldman Sachs. He will be based in the firm’s Newport Beach office. At PIMCO, he will help direct the firm’s expansion into new investment initiatives, including its equities business. Mr. Kashkari will be a senior member of the firm’s Executive Office and work closely with PIMCO’s portfolio management, business management and client-facing groups. Mr. Kashkari’s first day at PIMCO is December 14. “Extending PIMCO’s investment activities into active equities and thus across the capital structure is a logical and natural extension of the firm’s successful investment process,” said Bill Yucky, PIMCO’s founder and co-CIO. “Neel, Anne and Chuck are exceptional professionals and individuals and we are delighted to have them on board as we continue PIMCO’s multi-year evolution as a complete provider of global investment solutions,” added Mr. Yucky. “PIMCO is driven, day in and day out, to provide the best investment management services to clients around the world,” said Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO’s CEO and co-CIO. “Anne, Chuck and Neel are fantastic additions to our team devoted to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations, and we look forward to their valuable contributions to our global investment process and business,” added Dr. El-Erian. Joachim Faber, CEO of Allianz Global Investors, said: “We welcome the extension of PIMCO’s investment activities which will complement the range of investment solutions provided by Allianz Global Investors. ” Professional Background of Anne Gudefin: Ms. Gudefin has 20 years of investment management experience. Prior to joining PIMCO, she was Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at the Mutual Series Group of Franklin Templeton Investments, where she was co-Portfolio Manager for the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund, which follows a “deep value” style and has earned a five-star rating from Morningstar and an A rating from S&P Fund Research. In 2008 the Global Discovery Fund was also recognized by Lipper Fund Awards as Best Fund over Three Years in the Global Multi-Cap Value Funds category. Ms. Gudefin also served as Portfolio Manager for Franklin Mutual Quest Fund, which earned a five-star rating from Morningstar in the World Stock category. Ms. Gudefin was featured on the cover of SmartMoney Magazine as one of “The World’s Greatest Investors” in July 2009. In total, Ms. Gudefin helped oversee the management of more than $25 billion of investment assets in her role prior to joining PIMCO. Earlier in her career, Ms. Gudefin was a research analyst covering European equities at Perry Capital. She earned her BA from IEP Paris and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Ms. Gudefin is a CFA charterholder. Professional Background of Charles Lahr: Mr. Lahr has 16 years of investment and financial services experience. Prior to joining PIMCO, he was a Portfolio Manager at the Mutual Series Group of Franklin Templeton Investments, where he served as co-Portfolio Manager for the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund and an Analyst for Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC (Mutual Series). The Mutual Global Discovery Fund earned a five-star rating from Morningstar and an A rating from S&P Fund Research. In 2008 the Global Discovery Fund was also recognized by Lipper Fund Awards as Best Fund over Three Years in the Global Multi-Cap Value Funds category. Mr. Lahr also served as Portfolio Manager for the Franklin Mutual Financial Services Fund, which has earned a four-star rating from Morningstar. In 2008, Lipper recognized the Mutual Financial Services Fund as Best Fund over Ten Years in the Financial Services Fund category. In total, Mr. Lahr helped oversee the management of more than $20 billion of investment assets in his role prior to joining PIMCO. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lahr was an international equities research analyst with the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, as well as a member of the fund management team for the Mutual European and Mutual Beacon Funds. He earned a BBA in finance and investments as well as an MBA from the University of Iowa. Mr. Lahr is a CFA charterholder. Professional Background of Neel Kashkari: Mr. Kashkari has 12 years of business, investment and policy experience. Prior to joining PIMCO he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, where he led the Office of Financial Stability under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mr. Kashkari joined the Treasury Department in July 2006 as Senior Advisor to U. S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and was later appointed as the Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he led that firm’s Information Technology Security Investment Banking practice. Previously he was an aerospace engineer at TRW Corporation, where he developed technology for NASA science missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope. Mr. Kashkari earned a BS and MS in engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. About PIMCO PIMCO is a global investment management firm that was founded in Southern California in 1971. The firm serves an array of clients and manages retirement and other assets that reach more than 8 million people in the U. S. and millions more around the world. Our clients include state, municipal, union and private sector pension and retirement plans, educational, foundations, endowments, philanthropic and healthcare institutions, individual and investment saving accounts, public sector reserve management and other public entities in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. PIMCO has more than 1,200 employees. In addition to its headquarters in Newport Beach, California, the firm has offices in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York City, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Zurich. PIMCO is owned by Allianz S. E. , a global insurance conglomerate. Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the performance of financial markets, the investment performance of PIMCO’s sponsored investment products and separately managed accounts, general economic conditions, future acquisitions, competitive conditions and government regulations, including changes in tax laws. Readers should carefully consider such factors. Further, such forward-looking statements speak only on the date at which such statements are made. PIMCO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. The information contained in this press release is not indicative of the past or future performance of any PIMCO product and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation by PIMCO of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed. This information is provided for informational purposes only.

It’s Like the M25 Up There

James J. — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:03:22 +0000

Weather and climate Orbit level

Low (around 800 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there? About 40

The satellite recently ruined by China was one of the thousands of disused (or “sleeping”) weather satellites in low- Earth orbit. Satellite-borne instruments have allowed researchers to track weather patterns, changes in sea levels and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When the Orbiting Carbon Observatory ( below) lifts off in 2008, it will be the first Nasa spacecraft designed to make precise measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide from an Earth-orbiting satellite. Ability to track retreating polar ice, shifting patterns of drought, winds and rainfall and other environmental changes is “at fantastic risk” because of faltering efforts to replace satellite- borne sensors. “Nasa has prioritised its missions, starting with a manned flight to Mars, then the establishing of a permanent base on the moon. Examining our own planet sadly comes last,” says F Sherwood Rowland, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California.

Broadcast Orbit level

high (35,000 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

Thousands

If the Earth were flat, you could pick up broadcast television thousands of miles from its source. Satellite television solves the problems of range and distortion by transmitting broadcast signals from space. Television satellites such as the one used by British Sky Broadcasting lie in geosynchronous orbit, meaning that they keep pace with the speed of the Earth. Most TV satellites are approximately 35,000 kilometres away. If you happen to have access to a yacht in the Caribbean, close to the Equator, they are easily visible and resemble small shooting stars. Satellites are increasingly used in the US to deliver radio signals. Bob Dylan did wonders for satellite radio’s profile when he took to the space airwaves with his own show last year. Data transfer and communications

Orbit level

High (up to 36,000 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there? More than 500 Nearly two-thirds of active satellites are used for communication. “Because most communications satellites orbit up to 36,000 kilometres above the Earth, they would be more hard to target than those with medium-Earth orbits,” says Dr Laura Grego of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Many commercial high-orbiting satellites are built to last. “The loss of those would be economically crippling,” Grego adds.

Natural disaster monitoring

Orbit level

low (800 kilometres above Earth) How many are there

unknown

Within hours of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans in August 2005, images taken by satellites known as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (such as that pictured) were delivered to help rescue efforts. The constellation is five remote-sensing satellites launched by the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments. DMC satellites provided vital imaging of the after- effects of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. Space exploration

Orbit level

High (up to 1. 6 million kilometres above Earth) How many are there?

Unknown

Since the launch of Hubble ( above) in 1990, it has become one of the most vital instruments in the history of astronomy. Seventeen years on, its future is uncertain; it has already surpassed its 10-year life expectancy and its technology is failing. In the wake of the Columbia space shuttle disaster, Nasa chose a repair mission was impossible. It has since reconsidered its position and has given the green light for a final Hubble servicing mission to be flown by Discovery. While nobody wants to see Hubble go, space technology is advancing rapidly and a number of ground- breaking telescopes are scheduled for launch in the next few years. The James Webb space telescope is one. Named after a former Nasa administrator, it is scheduled for launch in 2013 and will use its infra-red technology to peer through dusty clouds in search of the first galaxies that formed after the Huge Bang. Equipped with a 6m mirror, the telescope will orbit about 1 million miles up. Emergency communications Orbit level

low (800 kilometres above Earth) How many are there?

17 large groups

News journalists and militant groups might well agree on the importance of satellite communication; from the mountains of Pakistan to the streets of Baghdad, international calls can be made at the touch of a button. There are two major types of emergency communications satellites, Thuraya and Iridium. The Iridium constellation is a group of 66 satellites. The system was supposed to have 77, and so was named after iridium, which has the atomic number 77. Atomic number 66 is represented by dysprosium, which translates as “hard to get in contact with”. Iridium is in the business of emergency calls, so the name dysprosium was rejected. The Iridium network is unique in that it covers the Earth, including poles, oceans and airways, although US management means calls to and from North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Libya and Sudan are embargoed. Foreign correspondents travelling to remote parts of Africa and the Middle East tend, therefore, to rely on Thuraya ( above), a single geostationary communications satellite above the Pacific Ocean.

Military Orbit level low to medium (500 to 13,000 kilometres above Earth) How many? Hundreds Reconnaissance satellites, or keyholes, have been orbiting the Earth for over 30 years. Used to take photos for military operations, they circle the globe around 500 kilometres above its surface. Small is known about the full power of these satellites, as the governments that operate them usually keep information about them classified. They resemble a larger version of the Hubble Space Telescope, only they are peering down at us, rather than staring out. Military satellites, which are crucial in guiding smart weapons to their targets, orbit around 13,000 kilometres above Earth. During the fall of Baghdad, 83 per cent of communications between US forces were sent via satellites. “It would have a huge impact if a country could ruin those satellites,” says Pat Norris, chair of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s space group.

Navigation

Orbit level

Medium (19,300 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

35 to 50 GPS, small for the Global Positioning System, operates via a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites, of which 24 are active and three serve as back-up. The system was originally developed and implemented by the US for its military operations, but once it realised the potential for navigation, it soon opened up the system to the world. Each solar-powered satellite circles the globe at an altitude of about 19,000 kilometres, making one complete rotation every 12 hours. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, wherever you may be on Earth, there are at least four satellites serving you in the sky.

Earth observation

Orbit level

Low (700 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

Unknown

Thanks to Google Earth, QuickBird ( above), a high-resolution commercial spacecraft launched in 2001, has become one of the most well-known Earth observation satellites. It can capture the largest images and has the greatest on-board storage capacity of any public- domain satellite, and takes colour shots in high enough definition to pick out the detail on the Fantastic Wall of China. TopSat, a micro- satellite launched last year, flies at a height of 700 kilometres and circles the Earth once every hour and 38. 5 minutes. At [pound]14,000, such satellites are affordable for even the smallest companies. Not only do they store satellite photographs, but they may be used in the future to locate mineral and oil deposits, help relief teams during natural disasters, and even to spy on those who haven’t paid their council tax.

Kate Thomas is a foreign news reporter for the Independent, paying special attention to humanitarian and development tales. She has reported from West Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. Kate has previously worked in the NGO sector in Thailand, Cambodia and the UK, and regularly contributes to travel supplements and guidebooks on developing countries. Rwanda tour . congo tour . Rwanda tours .

The Origin of Stars, Planets and Us

James J. — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:44:33 +0000

UK science teams are working on several missions that search for evidence of our origins in the depths of space. Space telescopes like Hubble and XMM-Newton look out at the furthest reaches of space, collecting light from the youngest galaxies. They will be joined in the future by the Herschel Space Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Planck mission, all gathering evidence on the origin of the Universe, stars and planets. Spacecraft also look for clues about the origin of life. Hubble can detect molecules of life on planets outside our Solar System, while Cassini Huygens and Rosetta seek answers by visiting our neighbours in space. The ExoMars mission will visit Mars with the UK-devised Life Marker Chip (LMC), built to detect evidence of life under the surface of our nearest planet. Each new mission and every fresh discovery brings us closer to a better understanding of who we are, where we come from, and — ultimately — what the future might hold. The Huge BangThe Huge Bang is the only widely accepted model of how the Universe has developed over time. Astronomers have observed that the Universe is expanding and cooling. The crux of the Huge Bang theory is, if you could turn the clock back, then earlier in time everything would have been denser and hotter. And the further back you go, the denser and hotter things get. The theory’s name seems to suggest that the Universe started with a huge explosion. This is a misconception. According to the Huge Bang model, the origin of the Universe was not an explosion of matter into already existing space – but the very beginning of space and time. So why the name Huge Bang? It was originally given by detractors to mock the theory and is a bit of name-calling that stuck!Stars, planets and usObservations and simulations have helped astronomers know how star formation led to the formation of planets and even life itself. The origin of starsAs the early Universe expanded, raw energy condensed into matter. Gas particles were pulled together under gravity to form clouds, called nebulae. Within these nebulae, the dense areas continued to grow ever denser under gravity, spin and heat. Eventually, the enormous pressure caused nuclear fusion to start and stars were formed. This is how our own Sun started. The origin of planetsThe Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of planet-like disks around young stars. This leads us to believe that planets are formed from the debris of star formation. Left-over particles of gas and dust are bound together under gravity to form rocky and gaseous bodies around the star. The origin of life In the very act of living — and dying — stars fuse hydrogen to make all other elements in the Universe before returning them to space. This includes carbon, oxygen, calcium and all the elements that make up the molecules in our bodies. In the words of the late astronomer and former science fiction writer Carl Sagan: “We are all made of stardust”. Theories about the origin of life on earth are being tested and explored through a number of BNSC-backed missions:Rosetta is on its way to study a comet up close. It is believed that much of the water on Earth was brought here by comets, so it is possible that the complex organic molecules that formed the basis for life also came from cometary debris. Cassini Huygens visited Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. This moon has an atmosphere similar to Earth’s when it was a young planet. By studying Titan, scientists hope to gain an insight into how life might have first become established on Earth. The Aurora programme will help establish if life originated on other planets. UK scientists are developing the Life Marker Chip (LMC) instrument for ExoMars. This will look for signs of life below the surface of Mars.

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Astrophysics in the Next Decade: The James Webb Space Telescope and Concurrent Facilities

James J. — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:00:13 +0000

Product DescriptionProceedings of the Astrophysics in the Next Decade : JWST and Concurrent Facilities conference. This professional conference is the “must-attend” meeting to discuss the astrophysics to be enabled by JWST and concurrent facilities during the next decade. This meeting is designed to be of interest and value to the broad astronomical community, who will be preparing science investigations for these facilities. This meeting, which is hosted by STScI and NASA/GSFC and sponsored by Northrop Grumman, will engage the broad science community in a discussion of science enabled by JWST and concurrent orbital and ground-based facilities. It will describe and stimulate work on the theoretical foundations for astrophysics in the next decade. During 2008, we will produce a reviewed and edited book containing a compilation of the talks and synopses of the discussion periods. We plot that this book will be written in a graduate level pedagogical fashion to yield a refer. . . More >>

Astrophysics in the Next Decade: The James Webb Space Telescope and Concurrent Facilities

A Look at the Biggest Telescopes in the World

James J. — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 03:11:37 +0000

The Telescope turns 400 years ancient this year and in four century period astronomers and telescope makers have been continually making larger and larger telescopes in order to peer deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the universe. There are currently quite a few enormous instruments in use and there are several next generation telescopes being developed that will dwarf anything currently in use. This article takes a look at some of these magnificent monsters of astronomy.
The largest Refractor telescope
Refractor telescopes are renowned for their absolute sharpness of image because they are composed of very large lenses of compounds of glass which gives them crystal clear images. But they are extraordinarily hard to make in a large size. Their own weight distorts their shape and makes them unusable above a certain size.
The largest refractor in the world is the Yerkes telescope which has a primary lens that is 40 inches in diameter. It was completed in 1897 and was built by the well-known master optician Alvan Clark. It represents the pinnacle of refractor telescope making and no larger one has since been built in the hundred years since. Reflectors are much more feasible for larger sizes and there are many of this type that are extraordinarily large. It is with reflectors that we achieve very large instruments.
Reflector telescopes come in two different types. The first type is the single mirror type where a single piece of glass is cast and polished to make the primary mirror. The second type is the segmented mirror where a series of hexagonal mirrors are assembled together into a single large mirror. This type of mirror looks much like the honeycomb from a beehive and this new technology is allowing telescope makers to make instruments larger than ever imagined.
The largest single piece of glass telescope in the world is the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona. It is a telescope composed of two separate mirrors that are side by side and work in tandem. The light from both of them are blended into one single image. Each mirror is 8. 4 meters (330 inches) in width and when used together they make the equivalent of a mirror that is 11. 8 meters (464 inches) across which is currently the largest light collecting size on Earth. It is located in Mount Graham International Observatory in Arizona.
Segmented mirrors pose technology challenges that have been overcome in the past decade and now these multiple mirror scopes are being built in extremely large sizes that cannot be rivaled by single piece mirrors. Of the segmented telescopes where a series of honeycomb shapes are assembled together into a single telescope there are three different observatories with these largest of mirrors.
The South African Large Telescope (SALT) is the largest primary mirror scope in the world and it has a segmented mirror that is 11 meters (433 inches) across.
The Gran Telescopio Canarias or GTC is located on the island of LaPalma Spain and it has a segmented primary mirror that is 10. 4 meters in diameter (409 inches) which makes it the single largest mirror in the world.
The Keck Telescopes are a pair of telescopes located at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Each mirror is ten meters (400 inches) in diameter.
Larger Telescopes to come
There are even larger telescopes currently in the proposal, development, or construction stage. Technology improvements over the past decade have made a new scale of telescope possible and this new scale is referred to as ELT or Extremely Large Telescopes and it is the next generation to come. ELT’s are telescopes that are more than twenty meters in diameter which is double the size of existing telescopes. And this doubling of size gives significantly more than double the light gathering power. Most of these scopes will be of the segmented mirror type but one notable exception is the Giant Magellan telescope which will be composed of seven spherical mirrors constructed together so they act as a single mirror. This project is scheduled for completion in 2016. It will be located in Las Companas Observatory, Chile.
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which is currently in development, will be thirty meters across and composed of segmented mirrors. It is expected to be a telescope of unmatched performance and is predicted to be able to image planets circling other stars. The current time line for this project is for it to be completed somewhere around 2017 – 2018.
What about the Well-known Hubble Telescope?
The primary mirror in the Hubble is 2. 4 meters across (94. 5 inches) which makes it rather small compared to some of the giants listed in this article. So then why is it the most spectacular telescope ever made? The huge advantage the Hubble has over all the other telescopes is that it doesn’t have to peer through the soup of Earth’s atmosphere. And this advantage is staggering. That is why the Hubble has brought us some of the most extraordinary images ever recorded.
What comes after the Hubble?
NASA is currently working on its next generation space telescope. It is called the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The primary mirror will be 6. 5 meters (21. 3 feet) in diameter. Launch is plotted for 2013.
Since the invention of the first telescope 400 years ago man has been building ever larger telescopes. The telescopes to come will bring us images of planets around other stars and who knows, they may bring us images of the very birth of the universe we live in.

To learn more about the incredible world of telescopes visit the author?s website : The Telescope Nerd

The Last Mission to the Hubble Telescope

James J. — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:24:49 +0000

The Hubble has given us pictures of merging galaxies, asteroids, new galaxies, the rings around Uranus, and other planets. It has given scientists insights into star formation and star death. The Hubble Deep Field has produced pictures of distant galaxies nearly ten billion years ago. Hubble has produced information on Black Holes and Gamma-Ray bursts, as well as other scientific mysteries of the Universe.
In fact, the news of pictures of distant space taken by the Hubble Telescope has now become a common occurrence. In fact, a recently released Hubble picture by NASA called “Clash Of Clusters” has provided new scientific evidence of the mysterious material in the Universe known as “dark matter”.
“Clash Of Clusters” is just the latest Hubble success tale in a remarkable record that has now spanned seventeen years. Over the years, the pictures that the Hubble Telescope has stored and transmitted to Earth have helped resolve some long standing questions in astronomy.
Hubble is also responsible for the dating of the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. This is a much closer date than the 10 to 20 billion year range that scientists estimated prior to the Hubble launch.
Indeed, the Hubble Telescope’s contribution to our understanding of the Universe has been remarkable. That is why the last NASA mission to the Hubble Telescope is a final opportunity for NASA to revitalize the Telescope. In fact, the final servicing mission is intended to enhance Hubble’s capabilities until it is replaced by its successor, the James Webb Telescope in about five years.
The NASA Mission is currently scheduled for launch on October 8, 2008. Veteran Shuttle Commander Scott Altman and astronauts Megan McArthur, Michael Excellent, Gregory C. Johnson, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, and Andrew Feuste will use the Atlantis Orbiter for the Hubble Mission.
The astronauts will transport 23,000 pounds of hardware to the Hubble Telescope. The eleven-day shuttle mission will feature five perilous space walks. The space walks will be necessary so that astronauts can install two new science instruments, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3 to enhance the telescope.
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), is a new spectroscope that will study the large-scale structure of the Universe and how galaxies, stars, and planets form and evolve. The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), is a new camera that will study early and distant galaxies that are currently beyond Hubble’s reach, as well as galaxies in our own cosmic neighborhood.
In addition to the new equipment, another vital goal of the Mission is to repair equipment that is out of service and in need of repair. During the Mission, the ACS and STIS scientific instruments are scheduled to be repaired in place on the Hubble Telescope. The repair of the equipment will be a hard aspect of the Servicing Mission since the equipment was not designed for complicated repairs in space.
The Hubble Telescope will also receive a new set of gyroscopes that will stabilize the telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets will be replaced to extend Hubble’s operational life until at least the year 2013.
In addition, a degrading Fine Guidance Sensor unit, one of three aboard Hubble, will be replaced with a refurbished unit to help maintain the telescope’s ability to point and focus on astronomical objects throughout the Universe. A successful completion of the Mission will result in the Hubble Telescope’s ability to get a wider, more distant, and sharper view of objects.
NASA intends to upgrade the Hubble Telescope, so that it will have more capability than ever before. It is a servicing mission with considerable danger to the astronauts, but one that has the potential to provide science and astronomy with dramatic rewards.
It is NASA’s final mission to the remarkable Telescope and the hope is that, with an enhanced Hubble, there will be more incredible pictures and discoveries of the Universe in the years immediately ahead.

James William Smith has worked in Senior management positions for some of the largest Financial Services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Visit his website at http://www. eWorldvu. com or his daily blog at http://www. eworldvublog. blogspot. com

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James J. — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:51:20 +0000

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The Hubble Telescope Pictures Space Through Time

James J. — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:11:32 +0000

It has been seventeen years since the launch of the Hubble Telescope. The cost to the United States and the European Union was originally projected at about 500 million dollars. The program’s costs are now estimated to be over 5 billion dollars. The Hubble’s costs were criticized prior to its launch and the early problems with the telescope’s imaging system further hurt the public’s initial perception of the project.

But, the problems of the Hubble mission have long been corrected. In addition, the early critics were incorrect as the cost of the project has provided an incredible return on money spent. The ongoing Hubble mission has provided a source of information to the world’s scientific community that could not have been obtained through any telescope on Earth. Indeed, over the last decade, the Hubble Telescope has delivered hundreds of incredible pictures from the farthest reaches of the Universe.

One reason that the cost of the Hubble is so high is that it is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in orbit 330 miles above the Earth by astronauts. To date, there have been four servicing missions, with a fifth and final mission event plotted for September 2008. In the launch of the fifth space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven astronauts are scheduled to repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities. The mission will make the telescope operational through the year 2013.

Of course, the reason for the final mission and the extension of the Hubble Telescope’s capability is the incredible scientific success of the project over the last fifteen years. Hubble does not travel to stars, planets, and galaxies. It snaps pictures of them as it orbits the Earth. The pictures that the Hubble Telescope has stored and transmitted to Earth have resolved some long standing problems in astronomy. It has also made questions that require scientists to produce new theories of explanation.

Consider that the Hubble Telescope has looked through space to provide pictures of regions where gas, dust, and other materials combined to form stars thousands of years ago. These star forming areas are called nebula by scientists. The remaining materials after a star is born are believed to further expand and form planets. Pictures provided by the Hubble Telescope have given scientists an improved understanding of the processes inside a nebula. Hubble has provided incredible pictures from space of the Ant Nebula, Eskimo Nebula, Cats Eye Nebula, Cone Nebula, Perfect Storm Nebula and Triffid Nebula.

The Hubble Telescope has also greatly expanded scientists understanding of black holes. Scientists have theorized that black holes have a deep and profound connection with galaxies. Work conducted with the Hubble indicates that black holes are probably common to the centers of all galaxies. Hubble has also established that the masses of the nuclear black holes and properties of the galaxies are closely related.

Hubble is responsible for the dating of the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. This is a much closer date than the 10 to 20 billion year range that scientists estimated prior to the Hubble launch.

While Hubble helped to refine estimates of the age of the Universe, it also cast doubt on theories about its future. Astronomers used the telescope to observe distant supernovae and uncovered evidence that, far from decelerating under the influence of gravity, the expansion of the Universe may in fact be accelerating. This acceleration was later measured more accurately by other ground-based and space-based telescopes which confirmed Hubble’s finding, but the cause of this acceleration is currently very poorly understood.

The ultimate legacy of Hubble may well be the Hubble Deep Field and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field images. The images of distant galaxies, around ten billion years ago, were a result of Hubble’s unmatched sensitivity at visible wavelengths to make images. These images have generated many scientific papers and provided a new window into the development of the Universe.

Hubble also teamed up with a fleet of X-ray, gamma-ray, and visible-light observatories in a quest to analyze the sources of gamma-ray bursts. Gamma-ray bursts may represent the most powerful explosions in the Universe since the Huge Bang. Before 1997 astronomers were stumped: although they had observed more than 2,000 “bursts,” they couldn’t determine whether these fireballs occurred in our galaxy or at remote distances. Hubble images showed clearly that the bursts really reside in far away galaxies rife with star formation.

To date, the Hubble’s contribution to astronomy and science has been astounding. The understanding of the origins and functions of the Universe increase with each picture.

In 2008, astronauts will install upgraded equipment which will would boost the telescope’s observing capability by at least a factor of 10. Pictures from the Hubble Telescope will continue until the year 2013.

After 2013, the James Webb Telescope will replace the Hubble in space. Until then, scientists and astronomers throughout the world should continue to be amazed by the pictures transmitted by the Hubble Telescope as it continues to picture space through time.

James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at http://www. eworldvu. com

Hubble and James Webb Search for the Edge

James J. — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:03:20 +0000

Its price tag was 500 million dollars in 1990. It certainly was a lot of money to pay for a telescope that circled the Earth and could not focus. A faulty mirror on the Hubble was the reason the expensive space telescope could not see. The Hubble would quickly become an object of ridicule and the subject of numerous jokes on late night television.
In 1993, astronauts repaired that faulty mirror on the Hubble. Fifteen years later, it is very safe to say that nobody is laughing now. In fact, even though the cost of the telescope has eclipsed 5 billion dollars, it has become a very inexpensive investment in astronomy and our understanding of outer space through time.
For more than a decade, the Hubble telescope has captured many of the most spectacular images of outer space. In addition, it has enabled direct observation of the Universe as it was billions of years ago, learned black holes at the center of galaxies, provided measurements that helped establish the size and age of the Universe, and offered evidence that the expansion of the Universe is really accelerating.
But, even though the final plotted servicing mission for the telescope is scheduled for October of this year, the Hubble’s best pictures of the Universe may be yet to come. The Hubble is about to receive a powerful upgrade in capability during an eleven day shuttle mission that will feature five space walks. The space walks will be necessary for astronauts to install new scientific instruments to enhance the telescope. NASA intends for the Hubble Telescope to get a wider, more distant, and sharper view of objects.
During the mission, the Hubble will receive a new set of the gyroscopes that will stabilize the telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets to extend Hubble’s operational life until at least the year 2013. In addition, a degrading Fine Guidance Sensor unit, one of three aboard Hubble, will be replaced with a refurbished unit to help maintain the telescope’s ability to point and focus on astronomical objects throughout the Universe.
The Hubble Telescope is responsible for dating the age of the Universe at 12-14 billion years. But, it cannot see back that far in time. It cannot see the period after the huge bang when the Universe started an expansion that continues to accelerate to this day. It is vital for our increased understanding of the Universe that scientists now see that time in distant space. The years after the Huge Bang are known for the formation of the first stars and the creation of the first galaxies. In effect, to see this happen is a scientific search for the edge of the Universe. It is a search that will be undertaken by Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The successor to Hubble, scheduled for launch in 2013, will be designed to see objects even farther in distance, and therefore time, than the Hubble now can. But, in order for the James Webb Space Telescope to see objects at the edge of the Universe after the Huge Bang, it will need to be a much different telescope than the Hubble.
Therefore, in 2013, an unmanned spacecraft will release the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) into an orbit 930,000 miles away from Earth. This distance puts the telescope well beyond the reach of space shuttle servicing missions, and therefore the telescope is expected to have a much shorter life than the Hubble.
After entering its orbit, a light shield the size of a tennis court will unfold to hide the JWST from the light of the sun. Finally, powerful cooling systems will help to dramatically lower the spacecraft’s temperature to a -447 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be cold enough to complete its mission.
The James Webb telescope will carry three different types of cameras, all tuned to detect infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. In contrast, the Hubble was equipped to capture mostly visible light and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum. This difference in light spectrum is due to the fact that the further astronomers look back in time, the redder the light from objects appears to be. Scientist call this phenomenon red shift, and it means that light from the most distant (and therefore oldest) object is deep in the infrared part of the light spectrum, a part of the light ectrum which the Hubble is currently unable to see.
The James Webb Telescope’s primary goal will be to see what happened when the Universe made its first light when it was about one billion years ancient. It is hoped that the telescope will allow astronomers to observe the birth of galaxies, the physics of star and planet formation, and the entire early development of the Universe. The information might also provide answers about how other solar systems form and evolve.
Hubble was the trailblazer in the search of outer space through time. James Webb is designed to look further back to the point of first light. It is a scientific search to see the edge of the Universe, a view from the distant past that will increase our understanding of space, for the world of tomorrow.