What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Here is my story on the "Return to the Moon" Symposium. Enjoy  these pics I took at the Symposium. Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot Credit: Greg Redfern Dr. Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot/Moonwalker and I The Symposium left me with the belief that humanity, if we don't destroy ourselves, will indeed return to the Moon and STAY this time. I hope I live to see it happen........ Grumman did it right Lunar Excursion Module At the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Greg Redfern Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! This new discovery of a galaxy that contains little or NO Dark Matter is so huge it puts my blog about yesterday's "Return to The Moon" conference in Washington, D.C. on hold. Astronomers just announced  yesterday   that using an array of commercial 400mm telephoto lenses called Dragonfly   they have found a galaxy called  NGC 1052-DF2  that is the size of the Milky Way Galaxy (MWG), contains less than 0.5% of the stars in the MWG, and has little or no Dark Matter which is found in every other galaxy to date. This galaxy is so sparse that when the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photographed it distant background galaxies could be seen through it! Hubble Views ‘Ghostly’ Galaxy Lacking Dark Matter This large, fuzzy-looking galaxy is so diffuse that astronomers call it a “see-through” galaxy because they can clearly see distant galaxies behind it. The ghostly object, catalogued as NGC 1052-DF2, doesn’t have a noticeable central regio...

Hey Space Placers! JWST Optical Telescope Element Completed Greg Redfern If you read my blog yesterday this is the follow on to it. NASA held a media teleconference today in which I participated to discuss the status of the long awaited James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html   which had been slated for a launch in 2018 and then 2019  https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2016/11/james-webb-space-telescope-2-years-expected-launch/slide/1/ . It was announced today that NASA has now tentatively scheduled launch for May 2020. Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot stated, “Webb is the highest priority project for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), and the largest international space science project in U.S. history. All the observatory’s flight hardware is now complete, however, the issues brought to light with the spacecraft element are prompting us to take the necessary steps to refocus our efforts on ...

Hey Space Placers! NASA to hold media teleconference tomorrow on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST Optical Telescope Element at NASA Goddard Credit: Greg Redfern I'll let you know what takes place. My guess is a delay in launch. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers!  Here's a fascinating article about the 3 way tug of war going on between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) which can be seen in the Southern Hemisphere and our very own Milky Way Galaxy (MWG). LMC & SMC and Achenar Taken by Greg Redfern Underway On Oceania LMC and SMC orbit our MWG and all 3 are undergoing gravitational interactions, some of which result in the Magellanic Stream and Leading Arm which can be seen in the following photo: Caption From NASA: This is a photo mosaic of an edge-on view of the Milky Way galaxy, looking toward the central bulge. Superimposed on it are radio-telescope images, colored pink, of the stretched, arc-shaped Magellanic Stream below the plane of the galaxy and the shredded, fragmented Leading Arm crossing the galaxy’s plane and extending above it. These gas clouds are being gravitationally pulled apart like taffy from the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds—satellite galaxies to our Milky Way—whic...

Hey Space Placers! Back from sea and just in time to go from 89+F to 6+" of snow......love it. Watch this video, it will only take a few minutes but will bring a smile to your face I am sure: If you are a long time follower - my thanks to you - you know the Moon is my fave place in the Universe and I truly love our planet's companion. As the video shows and Phil Plait writes , the Moon is a great unifier for us all - if we ONLY look. Whether it is with our eyes, binoculars or in a telescope, the Moon captures us when we look. I too have seen the light of the Moon going into the pupil of a human looking through my telescope and heard the exclamations that erupt forth.....they are music to my ears. Take a look at the Moon for yourself.....enjoy the moment.....you'll be glad you did. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Find a good clear view of the Western horizon as tonight the THIN Waxing Crescent Moon will be going Mercury and Venus in the sky after sunset.  The planetary duo, Venus being the brighter of the two, has graced our skies for the past few weeks as you can see in this pic I took aboard Azamara Quest underway off the NW coast of Cuba a few days ago: Venus, lower left, and Mercury grace the Western sky after sunset off the NW coast of Cuba Taken underway on Azamara Quest Greg Redfern The key to seeing this trio is going out about a half hour after sunset and looking due West. If you have binoculars that will help. Venus and Mercury will be in the same field of view. The Moon will be to the lower left of Venus. You may even be able to see Earthshine on the Moon - the ghostly light that is from the reflection of sunlight off our planet's oceans and clouds that illuminates the dark of the Moon. The Moon will move to the upper left in the next few days and ...

Hey Space Placers! Sad day as Dr. Stephen Hawking is dead at 76. Read the Washington Post news story about his life . The world will miss his intellect and wit. Sky Guy in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Hey Space Placers! There's a new theory out about how double lobed comets are formed. Check out the video: This video shows modelling of how a high-speed collision between two objects could have resulted in the comet 67p/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. ESA/ROSETTA/NAVCAM - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 Sky Guy in Santiago de Cuba

Hey Space Placers! Underway on Azamara Quest to Haiti and Cuba. Venus and Mercury are in the West after sunset and will be getting easier to see each night. Credit: www.EarthSky.org https://twitter.com/SkyGuyinVA/status/972427568908554240 The Zodiacal Light is in the West also about 90 minutes after sunset from a dark sky sight and should be visible for another week or so. Zodiacal Light at Sea Greg Redfern Mercury will be getting higher until after mid-month when it will start to descend into the Sun's glare. This is the BEST view of Mercury for Northern Hemisphere observers this year so make sure you get out to see the planet closest to the Sun. Venus will keep getting higher and brighter and will dominate the western sky for month's to come. In the Southeast before dawn the Moon, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter, along with the Milky Way will be a beautiful view for the next few days. Once the Moon moves out of the scene it WILL REALLY be something as the ...

Hey Space Placers! Just about every mission NASA sends into the solar system carries along the names of Earthlings. I have sent my name on every mission that has offered to do so and I have carried on that tradition with NASA's Parker Solar Probe . Hey, if Captain Kirk and Sky Guy in VA have signed up, shouldn't you?????? Sign up the whole family! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The Earth-Moon Synestia Visualization  Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech As promised yesterday here is the newest theory on how the Moon formed.   Previously the leading theory was that the Moon formed as the result of a Mars-sized object called Theia impacting the Earth. In this new theory the Earth has been vaporized due to a huge impact forming a Synestia  - a hypothesized structure that forms - and the Moon emerges shortly afterwards followed by the Earth reforming. This is a very intriguing, and to me, very plausible theory. More computer modeling and analysis of the Apollo lunar samples, including hopefully a new sample box - see yesterday's blog - will provide further refinement, and maybe, just maybe, a way to confirm how Luna came to be. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I have had some posts recently on the Moon so here is one more (with another to follow tomorrow ;-)) I hope NASA opens at least one of the sample boxes as we have come a LONG way in our ability to analyze lunar samples as the article describes. Wow, NEW lunar findings from pristine samples. It would be like a whole new lunar mission. I'll be on the look out for updates on this story and hope to visit the Astromaterials Curation Center myself later this year. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! As March progresses make an effort to watch the movements of Mercury and Venus in the Western sky this month. I got this pic on 8/3/18 when the two were at their closest to one another. Venus is on the left and always the brighter of the two. Venus (L) and Mercury in the West after sunset Greg Redfern For the next two weeks the planetary pair will rise higher in the West making them easier to see and on the 18th the Waxing Crescent Moon will join them to make a nice view. To see them find a Western horizon clear of obstructions, and go outside about 20 minutes after sunset. Look to the left of where the Sun set, or to the left go the bright horizon glow of the set Sun. If you have binoculars this will help too although they will be visible to the unaided eye as the month progresses. Venus and Mercury will change their positions in the sky due to their respective orbits around the Sun as well as that of our own planet. It is viewing opportunities like th...

Hey Space Placers! Get the scoop about March 1st AND the planets...FIVE OF 'EM are coming to a sky near you. 2018 will be a grand time for the planets as Venus returns to the evening sky with Mercury no less and Mars takes center stage this summer. Enjoy! Sky Gy Greg