January 2004A new exciting year of space exploration is in store. |
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In this month's issue... |
Featured articles...This Year's ExplorersMars will be a focus of exploration this year, but, by no means, will it be an exclusive target. We will be taking closer looks at several different kinds of targets throughout this year -- the sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids... let's take a look at a few of the exploration missions in store...
Earth-based telescopes, Mars orbiters, and the Mars Exploration Rovers, one already on the ground and the other which is swiftly approaching the red planet, have all been employed to try to hail the currently silent Beagle 2. We all hope that the lander is not lost! The Beagle 2 carries an incredible array of tools and devices designed to study the surface of Mars. Its instruments are designed to give us hints as to what Mars looked like long ago, and how it currently appears. It has some sophistocated instruments to study the composition of the body of Mars. It is going to look for evidence of water and organic material -- the building blocks of life. One of the tools on board is referred to as the "Mole" -- an exciting little device tethered to the main lander which can scurry across the surface of Mars, and is even able to burrow down to obtain samples from beneath the surface. By looking underground, we can get an idea of what the surface of Mars looked like many years ago. The compostion of the underground materials can also tell us what the atmosphere of Mars looked like in days long past. Hopefully, the Beagle 2 is experiencing a problem from which it can recover.
The two Rovers (the second, called Opportunity, will be landing on January 24) will be doing extensive study of the geology of Mars. Much like the Beagle 2, they will be investigating the composition of the surface of Mars to see if it might have ever supported life. Each of the rovers will be sporting some of the best digital cameras ever sent into space. They will be able to image the surface of Mars in a variety of spectra, not just visible light, which will give us further clues as to the structure and variety of the surface. Whereas the Beagle 2 has its "Mole", each of the Rovers will be bringing a "RAT". RAT stands for Rock Abrasion Tool, and is a sort of blend between a drill and an electric razor (it works a little like a Dremel™ tool -- the RAT will be able to "shave" shallow holes into the Martian rocks and see if any secrets lie inside the rocks on Mars. NASA has created a flashy new website called "M2K4" (it stands for "MARS 2004"). It has lots of information about the mission to Mars with an exciting interface. There are Hollywood-style "previews" of the Mars mission that are certain to get your pulse pounding about this exciting endeavor. Be sure to check it out, it's a lot of fun and is chock full of great information.
Aerogel is a substance that is difficult to imagine. First, it's the lightest substance we know of. It looks like someone, somehow, has managed to cut away a piece of smoke and has managed to coax it to retain its shape. It has a remarkable ability for insulation -- you could take a piece of Aerogel one centimeter thick, and put your hand on one side, and a lit blowtorch blasting against the other side, and you would barely notice the heat. The main reason that Aerogel was chosen for its task aboard Stardust is that the particles of the comet's tail will be propelled into the Aerogel collector where they will become lodged, but undamaged. The particles collected in their protective Aerogel shroud will be returned to Earth, arriving in 2006. This will be the first time we will retrieve matter from beyond the Earth-Moon system. We study comets because they contain many of the building blocks of life. Comets contain frozen water as well as organic molecules, such as carbon and nitrogen. Many scientists believe that the early Earth suffered a bombardment of comets, providing our planet with the water and other materials required for life to take hold here. The cometary study provided by the Stardust spacecraft could give us hints of the answers to questions we've asked as long as we've been human beings.
The planet Saturn has always been an impressive sight. Its majestic rings suspended in space are a wonder to see -- Saturn has become a sort of icon of all things space related. The rocket carrying Cassini was launched back in October of 1997; it will reach its destination in the beginning of July of this year. The main component of the spacecraft, the Cassini orbiter, has an extensive array of cameras and equipment. It will be studying the magnetic fields of Saturn, as well as the turbulent atmosphere (we've seen evidence that wind near the equator of Saturn has exceeded 1000 miles per hour!). It will study the composition of Saturn, and be able to 'see' charged gas particles, radio waves, and the composition of dust particles around Saturn using special cameras that record wavelengths of light outside of the range of human eyes. Cassini has a hitchhiker called the Huygens probe, which has a slightly different destination. Its job is to land on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and study this fascinating satellite. In January 2005, it will make this journey, and, if successful, it will hold the record of landing on the furthest object from Earth! Titan has been of great interest to space scientists since the Voyager spacecraft took readings of its thick atmosphere back in the 1980's. It has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's, consisting mainly of Nitrogen and Methane, and it is a close approximation of what scientists believe the early Earth atmosphere was like, billions of years ago. Studying Titan is like studying an ancient living fossil of the Earth! Keep an eye out this summer for news from Cassini.
Mercury is a curious planet -- its entire body reminds scientist of the cores of the other inner, rocky planets, almost as if at some point the outer layers were stripped away somehow. Perhaps an early sun ripped the outer layers of Mercury away, or Mercury may have been bombarded by other planet-sized asteroids, which tore the outer shell of Mercury away. Mercury really has no atmosphere -- it has some gases around it stretched so thin that the molecules hardly interact. We refer to a sheen of gas this thin as an "exosphere". This exosphere gives Mercury no insulating shield as an atmosphere does. So, even though Mercury gets bombarded with energy from the sun during the day, all that heat escapes at night. Mercury has a temperature that exceeds 700 degrees fahrenheit during the day, but drops below -200 degrees at night. Mercury is completely covered with craters, indicating significant impact activity over its lifetime. In some of the shaded areas of craters near the poles of Mercury, there are reflective areas that appear to have frozen water! This is one of the aspects of Mercury that the Messenger spacecraft will study. This is a small collection of the work being done this year. For more information on these missions, and others performing research this year, you can check out the list of space missions active in 2004 on NASA's Space Exploration Web Site. (That is also this month's Featured Web Site -- we'll look at it in more detail below!) Planetary Update
The Moon
The phases for this month:
Website of the MonthThis month I'm featuring one of the places where I obtained much of the information included in the feature article above... it is NASA's Solar System Exploration website.
This site has been recently redesigned, and now features a lot of splashy and exciting visuals. If you need any information on the solar system, this is the place to start. There is an easy-to-use navigation pane that will quickly take you to whatever is of interest. It all starts with the latest information, news, and discoveries related to the space program. If you want to know what has recently happened or about to happen, this is the place to go. You can then explore the information we have on all the components of the solar system. The Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and much more are described and examined in detail. For example: Did you know that at last count, Jupiter has 61 moons?! You'd know that if you'd visited NASA's Solar System Exploration page! All the missions to study solar system objects, past, present , and future, are listed here as well. There is a ton of information here: dates, mission goals, and, if the mission failed, what went wrong. You can study the science and technology that goes into the missions, as well as meet the people who design and implement the incredibly complex machines that make their way into the far reaches of the solar system (and beyond!). For kids interested in pursuing a career in space science, this is a good place to see exactly what it takes to work in the field of space exploration! Speaking of kids, there is a special section with fun and exciting information designed just for them. There are kid-friendly versions of every part of the site, as well as activities like paper models of the different spacecraft that they can print out and build - and they're absolutely free. Parents and educators can find lesson plans and activities to stimulate the children's interest in this exciting field, as well. It's dynamic. It's got information geared to every age. It's got activites and games. It's the placed to go for up-to-date information. It's NASA's Solar System Exploration page... enjoy! Until next month.... Enjoy the skies! Please come and enjoy one of our monthly programs at the Planetarium! If you would like to receive this newsletter in your own e-mail box at the beginning of every month by simply send a note requesting subscription to "The Digital Skyline". Your e-mail address remains private and secure - we shall never provide your e-mail address to any other party. You will simply receive the Digital Skyline at the beginning of every month, and occassional reminders of some significant sky event (such as a meteor shower or eclipse). The Digital Skyline may be freely distributed. The Digital Skyline content and banner logo: ©2002-2003, Chris Fenwick, Astronomer, County College of Morris
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This year's exploration has begun with a rather inauspicious start, as the British-built Beagle 2 Mars lander fell to
the Martian surface on Christmas Day
as expected -- but unexpectedly failed to respond from the ground. The problem is currently unclear. The lander,
which is shaped sort of like a
giant pocket-watch was supposed to land
near a Martian crater. Did it tumble down the side causing a catastrophic failure? Is it buried in the Martian soil? Is the lander
jammed shut, unable to open and respond? These questions are still being investigated. A team of British scientists are currently busy
trying to pin down the problem, as well as brainstorm solutions. Currently, there is a press conference scheduled for January 7 to
describe their progress.
Spirit has made it to Mars! At approximately 8:35 pm on January 3, 2004,
the Mars Exploration Rover named Spirit began its bouncing, bumpy landing. Soon after coming to rest, it was confirmed that the
Rover landed successfully. And soon after that, the 
The Stardust mission is to collect particles from the tail
of a comet. On January 2, it nestled its way into the tail of the Comet Wild 2 (FYI: the "W" is pronounced like a "V").
It has successfully stretched out its collection device -- which looks remarkably like a tennis racket. Where the tennis racket
webbing would reside is a substance known as 
Saturn is another target which will be closely investigated this year. In June 2004, the Cassini
spacecraft will fall into orbit around Saturn.
The Messenger mission will be our first mission to Mercury since 1975. Messenger's intended
launch time is during May of this year. If the equipment and weather all cooperate, we will be launching this explorer on a 5 year journey
to Mercury. Messenger will fall into orbit around Mercury in July of 2009, after making three laps around the sun, and making three
passes of Venus as it spirals inward to match the orbit of Mercury.
Mercury will be visible in the last half hour before the sun rises, so you'll
have to get up a little early to view this little fellow. The sun will be rising around 7:30 am this month -- that shouldn't
be too early!
He'll be low in the southeastern part of the sky, and easiest to see in the very middle of the month.
Venus is out in the evening hours, as opposed to Mercury's morning appearance.
Traditionally, Venus is nearly impossible to miss, being the brightest object in the sky, besides the sun and moon. This month is
no exception. Venus will be tremendously bright in the western sky -- you will not be able to mistake it for anything else, except
perhaps for a low-flying plane. It emits a brilliant light, and as it falls low in the atmosphere, around 9:00 pm, it really shimmers
through a variety of colors. Venus is not changing colors at all -- it's just the Earth's atmosphere bending and twisting the light -- but
it is a nifty thing to view.
Mars is still high in the sky! It is a bright orange dot high in the
southeast part of the sky as the sun goes down. It doesn't set until around midnight, so you'll have quite a few hours to
go out and try to spot it. It's certainly not as bright as it was this summer, but it's still quite noticeable up in the sky. And
it's fun to realize that you are looking at something over 100 million miles away, and that a little robotic craft is up there
beaming images back to us here on Earth. It's really quite amazing.
Jupiter makes its impressive appearance between 9:00 and 10:00 pm.
If you are watching Venus set around this time, turn around completely, and you will be able to watch Jupiter rise soon after in the eastern
part of the sky. Since Venus has left the scene by the time Jupiter arrives, Jupiter will be the brightest spot up there (besides the moon).
A simple backyard telescope will reveal light and dark lines cutting across the surface of Jupiter, as well as at least 4 of its moons.
Saturn is the star of the night! Saturn rises in the east as the sun sets,
and drifts across the sky for the entire night. This is a great month to dust of your telescope and check out the ringed planet, as it
is visible all night long, and we are on the same side of the sun as Saturn, making the distance between us shorter than at other times.
Full Moon: January 7
Last Quarter: January 14
New Moon: January 21
First Quarter: January 29