Light Speed a constant? - maybe not!

Festa/Shutterstock.com

The speed of light in a vacuum, or c, is pretty much the most fundamental constant in physics – and according to the general theory of relativity, gravity travels at the same rate.

But a new study suggests that the speed of light might not have always been this speed. In fact, in the early Universe, light might have outpaced gravity, and this new hypothesis could solve one of the biggest problems in physics.

Complete story at Science Alert.

Say Goodbye to Cassini

A lovely view of Saturn and its rings as seen by the Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 12, 2009.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Cassini Is About To Graze Saturn’s Rings In Mission Endgame

There is a Twitter-bot that randomly tweets out “NOOOOOOOO Cassini can’t be ending!” (with varying amounts of “O’s”). @CassiniNooo represents the collective sigh of sadness and consternation felt by those of us who can’t believe the the historic and extensive Cassini mission will be over in just a matter of months.

And next week is the beginning of the end for Cassini. Se the complete story at Universe Today and minute by minute updates on Saturn.JPL.NASA.gov

Are You Ready For the Supermoon?

Supermoon!  What's that? 

Stefano Sciarpetti

Well, unless you're totally unconnected to the cyber-world, you've undoubtedly heard that we are going to have a supermoon this Monday.  A supermoon occurs when the positions of the moon and earth are just right so that the moon is closest to us in it's orbit and full at the same time.

The details about the specific geometry can be found at EarthSky and the NASA site, so you can link there to read all about it.  The quick and dirty is that the moon becomes full at about 8:52 AM on November 14th, and will reach perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth for this month – within an one and one-half hours of that time - ergo, a supermoon.  This one is the largest since 1948. The full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until November 25, 2034.

A supermoon, or perigee full moon can be as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than an apogee full moon. But you might not be able to tell the difference, especially if it's slightly cloudy, or even if you've not looked at the moon before - since there is nothing to compare to.  But, it's worth the effort to check it out, the only thing you need are your pairs of eyes.

When should you look?  Both Sunday and Monday nights would be good (note: weather forecasts for the Maryland area are calling for cloudy skies on Monday.)

As for me, well I'll take a quick look.  But since the moon is a bright 'annoying' orb for us astrophotographers I'll be happy when its all over and I can get back to deep space photography in dark skies!

Mount repaired - back to imaging!

I finally got my mount issues resolved (at least most of the way).  I know for a fact that I am overloading my mount with equipment and that is the basic reason for its failure to track adequately at the prime focus focal lengths.

However, after rebuilding the mount and re-routing the cabling I am now able to use the wide field camera.  I anticipate getting the longer focal lengths to work as well, but having the wide field Hyperstar operational is a big plus.

So here is the first image since the mount starting having problems back in August:

IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula
EdgeHD11 w/Hyperstar;  QHY10 Camera
October 24, 2016  30x120sec

The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190, lies some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. This is an emission nebula showing glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.

The very brightest part of this nebula (the knot at the top right) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of this nebula to be discovered.

The nebula's intense red output and its configuration are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars known as Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass.

Wikipedia

European Mars Lander's Crash Site Seen By NASA Probe

The european Mars lander, expected to soft land on Mars earlier this week, apparently crashed into Mars at a high rate of speed. An orbiting NASA spacecraft has spotted its grave, European Space Agency (ESA) officials said.

The lander, named Schiaparelli, stopped communicating with mission control about 1 minute before its planned touchdown on Mars Wednesday morning (Oct. 19). Newly released photos of the landing site by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) seem to confirm what ExoMars team members had suspected — that Schiaparelli died a violent death.

This comparison of before-and-after images by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows two features likely created during the Oct. 19, 2016 landing attempt of the ExoMars Schiaparelli lander. The small bright feature at bottom is probably Schiaparelli’s parachute, while the dark, fuzzy blob is likely the lander’s crash site.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Complete story at: Space.com

More Lunar Photos

Here are the remaining two moon photos I imaged on Oct 10,2016.

Hope you like them!

Copernicus Crater - October 10, 2016
EdgeHD11 Prime Focus
ASI120MC 400 frames of 2000

Plato and Vallis Alpes - October 10, 2016
EdgeHD11 Prime focus
ASI120MC 400 frames of 2000

Moon Images

Since the telescope mount is still not fixed I decided to not waste the clear skies and image our satellite, 'ol Luna.

These two image were taken with my ASI120MC planetary camera at the prime focus of the EdgeHD11 scope (2800mm).  Approximately 2000 frames of video were taken and then 20% (400 frames) of the best quality were used to stack and process.  Both were taken on October 10, 2016 at about 8:30PM.

Clavius Crater

Bullialdus crater in Mare Nubium

I have two more images that I took that night that I need to process.  I plan to post them within the next few days.

Just when you thought we knew ...

Credit:  NASA, ESA/Hubble

Astronomers using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes and other telescopes have performed an accurate census of the number of galaxies in the Universe. The group came to the surprising conclusion that there are at least 10 times as many galaxies in the observable Universe as previously thought.

For the complete story head on over to PhysOrg

M17 - Omega Nebula

Another image from back in August.  The Omega Nebula.

M17 - Omega Nebula
EdgeHD11 w/Hyperstar Aug 27, 2016
12x300sec QHY10 Camera

The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17) is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745. Charles Messier catalogued it in 1764. It is located in the rich starfields of the Sagittarius area of the Milky Way.

The Omega Nebula is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses. The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses.  (Wikipedia)

M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster

Finally got some time to process the remaining images I took back in August. Been busy with work, work around the house, church activities and, of course, rebuilding my telescope mount to see if I can repair the issue that has prevented any new imaging runs.

M11 - Wild Duck Cluster
EdgeHD-11 w/Hyperstar - Aug 26, 2016
10x300sec QHY10 Camera

The Wild Duck Cluster (also known as Messier 11, or NGC 6705) is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Charles Messier included it in his catalogue in 1764.

The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters, containing about 2900 stars. Its age has been estimated to about 250 million years. Its name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could resemble a flying flock of ducks (or, from other angles, one swimming duck).

M20 - The Trifid Nebula - Wide Angle Hyperstar

Here, for your enjoyment, is the famous Trifid nebula taken with my wide angle HyperStar lens on the EdgeHD11.  This will be one of the last images I will post for awhile as my telescope mount has developed a serious problem in the RA axis that prevents steady tracking.  May be out of service for a couple of months.

M20 - The Trifid Nebula
EdgeHD11 w/HyperStar - August 26,2016
20x120sec QHY10 Camera

The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764.^[3] Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars; an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifurcated appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.  (WikiPedia)