Cosmic Vertigo

I'm pleased to announce the LAUNCH of my new space podcast, Cosmic Vertigo, made with co-host Alan Duffy and our amazing producer Joel Werner.

"Do you ever feel dizzy when you think about the incomprehensible scale of space? We call that feeling Cosmic Vertigo. Welcome to a head-spinning conversation between two friends who study the sky for a living."

Rest state: Alan and I cracking up (Photo: ABC/Radio National)

The three of us had a lot of fun creating this series, and I'm in awe of Joel's editing and production genius.

Dream Team: Alan Duffy, Joel Werner, and yours truly (Photo: ABC/Radio National)

The first two episodes are now LIVE with a new one released every two weeks.... so GO LISTEN and COMMENT and SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts!

All 5 bright planets up in the morning sky!

all of you early risers may have noticed the lovely line of bright planets across the sky in the morning hours before sunrise lately.  definitely get out and have a look between jan 20th and feb 20th for a spectacular view, no matter where on earth you live!

you'll need to be able to see low on the horizon to spot mercury until early february or so, but you can do it if you have an unobstructed view!

this alignment of the planets has not occurred for over ten years. it's rare because all the planets have to be on the same side of the sun in their orbits.  while venus, mars, jupiter, and saturn have been in the morning sky all year, mercury is just getting ready to transition from being visible in our evening sky to being visible in the morning sky.  hopefully the visualisation below makes that clear.

via The Conversation

so... get out early and LOOK UP! 

Journey to the edge of a forming galaxy

in early july i spent two weeks as "scientist in residence" at the ABC as a result of the Top 5 Under 40 award.  the main project i worked on was producing a science ninja adventure story that went live on the science show on radio national yesterday afternoon!

LISTEN HERE:
journey to the edge of a forming galaxy (website)
journey to the edge of a forming galaxy (mp3)

Artwork by Mischa Andrews from photo by Jenny Gabache and galaxy image by David Malin

long time readers may remember the seeds of this story from a blog post in 2010. you never know what direction random inspiration will go!

transforming the written story into something radio-ready was an interesting challenge.  phrases that look lovely on the page do not sound smooth or conversational when spoken out loud.  i wrote many versions of the story (in less than 2 days) before settling into one that i could read out loud comfortably.

Artwork by Glen Nagle

once the story was ready, i had the amazing luck of booking an entire afternoon in the studio with award-winning sound engineer Russell Stapleton.  i had shared an early draft of the story with him and he came prepared with directories of "space and ninja" sounds that he had been working with for the last 20 years!  he really made the story come alive and it was fascinating to watch him work. such a unique experience to work with him to create the depth of sound you hear throughout the story.


the science show producer asked me for some unique artwork to display with the story on the webpage, since a regular galaxy image would be a bit boring.  i was busy at a workshop during the couple days i had to produce the image, so i asked twitter for volunteers to help.  they certainly came through - the images are displayed through this post.  thanks so much to Mischa Andrews and Glen Nagle!

Put together by Glen Nagle from photo by Jenny Gabache and galaxy image by David Malin

Hope you enjoy the adventure!

watching comet siding spring approach mars

i work with a very interesting doer-of-all-astronomy-tech-things steve lee (of "Steve and the Stars" fame).  over the last couple nights, as comet siding spring has rushed towards mars at 56 km/s, steve has been taking images using two of his own telescopes that live near siding spring observatory in new south wales, australia.

the distant astronomical objects i study in the universe do not really change or move noticeably in the time that i've been studying them (or even over a human lifetime).  so i find it very exciting to be able to watch a comet zoom across a field of view over the period of 24 hours!

here are two images of comet siding spring, mars, and milky way dust taken 24 hours apart using the same setup (90mm refractor + Canon 6D, 7x1min exposures summed), but cropped slightly differently. you can clearly see the motions of both the comet and mars again the background stars and dust contours of the milky way galaxy.

Comet Siding Spring, Mars, and Milky Way dust taken 18 Oct 2014 by Steve Lee

Comet Siding Spring, Mars, and Milky Way dust taken 19 Oct 2014 by Steve Lee 

now for a different comparison - here is an image of the same region of sky, but captured through a different telescope setup and exposure detail (31cm f/5 Newtonian + Canon 6D,  single 2 minute exposure).

Comet Siding Spring, Mars, and Milky Way dust taken 19 Oct 2014 by Steve Lee

cool stuff.

comet siding spring and mars

Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will pass within 139,500 km (86,000 miles) of the surface of Mars at 5:51 tomorrow morning (Monday 20 Oct, Sydney time - or 19 October at 18:51 UTC).  This means Comet Siding Spring will pass 10 times closer to Mars than any (recorded) comet has flown by Earth!  But it will be traveling at 50 km/s which is too fast to be captured by Mars's gravitational pull.

Comet Siding Spring was discovered by Rob NcNaught at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales on 3 January 2013.  Last night Steve Lee took this beautiful image of Comet Siding Spring and Mars against the dusty backdrop of the Milky Way using a 90mm refractor and Canon 6D camera, from a location VERY CLOSE to siding spring observatory!

Comet Siding Spring, Mars, and Milky Way dust (Photo by Steve Lee (AAO))

 
The comet is still composed of the pristine material the solar system was made from, which will give insights into the formation of planets!

more info about the comet from Dr bruce betts:



For a list of ways to view the comet (if you dont have your own telescope or are covered in clouds), see The Planetary Society blog by the great Emily Lakdawalla here. 

lunar eclipse from siding spring observatory

after a disappointing start, with a cloudy eastern horizon and a lovely sunset on the western horizon, the eclipsed moon finally rose above the clouds and sat right underneath the star spica and to the bottom right of mars!

i was not impressed by the clouds on the horizon blocking the rising moon.

unimpressed by clouds

it's fascinating to watch the regrowth of the warrumbungles since the fires swept through SSO 16 months ago.   here is the view as the sunset's colours were intensifying.

regrowth in the warrumbungles

clouds do make for the most beautiful sunsets, even if they are bad for most attempts at astronomical observation.

sunset from the catwalk around the 4 metre AAT telescope

finally the clouds thinned and i captured a quick view of the lunar eclipse. the sun's light scattering through earth's atmosphere is why the sky is blue, why sunsets look red, and why the moon looks red during a total lunar eclipse.

the eclipsed moon, spica above, and mars to the left.

have a great day being a scientist!

i have visited a few classrooms of 7-10 year old students this holiday season to talk about the solar system and what it's like being a scientist.  so many fantastic things happened during and since those visits that i think i will post several stories about them.

a little of the crazy eye, but look at all the enthusiastically raised hands! (Photo Credit: Jeff Shaefer)

i'm constantly impressed by the eagerness of the kids to answer questions, ask questions, and share stories.  they want to tell me how something in their life relates to something i've said about the universe.   and they're so sharp!

the 8 year olds are still sympathetic towards pluto not being a planet any more, despite the fact that it was reclassified to "dwarf planet" status before they were born!   it shows how strongly families and society influence what these kids know and how they behave.

Talking with my hands again.  (Photo Credit: Jeff Shaefer)

the 10 year old classes listened to the solar system news with interest, felt satisfied learning why pluto isnt a planet anymore, and then got really excited about the existence of planets around stars other than our sun!  then they asked questions about dark matter and black holes and the expanding universe!?!  certainly keeping me on my toes!  :)

some of my favourite questions are about planetary moons.  one that i do not have a good answer for is "why is ours just called "the moon" when all the other moons in the solar system have interesting names like mimas or titan?"  i mentioned that ours has a name in different languages, Luna, for example but in english it just received the definite article distinction (no, i didnt actually say the "definite article" bit).

the students also loved the idea that one of saturn's moons, mimas, looks like the death star from star wars!

Death star moon! (Photo Credit: Jeff Shaefer)

i felt a bit like a rock star after the talk as kids swarmed me with more questions and stories.   the girl in this photo is looking a bit skeptical, which means i've either done my job right or she's just annoyed that it's not her turn to ask a question yet!

Endless questions and stories :)  (Photo Credit: Jeff Shaefer)

the wonderful teachers from each class i talked to had students write thank you letters and draw pictures for me.  i have read over these adorable stacks of letters so many times since receiving them.  absolutely the best present i received this year!    here are a few favorites :)

curiosity's first year on mars

yes, it has been a whole year since the curiosity rover landed on mars.  do you remember where you were at the moment...?   ... during the minutes when we all collectively thought "wow, i can't believe the skycrane landing maneuver actually worked!?!"

happy 1st landiversary, curiosity!

to celebrate the occasion, nasa made a video showing curiosity's activities since landing: twelve months in two minutes.    enjoy!

mars and its robots

planetary astronomer and clever data visualisation enthusiast, alex parker, posted this cute little cartoon of mars on twitter this week with the caption "mars isnt much of a 'sharer'."

it's true, there arent any responsive rovers roaming around other planets or moons, but that doesnt mean mars cant have fun with its robots ;)

dirty space news: all over mars

it seems several news outlets have finally started to appreciate the humorous value of dirty space news, although they aren't calling it by that name.

either the spirit or opportunity rover on mars created these telling tracks on the surface of the red planet during a routine maneuver.

Credit: NASA

i call it "routine" because there are other photos where a similar pattern is made in the dusty dirt.

just think about it - there are probably penises drawn in the dirt ALL OVER MARS.   well done, NASA ;) 

UPDATE:  how could i have forgotten to remind us all about the marssack?   thanks, phil plait, for pointing out this folly.  

UPDATE: in the comments, ed davies offers some excellent information about the above images.  according to doug ellison the first image was part of a large panorama taken by the spirit rover on sols 59 to 61 (march 3 to 5, 2004).  the other images were also taken by spirit in early 2004.  

and the sad news, those tire tracks are probably not on the surface of mars anymore, as strong winds would have blown them away.   sad, really :(

martian sunset

many humans wish to take the long journey to mars, to stand on another planet, feel gravity differently, watch dust devils zooming by, and see a strange-colored sky overhead.  

since mars has a thin atmosphere, it should have a blue sky due to rayleigh scattering, but mars also has a lot of airborne dust as well.  the dust absorbs the blue and causes its sky to look somewhere between a butterscotch and pink.  

it turns out to be a challenge to know the exact color our eyes would see a martian sky to be, because none of our eyes have ever seen it directly.   we are left to reconstruct images from the limited filters on the martian rovers, and it is not a trivial task to make those look like they might to our eye.

you may have been expecting a hazy or reddish sky on mars, but were you expecting the sunsets to look blue?

taken by mars pathfinder on 22nd june 1996 (JPL/NASA)

the blue color is likely caused by some blue light being scattered by the dust as the light goes through the long distance towards the horizon at sunset.  

from the spirit rover (NASA/JPL/Texas A&M/Cornell)

and... dust devils!!

dust devils captured by NASA's spirit rover in may 2005. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS)

calvin and hobbes: incomprehensibly vast universe

every now an then, i think we should all read through a few calvin and hobbes comics.  here's one for today.

a visit to mars

i've been asked by a lot of people over the years if i would be want to be an astronaut and whether i'd be willing to go to mars.  my answer is: sure!

buzz aldrin certainly wants to go to mars, as he revealed in this tweet to chris hadfield, an astronaut currently on the international space station! 

in case any of you are interested, the mars one project is a not-for-profit organization that is now looking for VOLUNTEERS TO GO TO MARS!  for more information, you can visit www.thenextgiantleap.com for all the selection details, but here is a snopsis.

Applicants need to be at least 18 years of age, have a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful. Mars One is not seeking specific skill sets such as medical doctors, pilots or geologists. Rather, candidates will receive a minimum of eight years extensive training while employed by Mars One. While any formal education or real-world experience can be an asset, all skills required on Mars will be learned while in training.

for those of you interested in staying a little closer to home, but still wanting to explore mars, check out planet four - yet another awesome citizen science project from the zooniverse. 

here is a sampling of images that you could help sift through for that project.  amazing diversity!

Planet Four (credit: david miller)

Planet Four (credit: david miller)

curiosity's self portrait

our favorite little hipster rover took a self portrait a few sols ago.   it's a super sweet photo that got me a little choked up, if i'm honest.

remember the movie short circuit?  curiosity reminds a bit of johnny 5!

distant horizons

this is a cool compilation of real pictures of horizons on different planets and moons in our solar system, put together by mike malaska.

the moon, mars, saturn and spica

we managed to get a few good shots around siding spring observatory this week, including the lovely trio of mars, saturn and spica! 

the dome of the AAT 4-meter telescope

Photo Credit: @mehmsy

you can see the AAT dome's silhouette in the lower left.   the top of the triangle is a mars, the bottom right is saturn and blue star at the bottom left is spica.  what struck me about this conjunction on the sky was how obviously the distant star spica twinkled through the atmosphere while the mars and saturn shined unflinchingly.

Photo Credit: Gabriela Iacobuta

Photo Credit: Gabriela Iacobuta

you can see the coalsack dark nebula right in the middle of this lovely image.

Photo Credit: @mehmsy

and because i never get tired of watching these creatures hopping around and eating grass....

Photo Credit: @mehmsy

planetary triangle

be sure to pop outside for the next couple nights to watch the sunset and the show soon after.   you'll see a crescent moon above the setting sun, which will sit in the sky very close to a special planetary and stellar alignment.   forming a nearly equilateral triangle is a bright mars, saturn, and spica. 

notice at how amazingly red mars looks compared to the other two!

Map from Sky & Telescope

this is a perfect setup to view with binoculars, as they typically have a 7 degree field of view and the triangle fits within 6 degrees. 

enjoy, and dont forget to wave to curiosity ;)