Pegue Carona Nessa Cauda De Cometa! !! Cometa Lovejoy Fotografado Pelos Astronautas Da Expedição 30

What’s Up for June 2017?

Have a planet party and compare Saturn and Jupiter! We’ll show you where and when to point your telescope or binoculars to see these planets and their largest moons. 

Meet at midnight to have a planetary party when Jupiter and Saturn are visible at the same time!

The best time will be after midnight on June 17. To see the best details, you’ll need a telescope.

Saturn will be at opposition on June 14, when Saturn, the Earth and the sun are in a straight line.

Opposition provides the best views of Saturn and several of its brightest moons. At the very least, you should be able to see Saturn’s moon Titan, which is larger and brighter than Earth’s moon.

As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to see Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky this month. Through a telescope, you’ll be able to see the cloud bands on both planets. Saturn’s cloud bands are fainter than those on Jupiter. 

You’ll also have a great view of Saturn’s Cassini Division, discovered by astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1675, namesake of our Cassini spacecraft.

Our Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting the planet since 2004 and is on a trajectory that will ultimately plunge it into Saturn’s atmosphere on September 15, 2017, bringing the mission to a close. 

Our Juno spacecraft recently completed its sixth Jupiter flyby. Using only binoculars you can observe Jupiter’s 4 Galilean moons - Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.

To learn about What’s Up in the skies for June 2017, watch the full video:

For more astronomy events, check out NASA’s Night Sky Network at https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/.

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É hoje pessoal! 🤩

🔭 Logo mais às 4:30 da manhã vai ocorrer a "super" conjunção entre todos os planetas do sistema solar.

✨ Dos planetas visíveis a olho nu em ordem ascendente, são: Mercúrio, Vênus, Marte, Júpiter e Saturno.

✨ Dos planetas que não estão visíveis, mas que estão acompanhando, são: Urano e Netuno.

📷 Créditos da Imagem: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid09eF4zUQy47zDfGrguVwDEny8vut32ZphgyifThgejTEoujRK7G8iwNHoMQxh1LKbl&id=213098328862069

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet, is making a good showing in night skies this month. Look for it in the southeast in each evening. With binoculars, you may be able to see the planet’s four largest moons. Here are some need-to-know facts about the King of the Planets.

1. The Biggest Planet:

With a radius of 43,440.7 miles (69,911 kilometers), Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Jupiter would be about as big as a basketball.

2. Fifth in Line

Jupiter orbits our sun, and is the fifth planet from the sun at a distance of about 484 million miles (778 million km) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU). Earth is one AU from the sun.

3. Short Day / Long Year

One day on Jupiter takes about 10 hours (the time it takes for Jupiter to rotate or spin once). Jupiter makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Jovian time) in about 12 Earth years (4,333 Earth days).

4. What’s Inside?

Jupiter is a gas-giant planet without a solid surface. However, the planet may have a solid, inner core about the size of Earth.

5. Atmosphere

Jupiter’s atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He).

6. Many Moons

Jupiter has 53 known moons, with an additional 14 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery — a total of 67 moons.

7. Ringed World

All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems and Jupiter is no exception. Its faint ring system was discovered in 1979 by the Voyager 1 mission. 

8. Exploring Jupiter:

Many missions have visited Jupiter and its system of moons. The Juno spacecraft is currently orbiting Jupiter.

9. Ingredients for Life?

Jupiter cannot support life as we know it. However, some of Jupiter’s moons have oceans underneath their crusts that might support life.

10. Did You Know?

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm (about the size of Earth) that has been raging for hundreds of years.

Discover more lists of 10 things to know about our solar system HERE.

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The Faint Rings of Uranus

Taken in January, 1986 by Voyager 2. Uranus assembled using orange, simulated green, and violet light. The rings were taken in clear (white) light, but colored red here.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Kevin M. Gill

Neste momento começo a assistir a primeira temporada da série @theexpanse.

O que essa série tem a nos mostrar sobre o possível futuro de colonização de outros planetas?!

Quero ter um desse!

30 polegadas f/3. Tá bom pra você? Brinquedo de Criança Season 2015.

Are we alone in the universe?

There’s never been a better time to ponder this age-old question. We now know of thousands of exoplanets – planets that orbit stars elsewhere in the universe.

So just how many of these planets could support life?

Scientists from a variety of fields — including astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics and planetary science — are working on this question. Here are a few of the strategies they’re using to learn more about the habitability of exoplanets.

Squinting at Earth

Even our best telescopic images of exoplanets are still only a few pixels in size. Just how much information can we extract from such limited data? That’s what Earth scientists have been trying to figure out.

One group of scientists has been taking high-resolution images of Earth from our Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera and ‘degrading’ them in order to match the resolution of our pixelated exoplanet images. From there, they set about a grand process of reverse-engineering: They try to extract as much accurate information as they can from what seems — at first glance — to be a fairly uninformative image.

Credits: NOAA/NASA/DSCOVR

So far, by looking at how Earth’s brightness changes when land versus water is in view, scientists have been able to reverse-engineer Earth’s albedo (the proportion of solar radiation it reflects), its obliquity (the tilt of its axis relative to its orbital plane), its rate of rotation, and even differences between the seasons. All of these factors could potentially influence a planet’s ability to support life.

Avoiding the “Venus Zone”

In life as in science, even bad examples can be instructive. When it comes to habitability, Venus is a bad example indeed: With an average surface temperature of 850 degrees Fahrenheit, an atmosphere filled with sulfuric acid, and surface pressure 90 times stronger than Earth’s, Venus is far from friendly to life as we know it.

The surface of Venus, imaged by Soviet spacecraft Venera 13 in March 1982

Since Earth and Venus are so close in size and yet so different in habitability, scientists are studying the signatures that distinguish Earth from Venus as a tool for differentiating habitable planets from their unfriendly look-alikes.

Using data from our Kepler Space Telescope, scientists are working to define the “Venus Zone,” an area where planetary insolation – the amount of light a given planet receives from its host star – plays a key role in atmospheric erosion and greenhouse gas cycles.

Planets that appear similar to Earth, but are in the Venus Zone of their star, are, we think, unlikely to be able to support life.

Modeling Star-Planet Interactions

When you don’t know one variable in an equation, it can help to plug in a reasonable guess and see how things work out. Scientists used this process to study Proxima b, our closest exoplanet neighbor. We don’t yet know whether Proxima b, which orbits the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri four light-years away, has an atmosphere or a magnetic field like Earth’s. However, we can estimate what would happen if it did.

The scientists started by calculating the radiation emitted by Proxima Centauri based on observations from our Chandra X-ray Observatory. Given that amount of radiation, they estimated how much atmosphere Proxima b would be likely to lose due to ionospheric escape — a process in which the constant outpouring of charged stellar material strips away atmospheric gases.

With the extreme conditions likely to exist at Proxima b, the planet could lose the equivalent of Earth’s entire atmosphere in 100 million years — just a fraction of Proxima b’s 4-billion-year lifetime. Even in the best-case scenario, that much atmospheric mass escapes over 2 billion years. In other words, even if Proxima b did at one point have an atmosphere like Earth, it would likely be long gone by now.

Imagining Mars with a Different Star

We think Mars was once habitable, supporting water and an atmosphere like Earth’s. But over time, it gradually lost its atmosphere – in part because Mars, unlike Earth, doesn’t have a protective magnetic field, so Mars is exposed to much harsher radiation from the Sun’s solar wind.

But as another rocky planet at the edge of our solar system’s habitable zone, Mars provides a useful model for a potentially habitable planet. Data from our Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission is helping scientists answer the question: How would Mars have evolved if it were orbiting a different kind of star?

Scientists used computer simulations with data from MAVEN to model a Mars-like planet orbiting a hypothetical M-type red dwarf star. The habitable zone of such a star is much closer than the one around our Sun.

Being in the habitable zone that much closer to a star has repercussions. In this imaginary situation, the planet would receive about 5 to 10 times more ultraviolet radiation than the real Mars does, speeding up atmospheric escape to much higher rates and shortening the habitable period for the planet by a factor of about 5 to 20.

These results make clear just how delicate a balance needs to exist for life to flourish. But each of these methods provides a valuable new tool in the multi-faceted search for exoplanet life.  Armed with these tools, and bringing to bear a diversity of scientific perspectives, we are better positioned than ever to ask: are we alone?

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The latest results from the “Cheshire Cat” group of galaxies show how manifestations of Einstein’s 100-year-old theory can lead to new discoveries today. Astronomers have given the group this name because of the smiling cat-like appearance. Some of the feline features are actually distant galaxies whose light has been stretched and bent by the large amounts of mass, most of which is in the form of dark matter detectable only through its gravitational effect, found in the system. 

Image credit: NASA / STScI / Chandra & Hubble

Detectando Ondas Gravitacionais Com a Missão GAIA - Space Today TV Ep.1057

As ondas gravitacionais, para quem ainda não sabe, tem um espectro, assim como a radiação eletromagnética tem o seu.

Esse espectro é chamado de espectro gravitacional.

Dentro do espectro gravitacional, atualmente, com o LIGO e VIRGO nós só conseguimos detectar ondas gravitacionais provenientes da fusão de buracos negros de massa estelar e da fusão de estrelas de nêutrons.

Essas, digamos, são ondas gravitacionais com frequências mais altas.

Mas lógico que existe a ideia e a vontade de se detectar ondas gravitacionais de frequências baixas.

Essas são produzidas, por exemplo, pela colisão de buracos negros supermassivos.

Nós já avançamos um pouco nesse sentido, já que a tecnologia da LISA, um detector espacial nos moldes do LIGO já foi testada e promete funcionar.

Existe também, como já falei aqui a técnica de usar os pulsares, a chamada Pulsar Timing Array.

Essa técnica é interessante, pois ela usa a observação dos pulsares, e calcula a mudança na frequência aparente dos pulsos com relação à passagem de uma onda gravitacional, gerada pela fusão de buracos negros supermassivos, por exemplo.

com base nessa ideia, um grupo de astrofísicos está propondo algo maravilhoso.

Eles querem usar a missão GAIA, da Agência Espacial Europeia, que mede com precisão a posição de bilhões de estrelas na Via Láctea como um detector de ondas gravitacionais de baixa frequência.

Para isso, a ideia é usar não a variação de pulsos dos pulsares, mas sim a aparente modificação na posição das estrelas observadas pela GAIA, ou seja, suas oscilações para detectar as ondas gravitacionais.

A passagem de uma onda gravitacional, que acaba causando uma oscilação no tecido do espaço-tempo, muda a posição das estrelas, a polarização da onda gravitacional pode ser detectada e assim teríamos a detecção de um tipo novo de onda gravitacional.

A vantagem é que a missão GAIA já está em funcionamento no espaço, já faz essas medidas, ou seja, essa aplicação pode ser testada a qualquer momento.

Os astrônomos realmente viram que o estudo das ondas gravitacionais pode trazer muitos novos conhecimentos sobre o universo, e entender os buracos negros supermassivos é algo que os deixa muito animados.

Vamos aguardar por novidades nessa área.

NASA and Star Trek

Star Trek debuted in September 1966 and in its various incarnations, the series has been an inspiration to many, even some of us at NASA. The series allowed its fans to explore “strange new worlds” and to dream of what could be right in their living rooms. To celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, we’ve collected some Trek-themed photos featuring Star Trek cast members and NASA astronauts. 

Serious Business

The STS-54 crew of the space shuttle Endeavour in their official “gag” photo are costumed as the bridge crew of the Enterprise as depicted in the movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” The photo was taken on the Star Trek Adventure set of the Universal Studios California theme park in Los Angeles, California, while the crew was on a west coast training and public relations tour during the Summer of 1992. From left to right: 

Greg Harbaugh (Mission Specialist/Engineering Officer)

Mario "Spock” Runco Jr. (Mission Specialist/1st Officer/Science Officer) 

John Casper (Commander/Captain) 

Susan Helms (Mission Specialist/Communications Officer) 

Don McMonagle (Pilot/Navigation-Helm Officer) 

“I have been, and always shall be, your friend”

Astronaut John Creighton shows the on board Graphical Retrieval Information Display (GRID) computer, which displays a likeness of Mr. Spock aboard STS-051G, June 18, 1985.

“A Keyboard… How Quaint”

Actor James Doohan (who played engineering genius Montgomery Scott in Star Trek) sits in the commanders seat of the Full Fuselage Trainer while astronaut Mario Runco explains the control panel during a tour of Johnson Space Center on Jan. 18, 1991. 

“You Wanted Excitement, How’s Your Adrenaline?”

Actress Nichelle Nichols (Uhura in Star Trek) toured Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 4, 1977, while Apollo 12 lunar module pilot and Skylab II commander Alan Bean showed her what it felt like inside the Lower Body Negative Pressure Device and showed her how the Shuttle Procedures Simulator operated. 

Nichols paid us another visit in 2012 and 2015 with the Space Traveling Museum. 

Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gave the Vulcan salute aboard the International Space Station shortly after the passing of Leonard Nimoy on Feb. 28, 2015. She commented on Tweeter: “ ‘Of all the souls I have encountered.. his was the most human.’ Thx @TheRealNimoy for bringing Spock to life for us”

Live Long And Prosper

While visiting Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, George Takei (Hikaru Sulu on the original series) had the chance to exchange Vulcan salutes with Robonaut on May 29, 2012. 

“Let’s See What’s Out There”

Scott Bakula, who played Captain Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, stands with astronauts Terry Virts and Mike Fincke on set. The two astronauts made guest appearances on the series finale episode “These Are The Voyages …” March 2005.

Boldly Going For Real

Above is the crew of STS-134, the next to last shuttle mission, in their version of the 2009 Star Trek movie poster. 

The crew of Expedition 21 aboard the International Space Station also made a Trek-themed poster in 2009, wearing uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation with the Enterprise NX-01 silhouette in the background.

Learn more about Star Trek and NASA.

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