Opportunity Discovers Fresh Crater On Mars

I was away at PodCon this weekend! It was a lovely time. Listening to people for 8 hours a day was exhausting, which I should have expected but I fully did not anticipate. I slept on a friend’s floor and passed out homemade business cards shaped like business bookmarks. It was a fun opportunity to use my typewriter! I reused some old cardstock that an office where I temped was going to throw away and I gave out 35 of 36, which is extremely successful in my book. I have some new podcasts to listen to and one or two that I want to contact about guesting on (I could go OFF about Tycho Brahe on Historical Hotties, if no one has already).

It was interesting trying to network and seeing what’s out there right now. It really is anyone’s game, podcasting. You just need time, motivation, and an idea. I shouldn’t be surprised, it was easy enough for me to do it. The hard part, of course, is getting folks to listen. There were tips I overheard about advertising yourselves and such but it still seems like it just depends on what market you tap into? I don’t know, I think the big thing is content and just persisting. I’ve seen it with podcasts I found that have a season or two and they’re gone. Sometimes it’s because they wrapped up and that’s great! Other times I wish there’d been more.

It was more fun than it was work, though! And it was so small for a con, I was relieved. The only other con I’ve gone to was Emerald City, which was also in the Washington State Convention Center, and that was Too Much. This one was a decent size. I hope it happens again! It was kind of inspiring to realize I’m part of a much, much, much larger movement of people who want to talk and made it happen.

Cassini Just Sent Back Closest Ever Images of Saturn, And They're Incredible

NASA's Cassini probe is plunging to its death. The nuclear-powered spacecraft has orbited Saturn for 13 years, and sent back hundreds of thousands of images. The photos include close-ups of the gaseous giant, its famous rings, and its enigmatic moons - including Titan, which has its own atmosphere, and icy Enceladus, which has a subsurface ocean that could conceivably harbour microbial life.

YO THAT SHIT BALLER AS FUCK HOLY SHIT

Ep. 18 Zombie Stars and Supernovae - HD and the Void

Zombie stars were in the news in November but get in the holiday spirit by hearing about them now! Learn about the life cycle of a star, the power of a supernova, and what undeath looks like in a star.

In November, a couple lovely people brought my attention to articles about a recent discovery that headlines consistently referred to as the ‘zombie star.’ What the heck is a zombie star? What makes it a zombie? I found a zombie star from 2014 in addition to the one in 2017 and I dug into the life cycle of the average star to get a sense of what undeath looks like in stars.

Below the cut are my sources, music credits, a vocab list, and the transcript of this episode. Suggest what you think I should research next by messaging me here, tweeting at me at @HDandtheVoid, or asking me to my face if you know me. Please subscribe on iTunes, rate it and maybe review it, and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it! Also, welcome if you found me through PodCon!

(My thoughts on the next episode are the International Space Station, the transit of Venus, or astronaut training practices. The next episode will allegedly be up on New Year’s Day, January 1st. We’ll see about that.)

Glossary

Chandrasekhar limit - the upper limit for the mass of an astronomical body that can support extreme density without imploding: about 1.4 times the mass of our Sun. Any white dwarf star that has less than that mass will stay a white dwarf forever; any star that exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit will end in a supernova. 

dwarf nova - a close binary system of a red dwarf, a white dwarf, and an accretion disk around the white dwarf. They brighten by 2 to 6 magnitudes depending on the stability of the disk, which loses material to the white dwarf. Categorized as a cataclysmic variable.

neutron star - a type of star that has gone supernova, when the surviving core is 1.5 to 3 solar masses and contracts into a small, very dense, very fast-spinning star.

nova - a close binary system of a white dwarf and a secondary star that’s a little cooler than the Sun. The system brightens 7 to 16 magnitudes in 1 to 100 days, and then the star fades slowly to the initial brightness over a period of several years or decades. At maximum brightness, it’s similar to an A or F giant star. Recurrent novae are similar to this category of variable but have several outbursts during their recorded history. Categorized as a cataclysmic variable.

pulsar - a type of neutron star that spins very, very fast. Also a kind of variable star that emits light pulses usually between 0.0014 seconds and 8.5 seconds. 

reflection telescope - reflects light rays off the concave surface of a parabolic mirror to get an image of a distant object. Higher contrast image, worse color quality. 

spectroscopy - the study of light from an incandescent source (or, more recently, electromagnetic radiation and other radiative energy) that has its wavelength dispersed by a prism or other spectroscopic device that can disperse an object’s wavelength. The spectra of distant astronomical objects like the Sun, stars, or nebulae are patterns of absorption lines that correspond to elements that these objects are made up of.

supernova - a massive star that explodes with a magnitude increase of 20 or more. Supernovae have led us to realize that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating.

supernova progenitors - the kinds of stars and conditions that will result in certain types of supernovae.

white dwarf star - a star that has exhausted all of its nuclear fuel (i.e. no longer has hydrogen to convert into helium through nuclear fusion). It is the hot, dense core of a star. Unless it is acquiring/accreting matter from a nearby star, it will cool over time and become a dead star.

Script/Transcript

Sources

Chandrasekhar limit via PBS, Jan 2012

“The Chandrasekhar Limit is therefore not just as upper limit to the maximum mass of an ideal white dwarf, but also a threshold. A star surpassing this threshold no longer hoards its precious cargo of heavy elements. Instead, it delivers them to the universe at large in a supernova that marks its own death but makes it possible for living beings to exist.”

Type I and Type II supernovae via Space.com

Type Ia supernovae via Swinburne University of Technology

Type Ia Supernova Progenitors via Swinburne University of Technology

Zombie star via NASA, Aug 2014

Curtis McCully “I was very surprised to see anything at the location of the supernova. We expected the progenitor system would be too faint to see, like in previous searches for normal Type Ia supernova progenitors. It is exciting when nature surprises us.” 

The abstract of the article McCully and his team wrote on Type 1ax supernovae via Nature Magazine, Aug 2014

Zombie star via CNN, Nov 2017

Arcavi: "My first thought was that this must be some nearby star in our galaxy, just varying its brightness. But when we got the first spectrum of it, we saw that it was in fact a supernova 500 million light-years away. My mind was blown. The fact that it got bright and dim five times was very unusual. We'd never seen a supernova do that before."

Arcavi: "This means that we still have a lot to learn about how massive stars evolve and how they explode." 

Robert Evans via Sky and Telescope, Sept 2005

2017 zombie star articles I didn’t use because there were too many of them:

Air and Space Magazine, Nov 2017

The Atlantic, Nov 2017

BBC News, Nov 2017

BGR, Nov 2017

Carnegie Science, Nov 2017

Earth Sky, Nov 2017

Express UK, Nov 2017

The Guardian, Nov 2017

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Filler Music: 'Toll Free’ by the Shook Twins off their album What We Do

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught

why is there star

gas cloud get squished (gravitational collapse) then sometimes smaller elements can squish together to make bigger elements (nuclear fusion) and this continues as long as the smolest elements (hydrogen and helium) are in the core

Heads up, this is tomorrow night! I hope it's clear where I am to see it but considering I'm in the Pacific Northwest, I don't have super high hopes. Get a look if you can, though! Rare to see a blue moon that's actually red :)

A Total Lunar Eclipse is Coming: 10 Things to Know

If you were captivated by August’s total solar eclipse, there’s another sky show to look forward to on Jan. 31: a total lunar eclipse!

Below are 10 things to know about this astronomical event, including where to see it, why it turns the Moon into a deep red color and more…

1. First things first. What’s the difference between solar and lunar eclipses? We’ve got the quick and easy explanation in this video:

2. Location, location, location. What you see will depend on where you are. The total lunar eclipse will favor the western U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and British Columbia on Jan. 31. Australia and the Pacific Ocean are also well placed to see a major portion of the eclipse, if not all of it.

3. Color play. So, why does the Moon turn red during a lunar eclipse? Here’s your answer:

4. Scientists, stand by. What science can be done during a lunar eclipse? Find out HERE. 

5. Show and tell. What would Earth look like from the Moon during a lunar eclipse? See for yourself with this artist’s concept HERE. 

6. Ask me anything. Mark your calendars to learn more about the Moon during our our Reddit AMA happening Monday, Jan. 29, from 3-4 pm EST/12-1 pm PST.

7. Social cues. Make sure to follow @NASAMoon and @LRO_NASA for all of the latest Moon news leading up to the eclipse and beyond.

8. Watch year-round. Can’t get enough of observing the Moon? Make a DIY Moon Phases Calendar and Calculator that will keep all of the dates and times for the year’s moon phases right at your fingertips HERE.

Then, jot down notes and record your own illustrations of the Moon with a Moon observation journal, available to download and print from moon.nasa.gov.

9. Lesson learned. For educators, pique your students’ curiosities about the lunar eclipse with this Teachable Moment HERE.

10. Coming attraction. There will be one more lunar eclipse this year on July 27, 2018. But you might need your passport—it will only be visible from central Africa and central Asia. The next lunar eclipse that can be seen all over the U.S. will be on Jan. 21, 2019. It won’t be a blue moon, but it will be a supermoon.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.  

Ep. 31 Astrogeology - HD and the Void

There is a branch of study where rocks and space meet (sometimes to explosive effect, when asteroids and meteorites are concerned)... It can be called planetary geology, exogeology, or astrogeology. Listen to hear more about what the life of an as...

New Zealand was lovely, but I already touched on what I’d be tempted to talk about with my Southern Stars episode. A person I interviewed as a potential new housemate gave me the idea for this episode because the joy of outer space is truly everywhere and anywhere. The field of astrogeology was not something I had heard of before, though I had indirectly heard of Eugene Shoemaker. I knew the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was named after him (and Carolyn Shoemaker, his wife). It turns out he basically founded the modern field of astrogeology! So I talk about him for quite a while, too.

Below the cut are the glossary, transcript, sources, and music credits. Send me any topic suggestions via Tumblr message (you don’t need an account to do this, just submit as anonymous). You can also tweet at me on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid, or you can ask me to my face if you know me in real life. Subscribe on iTunes to get the new episodes of my semi-monthly podcast, and please please please rate and review it. Go ahead and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it, too!

(The next episode is going to be famous comets, and I’m shooting for an April release.)

Glossary

aeolian processes - the wind’s ability to shape the surface of a planet by eroding, transporting, and depositing materials. Most effective in desert regions, where the sparse vegetation, dry soil, and loose sediments mean these processes have the greatest impact.

albedo features -  the International Astronomical Union term for an area of a planet that has a high contrast in color with the surrounding area on a planet’s surface.

chaos terrain - the International Astronomical Union term for where ridges, cracks, and plains on a planet’s surface appear broken and smashed up against each other.

chasma - the International Astronomical Union term for a long, steep-sided, deep surface indentation in a planet’s surface.

colles - the International Astronomical Union term for collections of small, knob-like hills on the surface of a planet.

dorsum - the International Astronomical Union term for a wrinkle-like ridge on a planet’s surface.

facula -  the International Astronomical Union term for a bright spot on planets or moons.

fluvial processes - the ways in which rivers and streams impact a planet’s surface by eroding or creating deposits and landforms out of sediment. Sometimes, streams or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, and then they are called glaciofluvial or fluvioglacial processes.

fossa - the International Astronomical Union term for a long, narrow depression in a planet’s surface.

lacunae - the International Astronomical Union term for irregularly shaped depressions that look like dry lake beds on the surface of Saturn’s moon, Titan.

lobate scarp - the International Astronomical Union term for a curved slope that is probably formed by compressive tectonic movement.

mare - the International Astronomical Union term for a large, circular plain on a planet’s surface.

terra - the International Astronomical Union term for an extensive landmass like a plain or highland.

tesserae - the International Astronomical Union term for regions on the planet Venus that are tiled, polygonal shapes.

vallis - the International Astronomical Union term for a valley on the surface of a planet.

Script/Transcript

Sources

Planetary geology via Wikipedia

Lunar Lobate Scarp via the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera

Eugene M. Shoemaker Biographical Memoirs via NASA

Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, 69; Set Record for Finding Comets via The New York Times (July 1997)

Eugene Shoemaker (1928-1997) via NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Eugene Shoemaker (1928 - 1997) via American Astronomical Society

Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology via US Geological Society

Eugene Shoemaker via the Planetary Society

Eugene Shoemaker Ashes Carried on Lunar Prospector via NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Eugene M. Shoemaker and the Integration of Earth and Sky via GSA Today (April 2001)

Destination Moon by Carolyn C. Porco (Feb 2000)

“I wanted to include something to commemorate Gene’s scientific legacy. It seemed appropriate to choose his favorite photo of Meteor Crater and a photo of the last comet that he and his wife saw together, Comet Hale-Bopp. And somehow, I extracted from the dusty realm of dim memory a passage I had read from Romeo and Juliet long ago that seemed perfect for the occasion.”

Who is an Astrogeologist? via Space Awareness

Careers via the USGS Astrogeology Science Center

“Public Service by contributing to the public knowledge about our Solar System.”

Lunar Calibration via USGS

“The unmatched stability of the lunar surface reflectance (better than one part in 108 per year) makes the Moon attractive as a calibration light source; its radiance can be known with high precision and accuracy. The lunar irradiance is similar in brightness to sunlit land masses on the Earth.”

Video: Astrogeology 1963-2013: Fifty Years of Exploration via the USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Filler Music: ‘Muddy Waters’ by LP off her album Lost On You

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught

goodnight moon. goodnight Milky Way. goodnight Ursa Major (UMa I dSph). goodnight 24IC 1613 (UGC 662.350[8].

Cassini's Final Image of Saturn

Here's a mosaic of Saturn made from raw images acquired by Cassini on Sept. 13, 2017, as it was on its way toward its dive into the planet's atmosphere. These images are uncalibrated for color but were acquired in visible-light RGB filters. This will be our last close-up image of Saturn for a long time. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Jason Major

The last look before her descent in fire…

Ep. 1 MUL.APIN - HD and the Void

Welcome to the first episode of HD and the Void, space edition! Start at the beginning of the universe with the Big Bang, then zoom to the beginning of records of humanity's astronomical observations with the Mesopotamian star chart MUL.APIN. Bonu...

The first episode is here! I have never done this before and right now, I’m planning to put up a podcast every two weeks.

Below the cut is some elaboration on the episode itself, including my sources, music credits, a glossary, and a transcript (not an exact record of this episode, but it’s the script I was working with and it’s both conversational and also a little less rambling than what I actually said). I’m on Twitter now, too: @HDandtheVoid. I don’t know what I’ll put there yet except maybe fun little facts and, of course, notifications on when an episode goes up.

Let me know what you think of this episode, let me know what you think I should research next*, tell me a fun space fact… anything’s helpful at this point!

*(Move fast if you feel strongly about what I research next, though, cuz I have to get it done by April 24th—I don’t mention it in the podcast but this is me telling you now so I am held accountable; April 24th is the next podcast.)

Glossary:

cosmic microwave background radiation—the electromagnetic radiation left over from the time of recombination in Big Bang cosmology.

cosmology—the study of the properties of our universe as a whole.

heliacal rising—when a star or constellation rises at the same time or just before the sun.

parapegma—a list of star rising times.

retrograde—the apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies within its system, as observed from a particular vantage point.

sidereal year—the time required for the earth to complete an orbit of the sun relative to the stars.

star catalog—an astronomical catalog that lists stars.

star chart/map—A star chart or star map is a map of the night sky. Astronomers divide these into grids to use them more easily. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations, and galaxies.

tropical year—the interval at which seasons repeat and the basis for the calendar year.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe—a spacecraft operating from 2001 to 2010 which measured temperature differences in the cosmic microwave background radiation leftover from the Big Bang. (I said ‘anistropy’ in the podcast, whoops)

Script/Transcript (It’s not exactly what I said, but it’s what I was going off of. It’s conversational and it’s less rambly than what I actually said)

Sources:

Cosmic microwave background radiation info

More Big Bang info

Timeline of the Big Bang

Babylonian constellation/zodiac list

Babylonian star catalog

Retrograde motion

Evans, James. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. Oxford UP: New York, 1998.

...and class notes from a class on Ancient Astronomy I took with Prof. James Evans.

My argument for using Wikipedia is that it is shockingly accurate when it comes to ancient material. I’m going to try to stick to academic and government sources though.

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught

NASA has emailed a wrench to astronauts in space

Responding to International Space Station (ISS) astronauts’ need for a wrench, NASA solved the problem by emailing a digital file to the ISS. The astronauts then 3D-printed the tool.

In a post on Backchannel, Mike Chen, founder of Made In Space, explained how the process worked.Made in Space is a Silicon Valley startup that built the 3D printer that was shipped to the ISS in September. In November, the first-ever 3D-printed part was, yes, made in space.

“My colleagues and I just 3D-printed a ratcheting socket wrench on the International Space Station by typing some commands on our computer in California,” Chen wrote in his post. “We had overheard ISS Commander Barry Wilmore … mention over the radio that he needed one, so we designed one in CAD and sent it up to him faster than a rocket ever could have. This is the first time we’ve ever ‘emailed’ hardware to space.”