New discoveries in space
This article appeared in the November 4, 2011 edition of the Davis Enterprise.
By Vinita Domier
Special to the Enterprise
Everyone is invited to the Sat. Nov. 5, 2011 meeting of the Davis Astronomy Club at Explorit at 3141 5th Street starting at 7:00pm. You do not have to pay any dues to be a member of the Davis Astronomy Club. If you are interested in astronomy, you are welcome to attend.
This month we will discuss new discoveries by space- and ground-based telescopes regarding the stars and planets that make up our Milky Way galaxy.
In addition to visible light discernable by human eyes, celestial objects also emit radiations that range from radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays depending on the temperature of the entity.
Besides the Hubble Space Telescope (launched in 1990) which “sees” in the visible and near-ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, NASA had/has/will have eyes in space “seeing” in different spectral ranges as part of its fleet of “Great Observatories” to unravel the structure and evolution of the universe: the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (from 1991-2000) “saw” the universe in gamma ray and hard x-ray, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (launched in 1999) “sees” in soft x-rays, the Spitzer Space Telescope (launched in 2003) ) “sees” in infrared, and the James Webb Space Telescope (launch date 2018) will “see” infrared and visible radiations.
The search for exoplanets (planets outside of our own solar system) has increased dramatically with results obtained by NASA’s KEPLER telescope (launched in 2009) which orbits the sun and uses a visible light photometer to measure the brightness of over 145,000 stars. Data from the Kepler mission has been used to estimate that 50 billion planets exist in the Milky Way galaxy alone. One such planet found earlier this year has been nicknamed “Tatooine” as it orbits a double star system much like the fictional planet in the Star Wars saga, but located a mere 200 light years from Earth rather than in a galaxy far, far away.
The 8.2 m Subaru telescope in Hawaii is studying newborn stars and planets, and has discovered a star 450 light years from Earth with spiral arms similar to those seen in spiral galaxies. An extremely young star, astronomers estimate that it may be only 9 million years old. The spiral arms could be the result of an unseen world or worlds orbiting the new sun.
Come find out what else researchers are discovering and join us for telescope viewing after the presentation, weather permitting. Very bright Venus (mag. –3.8) will be setting in the west soon after sunset. Bright Jupiter (mag. –2.8), it will rising just before sunset and be up all night, making it ideal for telescope viewing. The waxing gibbous moon, close to Jupiter, will also be a treat to view through a telescope or binoculars.
Explorit’s coming events:
• Explorit’s newest Exhibition, “Forces of Nature” is open Nov. 5 and 6 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. This exhibition features some of the best of Explorit’s past exhibits.
• The Davis Astronomy Club will meet at Explorit on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm.
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Explorit Science Center is located at 3141 5th St. and is open to the public every first full weekend of the month. For more information call (530) 756-0191 or visit http://www.explorit.org, or “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/explorit.fb.
