Table of contents for No. 87 in All About Space

Welcome © Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library After months of longer nights and shorter days where we've only had a small window to observe our nearest star, it's great to see the Sun grace the cover of All About Space this issue. This year marks Cycle 25: the point where it seems to quieten down in what we refer to as its solar minimum and where there seems to be very little in the way of activity such as sunspots, solar flares and other chaotic bubbling on its surface. The more tempestuous time in the Sun's lifetime is referred to as its solar maximum – it's coming to the end of this phase now and, shockingly for solar physicists – but great news for life on Earth and our…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE A black hole’s cosmic fountain © NASA/ESO Abell 2597 is one of many galaxy clusters where astronomers have witnessed gaseous fountains shooting from their centres. At Abell 2597’s heart you can find a supermassive black hole; it is here where forces spray most of the gas away before it has a chance to hit the ravenous cosmic behemoth in a cycle that lasts tens of millions of years. In order to gain the stunning burst of colours scientists used data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory – the result is the first clear evidence for a simultaneous inward and outward flow…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE 'Wild' interstellar probe mission idea gains momentum Words by Leonard David With the goal of reaching 145 billion kilometres (90 billion miles) from the Sun, the proposed robotic explorer would push the limits of engineering knowhow and space technology, advocates say. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, is leading an international look at this prospect with a team of scientists and engineers studying a mission to the virtually unexplored space beyond our Sun's sphere of influence. “Overall I think the study is progressing well and will provide some good and solid input for the next Decadal Survey round,” said APL's Ralph McNutt, interstellar probe study leader and principal investigator. The Decadal Survey is based on studies led by…

Sun OUR SUN IS GETTING HOTTER As our nearest star enters its next solar cycle, physicists have revealed what the future holds – and it’s not what they expected Reported by James Romero © Tobias Roetsch As a life-giver that warms and lights up our world, it is easy to forget the true, violent nature of the Sun. As the Sun enters a new cycle of surface activity, we are only now beginning to fully appreciate the wide-ranging ways our star’s changeable nature can impact our planet and modern lives. Solar weather describes the influence of the Sun on the Earth-space environment. Back in 2011 it was added to the UK government’s National Risk Register and placed on a similar level to the emergence of a new disease due to…

Solving the universe THE PARTICLE TO UNLOCK THE UNIVERSE While we know an awful lot about the workings of the cosmos, there are some big, unanswered questions – could a single hypothetical particle solve them all? Reported by Giles Sparrow Cosmology and particle physics are arguably two of the most mind-boggling fields in all of science, seeking to explain the fundamental workings of our universe on very different scales. So far, the 21st century has seen huge advances in both these allied quests, with cosmologists confirming the existence of dark energy and making further advances in the understanding of mysterious dark matter. Meanwhile, particle physicists have pieced together the missing pieces of the ‘Standard Model’, a long-standing theory explaining the structure of the matter that makes up our visible universe.…

Solving the universe On the hunt through a particle smasher While the huge detectors of the Large Hadron Collider have helped to constrain the axiflavon’s potential properties, proof of its existence may emerge from a slightly more modest experiment © NASAl; Adrian Mann; CERN; NA62 experiment NA62 takes a separate beam of high-speed particles and uses them to produce quark/antiquark pairs called kaons. Super Proton Synchrotron The SPS is a seven-kilometre (four-mile) ring on the northern edge of the CERN complex. Magnet The solenoid magnet at the heart of the CMS experiment determines particle charge and mass Trackers CMS is able to work out the paths of particles and find out what happens when particles collide. Large Hadron Collider CERN’s famous LHC is a huge ring with a 27-kilometre (16.7-mile)…

Phantom worlds FINDING PLANETS IN UNLIKELY PLACES Exoplanets are scattered by the billions across the universe - and an unlikely percentage of them often find themselves in dire circumstances Reported by Lee Cavendish © Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library Roughly 4.6 billion years ago the Sun was born from the collapse of a nebula – a giant cloud of gas and dust. Since then planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other debris have formed to give rise to the Solar System. In another 5 billion years the Sun will begin its transition into a red giant star, swelling up due to the lack of internal fuel to power nuclear fusion. Just by looking at the sky you can see that our Solar System has the ideal conditions for planet formation,…

Phantom worlds Phantom planets and where to find them These worlds can be found in the most unlikely places - here are some examples of the least friendly locations Life around a white dwarf Although no planetary system has been confirmed around a white dwarf as of yet, there is very strong evidence to the theory that second-generation planets can form around a white dwarf and give off an infrared glow. Supernova ejection Rogue planets wonder aimlessly through space, and a supernova can propel them into the abyss. There is the possibility that rogue planets could sustain life if their source of heat relies upon internal heating processes. 3 Pulsar planets Neutron stars – which are essentially pulsars viewed from a different angle – have been known to harbour planets…

Spacesuit redesign THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPACESUIT NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) currently lead the way Extravehicular Mobility Unit Name of space agency/private company: NASA Notable missions: Space Shuttle missions, International Space Station Pros + Reusable + 14 layers of protection + Stood the test of time + Mobile life-support system Cons - Lacks manoeuvring capability - Not many left - Need for greater reliability - Use ageing technology Orlan MKS spacesuit Name of space agency/private company: ROSCOSMOS Notable missions: International Space Station Pros + Enter via rear hatch + Automated environmental control + Lighter than EMU + Built-in computer Cons - Too bulky to return to ground - Not modular so size restrictions for cosmonauts - Tanks need to be replaced when empty Sokol IVA suit…

Bennu Asteroid Profile Bennu OSIRIS-REx is bringing more details of this space rock to the forefront of science Asteroids may not seem special at first thought. There are so many of these chunks of rock scattered throughout the Solar System that one may not seem too big a deal. But, like so many small bodies throughout the universe, there is so much more than meets the eye. These ancient remnants can tell astronomers what the early Solar System was like when it was formed around 4.6 billion years ago. Asteroid 101955 Bennu was discovered on 11 September 1999 as part of the LINEAR Project, a collaborative effort between NASA, the United States Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory for tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs). Bennu was…

How to… Use a star tracker It’s possible to take lovely photographs of the night sky with just a camera on a tripod, but with a motorised mount that tracks the stars as they move across the sky you can do much, much more You’ll need: ✓ Motorised tracking mount (many different models now available) ✓ DSLR camera ✓ Sturdy tripod ✓ Variety of lenses ✓ Cable release ✓ Image-processing software Taking photographs of the night sky and astronomical phenomena has never been easier. Nowadays basic digital SLR cameras take beautiful portraits of the constellations, capture the subtle glow of the Milky Way and catch meteors zipping across the sky. Even the cameras built into our phones can be set to take the time exposures necessary to record conjunctions of…

How to… Choose the right astronomy app Amateur astronomy has been revolutionised by the use of apps on smartphones and tablets. How do you pick the right ones for you? You’ll need: ✓ Smartphone or tablet device ✓ GPS enabled on your device ✓ Access to the internet via WiFi ✓ Sufficient memory on your device to download large apps Before the advent of apps, amateur astronomers used to rely on books and monthly magazines for our astronomy news, information about space missions and details of what would be visible in the night sky. Then home computers entered our lives, and suddenly we were able to use amazing planetarium programs to simulate the night sky and help us plan observing evenings in advance. They were very crude and simple compared…

In the shops In the shops The latest books, apps, software, tech and accessories for space and astronomy fans alike 1. Guide Collins Planisphere Cost: £9.99/$15.30 From: Harper Collins Perhaps one of the most essential pieces of kit for anyone requiring aid for navigating the night sky, a planisphere is a necessity. Our first test was to see if the planisphere is still readable under red light, which is used by astronomers to preserve night vision. Taking the planisphere outside, every detail on the map is visible, ensuring that – whatever constellation in the Northern Hemisphere you’re looking for – you can still use it with ease. Many budding astronomers can be overwhelmed when first getting to grips with using a planisphere, but with practical instructions printed on the back,…

Testing a super rocket © NASA Here you can see the gigantic liquid-hydrogen tank of NASA’s next big rocket, the Space Launch System. But this isn’t the real deal; this is a structural test article that’s specifically built as a ‘try out’ platform, constructed to the same specifications to replicate conditions and behaviours of flight-ready vehicles. The real tank will be flown aboard Exploration Mission-1, which will be the very first flight of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. Engineers can be seen affixing pieces to the two parts of the core stage that, in turn, attach to the hydrogen tank: the engine section and intertank.…

Distant, 'potentially habitable' planet spotted by citizen scientists Words by Samantha Mathewson Citizen scientists have unveiled a distant exoplanet that is believed to be roughly twice the size of Earth and located within its star's habitable zone. The exoplanet, named K2-288Bb, could either be a rocky world like Earth or a gas-rich planet like Neptune. Using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, the new world was found 226 light years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, according to NASA. © NASA/JPL-Caltech; SpaceX “It's a very exciting discovery due to how it was found, its temperate orbit and because planets of this size seem to be relatively uncommon,” Adina Feinstein, lead scientist of the study, said. The new world lies in a stellar system called K2-288 which includes two dim, cool…

What’s going to happen to the Sun? Each layer of our home star is affected in the cycle change Sun’s magnetic field The magnetic field transitions from a simple arrangement at solar minimum to a complex tangled web as it wraps around the Sun, though recent cycles haven’t produced the same intensity of maximum. Corona Though generally marked by lower output, solar minimums can still see heightened periods of high-energy particles released from this upper-atmospheric layer as the Sun's magnetic field creates holes in the corona. However, it’s during the solar maximum when the corona will be most active, full of spinning tornados, nanoflares and looped-shaped helmet streamers. As you move towards solar maximum solar flares push more frequently through the corona, heating its gas up. Photosphere On the surface…

Sun Solar surveyors In order to better understand and anticipate solar weather, space agencies have sent up a family of orbiters and satellites © NASA; CESSI; Nicholas Forder Solar Orbiter Due to launch in 2020, it combines solar wind particle and magnetic field measurements with direct surface observation. It will monitor the Sun on highly elliptical orbits which will allow it to spend 10 to 15 days co-rotating with the Sun, providing uninterrupted coverage of sunspot, flare and storm development. RESULTS: Pending IBEX A NASA satellite launched in 2008 that aimed to map the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. RESULTS: In 2013, IBEX results revealed the Sun’s heliosphere has a tail. IRIS A NASA satellite launched in 2013 to Investigate the physical conditions at the very edge…

Phantom worlds Life cycle of a star The mass of a stellar object will determine its evolution © NASA /JPL-Caltech; The Hubble Heritage Team; Nicholas Forder; 1 Nebula The start of any star’s life begins as a cloud of gas and dust, before gravity gets hold of it. 2 Protostar Sections of the gas and dust begin to clump, and gravity and momentum of spin will begin star formation in the form of a protostar. 3 Massive Star Stars that have accumulated mass of at least eight-times that of our Sun will live their lives as a massive star for roughly tens of millions of years. 4 Red supergiant star When its hydrogen begins to deplete the outer layers of the star will puff out due to an imbalance in…

Focus on CHINA LANDS ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON Chang’e 4 probe brings joy in the New Year as it becomes the first rover to touch down on uncharted territory Reported by Lee Cavendish © NASA: CNSA What do the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Pink Floyd have in common? They both have hits with the dark side of the Moon. Although NASA’s New Horizons made headlines entering the New Year with exciting new images of an extremely distant Kuiper Belt Object, CNSA’s Chang’e 4 probe also made history by becoming the first object to land on the dark, unexplored side of the Moon. The unmanned space probe touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin at 10:26am Beijing Time (2:26am GMT) on 3 January 2019. After its…

ASK Space Our experts answer your questions MOONS Why hasn’t Enceladus frozen over yet? NASA’s Cassini spacecraft discovered that Enceladus, a small moon circling Saturn, has dozens of icy geysers erupting from cracks near its south pole that shoot plumes of mineral-laden water ice and water vapour into space. Cassini’s science instruments also detected a global, salty ocean underneath Enceladus’ icy crust that is the source of these geysers. This moon, only 480 kilometres (300 miles) across, is extremely cold and should have frozen solid long ago. However, something is keeping the ocean from freezing and turning Enceladus into a frozen ball of ice. One explanation is that Enceladus’ orbit is not a perfect circle, but is slightly eccentric, moving Enceladus closer to and farther from Saturn as it orbits…

STARGAZER ESSENTIAL GUIDES AND ADVICE FOR AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS What’s in the sky? Jargon buster Conjunction A conjunction is an alignment of objects at the same celestial longitude. The conjunction of the Moon and the planets is determined with reference to the Sun. A planet is in conjunction with the Sun when it and Earth are aligned on opposite sides of the Sun. Right Ascension (RA) Right Ascension is to the sky what longitude is to the surface of the Earth, corresponding to east and west directions. It is measured in hours, minutes and seconds since, as the Earth rotates on its axis, we see different parts of the sky throughout the night. Declination (Dec) This tells you how high an object will rise in the sky. Like Earth’s latitude, Dec…

Moon tour Herschel crater Find the smallest of the three craters in the Solar System named after the great astronomer William Herschel William Herschel was one of history’s truly great astronomers. A hugely skilled observer of the night sky, he is best known for discovering the planet Uranus in 1781, but he also discovered that planet’s icy moons Oberon and Titania and discovered Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Mimas. It’s no wonder that his amazing life and important discoveries have been officially recognised by modern astronomers, who have named not one but three craters on bodies after him. The largest is on Mars – the enormous Herschel impact basin is more than 300-kilometres (186-miles) wide and was named in honour of both William and his son John. The smaller but best…

The Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere There’s still a chill in the air as February rolls around, offering those clear, crisp sights © Wil Tirion; ESO; Giuseppe Donatiello; Alejandro Sanchez de Miguel The ‘Dog Star’ Sirius starts to dip low towards the horizon, below and to the left of Orion (the Hunter). Meanwhile, Taurus (the Bull) can be spotted on the other side of the famous Belt of Orion while Gemini (the Twins) is high in the south. You’ll be able to locate the twins with ease thanks to its member stars Castor and Pollux. Gemini also hosts some beautiful deep-sky targets, including the Medusa Nebula (Abell 21), the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) and open cluster Messier 35. Coming to the end of winter, you’ll still be able to locate…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE The 'Galaxy Tree' © César Vega Toledano Staying up until the small hours of the morning gave photographer César Vega Toledano the shot he was waiting for – a stunning snap of our galaxy the Milky Way rising above a distinctive grove of pruned oak trees in Salamanca, Spain. From this perspective, you should be able to see that the dust lanes appear to be natural continuations to branches of the tree. From locations untouched by light pollution, the naked eye can see between 5,000 to 8,000 stars. Due to the position of the Solar System, much of the Milky Way is invisible to us since we have to look through the galactic plane, which is packed with dust and stars that…

Sun will turn into giant crystal ball after death Like the vast majority of stars in our Milky Way galaxy, the Sun will eventually collapse into a white dwarf, an exotic object about 200,000-times denser than Earth. To put that in perspective, a mere teaspoon of white dwarf material would weigh about as much as an elephant if you could somehow transport the stuff to our planet. Half a century ago theorists predicted that white dwarfs solidify into crystal over time – and new research has found that this is indeed the case. “All white dwarfs will crystallise at some point in their evolution, although more massive white dwarfs go through the process sooner,” study lead author Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay, a physicist at the University of Warwick in England, said. “This…

Solar gravity lens THE SOLAR GRAVITY LENS A swarm of telescopes placed billions of kilometres away will be able to reveal a universe full of exoplanets The main player The Sun’s gravity is so vast that it can bend the light of stars around its periphery, similar to how a lens in a pair of glasses works. This will allow the satellites to provide 100-billion optical magnification. Communication of indication The satellites will need to communicate with ground control on Earth to pass on any data. To beam data between the two will take three days due to the finite speed of light. Staying in line At such incredible distances the satellites would have to rely on artificial intelligence to keep flying within a 1.6-kilometre- (one-mile) wide line, which is…

Spacesuit redesign THE NEED TO REDESIGN THE SPACESUIT If astronauts are to set foot on a planetary surface they’ll need to be suited and booted with some new wear Reported by David Crookes © NASA Name an iconic item of clothing worn during the 1960s and chances are you’ll cycle through the usual suspects, from miniskirts through to the PVC dress. Some will have graced the western world’s catwalks during this most fashionable of decades, but one revolutionary garment never quite made it to Paris or Milan yet has proved truly out of this world. We’re talking, of course, about the spacesuit – the garment which has proven essential in allowing astronauts to survive in the harsh environment of outer space and made travel there and back much safer. Suits…

Ultima Thule THE ULTIMA INSPECTION OF THE KUIPER BELT NASA’s New Horizons flew past the Kuiper Belt Object, Ultima Thule, at the beginning of the New Year. But what has been learned from the highly anticipated flyby? Reported by Lee Cavendish 31 December 2018 // 7:00pm UTC (2:00pm EST) The New Horizons team prepares for approach Before NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made its New Years approach to Ultima Thule, the very excited New Horizons team held a press briefing in order to educate on and emphasise the importance of this flyby. From left to right we see Alan Stern, the principal investigator, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas, US. Next along the line is Helene Winters, the project manager, of John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)…

STARGAZER This month’s planets The sky truly belongs to Venus this month as it takes centre stage in the morning sky Planet of the month Without a shadow of a doubt the February morning sky belongs to Venus. Go outside before sunrise on any crisp, chilly February morning and you’ll see Venus blazing like a lantern in the southeast, looking like a piece of burning magnesium to the lower left of fainter, but still impressive Jupiter. It will be so striking you’ll simply be unable to miss it. Looking at Venus on a still, dark morning you’ll appreciate why it was named after the Roman Goddess of Love – the planet is such a stunning sight that it is hard to drag your eyes away from it; it almost hypnotises…

Deep sky challenge Tantalising treats in Taurus There’s more to the Bull than the Pleiades and the Hyades clusters - if you’re up to the challenge Many constellations are famous for one or two well-known and beloved deep-sky objects. Orion is famous for the Orion Nebula and the neighbouring Horsehead Nebula; Lyra’s ‘celebrity feature’ is the Ring Nebula, M57, and pretty much the only reason for pointing a telescope or pair of binoculars towards the little box of Cancer is to look at M44, the Beehive Cluster. Likewise, when you think of Taurus you automatically think of its two large, bright open star clusters, the V-shaped Hyades cluster and the ‘Mini-Big Dipper’ of the Pleiades cluster, M45. However, there are other deep-sky objects lurking within the borders of this zodiacal…

Your astrophotography Astroshots of the month Send your astrophotography images to space@spaceanswers.com for a chance to see them featured in All About Space Stacey Downtown Birmingham, UK Telescope: Sky-Watcher ED80 “A two-panel mosaic of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000), which also shows a good proportion of the Cygnus Wall - a cosmic ridge that spans for about 20 light years. Using an Altair Astro Hypercam 183C, I’m extremely pleased with the result since I image from a light-polluted location.” Antoine & Dalia Grelin Nevada, United States Dalia and I have been enjoying the dark skies of the Nevada desert for years. When we took our first night trip into territories untouched by light pollution, we were completely astonished by how many stars were visible just one hour away from…

Telescope advice Meade Polaris 114 EQ Sturdy and easy to set up, this reflector also allows for pleasing observations of a wide variety of targets As ever, Meade has provided a telescope that boasts a superior build over other instruments within its price range. Finished off to a high standard, the manufacturer of the Polaris 114 EQ has provided a very good selection of eyepieces as well as a 2x Barlow lens for low, medium and high magnification that not only saves a dent in the bank balance, saving the observer from having to buy countless accessories, but also ensures that the amateur astronomer has everything they need for an evening under the night sky. Similar to the telescope itself, the accessories are well-made with no signs of finishing glue…