Australian solar eclipse, Friday 10 May

From Australian Geographic:

Australian solar eclipse: Friday 10 May 2013

An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon covers a majority of the Sun, creating a ring or ‘annulus’ of light. (Credit: Getty)

Aussies can catch a glimpse of a so-called annular solar eclipse this week, the only one until 2035.

ON FRIDAY MORNING, an annular solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Australia, for the last time until 2035.

An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon, in a distant part of its orbit around our planet, covers a large portion of the Sun’s area as seen from the Earth, hence a ring or ‘annulus’ is left around its edge. This is not to be confused with a total eclipse, the last of which was visible from Australia in November 2012. This annular eclipse is the first to be visible from Australia or New Zealand since 1999.

Send us your photos of Friday’s eclipse

The only sizable town that lies on the path of annularity – where a complete viewing of the eclipse is possible – is Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. The Musgrave Roadhouse, north of Laura in Queensland, is also suggested as a vantage point. Those near Newman, Western Australia are expected to see a donut-shaped annular eclipse sunrise, while other parts of Australia will see a partial solar eclipse.

From Tennant Creek the eclipse will begin at 6:55am. reach its zenith at 8:07am and end at 9:33am.

Regions of Australia outside of the main eclipse path will see a partial solar eclipse – a ‘bite’ taken out of the Sun. The maximum of the eclipse in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane can be seen at 8:52am, 8:57am and 8:58am respectively (AEDT). Note that the Sun will not be completely covered, so it is important that you do not look directly into the sun at any time during the eclipse.

The path of the annular eclipse over northern Australia and Tennant Creek. (Credit: Andy Chong/2013 Australasian Sky Guide/Powerhouse Museum)

How to view an annular solar eclipse

Stuart Ryder from the Australian Astronomical Observatory says that while the annular eclipse is a novelty and a great photo opportunity, it is no comparison to a total solar eclipse.

“That tiny ring of uncovered Sun wipes out the dramatic effect of a total solar eclipse,” says Stuart. “The eye simply adjusts to the fading light over an hour or so, and most people on the eclipse path would not even be aware an eclipse was happening above them if it wasn’t in the news.”

Stuart warns that because it will not be completely covered, the public should not look directly into the sun at any time during the eclipse. The safest way to view the eclipse is to use projection. This involves creating a pinhole in a piece of paper or plastic, which is then attached to a tripod and adjusted until the image of the Sun can be seen on a screen.

Watching for ring-like shadows on the ground as the sun shines through gaps in leaves is also an effective way of viewing the eclipse.

Send us your photos of Friday’s eclipse

When to see the solar eclipse at its maximum

*All times are local
Perth – 6:36am (Sun will be below the horizon, so sunrise, at 6:54am, is the best time to see it)
Darwin – 8:07am
Adelaide – 8:15am
Melbourne – 8:52am
Canberra – 8:55am
Sydney – 8:57am
Brisbane – 8:58am
Hobart – 8:59am

- Text by Samantha Wheeler

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Eclipse photos: here.

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Drowned medieval English town Dunwich, new research

From the University of Southampton, in Britain:

-Secret streets of Britain’s Atlantis are revealed

09 May 2013

A University of Southampton professor has carried out the most detailed analysis ever of the archaeological remains of the lost medieval town of Dunwich, dubbed ‘Britain’s Atlantis’.

Funded and supported by English Heritage, and using advanced underwater imaging techniques, the project led by Professor David Sear of Geography and Environment has produced the most accurate map to date of the town’s streets, boundaries and major buildings, and revealed new ruins on the seabed. Professor Sear worked with a team from the University’s GeoData Institute; the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton; Wessex Archaeology; and local divers from North Sea Recovery and Learn Scuba.

He comments, “Visibility under the water at Dunwich is very poor due to the muddy water. This has limited the exploration of the site.

“We have now dived on the site using high resolution DIDSON ™ acoustic imaging to examine the ruins on the seabed – a first use of this technology for non-wreck marine archaeology.

“DIDSON technology is rather like shining a torch onto the seabed, only using sound instead of light. The data produced helps us to not only see the ruins, but also understand more about how they interact with the tidal currents and sea bed.”

Peter Murphy, English Heritage’s coastal survey expert who is currently completing a national assessment of coastal heritage assets in England, says: “The loss of most of the medieval town of Dunwich over the last few hundred years – one of the most important English ports in the Middle Ages – is part of a long process that is likely to result in more losses in the future. Everyone was surprised, though, by how much of the eroded town still survives under the sea and is identifiable.

“Whilst we cannot stop the forces of nature, we can ensure what is significant is recorded and our knowledge and memory of a place doesn’t get lost forever. Professor Sear and his team have developed techniques that will be valuable to understanding submerged and eroded terrestrial sites elsewhere.”

Present day Dunwich is a village 14 miles south of Lowestoft in Suffolk, but it was once a thriving port – similar in size to 14th Century London. Extreme storms forced coastal erosion and flooding that have almost completely wiped out this once prosperous town over the past seven centuries. This process began in 1286 when a huge storm swept much of the settlement into the sea and silted up the Dunwich River. This storm was followed by a succession of others that silted up the harbour and squeezed the economic life out of the town, leading to its eventual demise as a major international port in the 15th Century. It now lies collapsed and in ruins in a watery grave, three to 10 metres below the surface of the sea, just off the present coastline.

The project to survey the underwater ruins of Dunwich, the world’s largest medieval underwater town site, began in 2008. Six additional ruins on the seabed and 74 potential archaeological sites on the seafloor have since been found. Combining all known archaeological data from the site, together with old charts and navigation guides to the coast, it has also led to the production of the most accurate and detailed map of the street layout and position of buildings, including the town’s eight churches. Findings highlights are:

* Identification of the limits of the town, which reveal it was a substantial urban centre occupying approximately 1.8 km2 – almost as large as the City of London
* Confirmation the town had a central area enclosed by a defensive, possibly Saxon earthwork, about 1km2
* The documentation of ten buildings of medieval Dunwich, within this enclosed area, including the location and probable ruins of Blackfriars Friary, St Peter’s, All Saint’s and St Nicholas Churches, and the Chapel of St Katherine
* Additional ruins which initial interpretation suggests are part of a large house, possibly the town hall
* Further evidence that suggests the northern area of the town was largely commercial, with wooden structures associated with the port
* The use of shoreline change analysis to predict where the coastline was located at the height of the town’s prosperity

Commenting on the significance of Dunwich, Professor Sear says: “It is a sobering example of the relentless force of nature on our island coastline. It starkly demonstrates how rapidly the coast can change, even when protected by its inhabitants.
“Global climate change has made coastal erosion a topical issue in the 21st Century, but Dunwich demonstrates that it has happened before. The severe storms of the 13th and 14th Centuries coincided with a period of climate change, turning the warmer medieval climatic optimum into what we call the Little Ice Age.

“Our coastlines have always been changing, and communities have struggled to live with this change. Dunwich reminds us that it is not only the big storms and their frequency – coming one after another, that drives erosion and flooding, but also the social and economic decisions communities make at the coast. In the end, with the harbour silting up, the town partly destroyed, and falling market incomes, many people simply gave up on Dunwich.”

Professor Sear’s full report can be found here.

A new breed of archaeologists is using satellite imagery to unearth clues about past civilisations: here.

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Women in British science, new research

This video from Ireland says about itself:

Reflections on women in science; diversity and discomfort: Jocelyn Bell Burnell at TEDxStormont

Apr 4, 2013

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell inadvertently discovered pulsars as a graduate student in radio astronomy in Cambridge, opening up a new branch of astrophysics — work recognised by the award of a Nobel Prize to her supervisor. She is now a Visiting Professor in Oxford.

From Kingston University in London, England:

Unearthing the hidden women of science and inspiring the next generation

08 May 2013

A group of historians and scientists is about to embark on a major project to scrutinise the role of British women in science. It will focus on finding and assessing the careers of scientific women who may not have received credit or recognition for their work. The £33k project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and run jointly by Kingston University, University of Liverpool, the Royal Society and the Rothschild Archive London, aims to examine how women were involved in scientific societies between the years 1830 to 2012 and look at how that can inform policy today.

It will involve the establishment of a network of academics to gain a better understanding of how historical perspectives might impact future education policy making. Recent statistics show that only a third of science, technology, engineering and maths students in Britain are female and just 11 per cent of senior positions in science are held by women.

“Women’s unequal participation in science subjects at all levels, both in education, academia and in industry, is currently receiving close attention from policy makers, educationalists and social commentators,” project leader Dr Susan Hawkins, a senior history lecturer from Kingston University, said. “Part of the purpose of our work will be to closely examine data on women in science in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The hope is that by looking at women’s relationship with science in the past, we can pinpoint ways to encourage young women to participate more fully in the subject.”

There was a wealth of historical information which could open a window into the past but it was often dispersed across different archives, Dr Hawkins, who originally trained as a scientist, explained. “Through the network we hope to identify where these archives are and what revelatory material they may contain.” Part of the project will involve a shadowing scheme which will allow researchers studying the history of science to spend time alongside a female scientist in the laboratory, gaining an understanding of how science works today and the challenges faced by women in the field.

The network will be organised around a series of events, including three workshops, a two-day international conference to be held at the Royal Society in May 2014 and an exhibition open to the public. The first workshop will aim to identify archives that may contain information on women in science. It will concentrate on two groups of women – those whose work was recognised by the scientific community of their time and those who, despite producing work of high standard, were not. “The intention is to look at the characteristics that link the two groups of women and also to find out what set them apart,” Dr Hawkins added. Another workshop will focus on identifying possible oral history projects.

“The final workshop will pull together the findings from the first two events and allow us to make recommendations to government on future projects to help increase female participation in science,” Dr Hawkins said.

The issue of the representation of women in science has dominated headlines in the media in recent months. According to a report in last month’s Independent newspaper, female professors account for 5.5 per cent in physics, 6 per cent in chemistry and maths and just 2 per cent in engineering. This has prompted growing calls for better representation of women in science both in universities and in industry – a sentiment also echoed by Kingston University’s new Chancellor American playwright and author Bonnie Greer. “It is crucial that women continue to take up the study of science and maths as historically women have been kept out of these professions, so who knows what genius has been lost?” she said recently. “When you think of all the big problems that are out there waiting to be solved, every ounce of human intelligence is needed.”

Things were extremely tough for women in science in the past and they often did not receive proper recognition, according to Dr Hawkins. “It was a real struggle. For instance, the Royal Society didn’t accept female fellows until as late as 1945,” she said. “There were women in the scientific field but they really had to fight to be recognised, independent of any men they might have been working with.”

Guests from around the world will attend a launch event for the project at the International Congress for the History of Science Technology and Medicine to be held in Manchester in July.

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‘Habitable’ planets discovery by Kepler spacecraft

From NASA in the USA:

NASA’s Kepler Discovers Its Smallest ‘Habitable Zone’ Planets to Date

04.18.2013

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the “habitable zone,” the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.

The Kepler-62 system has five planets; 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. The Kepler-69 system has two planets; 69b and 69c. Kepler-62e, 62f and 69c are the super-Earth-sized planets.

Two of the newly discovered planets orbit a star smaller and cooler than the sun. Kepler-62f is only 40 percent larger than Earth, making it the exoplanet closest to the size of our planet known in the habitable zone of another star. Kepler-62f is likely to have a rocky composition. Kepler-62e orbits on the inner edge of the habitable zone and is roughly 60 percent larger than Earth.

The third planet, Kepler-69c, is 70 percent larger than the size of Earth, and orbits in the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. Astronomers are uncertain about the composition of Kepler-69c, but its orbit of 242 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our neighboring planet Venus.

Scientists do not know whether life could exist on the newfound planets, but their discovery signals we are another step closer to finding a world similar to Earth around a star like our sun.

“The Kepler spacecraft has certainly turned out to be a rock star of science,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The discovery of these rocky planets in the habitable zone brings us a bit closer to finding a place like home. It is only a matter of time before we know if the galaxy is home to a multitude of planets like Earth, or if we are a rarity.”

The Kepler space telescope, which simultaneously and continuously measures the brightness of more than 150,000 stars, is NASA’s first mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets around stars like our sun. Orbiting its star every 122 days, Kepler-62e was the first of these habitable zone planets identified. Kepler-62f, with an orbital period of 267 days, was later found by Eric Agol, associate professor of astronomy at the University of Washington and co-author of a paper on the discoveries published in the journal Science.

The size of Kepler-62f is now measured, but its mass and composition are not. However, based on previous studies of rocky exoplanets similar in size, scientists are able to estimate its mass by association.

“The detection and confirmation of planets is an enormously collaborative effort of talent and resources, and requires expertise from across the scientific community to produce these tremendous results,” said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the Kepler-62 system paper in Science. “Kepler has brought a resurgence of astronomical discoveries and we are making excellent progress toward determining if planets like ours are the exception or the rule.”

The two habitable zone worlds orbiting Kepler-62 have three companions in orbits closer to their star, two larger than the size of Earth and one about the size of Mars. Kepler-62b, Kepler-62c and Kepler-62d, orbit every five, 12, and 18 days, respectively, making them very hot and inhospitable for life as we know it.

The five planets of the Kepler-62 system orbit a star classified as a K2 dwarf, measuring just two-thirds the size of the sun and only one-fifth as bright. At seven billion years old, the star is somewhat older than the sun. It is about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.

A companion to Kepler-69c, known as Kepler-69b, is more than twice the size of Earth and whizzes around its star every 13 days. The Kepler-69 planets’ host star belongs to the same class as our sun, called G-type. It is 93 percent the size of the sun and 80 percent as luminous and is located approximately 2,700 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.

“We only know of one star that hosts a planet with life, the sun. Finding a planet in the habitable zone around a star like our sun is a significant milestone toward finding truly Earth-like planets,” said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, Calif., and lead author of the Kepler-69 system discovery published in the Astrophysical Journal.

When a planet candidate transits, or passes in front of the star from the spacecraft’s vantage point, a percentage of light from the star is blocked. The resulting dip in the brightness of the starlight reveals the transiting planet’s size relative to its star. Using the transit method, Kepler has detected 2,740 candidates. Using various analysis techniques, ground telescopes and other space assets, 122 planets have been confirmed.

Early in the mission, the Kepler telescope primarily found large, gaseous giants in very close orbits of their stars. Known as “hot Jupiters,” these are easier to detect due to their size and very short orbital periods. Earth would take three years to accomplish the three transits required to be accepted as a planet candidate. As Kepler continues to observe, transit signals of habitable zone planets the size of Earth orbiting stars like the sun will begin to emerge.

Ames is responsible for Kepler’s ground system development, mission operations, and science data analysis. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA’s 10th Discovery Mission and was funded by the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.

For more information about the Kepler mission and to view the digital press kit, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

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‘Money can’t buy exoplanets’

This video is called Exoplanets: detection, atmospheres and habitability.

From the International Astronomical Union (IAU):

Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet? – The IAU Responds to Recent Name-Selling Campaign

12 April 2013 International Astronomical Union (IAU)

In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) wishes to inform the public that such schemes have no bearing on the official naming process. The IAU wholeheartedly welcomes the public’s interest to be involved in recent discoveries, but would like to strongly stress the importance of having a unified naming procedure.

More than 800 planets outside the Solar System have been found to date, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed. Detection methods in this field are steadily and quickly increasing — meaning that many more exoplanets will undoubtedly be discovered in the months and years to come.

Recently, an organisation has invited the public to purchase both nomination proposals for exoplanets, and rights to vote for the suggested names. In return, the purchaser receives a certificate commemorating the validity and credibility of the nomination. Such certificates are misleading, as these campaigns have no bearing on the official naming process — they will not lead to an officially-recognised exoplanet name, despite the price paid or the number of votes accrued.

Upon discovery, exoplanets and other astronomical objects receive unambiguous and official catalogue designations. While exoplanet names such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of planets in our own Solar System, the vast number of objects in our Universe — galaxies, stars, and planets to name just a few — means that a clear and systematic system for naming these objects is vital. Any naming system is a scientific issue that must also work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion.

To make this possible, the IAU acts as a single arbiter of the naming process, and is advised and supported by astronomers within different fields. As an international scientific organisation, it dissociates itself entirely from the commercial practice of selling names of planets, stars or or even “real estate” on other planets or moons. These practices will not be recognised by the IAU and their alternative naming schemes cannot be adopted.

However, the IAU greatly appreciates and wishes to acknowledge the increasing interest from the general public in being more closely involved in the discovery and understanding of our Universe. As a result in 2013 the IAU Commission 53 Extrasolar Planets (http://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/commissions/53/) and other IAU members will be consulted on the topic of having popular names for exoplanets, and the results will be made public on the IAU website (http://www.iau.org/). Meanwhile, astronomers and the public are encouraged to keep using the existing accepted nomenclature [1] — details of which can be found on the Astronomy for the Public section of the IAU web page, under Naming Astronomical Objects (http://www.iau.org/public/naming/).

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Blue supergiant star discovered

This video is called The Biggest Stars In The Universe.

From the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan:

Discovery of a Blue Supergiant Star Born in the Wild

12 April 2013 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

A duo of astronomers, Dr. Youichi Ohyama (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan) and Dr. Ananda Hota (UM-DAE Center for Excellence in the Basic Sciences, India), has discovered a blue supergiant star located far beyond our Milky Way Galaxy in the constellation Virgo.

Over 55 million years ago, it emerged in an extremely wild environment, surrounded by intensely hot plasma (a million degrees Celsius) and amidst raging cyclone winds blowing at 4 million kilometers per hour. Research using the Subaru Telescope, the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope (CFHT), and NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) revealed unprecedented views of the star formation process in this intergalactic context and showed the promise of future investigations of a possibly new mode of star formation, unlike that within our Milky Way.

About 1,000 galaxies reside in a cluster filled with million-degree hot plasma and dark matter. The Virgo cluster, the nearest cluster of galaxies located about 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo, is an ideal laboratory to study the fate of gas stripped from the main body of galaxies falling into the intra-cluster medium. Does star formation take place in the clouds of stripped gas? If so, how? Dr. Ohyama and Dr. Hota focused on the trail of IC 3418 to explore a potentially new mode of star formation. Dr. Hota has been collecting data from multiple telescopes since 2006 to understand this galaxy, which he first spotted in the GALEX data during his Ph.D. research.

IC 3418 is a small galaxy falling into the Virgo cluster of galaxies at such a high speed (1,000 kilometers per second) that its blanket of cool gas strips off. As it passed through the cluster, its stripped-off cool gas formed a 55,500 light-years-long trail that looks very much like the water vapor condensation trail from a supersonic jet’s path. Hot plasma surrounds the trail of IC 3418, and it has not been clear whether the clouds of cool gas would vaporize like water sprinkled on a hot frying pan or condense further to form new young massive stars. The GALEX ultraviolet image shows that new massive stars do form in the trail. How did the stripped gas condense to form new stars without getting vaporized by the hot plasma? This process does not conform to star formation in our Milky Way Galaxy where massive stars develop in groups inside of stellar nurseries sheltered within giant, cold molecular gas clouds.

Dr. Ohyama suspected that a tiny dot of light emission in the trail of IC 3418 might be different from other blobs of ultraviolet light emissions in the trail. Spectroscopy of the little dot from Subaru Telescope’s Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) revealed something stunning. Dr. Ohyama recalls, “When I first saw the spectrum, I was so puzzled, since it did not look like anything I had known of in extragalactic astronomy.” Unlike typical star-forming regions, the telltale signs of stellar nurseries were missing.

Intense UV-radiation usually ionizes/heats-up the surrounding gas when a star is born. Instead of any sign of heated gas, the observation showed fast winds blowing out of the stellar atmosphere at a speed of about 160 kilometers per second. Comparison with emissions from nearby stars made it clear that this massive, hot (O-type) star had passed its youth and was now aging; it was at a stage known as a blue supergiant star and would soon face its explosive death as a supernova.

Dr. Ohyama commented on the significance of the research: “If our interpretations are correct, this is probably the farthest star ever discovered with spectroscopic observation. Since we only observed for a fraction of the night with the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, there is huge potential for stellar spectroscopy with extremely large telescopes, e.g., the Thirty Meter Telescope, being planned for the future. We look forward to that exciting time.”

Dr. Hota emphasized how important it is for astronomers to pay attention to this exotic system: “Precisely because the thermal and dynamic contrast of star formation that our research shows cannot be observed within our Milky Way, the details revealed by the Subaru Telescope’s spectroscopy and the deep, sharp imaging of CFHT are opening up a new avenue for investigating the baffling fundamentals of star formation.” Future in-depth investigations of this cocktail of hot plasma and turbulent, cold gas may reveal very different characteristics of stars, which may remain wild, exotic objects, challenging current theories of star formation.

Full bibliographic information: The research paper entitled “Discovery of a Possibly Single Blue Supergiant Star in the Intra-Cluster Region of Virgo Cluster of Galaxies” on which this article is based was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 767, No. 2. http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/767/2/L29

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United States NASA space education threatened

This video is called Great NASA Images – Deep Space Part 1.

By Bryan Dyne in the USA:

US sequester cuts force NASA to halt outreach programs

28 March 2013

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced an immediate halt and review of all public outreach programs and educational activities and most likely will cancel them altogether. The memo released by NASA states this is the direct result of $900 million in budget cuts caused by the sequestration—the mechanism put in place by the Obama administration and the Republican-controlled Congress to slash federal spending.

It is unclear at the time of this writing how many jobs will be lost as a result of these cuts.

In terms of scope, the memo goes on to specify that the programs affected include those “intended to communicate, connect with, and engage a wide and diverse set of audiences to raise awareness and involvement in NASA, its goals, missions and programs, and to develop an appreciation for, exposure to, and involvement in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics]”.

NASA maintains dozens of such programs, ranging from programs directed at children as young as five years old through college internship programs to promote a study of the sciences.

These cuts come alongside a general slashing of funds to publicly funded basic research. The National Institutes of Health was cut by $2.52 billion, the National Science Foundation lost $586 million and Department of Energy research was dropped by $400 million. All in all, research spending took an 8 percent cut.

NASA was founded under the Eisenhower administration of the late 1950s, a political response to the success of the Soviet Union in its launching of history’s first satellite in 1957. It was also done to coordinate the efforts of disparate organizations that were part of the already existing US space programs. NASA’s first space mission was Explorer 1, launched on January 31, 1958.

The cutting of NASA’s budget is less than two years after the shuttle program ended in August 2011. It is a continuation of the policy decisions made during the Bush administration and continued under Obama. It also continues the steady decline of NASA’s budget. It is now less than half a percent of the federal budget, half as much as it was 20 years ago and more than eight times less than what it was during the height of the Apollo program.

Significantly, cutting public outreach programs is primarily directed at NASA employees, who run those events. Contractors, on the other hand, will still have NASA money allocated to them. Just last August, NASA awarded contracts totaling more than $1 billion as part of its Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative to Boeing, SpaceX, and others. SpaceX, owned by billionaire co-founder of PayPal Elon Musk, already received a $1.6 billion contract from NASA in December 2008 to develop a replacement to NASA’s Space Shuttle.

Contracting out work combined with cutting NASA’s budget goes along with the drive by the Obama administration to privatize public resources. No longer will the public benefit from the advances generated by space flight, of which there are many. In fiscal year 2003, the economies of the 50 states were boosted by more than $12.5 billion as a result of NASA research. There are tens of thousands of non-space applications of technologies generated by the space program.

The rationale for the necessity of these cuts at NASA, as is the case with cuts to other “unnecessary” federal programs, is that “there is no money.” Left out of this reasoning by agency bureaucrats appointed by the Obama administration as well as the corporate media is that the banks and major financial institutions are being bailed out to the tune of $85 billion a month.

These cuts and re-appropriations are part and parcel of those hitting other governmental agencies, which assist the working class in one way or another. Head Start, a program funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services designed to address the educational and nutritional needs of children in poverty under the age of five, will see a loss of 70,000 children from eligibility as a result of the budget sequestration. Cuts to the US Postal Service will stop Saturday mail delivery this August.

Other programs to be cut are the US Department of Education’s Title I program, which provides assistance from the federal government to local school districts in areas of rampant poverty. It will lead to the elimination of an estimated 10,000 teachers. Parents of some 1,300 children with severe mental disorders will see their federal support for treatment lost as the Children Mental Health Services program sees its budget slashed.

Ending public outreach programs is a continuation of the ongoing destruction by the ruling elite of the free dissemination of scientific knowledge. It speaks to the decline of American capitalism and the socially regressive character of the profit system on a world scale.

Related articles

• Indiegogo campaign wants to place a commercial for NASA in front of Star Trek film (slashgear.com)
• The end of NASA’s Education and Public Outreach [Starts With A Bang] (scienceblogs.com)
• Sequestration forces NASA to halt educational, outreach efforts – @NBCNews (cosmiclog.nbcnews.com)
• Sequester Cancels NASA Outreach (universetoday.com)
• NASA Tells Congress About Meteors: Pay or Pray (astronaut.com)

Astronomy and space this April

This video from England is called NASTRO Northumberland Astronomical Society.

From the Royal Astronomical Society in Britain:

Space and astronomy digest: April 2013

27 March 2013

This release summarises some of the astronomy and space events taking place during April, particularly those with UK involvement. It is not intended to be comprehensive and dates and times may be subject to change.

4 April: Rutherford’s Geophysicists: University of Cambridge

In a special conference at the University of Cambridge, Earth scientists will gather to discuss the work and legacy of Lord Patrick Blackett and Professor Sir Edward Bullard, who both worked with pioneering physicist Lord Ernest Rutherford before pursuing their scientific careers. Both scientists went on to make leading contributions to geophysics.

Delegates at the meeting will consider Blackett’s and Bullard’s work and the problems connected with it that remain unsolved today, with topics ranging from cosmic ray particles to the generation of the Earth’s magnetic field.

The conference is supported by the Royal Astronomical Society, the British Geophysical Association and the History of Physics Group of the Institute of Physics.

Rutherford’s Geophysicists: A Celebration of the work of Lord Blackett PRS and Professor Sir Edward Bullard FRS on the Physics of the Earth:

http://homes.esc.cam.ac.uk/Rutherford

1 p.m. on 9 April: RAS Public Lecture: Planetary Magnetic Fields: Fyvie Hall, London

The latest RAS Public Lecture will see Richard Holme, Professor of Geophysics at the University of Liverpool discuss the present and past magnetic fields of the different planets in the Solar System. In his talk he will outline the results from space probes as well as the rocks on Earth that give an insight into our own geological history.

RAS public lectures

https://www.ras.org.uk/events-and-meetings/public-lectures

Media contact
Robert Massey
(details above)

12 April: High Time Resolution Optical Astrophysics: Geological Society, Burlington House, London

On 12 April the Geological Society will host a special meeting, where astronomers will consider the latest work on high speed imaging and spectroscopy, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the ULTRACAM system installed on the 3.6-m optical telescope in La Silla, Chile.

Delegates will discuss high time resolution (i.e. on timescales of less than 1 second) observations of compact remnants of stars, such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs as well as brown dwarfs (objects considered to be intermediate between the heaviest planets and the lightest stars), planets in orbit around other stars and minor planets in our own Solar System.

Bona fide members of the media who wish to attend this meeting should present their credentials at the registration desk for free admission.

High Time Resolution Optical Astrophysics:

http://www.vikdhillon.staff.shef.ac.uk/ras/

Media contact
Robert Massey
(details above)

12 April: Physics of Flares in the Lower Solar Atmosphere, RAS, Burlington House, London

Solar flares are dramatic events that release large amounts of energy from the Sun. The solar photosphere (which emits 99% of the Sun’s visible light) and the chromosphere above it contain the bulk of the energy that goes into flares and so studying this region of the Sun is an effective way for scientists to characterise these phenomena.

Space- and ground-based observatories have supplied solar physicists with an enormous dataset, including images that show flares and other activity in unprecedented detail.

In a specialist conference at the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers, space scientists and solar physicists will come together to focus on how the lower solar atmosphere responds during flares, as well as discussing similar events that take place on other stars. The delegates will consider the latest observations and theoretical models in an effort to better understand this complex component of the Sun.

Bona fide members of the media who wish to attend this meeting should present their credentials at the registration desk for free admission.

Physics of Flares in the Lower Solar Atmosphere:

http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/?page_id=827

Media contact
Robert Massey
(details above)

16 April: Maiden flight of Antares rocket

The US-based Orbital Sciences Corporation is scheduled to launch its Antares rocket on or after 16 April from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia in the United States. The launch is part of the Orbital Sciences contribution to the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme to engage the private sector in the supply of cargo and transportation of crew to the International Space Station. This launch should see the Antares rocket carry a dummy payload designed to simulate the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft into orbit.

Orbital Sciences Corporation:

http://www.orbital.com

Media contact
Griffin Communications
Tel: +1 281 335 0200

18-19 April: David Axon Memorial Meeting: Massive Black Holes in Galaxies: University of Sussex

Researchers will gather at the University of Sussex, Brighton, for a two day meeting on massive black holes in galaxies and a memorial service, both to commemorate the life and work of astronomer Prof. David Axon.

At the meeting the scientists will discuss topics including the supermassive black holes in the centre of galaxies, their impact on the galaxies they reside in and the most recent observations of these systems from the Herschel Space Observatory.

David Axon Memorial Meeting:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mps/davidaxonmemorial

Night sky in April

Information on stars, planets, comets, meteor showers and other celestial phenomena is available from the British Astronomical Association (BAA), the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) and the Jodrell Bank night sky guide.

BAA:

http://www.britastro.org

SPA:

http://www.popastro.com

The Night Sky: Jodrell Bank

http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/

http://www.ras.org.uk

On Monday, April 29, the Herschel Space Observatory exhausted its supply of ultra-cold liquid helium coolant, required to do its most sensitive observations. A ten-year period in which five telescopes gazed at the sky observing the heat of cosmic objects, rather than the light emitted, has come to an end: here.

Related articles

• A Colossal Star –One of the Largest Known Discovered Creating Building Blocks for DNA & RNA (dailygalaxy.com)
• Astronomy: `Giants and Lions and Bears, Oh My!’, April 13 (ahgksmo.wordpress.com)
• Quasars’ 50th Anniversary: Distant Cosmic Bodies Remain Mysterious (huffingtonpost.com)
• NASA Video Captures Comet, Sun Storm and Earth Together (space.com)
• Comet over Cumbria! Stunning pictures of blazing fireball as it appears in skies over Britain for the first time (dailymail.co.uk)
• Nearby Star Has Strange Cool Layer Like the Sun (space.com)
• Vernal Equinox Marks First Day of Spring Today (space.com)
• Things are looking up: Record astronomy lesson (science.nbcnews.com)

Timelapse Earth, video

Smithsonian Magazine in the USA says about this video:

Timelapse Earth

Using footage from the International Space Station, photographer Bruce W. Berry, Jr. created a stunning compilation of our planet.

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• Monument Valley timelapse (earthsky.org)
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• Ogden Point Timelapse (burntembers.com)
• The Power of Story Elevates a Time-lapse to a New Level (daredreamermag.com)
• International Space Station Time-Lapse Photography (freshnessmag.com)
• DOPE. | Around Los Angeles, California (Timelapse): #DOPE #Timelapse #Art #Photography [#ChampionSince.] (championsince.com)

Poem on space travel and Ireland

This video from Ireland says about itself:

5th of October

The 5th of October was the day the troubles started with a civil rights march being ambushed by RUC and loyalists.

By James Caruth:

James Caruth – 1969

Thursday 21 March 2013

A giant leap,
the fuzzy pictures on the old TV,
Neil Armstrong’s drawl on a line of static,
the earth so small in his black visor

and my father, like a gramophone record
with the needle stuck, saying over and over
again that the world was changed,
how there’d be a new tomorrow wait and see.

That same year, that same TV,
policemen charging into a crowd
sitting on the bridge in Derry.
Shrill voices breaking across the air-waves.

Just one small step.

James Caruth was born in Belfast and lived there until 1982 before moving to Cape Town, South Africa. He now lives in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. His first collection, A Stone’s Throw, was published by Staple Press in 2007.

Related articles

• St. Patrick’s Day Poem (2voices1song.com)
• Irish I Wish – A Poem (grannyslittleprojects.wordpress.com)
• Easter 1916 (thesparkystarky.wordpress.com)
• Travel to Ireland. (babyidieforyou.wordpress.com)
• Oops: United Ships Dog to Ireland, not Phoenix (newser.com)