Professional astronomers searching image archives from the Spacewatch program, discovered several faint traces of 2004 MN4 on images taken in March of this year. The newly-reported positions were used to revise the orbit of the asteroid. The new calculations show that the asteroid will be a spectacular sight in 2029, but will safely pass the earth.
Camarillo Observatory is one of the small private observatories that was called into action a few days before Christmas, to obtain observations of the newly-discovered asteroid in an effort to improve the knowledge of its orbit around the sun.
Although there was no reason for immediate concern, the current excitement stemmed from the fact that this was the first asteroid to rise above the level of 1 on the Torino Scale. Similar to the Richter scale used for earthquakes, this scale is a measure that scientists developed to communicate the relative risks of an asteroid impact with our planet to the public.
In fact, it had reached a level 4 for a date in 2029, but posed no possible hazard before then. There are still several dates after 2029 which are still being investigated, with several measuring 1 on the Torino Scale.
Rest assured that there is no possibility that we will lose track of this asteroid. It will be visible for several more months, during which time Camarillo Observatory and others will continue to obtain crucial measurements, before it returns to the depths of space. After that there will be at least two favorable periods, when we can confirm the behavior of the asteroid's motion around the sun. 2004 MN4 will be favorably positioned in its orbit to be safely observed from the earth in 2013 and 2021.
At 54 times the distance of the Moon, the animation above was taken with the Helin telescope on 15 January 2005, starting at 03:50 UTC. Approximately 12.5 minutes of motion is compressed into one second.
Venus and Jupiter Become Close Friends
Last week in the skies above the UK the two planets Venus and Jupiter appeared as bright as diamonds in the black night. I quickly grabbed a nice warm cup of coffee from my fancy new espresso maker and made for the back garden with the binoculars.
Despite being a vast distance from each other (Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth and Jupiter is many times further away from the Sun than the Earth) they appeared to be within touching distance of each other.
Venus is the brightest of the two and Jupiter will appear to move past it in a straight line during March.
But there’s more Venus fun to come in this month when Venus makes a transit of the Sun which will, from some parts of the world, appear as a small black disc moving across the disc of the Sun.
What’s more, this year saw Mars pass the closest to the Earth for many years to come. 2012 is proving a great year for planet gazers.
Star Party Equipment – Red Light Refrigerators
Star parties are by far the best means of engaging in amateur astronomy. These gatherings are usually held in remote places, and hundreds of keen astronomers gather together – observing strict rules about avoiding light pollution – to enjoy the wonders of their heavens with their latest telescopes.
The one drawback about star parties is, however, that they are so far from civilization. While this is a necessity to avoid the drawbacks or urban lighting, it does mean you are cut off from some of the luxuries of life.
Many people try to improve the star party experience by taking along a cooler to keep food and drinks in. While this is an acceptable solution, for those willing to spend the money purchasing a portable refrigerator for their vehicle can be a better choice.
Refrigerator reviews are almost unanimous than an Engel refrigerator makes a great car fridge. These units are highly efficient – which is great if you are sharing your cars power source with a sophisticated observing array – whilst also very effective.
Some refrigerator reviewers also have great things to say about Arb fridges, but my personal preference will always be Engel. I have a medium sized Engel refrigerator freezer for my Toyota Landcruiser, and I’d be lost without it.
It fits easily into the back on a sliding tray that allows for easy access, and comes with a nice cover to keep it looking neat when not in use. If I don’t go overboard on my eating and drinking, it can easily carry enough supplies to last me through several nights of starwatching.
One thing to keep in mind if you do purchase a car refrigerator for your next Star Party – some of them have internal lighting! If the model you choose has one make sure you trade it out for a night vision friendly red light.
If you do not do this your star party colleagues may not invite you back next year!
Asteroid 2004 MN4 Will Not Strike on Friday the 13th
Something not many people know about me is that by day, I work at a merchant account company helping other businesses accept credit card payments. But I moonlight as a wannabe astronomer; that’s where my real passion is. I am most interested in asteroids. I’ve always hoped that I would be able to discover one and name it after myself but anyone else out there who is also an astronomy buff knows that this will probably never happen. Asteroids are typically named by their year and half-month of discovery. Sometimes they are given a name after the orbit has been confirmed but that’s not always the case.
One asteroid that has excited me most in the past 10 years is 2004 MN4. Astronomers Chesley, Yeomans, and Chodas discovered this one on Christmas Eve in 2004 and it looked like it would collide with the earth on April 13, 2029. Friday the 13th! If this asteroid were to hit earth, it would collide with a land area about the size of Texas and certainly cause a tsunami if it were to land in an ocean.
Luckily for us, further observation of the asteroid’s track revealed that it will miss us but not without providing us a bright glimpse of it. Residents in Africa, Europe, and Asia will get the best look at it and it is said that it will be able to be seen through city lights, to the unaided eye, and it will look like a very bright star.
I’ve already decided that I am going to book a trip to England and stay with my relatives during that time so that I will be able to see it. Yes, I know that it’s a long ways off and I will be over 50 by then, but give me a break! Every day I deal with customers calling me about their merchant accounts and it can get quite tedious. I need to have things to look forward to in order to keep me sane.
Decision Support System in Astronomy – Is It Useful?
We all know that the age of computer have increased its popularity a lot these days, now a person can barely live without a computer or the Internet. It is obvious that computer age makes works, tasks and jobs simple. Traditionally, offices use to store their confidential and important information in the company through writing. They use to write down notes and put in in a secured place or case. Even schools store their important information gathered and analyzed through the manner of writing. It is nice to hear and say that computer age makes all this things and stuffs simple, from gathering, storing and analyzing data, loading them is also added. You can now load the information being gathered into a computer. Here it comes Decision Support System or DSS as it is also called. The Decision support system plays a big role in the process of decision making. You can read a lot more about DSS Decision Support System software here at Decision Support System which analyses and tests the various types of Decision Support Software and explains the basics behind a Decision Support System With that, it can be easy for you to finalized a decision from the data gathered and information that are being analyzed and by simply loading it into computers, then you now have all the information needed. So, it is great and nice to hear that we can now have all the information we want to and this can be very beneficial and useful for Decision support System in Astronomy.
It is very much beneficial for schools to use Decision support System in Astronomy. We all know that astronomy talks scientific study of all the matter. So, you need to have all the important information about astronomy such as dealing with their origin, the energy found in the universe, distribution, movements and composition. With these vast of topics that talks about astronomy, decision support system will be playing a big role in here. It is expected that you will gather data and analyzing data about astronomy and DSS will be a big help. It will store up all your needed information that is being gathered. So, it is not difficult for you to do studies and read all about astronomy which you have been gathered and stored. Astronomy touches many things especially on analytical aspects and decision support system will make all things simple for you as you are using this helpful tool for your analysis.
Asteroid Creation
Asteroids are distinguished as small solar system bodies that orbit a sun. Specifically, we consider small planetoids that orbit around our sun to the distance of Jupiter to be asteroids. Asteroids are usually rocky or metallic. Their composition varies greatly from one asteroid to the next. Due to their orbit in the solar system many astronomers prefer to call asteroids ‘minor planets’.
Many asteroids are believed to be the remnants of planetesimals. A planetesimal is the growing aggregation of cosmic dust from such things as the disintegration of red stars caused by stellar winds. When the dust collection reaches about 1 km wide the mass has strong enough gravitational forces to hold itself together and to continue binding into a bigger mass that assumes a stable orbit.
Most asteroids in our solar system are located around Jupiter. It is believed that most asteroids were formed near Jupiter. This distinguishes asteroids from comets which are formed often farther out in the solar system. Moreover, comets have a red tail or coma. When the comet becomes extinct and loses its red coma it is possible to describe it as an asteroid.
Although most asteroids are found between Jupiter and Mars with non-eccentric orbits (not elongated) there are a few that pass close to the Earth. These are known as Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs. How dangerous are NEAs? That is a matter of orbit and mass. In 2010, 7,075 NEAs were listed, of these 500 to 1,000 are believed to be 1km or over in diameter. These are the near-Earth Asteroids that we have to keep tabs on.
Further reading: Stars and Carbon
Strategies for Dealing with Asteroids
It was an asteroid 65 million years ago that hit the Earth in Russia and set up a plume of smoke that enveloped the earth. This caused years of wintry conditions. It was this episode that caused the demise of the dinosaurs and the ascendency of birds and mammals. We thus owe our evolutionary position to asteroids. However, we are at threat of losing that ascendency should another major asteroid hit the earth.
Astronomers take the threat of asteroid collision very seriously. An asteroid that hits land brings with it intense heat that will start major fires. If the asteroid hits water it can cause tsunamis up to 4 km high. Where ever it hits there is sure to be a chain reaction of earthquakes affecting many parts of the world. And then of course there is the dust that blocks out the sun.
The first thought by scientists was to meet asteroids that had a collision orbit with Earth in space and blow them apart with nuclear devices. This suggestion became the basis of the movie Armageddon. Scientists have long since discredited this idea because the asteroid would break into small parts that would still be likely to hit the earth and cause possibly irrevocable damage.
A better suggestion has been made. That is the solar collector. This would be in effect a giant reflective panel that would be sent into space to move parallel to the dangerous asteroid and direct the rays of the sun on to one spot of the rock. The asteroid would heat up and the steam given off from the burning point would send vapors into space that would change the orbit of the asteroid.
This is an ingenious idea and more sophisticated than the hung-ho approach of just nuking any threats to Earth. The technology still needs to be developed. Although NASA and the scientific community now take asteroid impact seriously politicians are forever cutting space program budgets when the economy takes a nose dive. Perhaps it is only China with its massive liquidity that can really muster the long term financial resources to ready a solar collector for the day when it is needed.
Crisis Management and Wine to Drink
It isn’t every day that a crisis, a true crisis hits within astronomy. We’re not talking about a long range rover going missing in transit, although a government losing millions of dollars is never a good thing for the industry. Instead we’re talking about a true crisis, lives being put at stake. Unlike a lot of industries those of us who work in astronomy can’t simply ask for a really good set of wine gift baskets from friends and watch what unfolds, we are required to take action.
So what’s the worst scenario? Pretty easily it is a major asteroid heading toward Earth. We’re talking Armageddon style. No we wouldn’t be responsible for taking action, but before a government decided to try and take action we’d have to have some type of agreement of what really was about to happen. Finding that agreement under such heavy pressure wouldn’t be easy.
The stars and pigs of the european debt crisis
The European debt crisis has affected many countries within the content thereby putting financial strain on the citizens as well as their government. However, there are countries in Europe that are handling it better than others, while other countries decide to work together to be able to pull themselves out of the crisis. The PIGS which is an acronym for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain are the countries that have been affected by the economic crisis due to their spending habits and that of their citizens. Initially these countries were considered to have the most stable economies in the European continent.
The banks in these countries are said to have lent out a lot of money in terms of bad credit loans that have placed a lot of financial strain on the central bank which is forced to provide financial assistance. These bad credit loans are usually provided in the form of unsecured loans which usually leave the lending institution in a dilemma when the expected repayments for the loan are not made. Most of the borrowers with a poor credit rating were also allowed to borrow further complicating the situation which was meant to ease the burden in PIGS.
However, there are countries that have managed to hang on during the European debt crisis which has enabled them to keep afloat for both the citizens and the government. These countries are referred to as STARS because of their ability to maintain their economic environments especially during a financial crisis. These countries have been quite aware of the damage that the providing of unsecured loans to borrowers with poor credit rating is able to affect the economy negatively as there will be more borrowing than repayments which means the banks will need to bailed out by the central bank.
Asteroid Collision and Life
My colleagues and I do a lot of sitting around late at night, drinking coffee and chatting. We have to wait for the telescope to move into position. We input data on the computer and then we wait for the computer to do its calculations and give us a read out. All these operations take time. During this time we look at the night sky and the stars.
One of our favorite topics of conversation is what we would do if we found an asteroid heading for earth with a Torino Impact Rating of between 7 and 10. It would mean massive regional devastation, big changes in the climate, earthquakes, tsunamis and great loss of life. Many people believe it was an asteroid that hit Earth and threw up a dust cloud that blocked out the sun that caused the dinosaurs to go extent.
We often take the conversation into the realm of bucket lists. What places would we visit, what we do if there were only months left before the devastating collision? The answer is that we would man our posts and look to suggest ways of diverting the disaster.
If, however, I was allowed to go on a final sabbatical before the world changed I would head back to Thailand. I love the country. I would go to my favorite beach on Phangan Island, Haad Sadet for a week. I would enjoy the calm of the place, go swimming, chat with my Thai friends. Of course I would take my family with me and play with my children on the idyllic beach. It would be my chance to say goodbye to the beautiful things in life like natural beauty, holidays with my family, the warmth of the ocean and eating fresh sea food.
Of course, we can see the asteroids coming from far off. There is one coming in 2029 but that is only a factor 4. I might still make my way back to Haad Sadet in Koh Phangan before then anyway.
The Torino Impact Hazard Scale
Here is an explanation of the Torino Impact Hazard Scale. This is the internationally recognized scale for talking about the risks posed by asteroids and comets hitting the earth, or coming close enough to the Earth to cause damage. This is a danger that is not simply confined to sci-fi movies and novels. It is a real danger, especially over longer periods of time. It is partly the job of the Camarilla Observatory to look out for asteroids heading to Earth and to estimate the damage they might cause.
Naturally, if we do find an asteroid in the 8 to 10 category of the Torino Scale then it becomes a matter of national (and indeed international) security.
Source for this code: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/torino_scale.html
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Dreaming of Becoming an Astronomer?
Astronomy is one of those magical careers that kids dream about all their childhood, before life and reality all too often gets in the way. Yes, entry into professional stargazing is tough. Even those with high grade PhDs have to jostle with many others with equally excellent qualifications, because job openings are so very few.
That said, if your passion is astronomy and you’re determined to make it into something more, there are two paths you could realistically take. Firstly, the conventional route- enter into a science degree with a background in physics, and excel enough to undertake postgraduate studies. This is considered a minimum for professional astronomy- usually either a PhD, masters or possibly first-class honors with a heavy research component. Doing so is nowhere near a guarantee of a job, either- so make sure you have a backup plan in mind as you follow this career path.
Another, perhaps more appealing option to many enthusiasts, is the amateur route to scientific recognition. Set yourself up with some decent equipment, and dedicate a certain amount of your week to studying the heavens. This may sound like an unrewarding approach, but just ask David Levy, a Canadian who has discovered over 23 comets while doing this at his modest home setup.
Astronomy is a tough field to get into the conventional way, but if you have persistence and talent, you can make it one way or the other.
At Home Under The Stars
With city lights becoming brighter the star are becoming something that are becoming more difficult for people to see and enjoy there beauty. Light pollution obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers, interferes with astronomical observatories and like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. Its something that worries me that some children have never seen the true beauty of a night sky with all the stars shining brightly
Light pollution was something that I took into account when I was looking for a new property to rent. I was very important for me to find a new home that would be big enough for me and my growing family but of course as an amateur astronomer I was searching for a place where I would be free from the bright lights of the city and able to enjoy the natural wonders of outer space.
I was lucky enough to find my perfect home recently a beautiful 4 bed room (one that i have take over as my man cave with my telescope) detached house just far enough outside the city that I can still enjoy my astrology but close enough to the city for me and my wife to commute to work on a daily basis. There is also a great school near by for the kids to attend which has an excellent academic record so are delighted to be sending the children there.
It took a bit of searching and browsing the Internet to find the right place for us but it was really worth it to have this new property that we can all call home and enjoy bringing up our family showing the children the wonders of the night sky with all the stars and planets for them to discover and take a passion in.
What Surprises Could The Heavens Behold?
Astronomy is something that amazes us all, every since being a small child I have always gazed into the stars wondering what is out there. Are there galaxies filled with millions of intergalactic communities like you see in Star Wars? Or are we all alone here on Earth, the lone jewel of the universe. Well the only way to find out questions to answers like this is to gaze up into the heavens to study what could be.
By day I work for a credit card debt relief company however at night I am an avid star gazer. Taking time as often as possible to bring my son our back and see what celestial miracles we can spot. Fortunately I live in a very rural area, so the light from big cities does not obstruct my view of the stars. As our civilization grows more advanced with technology we will hopefully be able to travel far out into our own solar system and beyond one day. Just imagine what life would be like living in a space station orbiting Jupiter or Uranus? Imagine being part of that first trip to another star system completely and what marvels and scientific breakthroughs are there to be found? Unfortunately most of this talk is the stuff of impossibility, especially right now but our distant predecessors may indeed conquer these feats one day.