Kids Research Express

pulsar

2011-02-23T00:35:00.000-08:00

Pulsar, in astronomy, a neutron star that emits brief, sharp pulses of energy instead of the steady radiation associated with other natural sources. The study of pulsars began when Antony Hewish and his students at Cambridge Univ. built a primitive radio telescope to study a scintillation effect on radio sources caused by clouds of electrons in the solar wind. Because this telescope was specially designed to record rapid variations in signals, in 1967 it readily recorded a signal from a totally unexpected source. Jocelyn Bell Burnell noticed a strong scintillation effect opposite the sun, where the effect should have been weak. After an improved recorder was installed, the signals were received again as a series of sharp pulses with intervals of about a second. By the end of 1968 it was clear that the team had discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star, a remnant of a supernova.

In 1974 the first binary pulsar—two stars, at least one of which is a neutron star, that orbit each other—was discovered by Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor, for which they shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics. Using this binary system, they observed indirect evidence of gravitational waves and also tested the general theory of relativity. Several dozen binary pulsars are now known. In 1995 the orbiting Compton Gamma Ray Observatory detected the first object that bursts and pulses at the same time. This bursting pulsar, another class of pulsars, is currently the strongest source of X rays and gamma rays in the sky. Fewer than a dozen bursting pulsars are known to exist.

The intense magnetic field and plasma that are believed to surround a neutron star provide an effective source of radio waves. The high-energy electrons of the plasma spiral around the magnetic field and emit radio waves and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. This synchrotron radiation is highly directional, like a flashlight beam. If the neutron star is rotating, it will act like a revolving beacon and produce the observed pulses. The pulses recur at precise intervals, but successive pulses differ considerably in strength. Since 1968 more than 700 pulsars have been observed, with pulse rates from 4 seconds to 1.5 milliseconds; the very rapid ones are called millisecond pulsars. The interval between pulses decreases ever so slightly with the passage of time, and it is believed that the slower pulsers are the older stars while the rapid pulsers are the younger. Pulsars in the Crab Nebula and at the site of the Vela supernova can be detected optically as well as at X-ray and gamma-ray frequencies.

Space exploration: Interplanetary Probes

2011-02-20T15:01:00.001-08:00

While the bulk of space exploration initially was directed at the earth-moon system, the focus gradually shifted to other members of the solar system. The U.S. Mariner program studied Venus and Mars, the two planets closest to the earth; the Soviet Venera series also studied Venus. From 1962 to 1971, these probes confirmed the high surface temperature and thick atmosphere of Venus, discovered signs of recent volcanism and possible water erosion on Mars, and investigated Mercury. Between 1971 and 1973 the Soviet Union launched six successful probes as part of its Mars program. Exploration of Mars continued with the U.S. Viking landings on the Martian surface. Two Viking spacecraft arrived on Mars in 1976. Their mechanical arms scooped up soil samples for automated tests that searched for photosynthesis, respiration, and metabolism by any microorganisms that might be present; one test suggested at least the possibility of organic activity. The Soviet Phobos 1 and 2 missions were unsuccessful in 1988. The U.S. Magellan spacecraft succeeded in orbiting Venus in 1990, returning a complete radar map of the planet's hidden surface. The Japanese probes Sakigake and Suisei and the European Space Agency's probe Giotto both rendezvoused with Halley's comet in 1986, and Giotto also came within 125 mi (200 km) of the nucleus of the comet Grigg-Skjellerup in 1992. The U.S. probe Ulysses returned data about the poles of the sun in 1994, and the ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was put into orbit in 1995. Launched in 1996 to study asteroids and comets, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) probe made flybys of the asteroids Mathilde (1997) and Eros (1999) and began orbiting the latter in 2000. The Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor, both of which reached Mars in 1997, were highly successful, the former in analyzing the Martian surface and the latter in mapping it. The ESA Mars Express, launched in 2003, began orbiting Mars later that year, and although its Beagle 2 lander failed to establish contact, the orbiter has sent back data. Spirit and Opportunity, NASA rovers, landed successfully on Mars in 2004.

Space probes have also been aimed at the outer planets, with spectacular results. One such probe, Pioneer 10, passed through the asteroid belt in 1973, then became the first object made by human beings to escape the solar system. In 1974, Pioneer 11 photographed Jupiter's equatorial latitudes and its moons, and in 1979 it made the first direct observations of Saturn. Voyagers 1 and 2, which were launched in 1977, took advantage of a rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to explore all four planets. Passing as close as 3,000 mi (4,800 km) to each planet's surface, the Voyagers discovered new rings, explored complex magnetic fields, and returned detailed photographs of the outer planets and their unique moons. Launched in 1989, the Galileo spacecraft followed a circuitous route that enabled it to return data about Venus (1990), the moon (1992), and the asteroids 951 Gaspra (1991) and 243 Ida (1993) before it orbited Jupiter (1995–2003); it also returned data about the Jupiter's atmosphere and its largest moons (Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto). The joint U.S.-ESA Cassini mission, launched in 1997, began exploring Saturn, its rings, and some of its moons upon arriving in 2004. It deployed Huygens, which landed on the surface of Saturn's moom Titan in early 2005.

Greenwich mean time

2011-02-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

Greenwich mean time or Greenwich meridian time (GMT), the former name for mean solar time at the original site of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, which is located on the prime meridian. In 1925 the numbering system was changed to make GMT equivalent to civil time at the prime meridian, and in 1928 the International Astronomical Union changed the designation of the standard time of the prime meridian to universal time (UT), which is now in general use.

universal time

2011-02-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Universal time (UT), the international time standard common to every place in the world, it nominally reflects the mean solar time along the earth's prime meridian (renumbered to equate to civil time). In 1884, under international agreement, the prime meridian was established as running through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, setting the standard of Greenwich mean time (GMT). In keeping with tradition, the start of a solar day occurred at noon. In 1925 the numbering system for GMT was changed so that the day began at midnight to make it consistent with the civil day. Some confusion in terminology resulted, however, and in 1928 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) changed the designation of the standard time of the prime meridian to universal time. In 1955 the IAU defined several kinds of UT. The initial values of universal time obtained at 75 observatories, denoted UT0, differ slightly because of polar motion. By adding a correction each observatory converts UT0 into UT1, which gives the Earth's rotational position in space. An empirical correction to take account of annual changes in the speed of rotation is then added to convert UT1 to UT2. However, UT2 has since been superseded by atomic time (time as given by atomic clocks). Universal time is also called world time, Z time, and Zulu time.

In 1964 a new timescale, called coordinated universal time (UTC), was internationally adopted. UTC is more uniform and more accurate than the UT2 system because the UTC second is based on atomic time (although the UTC year is still based on the time it takes the earth to complete one orbit). Because the rate of the earth's rotation is gradually slowing, it is occasionally necessary to add an extra second, called the leap second, to the length of the UTC year; synchronization is obtained by making the last minute of June or December contain 61 seconds. About one leap second per year has been inserted since 1972.

civil time

2011-02-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

Civil time, local time based on universal time. Civil time may be formally defined as mean solar time plus 12 hr; the civil day begins at midnight, while the mean solar day begins at noon. Civil time is occasionally adjusted by one-second increments to ensure that the difference between a uniform timescale defined by atomic clocks does not differ from the earth's rotational time by more than 0.9 seconds. Coordinated universal time (UTC), an atomic time, is the basis for civil time. Civil time is usually not used, since it depends on the observer's longitude; instead, standard time, which is the same throughout a given time zone, is generally adopted.

hour angle

2011-02-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hour angle, in astronomy, a coordinate in the equatorial coordinate system. The hour angle of a celestial body is the angular distance, expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds (one hour equals 15 degrees), measured westward along the celestial equator from the observer's celestial meridian to the hour circle of the object being located. The hour angle is used in measuring astronomical time; local sidereal time is equal to the hour angle of the vernal equinox.

solar time

2011-02-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

Solar time, time defined by the position of the sun. The solar day is the time it takes for the sun to return to the same meridian in the sky. Local solar time is measured by a sundial. When the center of the sun is on an observer's meridian, the observer's local solar time is zero hours (noon). Because the earth moves with varying speed in its orbit at different times of the year and because the plane of the earth's equator is inclined to its orbital plane, the length of the solar day is different depending on the time of year. It is more convenient to define time in terms of the average of local solar time. Such time, called mean solar time, may be thought of as being measured relative to an imaginary sun (the mean sun) that lies in the earth's equatorial plane and about which the earth orbits with constant speed. Every mean solar day is of the same length. The difference between the local solar time and the mean solar time at a given location is known as the equation of time. Tables used by navigators list the equation of time for different times of year so that an observer can calculate his mean solar time from his local solar time (found by determining the sun's hour angle). Mean solar time is the basis for civil time and standard time.

watch

2011-02-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

Watch, small, portable timepiece usually designed to be worn on the person. Other kinds of timepieces are generally referred to as clocks. At one time it was generally believed that the first watches were made in Nuremburg, Germany, c.1500. However, there is now evidence that watches may have appeared at an earlier date in Italy. Early watches were ornate, very heavy, and made in a variety of shapes, e.g., pears, skulls, and crosses; the faces were protected by metal latticework. Watch parts were made by hand until c.1850, when machine methods were introduced by watch manufacturers in the United States. The introduction of machine-made parts not only cut manufacturing costs but increased precision and facilitated repairs. To insure the accuracy of a watch over a long period, bearings made of jewels (usually synthetic sapphires or rubies) are utilized at points subject to heavy wear. The mechanical watch contains a mainspring to drive the watch's mechanism. Part of the mechanism includes a hairspring and an oscillating balance wheel to control the rate at which the mechanism moves. The mainspring is wound by the wearer when he turns a knob outside the watch's casing. The automatic, or self-winding, watch has a mainspring that is wound by an oscillating weight, contained in the watch, that is set into motion by the movements of the wearer. The stopwatch can be stopped or started at will by pressing a tiny button on its edge and is used for timing such events as races. The electric watch, which was introduced by the Hamilton Watch Company in 1957, also uses a hairspring and a balance wheel to regulate the rate at which its mechanism moves, but it has no mainspring. In recent years sophisticated electronic watches have been developed. One type uses the vibrations of an electrically driven tuning fork to determine the rate at which a small motor drives the hands. In another type a crystal oscillator provides a signal that regulates this motion. In the most common type a quartz crystal oscillator is joined to digital counting and digital display circuits, thus eliminating all moving parts. Quartz watches with digital displays now account for nearly half of all watch production, since they are inexpensive to produce but are accurate to within several seconds per month. Electric and electronic watches are powered by tiny long-lasting batteries. See chronometer.

clepsydra

2011-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

Clepsydra (klĕp`sĭdrə) or water clock, ancient device for measuring time by means of the flow of water from a container. A simple form of clepsydra was an earthenware vessel with a small opening through which the water dripped; as the water level dropped, it exposed marks on the walls of the vessel that indicated the time that had elapsed since the vessel was full. More elaborate clepsydras were later developed. Some were double vessels, the larger one below containing a float that rose with the water and marked the hours on a scale. A form more closely foreshadowing the clock had a cord fastened to the float so that it turned a wheel, whose movement indicated the time. A further step was the use of gear wheels and a turning pointer. It is believed that clepsydras were used in Egypt c.2000 B.C.; from Egypt they were introduced into Greece and later from there into Rome.

hourglass

2011-02-19T20:32:00.001-08:00

Hourglass, glass instrument for measuring time, usually consisting of two bulbs united by a narrow neck. One bulb is filled with fine sand that runs through the neck into the other bulb in an hour's time. The date of its invention is unknown, but it was in use in ancient times. Similar devices for marking shorter periods of time, e.g., three-minute sandglasses for timing the cooking of eggs, are still used occasionally.

sundial

2011-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

Sundial, instrument that indicates the time of day by the shadow, cast on a surface marked to show hours or fractions of hours, of an object on which the sun's rays fall. Although any object whose shadow is used to determine time is called a gnomon, the term is usually applied to a style, pin, metal plate, or other shadow-casting object that is an integral part of a sundial. Forerunners of the sundial include poles or upright stones used as gnomons; pyramids and obelisks were so used in Egypt. Both stationary and portable sundials were probably developed in Egypt or in Mesopotamia. The earliest extant sundial, an Egyptian instrument of c.1500 B.C., is a flat stone on which is fixed an L-shaped bar whose short vertical limb casts a shadow measured by markings on the longer horizontal limb. The sundial was greatly improved (c.1st cent. A.D.) by setting the gnomon parallel to the earth's axis of rotation so that the apparent east-to-west motion of the sun governs the swing of the shadow. The development of trigonometry permitted precise calculations for the marking of dials and stimulated the advance of gnomonics (dial marking). Although watches and clocks came into popular use in the 18th cent., sundials were long employed for setting and checking them. The heliochronometer, a highly accurate instrument in which the shadow is cast by a fine wire, was used until c.1900 to set the watches of French railwaymen. Solar (or apparent) time indicated by sundials and clock (or mean) time are different and must be correlated by the use of tables showing daily variations in sun time. A correction must also be made for the difference in longitude between the position of a sundial and the standard time meridian of a given locality. Although sundials are still used in many areas, including Japan and China, they are regarded today chiefly as adornments. The largest sundial in the world, constructed c.1724 in Jaipur, India, covers almost one acre (.4 hectare) and has a gnomon over 100 ft (30 m) high surmounted by an observatory. Notable collections of sundials are at the Adler Planetarium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Harvard College Observatory.

clock

2011-02-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Clock, instrument for measuring and indicating time. Predecessors of the clock were the sundial, the hourglass, and the clepsydra. See also watch.

The Evolution of Mechanical Clocks

The operation of a clock depends on a stable mechanical oscillator, such as a swinging pendulum or a mass connected to a spring, by means of which the energy stored in a raised weight or coiled spring advances a pointer or other indicating device at a controlled rate. It is not definitely known when the first mechanical clocks were invented. Some authorities attribute the first weight-driven clock to Pacificus, archdeacon of Verona in the 9th cent. Gerbert, a learned monk who became Pope Sylvester II, is often credited with the invention of a mechanical clock, c.996.

Mechanical figures that struck a bell on the hour were installed in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, in 1286; a dial was added to the clock in the 14th cent. Clocks were placed in a clock tower at Westminster Hall, London, in 1288 and in the cathedral at Canterbury in 1292. In France, Rouen was especially noted for the skill of its clockmakers and watchmakers. Probably the early clock closest to the modern ones was that constructed in the 14th cent. for the tower of the palace (later the Palais de Justice) of Charles V of France by the clockmaker Henry de Vick (Vic, Wieck, Wyck) of Württemburg. Until the 17th cent. few mechanical clocks were found outside cathedral towers, monasteries, abbeys, and public squares.

The early clocks driven by hanging weights were bulky and heavy. When the coiled spring came into use (c.1500), it made possible the construction of the smaller and lighter-weight types. By applying Galileo's law of the pendulum, the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented (1656 or 1657) a pendulum clock, probably the first. Early clocks used in dwellings in the 17th cent. were variously known as lantern clocks, birdcage clocks, and sheep's-head clocks; they were of brass, sometimes ornate, with a gong bell at the top supported by a frame. Before the pendulum was introduced, they were spring-driven or weight-driven; those driven by weights had to be placed on a wall bracket to allow space for the falling weights. These clocks, probably obtained chiefly from England and Holland, were used in the Virginia and New England colonies.

Clocks with long cases to conceal the long pendulums and weights came into use after the mid-17th cent.; these were the forerunners of the grandfather clocks. With the development of the craft of cabinetmaking, more attention was concentrated on the clock case. In France the tall cabinet clocks, or grandfather clocks, were often of oak elaborately ornamented with brass and gilt. Those made in England were at first of oak and later of walnut and mahogany; simpler in style, their chief decoration was inlay work.

Biological Time

2011-02-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

In the life sciences, evidence has been found that many living organisms incorporate biological clocks that govern the rhythms of their behavior (see biological rhythm). Animals and even plants often exhibit a circadian (approximately daily) cycle in, for instance, temperature and metabolic rate that may have a genetic basis. Efforts to localize time sense in specialized areas within the brain have been largely unsuccessful. In humans, the time sense may be connected to certain electrical rhythms in the brain, the most prominent of which is known as the alpha rhythm at about ten cycles per second.

Time Reversal Invariance

2011-02-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

In addition to relative time, another aspect of time relevant to physics is how one can distinguish the forward direction in time. This problem is apart from one's purely subjective awareness of time moving from past into future. According to classical physics, if all particles in a simple system are instantaneously reversed in their velocities, the system will proceed to retrace its entire past history. This property of the laws of classical physics is called time reversal invariance (see symmetry); it means that when all microscopic motions of individual particles are precisely defined, there is no fundamental distinction between forward and backward in time. If the motions of very large collections of particles are treated statistically as in thermodynamics, then the forward direction of time is distinguished by the increase of entropy, or disorder, in the system. However, recent discoveries in particle physics have shown that time reversal invariance is not valid even on the microscopic scale for certain phenomena governed by the weak force of nuclear physics.

Relativistic Time

2011-02-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

Developments of modern physics have forced a modification of the concept of simultaneity. As Albert Einstein demonstrated in his theory of relativity, when two observers are in relative motion, they will necessarily arrange events in a somewhat different time sequence. As a result, events that are simultaneous in one observer's time sequence will not be simultaneous in some other observer's sequence. In the theory of relativity, the intuitive notion of time as an independent entity is replaced by the concept that space and time are intertwined and inseparable aspects of a four-dimensional universe, which is given the name space-time.

One of the most curious aspects of the relativistic theory is that all events appear to take place at a slower rate in a moving system when judged by a viewer in a stationary system. For example, a moving clock will appear to run slower than a stationary clock of identical construction. This effect, known as time dilation, depends on the relative velocities of the two clocks and is significant only for speeds comparable to the speed of light. Time dilation has been confirmed by observing the decay of rapidly moving subatomic particles that spontaneously decay into other particles. Stated naively, particles in motion decay more slowly than stationary particles.

Philosophy and Science of Time

2011-02-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

The belief in time as an absolute has a long tradition in philosophy and science. It still underlies the common sense notion of time. Isaac Newton, in formulating the basic concepts of classical physics, compared absolute time to a stream flowing at a uniform rate of its own accord. In everyday life, we likewise regard each instant of time as somehow possessing a unique existence apart from any particular observer or system of timekeeping. Inherent in the concept of absolute time is the assumption that the simultaneity of two given events is also absolute. In other words, if two events are simultaneous for one observer, they are simultaneous for all observers.

time

2011-02-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

Time, sequential arrangement of all events, or the interval between two events in such a sequence. The concept of time may be discussed on several different levels: physical, psychological, philosophical and scientific, and biological.

Physical Time and Its Measurement

The accurate measurement of time by establishing accurate time standards poses difficult technological problems. In prehistory, humans recognized the alternation of day and night, the phases of the moon, and the succession of the seasons; from these cycles, they developed the day, month, and year as the corresponding units of time. With the development of primitive clocks and systematic astronomical observations, the day was divided into hours, minutes, and seconds.

Any measurement of time is ultimately based on counting the cycles of some regularly recurring phenomenon and accurately measuring fractions of that cycle. The earth rotates on its axis at a very nearly constant rate, and the angular positions of celestial bodies can be determined with great precision. Therefore, astronomical observations provide an almost ideal method of measuring time. The true period of rotation of the earth, that with respect to the fixed stars, defines the sidereal day, which is the basis of sidereal time. All sidereal days are equal. The period of rotation of the earth with respect to the sun (i.e., the interval between successive high noons) is the solar day, which is the basis for solar time. Because of the earth's motion in its orbit around the sun, the sun appears to move eastward against the fixed stars, and the earth must make slightly more than one complete rotation to bring the sun back to the observer's meridian. (The meridian is the great circle on the celestial sphere running through the north celestial pole and the observer's zenith; the passage of the sun across the meridian marks high noon.) But the earth's orbital motion is not uniform, and the plane of the orbit is inclined to the celestial equator by 23 1-2°. Hence the eastward motion of the sun against the stars is not uniform and the length of the true solar day varies seasonally, but on the average is four minutes longer than the sidereal day. True solar time, as measured by a sundial, does not move at a constant rate. Therefore the mean solar day, with a length equal to the annual average of the actual solar day, was introduced as the basis of mean solar time.

Mean solar time does move at a constant rate and is the basis for the civil time kept by clocks. Actually, the earth's rotation is being slightly braked by tidal and other effects so that even mean solar time is not strictly uniform. The law of gravitation allows prediction of the moon's position in its orbit at a given time; inversely, the exact position of the moon provides a kind of clock that is not running down. Time calculated from the moon's position is called ephemeris time and moves at a truly uniform rate. The accumulated difference between mean solar and ephemeris time since 1900 amounts to more than half a minute. However, the ultimate standard for time is provided by the natural frequencies of vibration of atoms and molecules. Atomic clocks, based on masers and lasers, lose only about three milliseconds over a thousand years. See standard time; universal time.

Psychology of Time

As a practical matter, clocks and calendars regulate everyday life. Yet at the most primitive level, human awareness of time is simply the ability to distinguish which of any two events is earlier and which later, combined with a consciousness of an instantaneous present that is continually being transformed into a remembered past as it is replaced with an anticipated future. From these common human experiences evolved the view that time has an independent existence apart from physical reality.

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sidereal time

2011-02-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

Sidereal time (ST), time measured relative to the fixed stars; thus, the sidereal day is the period during which the earth completes one rotation on its axis so that some chosen star appears twice on the observer's celestial meridian. Because the earth moves in its orbit about the sun, the sidereal day is about 4 min shorter than the solar day (see solar time). Thus, a given star will appear to rise 4 min earlier each night, so that different stars are visible at different times of the year. The local sidereal time of an observer is equal to the hour angle of the vernal equinox.

vertical circle

2011-02-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

Vertical circle, in astronomy, the great circle on the celestial sphere that passes from the observer's zenith through a given celestial body. In the altazimuth coordinate system the altitude of a body is measured along its vertical circle.

zenith

2011-02-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

Zenith, in astronomy, the point in the sky directly overhead; more precisely, it is the point at which the celestial sphere is intersected by an upward extension of a plumb line from the observer's location. Its position in the sky thus depends on the direction of the earth's gravitational field at the observer's location. The zenith is a reference point in the altazimuth coordinate system; its altitude above the celestial horizon is 90°. The angular distance from the zenith to a celestial body is called the zenith distance. The nadir, directly opposite the zenith, has a zenith distance of 180°; the celestial horizon has a zenith distance of 90°.

celestial meridian

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Celestial meridian, vertical circle passing through the north celestial pole and an observer's zenith. It is an axis in the altazimuth coordinate system.

Proper motion

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Proper motion, in astronomy, apparent movement of a star on the celestial sphere, usually measured as seconds of arc per year; it is due both to the actual relative motions of the sun and the star through space. Proper motion reflects only transverse motion, i.e., the component of motion across the line of sight to the star; it does not include the component of motion toward or away from the sun. The most distant stars show the least proper motion. Barnard's Star, one of the closest stars, has the largest measured proper motion, 10.27 sec of arc per year. The average proper motion of the stars that can be seen with the naked eye is 0.1" per year.

Declination

2011-02-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

Declination, in astronomy, one of the coordinates in the equatorial coordinate system. The declination of a celestial body is its angular distance north or south of the celestial equator measured along its hour circle.

Right ascension

2011-02-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

Right ascension, in astronomy, one of the coordinates in the equatorial coordinate system. The right ascension of a celestial body is the angular distance measured eastward from the vernal equinox along the celestial equator to its intersection with the body's hour circle.

Hour circle

2011-02-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hour circle, in astronomy, a secondary axis in the equatorial coordinate system. The hour circle of a celestial body is the great circle on the celestial sphere that passes through both the body and the north celestial pole. A star's hour circle is used in determining its right ascension and declination.

Galactic coordinate system

2011-02-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Galactic coordinate system, astronomical coordinate system in which the principal axis is the galactic equator (the intersection of the plane of the Milky Way with the celestial sphere) and the reference points are the north galactic pole and the zero point on the galactic equator; the coordinates of a celestial body are its galactic longitude and galactic latitude. In the IAU galactic coordinate system, introduced in 1958 by the International Astronomical Union, the zero point on the galactic equator has the equatorial coordinates R.A. 17h39.3m and Dec. −28°55'; this lies in the direction of the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Ecliptic coordinate system

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Ecliptic coordinate system, an astronomical coordinate system in which the principal coordinate axis is the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun through the heavens. The ecliptic poles are the two points at which a line perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic through the center of the earth strikes the surface of the celestial sphere. The north ecliptic pole lies in the constellation Draco.

Celestial horizon

2011-02-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Celestial horizon, one axis of the altazimuth coordinate system. It is the great circle on the celestial sphere midway between the observer's zenith and nadir; it divides the celestial sphere into two equal hemispheres. The observer may be unable to see all the stars that lie above his celestial horizon because of obstructions such as buildings, trees, or mountains; he may be able to see some stars that lie below his celestial horizon because of atmospheric refraction.

Altazimuth coordinate system

2011-02-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

Altazimuth coordinate system (ăltăz`əməth) or horizon coordinate system, astronomical coordinate system in which the position of a body on the celestial sphere is described relative to an observer's celestial horizon and zenith. The coordinates of a body in this system are its altitude and azimuth. Altitude is measured from the celestial horizon along the vertical circle through the body and the zenith of the observer. Azimuth is measured along the celestial horizon from the observer's south point (the point on the horizon directly south of him) to the point where the body's vertical circle intersects the horizon. Because the earth rotates on its axis, the altitude and azimuth of a celestial body are constantly changing.

Astronomical coordinate systems

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A coordinate system is a method of indicating positions. Each coordinate is a quantity measured from some starting point along some line or curve, called a coordinate axis. There are four basic systems of astronomical coordinates: the equatorial coordinate system, the altazimuth coordinate system, the celestial or ecliptic coordinate system, and the galactic coordinate system. These systems are based on three common principles: (1) all stars are considered to be located on the inner surface of the celestial sphere, the imaginary sphere centered on the earth and representing the entire sky; (2) each coordinate axis is a great circle on the celestial sphere; and (3) coordinate measurements of an object to be located are made along two great circles, one a coordinate axis and the other perpendicular to it and passing through the object. Measurements are made either in degrees or in hours.

Equatorial coordinate system

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Equatorial coordinate system, the most commonly used astronomical coordinate system for indicating the positions of stars or other celestial objects on the celestial sphere. The celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere with the observer at its center. It represents the entire sky; all celestial objects other than the earth are imagined as being located on its inside surface. If the earth's axis is extended, the points where it intersects the celestial sphere are called the celestial poles; the north celestial pole is directly above the earth's North Pole, and the south celestial pole directly above the earth's South Pole. The great circle on the celestial sphere halfway between the celestial poles is called the celestial equator; it can be thought of as the earth's equator projected onto the celestial sphere. It divides the celestial sphere into the northern and southern skies. An important reference point on the celestial equator is the vernal equinox, the point at which the sun crosses the celestial equator in March.

To designate the position of a star, the astronomer considers an imaginary great circle passing through the celestial poles and through the star in question. This is the star's hour circle, analogous to a meridian of longitude on earth. The astronomer then measures the angle between the vernal equinox and the point where the hour circle intersects the celestial equator. This angle is called the star's right ascension and is measured in hours, minutes, and seconds rather than in the more familiar degrees, minutes, and seconds. (There are 360 degrees or 24 hours in a full circle.) The right ascension is always measured eastward from the vernal equinox. Next the observer measures along the star's hour circle the angle between the celestial equator and the position of the star. This angle is called the declination of the star and is measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds north or south of the celestial equator, analogous to latitude on the earth. Right ascension and declination together determine the location of a star on the celestial sphere. The right ascensions and declinations of many stars are listed in various reference tables published for astronomers and navigators. Because a star's position may change slightly (see proper motion and precession of the equinoxes), such tables must be revised at regular intervals. By definition, the vernal equinox is located at right ascension 0h and declination 0°.

Another useful reference point is the sigma point, the point where the observer's celestial meridian intersects the celestial equator. The right ascension of the sigma point is equal to the observer's local sidereal time. The angular distance from the sigma point to a star's hour circle is called its hour angle; it is equal to the star's right ascension minus the local sidereal time. Because the vernal equinox is not always visible in the night sky (especially in the spring), whereas the sigma point is always visible, the hour angle is used in actually locating a body in the sky.

Precession of the equinoxes

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Precession of the equinoxes, westward motion of the equinoxes along the ecliptic. This motion was first noted by Hipparchus c.120 B.C. The precession is due to the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun on the equatorial bulge of the earth, which causes the earth's axis to describe a cone in somewhat the same fashion as a spinning top. As a result, the celestial equator (see equatorial coordinate system), which lies in the plane of the earth's equator, moves on the celestial sphere, while the ecliptic, which lies in the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun, is not affected by this motion. The equinoxes, which lie at the intersections of the celestial equator and the ecliptic, thus move on the celestial sphere. Similarly, the celestial poles move in circles on the celestial sphere, so that there is a continual change in the star at or near one of these poles (see Polaris). After a period of about 26,000 years the equinoxes and poles lie once again at nearly the same points on the celestial sphere. Because the gravitational effects of the sun and moon are not always the same, there is some wobble in the motion of the earth's axis; this wobble, called nutation, causes the celestial poles to move, not in perfect circles, but in a series of S-shaped curves with a period of 18.6 years. There is some further precession caused by the gravitational influences of the other planets; this precession affects the earth's orbit around the sun and thus causes a shift of the ecliptic on the celestial sphere. The precession of the earth's orbital plane is sometimes called planetary precession, and that of the earth's equatorial plane (caused by the sun and moon) is called luni-solar precession; the combined effect of the moon, the sun, and the planets is called general precession. Planetary precession is much less than luni-solar precession. The precession of the equinoxes was first explained by Isaac Newton in 1687.

Equinox

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Equinox (ē`kwĭnŏks), either of two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect. The vernal equinox, also known as "the first point of Aries," is the point at which the sun appears to cross the celestial equator from south to north. This occurs about Mar. 21, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. At the autumnal equinox, about Sept. 23, the sun again appears to cross the celestial equator, this time from north to south; this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. On the date of either equinox, night and day are of equal length (12 hr each) in all parts of the world; the word equinox is often used to refer to either of these dates. The equinoxes are not fixed points on the celestial sphere but move westward along the ecliptic, passing through all the constellations of the zodiac in 26,000 years. This motion is called the precession of the equinoxes. The vernal equinox is a reference point in the equatorial coordinate system.

Solstice

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Solstice (sŏl`stĭs) [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). At the solstices the sun's apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator (see equatorial coordinate system), about 23 1-2° of arc. At the time of summer solstice, about June 22, the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer (see tropics). In the Northern Hemisphere the longest day and shortest night of the year occur on this date, marking the beginning of summer. At winter solstice, about Dec. 22, the sun is overhead at noon at the Tropic of Capricorn; this marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. For several days before and after each solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky, i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day.

Tropics

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Tropics, also called tropical zone or torrid zone, all the land and water of the earth situated between the Tropic of Cancer at lat. 23 1-2°N and the Tropic of Capricorn at lat. 23 1-2°S. Every point within the tropics receives the perpendicular rays of the sun at noon on at least one day of the year. The sun is directly overhead at lat. 23 1-2°N on June 21 or 22, the summer solstice, and at lat. 23 1-2°S on Dec. 21 or 22, the winter solstice. Since the entire tropical zone receives the rays of the sun more directly than areas in higher latitudes, the average annual temperature of the tropics is higher and the seasonal change of temperature is less than in other zones. The seasons in the tropics are not marked by temperature but by the combination of trade winds taking water from the oceans and creating seasonal rains called monsoons over the eastern coasts. Several different climatic types can be distinguished within the tropical belt, since latitude is only one of the many factors determining climate in the tropics. Distance from the ocean, prevailing wind conditions, and elevation are all contributing elements. The tropics contain the world's largest regions of tropical rain-forest climate (Amazon and Congo basins). These lush rain-forest regions, whose immense vegetation growth is attributed to monsoon rains, contain some of the most prolific and widely speciated regions on earth for a wide variety of flora and fauna. Toward the northern and southern limits are low-latitude savanna, steppe, and desert climates (with decreasing seasonal rainfall). Tropical highland climates, which have the characteristics of temperate climates, also occur where high mountain ranges lie in the zone. High temperatures and rainfall make rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, bananas, pineapples, oils and nuts, and lumber the leading agricultural exports of the countries in the tropical zone. Progress in tropical medicine, advancing technology, and the pressure of increasing populations have led in recent years to the cultivation and settlement of some rain-forest areas. Such population growth has led to deforestation of the tropical forest, which is thought to contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming, and to the elimination of numerous unique species.

extrasolar planet

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Extrasolar planet (also called exoplanet), planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The existence of extrasolar planets, many light-years from Earth, was confirmed in 1992 with the detection of three bodies circling a pulsar. The first planet revolving around a more sunlike star, 51 Pegasi, was reported in 1995. Over 200 stars with one or more planets are known. Current detection methods, based on the planets' gravitational effects on the stars they orbit, have revealed only planets much more massive than Earth; some are several times the size of Jupiter. A number of them have highly elliptical orbits, and many are closer to their stars than Mercury is to the Sun. These findings have raised questions regarding astronomers' ideas of how Earth's solar system formed and how typical it is.

comet

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Comet, a small celestial body consisting mostly of dust and gases that moves in an elongated elliptical or nearly parabolic orbit around the sun. Comets visible from the earth can be seen for periods ranging from a few days to several months. They were long regarded with awe and even terror and were often taken as omens of unfavorable events.

The Orbits of Comets

Although the occurrence of many comets had been recorded, it was not until 1577 that the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe suggested that they traveled in elongated rather than circular orbits. A century later Giovanni Borelli concluded that the orbits were parabolic and that comets passed through the solar system but once, never to return. In 1705, however, Edmond Halley concluded that the comet observed in 1682 was the same one that had been described in 1531 and 1607, and he predicted that it would return again in late 1758 or early 1759. The comet was sighted on Christmas Day in 1758, and it returned again in 1835, 1910, and 1986 (see Halley's comet). While some comets appear to have parabolic orbits (see parabola), others return to the inner solar system in highly elongated orbits with periods ranging from a hundred to thousands of years. Still others return at shorter intervals of less than 10 years and reach aphelion (the orbital point farthest from the sun) near the planet Jupiter; these have been captured into their smaller orbits by Jupiter's gravitational attraction.

Structure of Comets

A comet far from the sun consists of a dense solid body or conglomerate of bodies a few miles in diameter called the nucleus. As it approaches the sun the nucleus becomes enveloped by a luminous "cloud" of dust and gases called the coma; this luminosity is caused by the molecules absorbing and reflecting the radiation of the sun. According to the icy-conglomerate theory proposed by F. L. Whipple in 1949, the nucleus consists of frozen water and gases with particles of heavier substances interspersed throughout, thus being in effect a large, dirty snowball, although more recent research has suggested that comets may contain a higher proportion of dust and rock than previously proposed. The Stardust probe—passed near Comet Wild 2 in 2004, collected particles from the coma, and returned the samples to earth in 2006—found evidence that many of the dust particles were formed at high temperatures not found in the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt (see below), where comets are believed to have formed. Data from the Deep Impact mission, which sent a projectile crashing into Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, suggests that suggests that the interior structure of comets may consists of layers of accreted material. As the comet approaches the sun, the solar wind drives particles and gases from the near the surface of the nucleus and coma to form a tail which can extend as much as 100 million mi (160 million km) in length. Thus the tail always streams out in the direction opposite the sun; i.e., it follows the head as the comet approaches the sun and precedes it as the comet passes perihelion (its closest point to the sun) and moves away.

Near the sun a comet can change drastically in size and shape; it may even split into two or more pieces, as Comet Biela did in 1846, and Comet West did in 1976. The comas of comets vary widely in size, some being the size of the earth or larger. However, the nucleus, which makes up virtually all a comet's mass, is small; in 1986 the Giotto and Vega spacecrafts observed Comet Halley's nucleus to be only about 6 mi (10 km) in diameter. Comets lose material and thus brightness with successive passages near the sun. Some of this material moves around the comet's orbit as a stream of meteoroids (see meteor); when the earth passes through this path, a meteor shower is observed.

In 1992 the periodic comet Shoemaker Levy 9 made an extremely close passage of Jupiter. The tidal stresses induced by the giant planet's gravity shattered the comet's nucleus, estimated to have been 5–9 km (3–5 mi) in diameter, into more than 20 major fragments, the largest of which was about 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter. Two years later, the returning fragmented comet crashed into Jupiter; observations from both terrestrial observatories and artificial satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope yielded vast amounts of information about the structure of comets and about Jupiter's atmosphere.

In 1996 the Polar satellite discovered a constant rain of small comets impacting the earth. Unlike large comets, whose cores are estimated to be as much as 25 mi (40 km) in diameter, these are only up to 40 ft (12 m) wide. It is estimated that as many as 43,000 reach the earth each day and break up at altitudes of 600–15,000 mi (950–24,000 km). Also in 1996 the ROSAT satellite (see X-ray astronomy) detected X-rays emanating from the Comet Hyakutake. This was completely unexpected, and can be explained by no known mechanism. Observation of more large comets passing through the solar system by orbiting X-ray observatories will be necessary to corroborate this finding.

Pluto

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Pluto, in astronomy, a dwarf planet and the first Kuiper belt, or transneptunian, object (see comet) to be discovered (1930) by astronomers. Pluto has an elliptical orbit usually lying beyond that of Neptune. Although Pluto was long regarded as a planet, since the discovery (beginning in 1992) of other Kuiper belt objects, including one with a diameter larger than that of Pluto, astronomers have recognized the need to reclassify Pluto, and in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) ended official recognition of Pluto as a planet.

Pluto's mean distance from the sun is 3.67 billion mi (5.91 billion km), and its period of revolution is about 248 years. Since Pluto has an orbit that is more elliptical and tilted than those of the planets (eccentricity .250, inclination 17°), at its closest point to the sun it passes inside the orbit of Neptune; between 1979 and 1999 it was closer to the sun than Neptune was. It will remain farther from the sun for 220 years, when it will again pass inside Neptune's orbit. Its surface consists largely of frozen nitrogen. It is thought to have a rocky, silicate core; its thin atmosphere probably contains nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. Its surface temperature is estimated to be about −360°F; (−218°C;), a temperature at which most gases exist in the frozen state.

The existence of an unknown planet beyond the orbit of Neptune was first proposed by Percival Lowell on the basis of observed perturbations of the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. He began searching for such a planet in 1905, although he did not publish his calculations of its predicted position until 1914. Independent calculations were published by W. H. Pickering and others. In 1929, the search for a ninth planet was resumed at Lowell Observatory, and on Feb. 18, 1930, using photographic plates and a blink microscope, Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered an object whose motion was consistent with that of a transneptunian planet.

In 1978, American astronomers James Christy and Robert Harrington discovered the moon Charon, and two smaller, more distant moons, Hydra and Nix, were reported in 2005 by American astronomers Hal Weaver and S. Alan Stern. Pluto's diameter is c.1,400 mi (2,300 km), Charon's is c.748 mi (1,203 km), and the radius of Charon's orbit is 12,200 mi (19,640 km); Charon completes one orbit in about 6.4 earth days. Hydra and Nix have diameters of less than 100 mi (160 km). Pluto and Charon both keep the same side facing one another at all times because they rotate synchronously as Charon orbits Pluto. No spacecraft has yet visited Pluto, and it and its moons are too distant for precise telescopic observation, so little is known for certain about their size, composition, surface, and other aspects.

An increasing number of Kuiper belt objects were discovered after 1992, many astronomers came to believe that Pluto, rather than being a planet, was really an unusually large and close Kuiper belt object. In 1999, however, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reaffirmed that Pluto was a planet because of its size and its satellite, something no other transneptunian object was then known to have, but subsequent discoveries brought Pluto's status into question once again. One Kuiper belt object, now named Eris (and originally nicknamed Xena), whose orbit extends to roughly three times the distance of Pluto's, has an estimated diameter (1,500 mi/2,400 km) slightly larger than that of Pluto and also has a moon. It was the discovery of Eris in particular that ultimately led to Pluto's classification (2006), along with Eris and Ceres, as a dwarf planet.

Neptune

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Neptune, in astronomy, 8th planet from the sun at a mean distance of about 2.8 billion mi (4.5 billion km) with an orbit lying between those of Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto; its period of revolution is about 165 years. (Pluto has such a highly elliptical orbit that from 1979 to 1999 it was closer to the sun than Neptune; it will remain farther from the sun for 220 years, when it will again pass inside Neptune's orbit.) Neptune was discovered as the result of observed irregularities in the motion of Uranus and was the first planet to be discovered on the basis of theoretical calculations. J. C. Adams of Britain and U. J. Leverrier of France independently predicted the position of Neptune, and it was discovered by J. C. Galle in 1846, the day after he received Leverrier's prediction. Neptune has an equatorial diameter of about 30,700 mi (49,400 km), nearly four times that of the earth, and a mass about 17 times the earth's mass. It is much like Uranus and the other giant planets, with a thick atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia, a relatively low density, and a rapid period of rotation. On Aug. 24–25, 1989, the U.S. spacecraft Voyager 2 observed Neptune and its moons. It discovered that Neptune's atmosphere has zones like Jupiter's as well as giant storm systems as dark spots on its surface. Although Neptune receives a much smaller fraction of the sun's radiation than does Uranus, its surface temperature is similar: −350°F; (−212°C;).This may indicate a possible internal heat source. Neptune's largest moon, Triton, was discovered in 1846, a month after the discovery of the planet itself. Triton has a diameter of about 1,700 mi (2,700 km), and its motion is retrograde (see retrograde motion), i.e., opposite to that of the planet's rotation. Its surface temperature is −400°F; (−240°C;), making it one of the coldest objects in the solar system. Nereid, discovered in 1949, has a diameter of about 210 mi (338 km), is very faint, and has a highly elliptic orbit; it may be of asteroid origin.Voyager discovered six smaller dark moons orbiting between the planet and Triton: Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, and Proteus—all irregularly shaped, ranging from 35 to 260 mi (58–418 km) in diameter. Since Neptune was named for the Roman god of the sea, its moons were named for various lesser sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology. Five additional moons, as yet unnamed, were discovered using earth-based telescopes in 2002 and 2003. Voyager also found a faint ring system with three bands. These are named Adams, Leverrier, and Galle in honor of the planet's discoverers. Composed of small rocks and dust, the rings are not uniform in thickness or density. Adams, the outermost, contains three prominent arcs named Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.

Uranus

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Uranus, in astronomy, 7th planet from the sun, at a mean distance of 1.78 billion mi (2.87 billion km), with an orbit lying between those of Saturn and Neptune; its period of revolution is slightly more than 84 years. The first planet discovered in modern times with the aid of a telescope, Uranus was detected in 1781 by Sir William Herschel, who originally thought it to be a comet. Because the calculated orbit of Uranus did not compare accurately with the observed orbit, astronomers concluded that a disturbing influence was present. A study of this irregularity led to the discovery of Neptune in 1846. Uranus has a diameter of c.31,760 mi (46,700 km), roughly 4 times that of the earth, and a mass of about 15 times that of the earth. Like the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus has a thick atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and methane; a relatively low density; and a rapid period of rotation of about 17.9 hr, which causes a polar flattening of over 6%. However, its axis of rotation is tilted 98° to the plane of its orbit. The Voyager 2 space probe found that Uranus has the most inclined magnetic field in the solar system, and some astronomers interpret this as evidence that the magnetic field is reversing its polarity. Viewed through a telescope, Uranus appears as a greenish disk, slightly elliptical because of its rapid rotation. Its temperature is estimated to be about −330°F; (−200°C;), and at this temperature ammonia, the main constituent of the visible cloud cover, would exist in the form of ice crystals. Uranus has 27 known natural satellites with diameters ranging in size from 7 mi (11 km) to 986 mi (1,578 km).

Prior to 1986, only five of Uranus's natural satellites were known: Titania, the largest, and Oberon were discovered by Herschel in 1787; Ariel and Umbriel, by William Lassell in 1851; and Miranda, by Gerard Kuiper in 1948. WhenVoyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it discovered 10 more natural satellites—Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, and Puck—and confirmed the existence of 11 rings. Two additional satellites, Caliban and Sycorax, were discovered in 1997, and three more, Prospero, Setebos, and Stephano, were found in 1999. Trinculo, a small irregular satellite, was discovered in 2002; eight other small satellites are also irregular, that is, their motion around Uranus is retrograde (motion opposite to that of the planet's rotation). The moons of Uranus are named after characters found in the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

Titania along with Oberon and Umbriel appear geologically to be relatively quiet. Ariel has surface features that indicate past seismic activity. Miranda shows the most dramatic surface of all, with fracture patterns and sudden landscape changes that indicate that the moon fell apart and then reassembled after a collision in its early history. In 1977, during an occultation by Uranus of a star, astronomers detected a system of nine narrow rings of small, dark particles orbiting around the planet; two more rings, many tiny ringlets, and arcs of rings were later found byVoyager 2. Uranus's rings are distinctly different from those of Jupiter and Saturn. For example, Saturn's rings are very bright and easily seen but Uranus's are very dark, with only 5% of the sunlight being reflected back. Uranus's rings also are very narrow and flat. The widest part of Uranus's outermost ring, the epsilon ring, is 60 mi (97 km) across. The others are only 1 to 2 mi (1.5–3.2 km) wide and barely half a mile (0.8 km) deep.

Saturn

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Saturn, in astronomy, 6th planet from the sun.

Astronomical and Physical Characteristics of Saturn

Saturn's orbit lies between those of Jupiter and Uranus; its mean distance from the sun is c.886 million mi (1.43 billion km), almost twice that of Jupiter, and its period of revolution is about 29 1-2 years. Saturn appears in the sky as a yellow, starlike object of the first magnitude. When viewed through a telescope, it is seen as a golden sphere, crossed by a series of lightly colored bands parallel to the equator.

Saturn, like the other Jovian planets (Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune), is covered with a thick atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, with some methane and ammonia; its temperature is believed to be about −270°F; (−168°C;), suggesting that the ammonia is in the form of ice crystals that constitute the clouds. Like Jupiter's interior, Saturn's consists of a rocky core, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, and a molecular hydrogen layer. Traces of various ices have also been detected. The wind blows at high speeds—reaching velocities of 1,100 mph (1,770 kph)—across Saturn. The strongest winds are found near the equator and blow mostly in an easterly direction. At higher latitudes, the velocity decreases uniformly and the winds counterflow east and west. Because no permanent markings on the planet are visible, the planet's exact period of rotation has not been determined. However, the period of each atmospheric band varies from 10 hr 14 min at the equator to about 10 hr 38 min at higher latitudes. This rapid rotation causes the largest polar flattening among the planets (over 10%). Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system; its equatorial diameter is c.75,000 mi (120,000 km), and its volume is more than 700 times the volume of the earth. Its mass is about 95 times that of the earth, making Saturn the only planet in the solar system with a density less than that of water. Saturn has been encountered by four space probe missions: Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 (1980), Voyager 2 (1981), and Cassini and Huygens (2004). Among the discoveries made by the Voyager probes was a magnetosphere (a region of charged particles consisting primarily of electrons, protons, and heavy ions captured partly from the atmosphere of the satellite Titan) that encloses 13 of Saturn's satellites and its ring system. Huygens landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005 and returned photographs of its surface.

The Ring System

Saturn's most remarkable feature is the system of thin, concentric rings lying in the plane of its equator. Although first observed by Galileo in 1610, it was not until 1656 that the rings were correctly interpreted by Christiaan Huygens, who did not reveal his findings about their phases and changes in shape until his treatise Systema Saturnium was published in 1659. Saturn's rings were believed to be unique until 1977, when very faint rings were found around Uranus; shortly thereafter faint rings were also detected around Jupiter and Neptune.

Although the ring system is almost 167,770 mi (270,000 km) in diameter, it is only some 330 ft (100 m) thick. From earth, this system appears to consist mainly of two bright outer rings, denoted A and B, separated by a dark rift—discovered by the Italian-French astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini—known as Cassini's division, plus a third, faint inner crepe ring (denoted C). The Encke Division, or Encke Gap, which splits the A ring, is named after the German astronomer Johann Franz Encke, who discovered it in 1837. Pictures from the Voyager probes show four additional rings. The exceedingly faint D ring lies closest to the planet. The faint F Ring is a narrow feature just outside the A Ring. Beyond that are two far fainter rings named G and E. In 1859 the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell showed that the rings must consist of countless tiny particles each orbiting the planet in accordance with the laws of gravitation. When edgewise to the earth the rings appear as a nearly imperceptible ribbon of light across the planet; this occurs twice during the 29 1-2-year period of revolution. Twice during each orbit the rings reach a maximum inclination to the line of sight, once when they are visible from above and once when visible from below.

Jupiter

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Jupiter, in astronomy, 5th planet from the sun and largest planet of the solar system.

Astronomical and Physical Characteristics

Jupiter's orbit lies beyond the asteroid belt at a mean distance of 483.6 million mi (778.3 million km) from the sun; its period of revolution is 11.86 years. In order from the sun it is the first of the Jovian planets—Jupiter, Saturn,Uranus, and Neptune—very large, massive planets of relatively low density, having rapid rotation and a thick, opaque atmosphere. Jupiter has a diameter of 88,815 mi (142,984 km), more than 11 times that of the earth. Its mass is 318 times that of the earth and about 2 1-2 times the mass of all other planets combined.

The atmosphere of Jupiter is composed mainly of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia. However, the concentration of nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, argon, xenon, and krypton—as measured by an instrument package dropped by the space probe Galileo during its 1995 flyby of the planet—is more than twice what was expected, raising questions about the accepted theory of Jupiter's formation. The atmosphere appears to be divided into a number of light and dark bands parallel to its equator and shows a range of complex features, including a storm called the Great Red Spot. Located in the southern hemisphere and varying from c.15,600 to 25,000 mi (25,000 to 40,000 km) in one direction and 7,500 to 10,000 mi (12,000 to 16,000 km) in the other, the storm rotates counterclockwise and has been observed ever since 1664, when Robert Hooke first noted it. Also in the southern hemisphere is the Little Red Spot, c.8,000 mi (13,000 km) across. It formed from three white-colored storms that developed in the 1940s, merged in 1998–2000, and became clearly red by 2006. Analysis of the data obtained when massive pieces of the comet Shoemaker Levy 9 plunged into Jupiter in 1994 has extended our knowledge of the Jovian atmosphere.

Jupiter has no solid rock surface. One theory pictures a gradual transition from the outer ammonia clouds to a thick layer of frozen gases and finally to a liquid or solid hydrogen mantle. Beneath that Jupiter probably has a core of rocky material with a mass 10–15 times that of the earth. The spot and other markings of the atmosphere also provide evidence for Jupiter's rapid rotation, which has a period of about 9 hr 55 min. This rotation causes a polar flattening of over 6%. The temperature ranges from about −190°F; (−124°C;) for the visible surface of the atmosphere, to 9°F; (−13°C;) at lower cloud levels; localized regions reach as high as 40°F; (4°C;) at still lower cloud levels near the equator. Jupiter radiates about four times as much heat energy as it receives from the sun, suggesting an internal heat source. This energy is thought to be due in part to a slow contraction of the planet. Jupiter is also characterized by intense nonthermal radio emission; in the 15-m range it is the strongest radio source in the sky. Jupiter has a huge asymetrical magnetic field, extending past the orbit of Saturn in one direction but far less in the direction of the sun. This magnetosphere traps high levels of energetic particles far more intense than those found within earth's Van Allen radiation belts. Six space probes have encountered the Jovian system: Pioneers 10 and 11 (1973 and 1974), Voyagers 1 and 2 (both 1979), Ulysses (1992), and Galileo(1995–2003).

Mars

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Mars, in astronomy, 4th planet from the sun, with an orbit next in order beyond that of the earth.

Physical Characteristics

Mars has a striking red appearance, and in its most favorable position for viewing, when it is opposite the sun, it is twice as bright as Sirius, the brightest star. Mars has a diameter of 4,200 mi (6,800 km), just over half the diameter of the earth, and its mass is only 11% of the earth's mass. The planet has a very thin atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide, with some nitrogen and argon. Mars has an extreme day-to-night temperature range, resulting from its thin atmosphere, from about 80°F; (27°C;) at noon to about −100°F; (−73°C;) at midnight; however, the high daytime temperatures are confined to less than 3 ft (1 m) above the surface.

Surface Features

A network of linelike markings first studied in detail (1877) by G. V. Schiaparelli was referred to by him as canali, the Italian word meaning "channels" or "grooves." Percival Lowell, then a leading authority on Mars, created a long-lasting controversy by accepting these "canals" to be the work of intelligent beings. Under the best viewing conditions, however, these features are seen to be smaller, unconnected features. The greater part of the surface area of Mars appears to be a vast desert, dull red or orange in color. This color may be due to various oxides in the surface composition, particularly those of iron. About one fourth to one third of the surface is composed of darker areas whose nature is still uncertain. Shortly after its perihelion Mars has planetwide dust storms that can obscure all its surface details.

space-time

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Space-time, central concept in the theory of relativity that replaces the earlier concepts of space and time as separate absolute entities. In relativity one cannot uniquely distinguish space and time as elements in descriptions of events. Space and time are joined together in an intimate combination in which time becomes the "fourth dimension." The mathematical formulation of the theory by H. Lorentz (see Lorentz contraction) preceded the interpretation by A. Einstein that space and time are not absolute. The abstract description of space-time was made by H. Minkowski. In space-time, events in the universe are described in terms of a four-dimensional continuum in which each observer locates an event by three spacelike coordinates (position) and one timelike coordinate. The choice of the timelike coordinate in space-time is not unique; hence, time is not absolute but is relative to the observer. A striking consequence is that simultaneity is no longer an intrinsic relation between two events; it exists only as a relation between two events and a particular observer. In general, events at different locations that are simultaneous for one observer will not be simultaneous for another observer. Other relativistic effects, such as the Lorentz contraction and time dilation, are due to the structure of space-time.

calendar

2011-02-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

Calendar [Lat., from Kalends], system of reckoning time for the practical purpose of recording past events and calculating dates for future plans. The calendar is based on noting ordinary and easily observable natural events, the cycle of the sun through the seasons with equinox and solstice, and the recurrent phases of the moon.

Measures of Time

The earth completes its orbit about the sun in 365 days 5 hr 48 min 46 sec—the length of the solar year. The moon passes through its phases in about 29 1-2 days; therefore, 12 lunar months (called a lunar year) amount to more than 354 days 8 hr 48 min. The discrepancy between the years is inescapable, and one of the major problems since early days has been to reconcile and harmonize solar and lunar reckonings. Some peoples have simply recorded time by the lunar cycle, but, as skill in calculation developed, the prevailing calculations generally came to depend upon a combination.

The fact that months and years cannot be divided exactly by days and that the years cannot be easily divided into months has led to the device of intercalation (i.e., the insertion of extra days or months into a calendar to make it more accurate). The simplest form of this is shown in ancient calendars which have series of months alternating between 30 and 29 days, thus arriving at mean months of 29 1-2 days each. Similarly four years of about 365 1-4 days each can be approximated by taking three years of 365 days and a fourth year of 366. This fourth year with its intercalary day is the leap year. If calculations are by the lunar cycle, the surplus of the solar over the lunar year (365 over 354) can be somewhat rectified by adding an intercalary month of 33 days every three years.

Reckoning of day and year was considered necessary by many ancient peoples to determine sacred days, to arrange plans for the future, and to keep some intelligible record of the past. There were, therefore, various efforts to reconcile the count in solar, lunar, and semilunar calendars, from the Egyptians and the Greeks to the Chinese and the Maya. The prevailing modern method of constructing a calendar in the Christian West came originally from the Egyptians, who worked out a formula for the solar year (12 months of 30 days each, five extra days a year, and an extra day every four years) that was to be adopted later by the Romans.

ephemeris time

2011-02-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ephemeris time (ET), astronomical time defined by the orbital motions of the earth, moon, and planets. The earth does not rotate with uniform speed, so the solar day is an imprecise unit of time. Ephemeris time is calculated from the positions of the sun and moon relative to the earth, assuming that Newton's laws are perfectly obeyed. It is used to calculate the future positions of the sun and the planets. By convention, the standard seasonal year is taken to be A.D. 1900 and to contain 31,556,925.9747 sec of ephemeris time. In 1984 ephemeris time was renamed terrestrial dynamical time (TDT or TT); also created was barycentric dynamical time (TDB), which is based on the orbital motion of the sun, moon, and planets. For most purposes they can be considered identical, since they differ by only milliseconds, and often therefore are referred to simply as dynamical time.

daylight saving time

2011-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Daylight saving time (DST), time observed when clocks and other timepieces are set ahead so that the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by civil time. The amount of daylight on a given day of the year at a given latitude is fixed, but over the year the hours of sunrise and sunset vary from day to day. During the summer months, the sun rises earlier and sets later and there are more hours of daylight. If clocks and other timepieces are set ahead in the spring by some amount (usually one hour), the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by those clocks. This provides more usable hours of daylight for activities that occur in the afternoon and evening, such as outdoor recreation. Daylight saving time can also be a means of conserving electrical and other forms of energy. In the fall, as the period of daylight grows shorter, clocks are set back to correspond to standard time.

Benjamin Franklin, when serving as U.S. minister to France, wrote an article recommending earlier opening and closing of shops to save the cost of lighting. In England, William Willett in 1907 began to urge the adoption of daylight saving time. During World War I the plan was adopted in England, Germany, France, and many other countries. In the United States, Robert Garland of Pittsburgh was a leading influence in securing the introduction and passage of a law (signed by President Wilson on Mar. 31, 1918) establishing daylight saving time in the United States. After World War I the law was repealed (1919). In World War II, however, national daylight saving time was reestablished by law on a year-round basis. National year-round daylight saving time was adopted as a fuel-saving measure during the energy crisis of the winter of 1973–74. In late 1974, standard time was reinstituted for the winter period. In 1987 federal legislation fixed the period of daylight saving time in the United States as the first Sunday (previously the last Sunday) in April to the last Sunday in October; it was expanded in 2005 (effective 2007) to extend from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Arizona and Hawaii do not use daylight saving time.

standard time

2011-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

Standard time, civil time used within a given time zone. The earth is divided into 24 time zones, each of which is about 15° of longitude wide and corresponds to one hour of time. Within a zone all civil clocks are set to the same local solar time. Adjacent zones typically differ by a whole hour, although there are instances, such as in Newfoundland and South Australia, of half-hour zones. Standard time is based on universal time. Standard time was largely the creation of the Canadian railway engineer Sir Sandford Fleming (1827–1915). Its establishment in the United States was mainly due to the efforts of the educator Charles Dowd and William Allen, secretary of the American Railroad Association. Standard time officially came into existence after a 19-nation White House meeting in 1884, with the prime meridian established at Greenwich, England. In the United States, time zones are regulated by the Dept. of Transportation.

Space exploration: Chinese Space Program

2011-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

China launched its first satellite in 1970 and then began the Shuguang program to put an astronaut into space, but the program was twice halted, ending in 1980. In the 1990s, however, China began a new program, and launched the crewless Shenzhou 1, based on the Soyuz, in 1999. The Shenzhou, like the Soyuz, is capable of carrying a crew of three. In Oct., 2003, Shenzhou 5 carried a single astronaut, Yang Liwei, on a 21-hr, 14-orbit flight, making China only the third nation to place a person in orbit. A second mission, involving two astronauts, occurred in Oct., 2005.

Space exploration: The Space Shuttle

2011-02-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

After the Skylab space station fell out of orbit in 1979, the United States did not resume sending astronauts into space until 1981, when the space shuttle, capable of ferrying people and equipment into orbit and back to earth, was launched. The shuttle itself is a hypersonic delta-wing airplane about the size of a DC-9. Takeoff is powered by three liquid-fuel engines fed from an external tank and two solid-fuel engines; the last are recovered by parachute. The shuttle itself returns to earth in a controlled glide, landing either in California or in Florida.

The shuttle can put a payload of 20 tons (18,000 kg) in earth orbit below 600 mi (970 km); the payload is then boosted into final orbit by its own attached rocket. The Galileo probe, designed to investigate Jupiter's upper atmosphere, was launched from the space shuttle. Astronauts have also used the shuttle to retrieve and repair satellites, to experiment with construction techniques needed for a permanent space station, and to conduct scientific experiments during extended periods in space.

At first it was hoped that shuttle flights could operate on a monthly basis, but schedule pressures contributed to the explosion of the Challenger shuttle in 1986, when cold launch conditions led to the failure of a rubber O-ring, and the resulting flame ruptured the main fuel tank. The shuttle program was suspended for three years, while the entire system was redesigned. A second accident occurred in 2003, when Columbia was lost during reentry because damaged heat shielding on the left wing, which had been damaged by insulation shed from the external fuel tank, failed to prevent superheated gas from entering the wing; the hot gas structurally weakened the wing and caused the shuttle to break up. Prior to the Columbia disaster, the shuttle fleet operated on approximately a bimonthly schedule. Shuttle flights resumed in July, 2005, but new problems with fuel tank insulation led NASA to suspend shuttle launches for a year. In 2004, President George W. Bush called for a return to the moon by 2020 and the establishment of a base there that would be used to support the human exploration of Mars. The following year NASA unveiled a $104 billion plan for a lunar expedition that resembled that Apollo program in many respects, except that two rockets would be used to launch the crew and lunar lander separately.

In June, 2004, SpaceShipOne, a privately financed spacecraft utilizing a reusable vehicle somewhat similar in concept to the shuttle, was launched into suborbital flight from the Mojave Desert in California. Unlike the shuttle, SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by a reusable jet mothership (White Knight) to 46,000 ft (13.8 km), where it is released and fires its rocket engine. The spacecraft was designed by Bert Rutan and built by his company, Scaled Composites. The vehicle's 90-minute flight was the first successful nongovernmental spaceflight.

Space exploration: Space Stations

2011-02-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

After the geophysical exploration of the moon via the Apollo program was completed, the United States continued human space exploration with Skylab, an earth-orbiting space station that served as workshop and living quarters for three astronauts. The main capsule was launched by a booster; the crews arrived later in an Apollo-type craft that docked to the main capsule. Skylab had an operational lifetime of eight months, during which three three-astronaut crews remained in the space station for periods of about one month, two months, and three months. The first crew reached Skylab in May, 1972.

Skylab's scientific mission alternated between predominantly solar astrophysical research and study of the earth's natural resources; in addition, the crews evaluated their response to prolonged conditions of weightlessness. The solar observatory contained eight high-resolution telescopes, each designed to study a different part of the spectrum (e.g., visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, or infrared light). Particular attention was given to the study of solar flares (see sun). The earth applications, which involved remote sensing of natural resources, relied on visible and infrared light in a technique called multispectral scanning (see space science). The data collected helped scientists to forecast crop and timber yields, locate potentially productive land, detect insect infestation, map deserts, measure snow and ice cover, locate mineral deposits, trace marine and wildlife migrations, and detect the dispersal patterns of air and water pollution. In addition, radar studies yielded information about the surface roughness and electrical properties of the sea on a global basis. Skylab fell out of orbit in July, 1979; despite diligent efforts, several large pieces of debris fell on land.

After that time the only continuing presence of humans in earth orbit were the Soviet Salyut and Mir space stations, in which cosmonauts worked for periods ranging to more than 14 months. In addition to conducting remote sensing and gathering medical data, cosmonauts used their microgravity environment to produce electronic and medical artifacts impossible to create on earth. In preparation for the International Space Station (ISS)—a cooperative program of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and the ESA—astronauts and cosmonauts from Afghanistan, Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Syria, and the United States worked on Mir alongside their Russian counterparts. Assembly of the ISS began in Dec., 1998, with the linking of an American and a Russian module (see space station) Once the ISS was manned in 2000, maintaining Mir in orbit was no longer necessary and it was made to decay out of orbit in Mar., 2001.

Space exploration: Soyuz Program

2011-02-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Until late 1969 it appeared that the USSR was also working toward landing cosmonauts on the moon. In Nov., 1968, a Soviet cosmonaut in Soyuz 3 participated in an automated rendezvous and manual approach sequence with the crewless Soyuz 2. Soyuz 4 and 5 docked in space in Jan., 1969, and two cosmonauts transferred from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4; it was the first transfer of crew members in space from separately launched vehicles. But in July, 1969, the rocket that was to power the lunar mission exploded, destroying an entire launch complex, and the USSR abandoned the goal of human lunar exploration to concentrate on orbital flights. The program suffered a further setback in June, 1971, when Soyuz 11 accidentally depressurized during reentry, killing all three cosmonauts. In July, 1975, the United States and the USSR carried out the first internationally crewed spaceflight, when an Apollo and a Soyuz spacecraft docked while in earth orbit. Later Soyuz spacecraft have been used to ferry cosmonauts to and from Salyut and Mir.

Space exploration: Apollo Program

2011-02-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

In 1961, President Kennedy had committed the United States to the goal of landing astronauts on the moon and bringing them safely back to earth by the end of the decade. The resulting Apollo program was the largest scientific and technological undertaking in history. Apollo 8 was the first craft to orbit both the earth and the moon (Dec., 1968); on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. ("Buzz") Aldrin, Jr., stepped out onto the moon, while a third astronaut, Michael Collins, orbited the moon in the command ship. In all, there were 17 Apollo missions and 6 lunar landings (1969–72). Apollo 15 marked the first use of the Lunar Rover, a jeeplike vehicle. The scientific mission of Apollo centered around an automated geophysical laboratory, ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experimental Package). Much was learned about the physical constitution and early history of the moon, including information about magnetic fields, heat flow, volcanism, and seismic activity. The total lunar rock sample returned to earth weighed nearly 900 lb (400 kg).

Apollo moon flights were launched by the three-stage Saturn V rocket, which developed 7.5 million lb (3.4 million kg) of thrust at liftoff. At launch, the total assembly stood 363 ft (110 m) high and weighed more than 3,000 tons. The Apollo spacecraft itself weighed 44 tons and stood nearly 60 ft (20 m) high. It was composed of three sections: the command, service, and lunar modules. In earth orbit, the lunar module (LM) was freed from its protective compartment and docked to the nose of the command module. Once in lunar orbit, two astronauts transferred to the LM, which then detached from the command module and descended to the lunar surface. After lunar exploration, the descent stage of the LM remained on the moon, while the ascent stage was jettisoned after returning the astronauts to the command module. The service module was jettisoned just before reentering the earth's atmosphere. Thus, of the huge craft that left the earth, only the cone-shaped command module returned.

Human Space Exploration

2011-02-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

Human spaceflight has progressed from the simple to the complex, starting with suborbital flights; subsequent highlights included the launching of a single astronaut in orbit, the launching of several astronauts in a single capsule, the rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft, the attainment of lunar orbit, and the televised landing of an astronaut on the moon. The first person in earth orbit was a Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, in Vostok 1 on Apr. 12, 1961. The American Mercury program had its first orbital success in Feb., 1962, when John Glenn circled the earth three times; a flight of 22 orbits was achieved by Mercury in May, 1963. In Oct., 1964, three Soviet cosmonauts were launched in a Voskhod spacecraft. During the second Voskhod flight in Mar., 1965, a cosmonaut left the capsule to make the first "walk in space."

The first launch of the Gemini program, carrying two American astronauts, occurred a few days after the Soviet spacewalk. The United States made its first spacewalk during Gemini 4, and subsequent flights established techniques for rendezvous and docking in space. The first actual docking of two craft in space was achieved in Mar., 1966, when Gemini 8 docked with a crewless vehicle. In Oct., 1967, two Soviet Cosmos spacecraft performed the first automatic crewless rendezvous and docking. Gemini and Voskhod were followed by the American Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz programs, respectively.

Space exploration: Lunar Probes

2011-02-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

In the decade following Sputnik I, the United States and the USSR between them launched about 50 space probes to explore the moon. The first probes were intended either to pass very close to the moon (flyby) or to crash into it (hard landing). Later probes made soft landings with instruments intact and achieved stable orbits around the moon. Each of these four objectives required increasingly greater rocket power and more precise maneuvering; successive launches in the Soviet Luna series were the first to accomplish each objective. Luna 2 made a hard lunar landing in Sept., 1959, and Luna 3 took pictures of the moon's far side as the probe flew by in Nov., 1959. Luna 9 soft-landed in Feb., 1966, and Luna 10 orbited the moon in Apr., 1966; both sent back many television pictures to earth. In addition to the 24 lunar probes in the Luna program, the Soviets also launched five circumlunar probes in its Zond program.

Early American successes generally lagged behind Soviet accomplishments by several months but provided more detailed scientific information. The U.S. program did not bear fruit until 1964, when Rangers 7, 8, and 9 transmitted thousands of pictures, many taken at altitudes of less than 1 mi (1.6 km) just before impact and showing craters only a few feet in diameter. Two years later, the Surveyor series began a program of soft landings on the moon. Surveyor 1 touched down in June, 1966; in addition to television cameras, it carried instruments to measure soil strength and composition. The Surveyor program established that the moon's surface was solid enough to support a spacecraft carrying astronauts.

In Aug., 1966, the United States successfully launched the first Lunar Orbiter, which took pictures of both sides of the moon as well as the first pictures of the earth from the moon's vicinity. The Orbiter's primary mission was to locate suitable landing sites for the Apollo Lunar Module, but in the process it also discovered the lunar mascons, regions of large concentration of mass on the moon's surface. Between May, 1966, and Nov., 1968, the United States launched seven Surveyors and five Lunar Orbiters. Clementine, launched in 1994, engaged in a systematic mapping of the lunar surface. In 1998, Lunar Prospector orbited the moon in a low polar orbit investigating possible polar ice deposits, but a controlled crash near the south pole detected no water.

space exploration

2011-02-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

Space exploration, the investigation of physical conditions in space and on stars, planets, and other celestial bodies through the use of artificial satellites (spacecraft that orbit the earth), space probes (spacecraft that pass through the solar system and that may or may not orbit another celestial body), and spacecraft with human crews.

Satellites and Probes

Although studies from earth using optical and radio telescopes had accumulated much data on the nature of celestial bodies, it was not until after World War II that the development of powerful rockets made direct space exploration a technological possibility. The first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched by the USSR (now Russia) on Oct. 4, 1957, and spurred the dormant U.S. program into action, leading to an international competition popularly known as the "space race." Explorer I, the first American satellite, was launched on Jan. 31, 1958. Although earth-orbiting satellites have by far accounted for the great majority of launches in the space program, even more information on the moon, other planets, and the sun has been acquired by space probes.

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biological rhythm

2011-02-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Biological rhythm, periodic biological fluctuation in an organism corresponding to and in response to periodic environmental change, such as day and night or high and low tide. The internal mechanism that maintains this rhythm even without the apparent environmental stimulus is a “biological clock.” When the rhythm is interrupted, the clock's adjustment is delayed, accounting for such phenomena as jet lag when traveling across time zones. Rhythms may have 24-hour (circadian rhythm), monthly, or annual cycles. See also photoperiodism.

Halley's comet

2011-02-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

Halley's comet or Comet Halley, periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607. Halley did not live to see its return in 1758, close to the time he predicted. It reappeared in 1835 when it was carefully recorded by visual observers, and in 1910, when its long tail and outbursts of dust jets were observed photographically. For its most recent return in 1985 and 1986, astronomers observed it from the ground and from space. A massive observing effort (1982–89) including visual observations, photography, and studies of the area around the nucleus, was coordinated by the International Halley Watch. Japan, the European Space Agency, and the USSR sent spacecraft to study the comet; the Vega and Giotto probes revealed a darker-than-expected nucleus 8 km (5 mi) wide and 15 km (9 mi) long, and shaped like a potato.

stellar structure

2011-02-16T00:51:00.000-08:00

Stellar structure, physical properties of a star and the processes taking place within it. Except for that of the sun, astronomers must draw their conclusions regarding stellar structure on the basis of light and other radiation from stars that are light-years away; this light enables them to observe only the stars' surfaces. Knowledge of the processes taking place in a star and of conditions within its interior must be inferred from the laws of physics and chemistry. A star is a nearly spherical body of incandescent gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. Because it is observed to be stable, astronomers can conclude that the inward pressure of gravitation holding the star together is balanced by the outward pressure due to the energy generated by the star, and that the rate at which energy is radiated away from the star's surface is equal to the rate at which it is produced in the interior. The most important properties of a star are its size, mass, luminosity, chemical composition, and the temperature, pressure, and density at all distances from its center to its surface. These last three properties are related by the gas laws; their values decrease with distance from the star's center. Stars vary widely in size and luminosity but have masses only within the range from about 0.08 to 100 times the mass of the sun, with few exceptions; less massive bodies cannot support the energy-producing processes of a star, while more massive bodies are generally unstable. An ordinary star has a surface temperature of thousands of degrees, implying central temperatures of millions of degrees. The central pressure and density are also extremely high, but the temperature is such that the material will still remain in the gaseous state. At these temperatures, energy is produced by thermonuclear fusion (see nuclear energy), in which two or more nuclei are fused to form a single heavier nucleus. As such fusion processes proceed within the star, its chemical composition necessarily changes, with heavier elements increasing at the expense of lighter elements (see nucleosynthesis). The mass and chemical composition of the star together determine all of its other properties, e.g., size, luminosity, and temperature. Astronomers can determine the temperature and chemical composition of the star's surface from analysis of the spectrum of light from the star. Such a spectrum consists of a continuous black body spectrum produced by complex conditions within the star superimposed on which is a series of dark lines due to absorption of energy by the cooler stellar atmosphere. From such observations much is learned about the other properties and conditions within the star and thus about its stage of stellar evolution.

stellar evolution

2011-02-16T00:46:00.000-08:00

Stellar evolution, life history of a star, beginning with its condensation out of the interstellar gas (see interstellar matter) and ending, sometimes catastrophically, when the star has exhausted its nuclear fuel or can no longer adjust itself to a stable configuration. Because a star's total energy reserve is finite, a star shining today cannot continue to produce its present luminosity steadily into the indefinite future, nor can it have done so from the indefinite past. Thus, stellar evolution is a necessary consequence of the physical theory of stellar structure, which requires that the luminosity, temperature, and size of a star must change as its chemical composition changes because of thermonuclear reactions.

neutron star

2011-02-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

Neutron star, extremely small, extremely dense star, about double the sun's mass but only a few kilometers in radius, in the final stage of stellar evolution. Astronomers Baade and Zwicky predicted the existence of neutron stars in 1933. In the central core of a neutron star there are no stable atoms or nuclei; only elementary particles can survive the extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. Surrounding the core is a fluid composed primarily of neutrons squeezed in close contact. The fluid is encased in a rigid crystalline crust a few hundred meters thick. The outer gaseous atmosphere is probably only a few centimeters thick. The neutron star resembles a single giant nucleus because the density everywhere except in the outer shell is as high as the density in the nuclei of ordinary matter. There is observational evidence of the existence of several classes of neutron stars: pulsars are periodic sources of radio frequency, X ray, or gamma ray radiation that fluctuate in intensity and are considered to be rotating neutron stars. A neutron star may also be the smaller of the two components in an X-ray binary star.

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

2011-02-16T00:15:00.000-08:00

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had various names; the configuration of the seven brightest stars has been called the Bear, Septentriones (the seven plowing oxen), the Plow, Charles's Wain, and the Wagon. Ursa Minor was once known as Cynosura (from the Greek for "dog's tail"). In the United States part of Ursa Major is called the Big Dipper (or the Drinking Gourd) and part of Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper. Four of the seven bright stars in the Big Dipper form the bowl and three the handle; five of these stars are of second magnitude. The middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper is Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris). A fainter star, Alcor, which appears to be near Mizar, was observed from ancient times. These two stars are sometimes called a double star, but since they do not revolve around a common center of gravity they are not true doubles. Mizar itself is, however, a visual binary star and was the first to be recognized as such—by G. B. Riccioli in 1650. It was also the first spectroscopic binary to be discovered; this observation resulted from studies of the spectrum of the brighter component of Mizar, which revealed it as a binary consisting of a pair of stars of almost equal brightness. The two end stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper are known as the Pointers. A line extending through them to about five times the distance between them leads to the polestar (Polaris, or the North Star). Polaris is at the extreme end of the Little Dipper. Including Polaris there are three stars in the handle of the Little Dipper and four forming the bowl. The handles of the two Dippers extend in opposite directions, and when one bowl is upright the other is inverted. Ursa Major reaches its highest point in the evening sky in April and Ursa Minor its highest point in June. However, for observers in the middle and northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere both constellations are circumpolar and thus are visible throughout the year.

Polaris

2011-02-16T00:12:00.000-08:00

Polaris or North Star, star nearest the north celestial pole (see equatorial coordinate system). It is in the constellation Ursa Minor (see Ursa Major and Ursa Minor; Bayer designation Alpha Ursae Minoris) and marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Polaris's location less than 1° from the pole (1992 position R.A. 2h23.3m, Dec. +89°14') makes it a very important navigational star even though it is only of second magnitude; it always marks due north from an observer. Polaris can be located by following the line upward from the two stars (the Pointers) at the right end of the bowl of the Big Dipper or, if the Big Dipper is not visible, by following the line through the left side of the square in Pegasus through the end star in Cassiopeia. The star is a Cepheid variable and oscillates in brightness roughly every four days. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, Polaris will not remain the polestar indefinitely; in 2300 B.C. the polestar was in the constellation Draco, and by A.D. 12,000 the star Vega in the constellation Lyra will be the polestar.

azimuth

2011-02-16T00:06:00.000-08:00

Azimuth, in astronomy, one coordinate in the altazimuth coordinate system. It is the angular distance of a body measured westward along the celestial horizon from the observer's south point.

prime meridian

2011-02-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

Prime meridian, meridian that is designated zero degree (0°) longitude, from which all other longitudes are measured. By international convention, it passes through the original site of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England; for this reason, it is sometimes called the Greenwich meridian. Universal time, the standard basis for determining time throughout the world, is civil time measured at the prime meridian.

altitude

2011-02-06T23:44:00.000-08:00

Altitude, vertical distance of an object above some datum plane, such as mean sea level or a reference point on the earth's surface. It is usually measured by the reduction in atmospheric pressure with height, as shown on a barometer or altimeter. In surveying and astronomy, it is the vertical angle of an observed point, such as a star or planet, above the horizon plane. The altitude of a feature of the earth's surface is usually called its elevation. Recent spacecraft instrumentation has also measured vertical distances on the earth and other planets, determining the height of planetary features by means of radar and optical imaging.

In astronomy, altitude is the angular distance of a heavenly body above the astronomical horizon as determined by the angle which a line drawn from the eye of the observer to the heavenly body makes with the plane of the horizon. The reading of the apparent altitude, as determined by a telescope attached to a graduated circle, must be corrected for refraction by the atmosphere and for certain other effects to ascertain the true altitude. The altitude of the north celestial pole, which is approximately that of the star Polaris, is equal to the observer's latitude.

Solar System

2010-10-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

Solar System, the Sun and everything that orbits the Sun, including the nine planets and their satellites; the asteroids and comets; and interplanetary dust and gas. The term may also refer to a group of celestial bodies orbiting another star (see Extrasolar Planets). In this article, solar system refers to the system that includes Earth and the Sun.

The dimensions of the solar system are specified in terms of the mean distance from Earth to the Sun, called the astronomical unit (AU). One AU is 150 million km (about 93 million mi). The most distant known planet, Pluto, orbits about 39 AU from the Sun. Estimates for the boundary where the Sun’s magnetic field ends and interstellar space begins—called the heliopause—range from 86 to 100 AU.

The most distant known planetoid orbiting the Sun is Sedna, whose discovery was reported in March 2004. A planetoid is an object that is too small to be a planet. At the farthest point in its orbit, Sedna is about 900 AU from the Sun. Comets known as long-period comets, however, achieve the greatest distance from the Sun; they have highly eccentric orbits ranging out to 50,000 AU or more.

The solar system was the only planetary system known to exist around a star similar to the Sun until 1995, when astronomers discovered a planet about 0.6 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system. Soon after, astronomers found a planet about 8.1 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting the star 70 Virginis, and a planet about 3.5 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting the star 47 Ursa Majoris. Since then, astronomers have found planets and disks of dust in the process of forming planets around many other stars. Most astronomers think it likely that solar systems of some sort are numerous throughout the universe. See Astronomy; Galaxy; Star.

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Magnitude

2008-10-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Magnitude (astronomy), term used in astronomy to designate the brightness of a star. Magnitude, also called apparent magnitude, describes the brightness of a star as viewed from the earth. The term absolute magnitude refers to the brightness of a star as viewed from a standard distance of 10 parsecs, or about 32 light-years.

The ancient Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy originally divided all visible stars into six magnitudes: the brightest were called first magnitude, those barely visible to the naked eye were called sixth magnitude, and the other visible stars were assigned intermediate positions. After the introduction of the telescope in the 17th century, this system of magnitudes was used and extended to the fainter stars in different ways by different astronomers. In the 19th century a standard system was finally adopted under which a star of any given magnitude is 2.512 times as bright as a star of the next higher magnitude; thus, for example, a star of the second magnitude is 2.512 times as bright as a star of the third magnitude. The advantage of this particular magnitude ratio, 2.512, is that it coincides closely with the Ptolemaic system; and because 2.512 is the fifth root of 100, a star of the first magnitude is exactly 100 times as bright as a star of the sixth magnitude, a star of the sixth magnitude is exactly 100 times as bright as a star of the 11th magnitude, and so on. The mean of the magnitudes of several hundred stars found in the Bonn Durchmusterung catalog, which was prepared by the German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander about 1860, was taken as the standard of the scale for calibration purposes.

With accurate instruments, such as bolometers and radiometers, astronomers today can measure differences as small as one-hundredth of a magnitude. Stars with magnitudes between 1.5 and 2.5 are called second-magnitude stars. Stars brighter than magnitude 1.5, of which there are 20, are called first-magnitude stars. Thus, the first-magnitude star Aldebaran has an actual magnitude of 1.1; the slightly brighter first-magnitude star Altair has a magnitude of 0.9. The brightest stars are brighter than magnitude zero. Sirius, the brightest star outside the solar system, has a magnitude of -1.6. The sun has a magnitude of -26.7, inasmuch as it is about 10 billion times as bright as Sirius in the earth’s sky.

Absolute magnitude, as opposed to apparent magnitude, indicates the brightness that a star would have if it were placed at a distance from the earth of ten parsecs, or 32.6 light-years. By rating stars in this way, astronomers are able to compare them with respect to intrinsic brightness. The sun, for example, has an absolute magnitude of +4.7. Sirius has an absolute magnitude of +1.4.

Binary Star

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Binary Star, two stars that are bound to each other by gravity and orbit about a common center of mass. Binary star systems are quite common and the pairing of stars appears to be random in most cases. Astronomers estimate that approximately one-fourth of the visible stars belong to a binary system. The time it takes for one star to orbit the other can range from hours to centuries depending on the distance between the two stars and their masses. Some binary pairs, called interacting binary systems, are so close that they exchange material. Binary stars are very useful to astronomers because they are the only stars of which astronomers can directly determine mass.

Orbit

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Orbit (astronomy and physics), path or trajectory of a body through space. A force of attraction or repulsion from a second body usually causes the path to be curved. A familiar type of orbit occurs when one body revolves around a second, strongly attracting body. In the solar system the force of gravity causes the moon to orbit about the earth and the planets to orbit about the sun, whereas in an atom electrical forces cause electrons to orbit about the nucleus. In astronomy, the orbits resulting from gravitational forces, which are discussed in this article, are the subject of the scientific field of celestial mechanics.

An orbit has the shape of a conic section—a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola—with the central body at one focus of the curve. When a satellite traces out an orbit about the center of the earth, its most distant point is called the apogee and its closest point the perigee. The perigee or apogee height of the satellite above the earth's surface is often given, instead of the perigee or apogee distance from the earth's center. The ending -gee refers to orbits about the earth; perihelion and aphelion refer to orbits about the sun; the ending -astron is used for orbits about a star; and the ending -apsis is used when the central body is not specified. The so-called line of apsides is a straight line connecting the periapsis and the apoapsis.

Topic:

Laws of Motion

Orbit

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Orbit->> LAWS OF MOTION

Early in the 17th century, the German astronomer and natural philosopher Johannes Kepler deduced three laws that first described the motions of the planets about the sun: (1) The orbit of a planet around the sun is an ellipse. (2) A straight line from the planet to the center of the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals as it goes around the orbit; the planet moves faster when closer to the sun and slower when distant. (3) The square of the period (in years) for one revolution about the sun equals the cube of the mean distance from the sun's center, measured in astronomical units.

The physical causes of Kepler's three laws were later explained by the English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton as consequences of Newton's laws of motion and of the inverse square law of gravity. Kepler's second law, in fact, expresses the conservation of angular momentum. Moreover, Kepler's third law, in generalized form, can be stated as follows: The square of the period (in years) times the total mass (measured in solar masses) equals the cube of the mean distance (in astronomical units). This last law permits the masses of the planets to be calculated by measuring the size and period of satellite orbits.

Astronomical Unit

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Astronomical Unit (AU), unit of distance used in the measurement of orbits and trajectories within the solar system. One AU is the average distance between the earth and the sun. Its value has been established as, roughly, 149,600,000 km (92,956,000 mi) by means of radar-ranging studies of nearby celestial objects such as Venus or passing asteroids; these studies have enabled astronomers to determine the scale of the solar system with great accuracy.

Nebula

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Nebula, in astronomy, a localized conglomerate of the gaseous and finely divided dust particles that are spread throughout interstellar space. Before the invention of the telescope, the term nebula (Latin, “cloud”) was applied to all celestial objects of a diffuse appearance. As a result, many objects now known to be star clusters or galaxies were called nebulas.

Nebulas exist within other galaxies as well as in our own Milky Way galaxy. They are classified as planetary nebulas, supernova remnants, and diffuse nebulas, including reflecting, emission, and dark nebulas. Small, very bright nebulas known as Herbig-Haro objects are found in dense interstellar clouds, and are probably the products of gas jets expelled by new stars in the process of formation.

Diffuse nebulas are extremely large structures, often many light-years wide, that have no definite outline and a tenuous, cloudlike appearance. They are either luminous or dark. The former shine as a result of the light of neighboring stars. They include some of the most striking objects in the sky, such as the Great nebula in Orion (the middle “star” in the sword). The tremendous streams of matter in the diffuse nebulas are intermingled in violent, chaotic currents. Many thousands of luminous nebulas are known. Spectral studies show that light emanating from them consists of reflected light from stars and also, in so-called emission nebulas, of stimulated radiation of ionized gases and dust from the nebulas themselves.

Dark, diffuse nebulas are observed as nonluminous clouds or faintly luminous, obscuring portions of the Milky Way and too distant from the stimulation of neighboring stars to reflect or emit much light of their own. One of the most famous dark nebulas is the Horsehead nebula in Orion, so named for the silhouette of the dark mass in front of a more luminous nebular region. The longest dark rift observed on photographic plates of the star clouds of the Milky Way is a succession of dark nebulas. Both dark nebulas and luminous nebulas are considered likely sites for the processes of dust-cloud condensation and the formation of new stars.

Globular Cluster

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Globular Cluster, compact, spherical group of stars, containing many thousands or even millions of stars.

Astronomers have found more than 200 globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy (the earth’s galaxy). Most galaxies contain globular clusters and some galaxies contain thousands of such clusters. Most of the known globular clusters in the Milky Way move around the center of the galaxy in orbits that take them far outside the Milky Way. By finding the center of their orbits, the American astronomer Harlow Shapley of Harvard University located the Milky Way’s center in 1918.

Globular clusters are the oldest structures associated with our galaxy. They contain only Population II stars—the oldest stars in the universe. All globular clusters in the Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy seem to be about the same age, suggesting they were created by conditions within galaxies while the galaxies were young.

The diameters of globular clusters average about 50 light-years. The stars within a cluster are very densely packed near its center and may be only a few billion kilometers away from each other.

Galaxy

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Galaxy, a massive ensemble of hundreds of millions of stars, all gravitationally interacting, and orbiting about a common center. Astronomers estimate that there are about 125 billion galaxies in the universe. All the stars visible to the unaided eye from Earth belong to Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. The Sun, with its associated planets, is just one star in this galaxy. Besides stars and planets, galaxies contain clusters of stars; atomic hydrogen gas; molecular hydrogen; complex molecules composed of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and silicon, among others; and cosmic rays (see Interstellar Matter).

Galaxy M100
The spiral galaxy M100 is located between 35 million and 80 million light-years from earth. The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the core of M100 after repairs were made to the telescope in December 1993.

Galaxies M86 and M84
The elliptical galaxies M86 (center) and M84 (right) are members of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, located about 50 million light-years away from our smaller cluster, the Local Group. Elliptical galaxies are populated by older stars and contain little interstellar matter. They are usually the brightest galaxies.

Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy

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Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy, also known as M 31, large spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda, about 2.2 million light-years from Earth.

The Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy is the largest nearby galactic neighbor to the Milky Way Galaxy, Earth’s home galaxy. Because it is so near, it appears very bright, with a total magnitude (a measure of its brightness as seen from Earth) of 3.4, and is easily visible to the naked eye on a clear, dark night. Its immense diameter of about 200,000 light-years makes it appear five times larger than the full Moon in our sky.

The Great Andromeda Spiral Galaxy is the most studied of external galaxies because astronomers can view features in it that they believe are also present in the Milky Way, but are made invisible by the Milky Way’s thick intervening clouds of dust. Astronomers study the Andromeda Galaxy’s spiral arms; the birth of stars, dense spherical groups of stars called globular clusters, as well as looser star groupings called open clusters; interstellar matter; and supernova remnants. The mass of the Andromeda Galaxy is believed to be equivalent to between 300 billion and 400 billion Suns.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, observations made with ground-based telescopes and with the Hubble Space Telescope showed that the galaxy appears to have a double nucleus—two bright areas near its center, instead of the usual single bright spot. In 1999 astronomers mapping the motion of stars near the galaxy’s center discovered that the stars orbit the center in an elliptical path instead of in the more usual circular path found in most other galaxies. The stars move much more slowly at one end of the ellipse than at the other. Astronomers believe that stars bunch up at the slow point in the orbit, like cars in a traffic jam, creating one of the bright areas. The other bright area, at the other end of the ellipse, occurs because stars pass close to the black hole (a region of space so dense that not even light can escape its gravitational pull) at the center of galaxy. Astronomers believe that all galaxies have a similar, giant black hole at their center. Matter from the stars is more likely to fall into the black hole at this close point in the stars’ orbit, and matter accelerating toward the black hole glows to produce the second bright area.

The first recorded observation of this galaxy was in ad 905 by Persian astronomer al-Sufi, who described it as the “little cloud” in his Book of Fixed Stars (964). The telescopic discovery of this object is often attributed to German astronomer Simon Marius who described the soft glow of the object in 1611 or 1612.

Andromeda

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Andromeda (astronomy), in astronomy, large constellation of the northern hemisphere situated just south of the constellation Cassiopeia and west of the constellation Perseus. Andromeda contains no stars of the first magnitude but is noted as the area of sky containing the Andromeda Galaxy, a member of the local group to which our own Milky Way belongs. At a distance of 2.2 million light-years, the Andromeda Galaxy is both the nearest spiral galaxy and the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye. Before its nature was determined by means of powerful telescopes, it was erroneously believed to be a nebula, or cloud of interstellar matter. Through telescopes it is seen to have two small companion galaxies of elliptical form.

Open Cluster

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Open Cluster, or galactic cluster, group of associated stars that travel together through space.

Astronomers have cataloged about 1200 open clusters in the earth’s galaxy, each containing from ten to many hundreds of stars (see Milky Way). Astronomers have also discovered hundreds of open clusters in other galaxies. The stars in a galaxy usually orbit in a plane around a common center, and almost all open clusters lie close to the plane of the galaxy in which they’re located. Clusters range from about 5 light-years to about 70 light-years in diameter. Often a thin, misty light, caused by reflection of starlight off the cosmic dust and gas in the cluster, envelops an entire cluster.

Open clusters are classified by the number of stars in them and by the degree to which the stars are concentrated toward the center of the cluster. All clusters in the same class are roughly the same size. The stars in an open cluster are usually relatively young, and the cluster is considered the same age as the stars in it. The ages of the Milky Way’s known open clusters range from about 1 million years old (the Orion Nebula) to about 5 billion years old (cluster NGC 188).

The American astronomer Robert J. Trumpler of the Lick Observatory carried out a study of open clusters in 1930. He found that the widths of the open clusters that he measured seemed to increase as the open clusters’ distances from the earth increased. He conjectured that astronomers had been overestimating the distance between the earth and clusters because the brightness of the clusters was being obscured by interstellar matter. When he revised the distance measurements for the clusters, their calculated widths became more uniform. His investigations provided the first clear evidence of the existence of cosmic dust and gas throughout the galaxy.

Great Orion Nebula

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Great Orion Nebula or Orion Nebula, or M 42, diffuse nebula, or cloud of gas and dust, located in the constellation Orion. With its brightest parts having an apparent magnitude (a measure of brightness as seen from the earth) of 4.0, the Great Orion Nebula can be seen with the unaided eye as part of Orion’s sword, which hangs from his belt.

The Great Orion Nebula looks like a star when it is seen with the unaided eye, but even a small telescope reveals its cloudy nature. The entire Great Orion Nebula as seen from the earth is about 60 arc minutes wide, or about four times as wide as the full moon. The Great Orion Nebula is about 1500 light-years from the earth and it is about 30 light-years in diameter.

Unlike some diffuse nebulae, which are visible only because they reflect the light of nearby stars, the Great Orion Nebula not only reflects light, but it also emits light. Emission nebulae like the Great Orion Nebula are so huge that they provide enough gas and dust to create new stars. Some of these young stars are so hot and massive that the energy they give off excites the hydrogen atoms in the nebula and makes them glow. Astronomers estimate that the bright center of the nebula is a nursery for about 700 young stars. Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to view this nebula, astronomers have found more than 150 protoplanetary systems, or stars surrounded by a ring of gas and dust that may be the beginning of a solar system.

The Great Orion Nebula was initially thought to be a star, but in 1610 French lawyer Nicholas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc discovered that it was actually a nebula. This discovery was confirmed independently in 1618 by Czech astronomer Rennus Cysatus. In 1769 French astronomer Charles Messier added the Great Orion Nebula to his Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters (1771-1784), a list of astronomical objects that may be mistaken for comets. Because a dark strip of dust unevenly divides the Great Orion Nebula, Messier assigned the nebula two numbers. The smaller part of the nebula is known as M 43, but M 42 is usually assumed to refer to the entire nebula.

Orion

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Orion (astronomy), constellation located on the celestial equator east of Taurus. It is an oblong configuration with three stars in line near its center. It is represented on pictorial charts as the figure of Orion, the hunter in Greek mythology, standing with uplifted club. Three bright stars represent his belt and three fainter stars aligned south of the belt represent his sword. Alpha (a) Orionis, or Betelgeuse, is located in the left corner of the oblong, corresponding to Orion's shoulder. Beta (β) Orionis, or Rigel, is diagonally opposite Betelgeuse. A nebula surrounding the three stars marking Orion's sword is one of the most conspicuous bright nebulas in the heavens.

In Greek mythology, Orion is the handsome giant and mighty hunter, the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Euryale, the Gorgon. Orion fell in love with Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. Oenopion, however, constantly deferred his consent to the marriage, and Orion attempted to gain possession of Merope by violence. Incensed at his behavior, her father, with the aid of the god Dionysus, put Orion into a deep sleep and blinded him. Orion then consulted an oracle, who told him he could regain his sight by going to the east and letting the rays of the rising sun fall on his eyes. His sight restored, he lived on Crete (Kríti) as the huntsman of the goddess Artemis. One version of Orion's story relates that the goddess eventually killed him because she was jealous of his affection for Aurora, goddess of the dawn. After Orion's death, Artemis placed him in the heavens as a constellation.

Equator

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Equator, in astronomy, the great circle in which the plane of the equator of the earth intersects the celestial sphere. The celestial equator is the line from which the declination of stars and planets is measured. See Ecliptic.

Magellanic Clouds

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Magellanic Clouds, small, irregular galaxies that lie relatively near the Milky Way galaxy. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), in the constellation Dorado (the Goldfish), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), in the constellation Tucana (the Toucan), are visible to the unaided eye in the southern hemisphere and as far north as 16° North latitude. They became known in Europe through descriptions made in 1521 by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, after whom they were named. The LMC lies about 150,000 light-years away from our sun, and the SMC lies about 173,000 light-years away. In the early 1980s, another galaxy, called the Mini Magellanic Cloud (MMC), was determined to lie about 20,000 light-years beyond the SMC, in the same line of sight. Apparently it was torn from the SMC by a near encounter with the LMC about 200 million years ago. A supernova was observed in the LMC in 1987.

Cassiopeia

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Cassiopeia (astronomy), northern constellation, near the celestial pole. It is distinguished by a group of five stars, of second to fourth magnitude, in the form of a rough letter W. The brightest supernova on record appeared in the constellation in 1572 and was observed by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Brighter than the planet Venus, for about 16 months Cassiopeia was visible to the naked eye even at noon. It is named for the mythological Ethiopian queen Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda.

Transit

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Transit, passage of one heavenly body over the disk of another, as of Mercury or Venus over the disk of the sun, or of a satellite over its primary. A transit of Mercury or Venus can take place only when either planet passes the sun at the time the sun is near one of the nodes of the planet; that is, when Venus or Mercury is in inferior conjunction, or is closer to earth than to the sun. The transit of Venus was first recorded in 1639. In 1679 the English astronomer Edmond Halley pointed out that these transits could be used to determine the distance of the sun. Usually two transits of Venus occur within 8 years of one another; then, after a lapse of 105 or 122 years, another two transits occur within 8 years. Transits of Mercury occur about 13 times in each century.

The term transit also refers to an instrument for measuring the passage of an object past the local meridian (see Transit Instrument). Likewise, the passage of an object past the local meridian is called a transit.

Mirfak

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Mirfak, sometimes spelled Mirphak or Marfak, brightest star in the constellation Perseus, the Warrior. The star is also known as Algenib and is designated Alpha Persei. The name Mirfak is derived from the Arabic phrase Mirfaq al Thurayya, the “Elbow Nearest the Many Little Ones.” This refers to Mirfak’s position in Perseus near the Pleiades star cluster. Mirfak lies near the north celestial pole, a point in the sky about which the stars in the northern hemisphere appear to rotate. This appearance is actually due to the rotation of the earth. Observers who are north of latitude 40° north can see Mirfak all night long throughout the year, circling the north celestial pole. For this reason, Mirfak is called a north circumpolar star. Observers in the southern hemisphere can see Mirfak low in the northern sky from September through November.

Stars that are visible to the unaided eye, such as Mirfak, belong to the earth’s home galaxy, the Milky Way, and tend to be very bright or relatively close. Mirfak is a very bright star with an intrinsic luminosity, or total light output, that rates an absolute magnitude of -5.1 (bright stars have low or even negative magnitude values). This magnitude corresponds to the light output of about 9000 suns. Mirfak is about 630 light-years from earth. For comparison, the most distant easily seen stars are up to 5000 light-years from the earth. At Mirfak’s distance, it shines in the earth’s night sky with an apparent magnitude—a measure of how bright it appears to an observer on the earth—of +1.79, making it one of the 50 brightest stars in the night sky.

Mirfak owes its brightness to a moderately high surface temperature and very large size. Mirfak’s surface temperature is 6200° C (11,000°F), which is about 10 percent greater than the surface temperature of the sun and gives the star a yellow-white color. Its diameter is estimated at 124 million km (77 million mi), which is about 90 times greater than the diameter of the sun. From its composition, temperature, and size, astronomers classify Mirfak as a supergiant star—an older star that has used up the hydrogen fuel in its core and is now burning hydrogen in its outer shell and helium in its core. These changes have caused it to grow much larger than its original size, which has increased its luminosity tremendously.

Mirfak is the brightest star of a large cluster of about 70 loosely bound stars collectively known as the Alpha Persei Association. This cluster, which covers an area of sky equal to six full moons, is easily visible through binoculars. Many of its stars are in pairs, trios, and quartets. Studies indicate that the average age of the stars in the Alpha Persei Association is only about 51 million years, younger than many diamonds found on the earth.

Pleiades

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Pleiades (astronomy), loose cluster of 400 to 500 stars, about 415 light-years from the solar system in the direction of the constellation Taurus. The stars are about 1 light-year apart, on the average, and photographs show them to be surrounded by a nebulosity that shines by their reflected light. The cluster was named by the ancient Greeks after the “Seven Sisters” of mythology. Observers have claimed to be able to see with the naked eye as many as 12 of the stars in the cluster.

Taurus

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Taurus (astronomy) (Latin for “bull”), a constellation, represented pictorially by the forequarters of a bull. It is a zodiacal constellation—that is, a constellation located along the ecliptic, the apparent annual path of the sun across the sky (see Zodiac). Taurus contains the two famous star groups known as the Hyades, which includes the brilliant red star Aldebaran, and the Pleiades. It also contains the Crab Nebula, associated with the spectacular supernova of the year ad1054.

Supernova

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Supernova, violent explosion that occurs when a large star uses up its supply of fuel, collapses under its own weight, and explodes. A shock wave from this catastrophic event expands into space, followed by a shell of material from the star’s atmosphere. The material blown off contains chemical elements created throughout the star’s lifetime. Debris from supernovas enriches the chemistry of interstellar space with material that becomes part of new stars and planets. See also Astronomy; Interstellar Matter.

Supernovas are rare phenomena—fewer than five supernovas in our Milky Way galaxy have been visible from Earth in the last 1,000 years. Some supernovas can be bright enough to see with the naked eye during the day. They may continue glowing for several weeks or even months after the explosion. Thick clouds of interstellar dust hide some supernovas, but astronomers can detect those by the radio waves that the supernova emits. See also Radio Astronomy.

Supernovas occur in all galaxies, not just the Milky Way. Supernovas that occur outside the Milky Way are bright enough to stand out against the other stars in the galaxy. However, they are usually not bright enough to pick out without a telescope. A typical supernova can produce as much light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation as billions of stars. Electromagnetic radiation is energy carried through space by electric and magnetic waves. The length of these waves determines the properties of the radiation. In addition to the radiation energy a supernova produces, the force of the explosion releases ten times more energy into the motion of the particles that the explosion blows outward. These tiny particles, called neutrinos, carry away a hundred times more energy than the electromagnetic radiation. Astronomers discover about ten supernovas in distant galaxies each year.

Topics:

Supernova

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Supernova->> FORMATION OF A SUPERNOVA

The mass of a star determines whether it will end its life in a supernova explosion. During the courses of their lifetimes, all stars convert hydrogen to helium in thermonuclear fusion reactions in their cores. Thermonuclear fusion reactions occur when the intense heat and gravitational force in a star’s nucleus force hydrogen atoms together. The atoms merge, or fuse together, creating helium atoms and releasing large amounts of energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation and heat. Massive stars have faster rates of fusion than smaller stars, so large stars may use up their fuel faster. After most of the hydrogen is used up, a star goes into a carbon-building phase, in which nuclear fusion turns the helium into carbon. After the helium is exhausted, most stars gradually cool until they no longer emit radiation.

When a star eight or ten times more massive than the Sun exhausts its helium, however, the nuclear burning cycle is far from complete. In these stars, the carbon core shrinks under its own weight, and its temperature rises high enough to fuse carbon into oxygen, neon, silicon, sulfur, and finally, iron.

Iron is the most stable element formed in stars, and even the intense heat and pressure of a stellar nucleus cannot force iron atoms to fuse into heavier elements. The thermonuclear process at the star’s core is essentially complete. At this point, the outward pressure produced by the reactions can no longer balance the inward gravitational attraction between atoms. As a result, all the core can do is collapse under its own weight. As it does so, the star implodes, transforming gravitational energy into kinetic energy, or energy of motion. The core of the star collapses in on itself, but as it does so, it transfers to the star’s atmosphere kinetic energy that sends the atmosphere exploding outward from the star’s core. The particles of the star’s atmosphere begin moving rapidly away from the star, tearing apart the star’s atmosphere.

Astronomers know of several variations of supernovas, but they all fall into one of two main types. The two kinds of supernovas are called Type I and Type II and are differentiated mostly by the presence of hydrogen in their debris. Type I supernovas tend to be older stars that have completely exhausted their hydrogen. Type II supernovas come from younger stars that have used up the hydrogen in their nucleus but have large amounts of hydrogen in their atmospheres. Astronomers can measure what elements exist in a star by examining its light because atoms of different elements emit and absorb electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths. By separating a star’s light into its wavelengths, astronomers can tell which wavelengths are missing or especially bright, and therefore what elements are present in the star.

Supernova

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Supernova->> AFTER THE SUPERNOVA

All supernova explosions produce clouds of debris and release huge amounts of energy, but Type I supernovas typically completely destroy their parent stars, while Type II explosions usually leave the stellar core behind. The stellar atmosphere of both types expands into space and appears as luminous clouds years, or even centuries, later. These clouds are called supernova remnants. The Crab Nebula is one of the most spectacular supernova remnants.

The fate of the stellar core left behind by a Type II supernova depends on the mass of the original star. Normal atoms are made up of positively charged particles called protons, particles with no electric charge called neutrons, and much smaller, negatively charged particles called electrons. If the original star had a mass about ten times that of the Sun, the core collapses with such force that its protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. The resulting body is composed entirely of neutrons, so astronomers call it a neutron star. Most neutron stars created by supernovas are pulsars. Pulsars are neutron stars that spin rapidly as they emit powerful beacons of radio waves. From Earth, these spinning beacons appear as pulses of radiation.

If the mass of the original star is greater than about ten solar masses, the nuclear forces that hold up a neutron star are too weak to resist the core’s gravitational pull. The core continues to collapse past the neutron star stage. It crushes itself until its mass is concentrated into a volume of space smaller than a typical city on Earth. At this point, the speed at which an object would have to travel to escape the core’s gravitation, like a space probe leaving Earth, is greater than the speed of light. No kind of matter, or even radiation, can reach this speed and escape, so these astronomical objects are invisible to the eye or to normal telescopes. Not only can matter not escape, but the collapsed core pulls in any matter or radiation that comes too close. Astronomers call this kind of an object a black hole because no light can escape its gravitational pull.

Supernova

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Supernova->> STUDYING SUPERNOVAS

Chinese astronomers recorded supernovas visible from Earth as far back as ad 185. Probably the most well-known ancient supernova is the one that created the Crab Nebula in 1054. From Chinese and Japanese records, astronomers estimate that it was about 20 times as bright as any other star in the night sky. It was visible even during the day for several weeks after it first appeared.

The last time a supernova in the Milky Way galaxy became visible from Earth was October 1604. It was bright enough to be seen at night with the naked eye for more than a year. German mathematician Johannes Kepler made detailed observations of the supernova and carefully measured its position. Since then, astronomers have not seen any supernovas in the Milky Way. A number of supernovas have appeared in other galaxies, however.

One of the most important supernovas of the 20th century, and the brightest in the sky of the northern hemisphere since 1937, burst into view on March 28, 1993, in the galaxy M 81. Astronomers noticed the strange behavior of the parent star—a huge red-colored star called a red giant—before it exploded and were able to track its changes as it became a supernova.

On February 24, 1987, one of the closest supernovas in centuries occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud, only 160,000 light-years from Earth. A light-year is a measure of distance equal to the distance that light travels in a year, or 9.5 trillion km (5.9 trillion mi). This supernova was visible from the southern hemisphere. Since this eruption, scientists have learned that its parent star may have once been a hot blue star with a mass about 20 times that of the Sun. The star probably swelled into a red giant star before it exploded.

Scientists are continually searching for and studying supernovas. Astronomers learn about the final evolutionary paths of massive stars from supernovas. In addition, supernovas give clues to the origin of the chemical elements that make up stars, planets, and even life. A supernova in a distant galaxy can even help astronomers measure the distance to the galaxy. To do this, astronomers examine the radiation emitted by the shell of material from the star’s atmosphere and use the information they gain to develop models of how wide the shell is. They then compare the width of their model to the apparent width of the shell as viewed from Earth to estimate the distance to the supernova remnant and to its parent galaxy.

Star

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Star (astronomy), massive shining sphere of hot gas. Of all the stars in the universe, our Sun is the nearest to Earth and the most extensively studied. The stars visible to the naked eye all belong to the Milky Way Galaxy, the massive ensemble of stars that contains our solar system (the Sun and its nine planets).

About 5,000 stars can be seen with the naked eye, although not all of these stars are visible at any given time or from any given place. With a small telescope, hundreds of thousands of stars can be seen. The largest telescopes disclose millions of galaxies, which may each contain over 200 billion stars. Modern astronomers believe there are more than 1 x 1022 stars in the universe (this number is very large, a 1 followed by 22 zeros). The largest stars, if placed at the Sun's position, would easily engulf Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The smallest white dwarf stars are about the size of Earth, and neutron stars are less than about 20 km (about 10 mi) in diameter.

All stars are composed of hot glowing gas. The outer layers of some stars are so empty that they can be described as red-hot vacuums. Other stars are so dense that a teaspoonful of the material composing the outer layers would weigh several tons. Stars are made chiefly of hydrogen and a smaller amount of helium. Even the most abundant of the other elements present in stars—oxygen, carbon, neon, and nitrogen—are generally present in very small quantities.

The Sun, our nearest star, is about 150 million km (about 93 million mi) from Earth. It appears different from the stars visible in the night sky because it is about 250,000 times closer to Earth than the next closest star. The next nearest star is Proxima Centauri, which is more than 30 trillion km (20 trillion mi) from Earth. While light from the Sun takes only about eight minutes to reach Earth, the farthest stars are so distant that their light takes billions of years to reach Earth.

The color of stars—ranging from the deepest red through all intermediate shades of orange and yellow to an intense white-blue—depends directly on their temperature. The coolest stars are red and the hottest stars are blue. Most stars make light by several different kinds of thermonuclear fusion, a process in which the nuclei of atoms combine to form a heavier element and release energy (see Nuclear Energy). One of the most common thermonuclear fusion processes occurs in stars when four hydrogen atoms combine into a helium atom, releasing energy that is transformed into light and heat.

In the 1990s astronomers discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. Planets outside our solar system are difficult to detect, because they are much fainter than stars are. However, astronomers located these planets by measuring the wobble of a star’s motion created by the slight gravitational pull that is exerted on the star by a planet. Although scientists can only speculate how many Earthlike planets with continents and oceans exist in the universe, they believe that many stars have planetary systems (See also Gravity).

Planet

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Planet, any major celestial body that orbits a star and does not emit visible light of its own but instead shines by reflected light. Smaller bodies that also orbit a star and are not satellites of a planet are called asteroids or planetoids. In the solar system, there are nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Planets that orbit stars other than the Sun are collectively called extrasolar planets. Some extrasolar planets are nearly large enough to become stars themselves. Such borderline planets are called brown dwarfs. See also Planetary Science.

Meteor

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Meteor, in astronomy, small solid body known as a meteoroid that enters a planet's atmosphere from outer space and is raised to incandescence by the friction resulting from its rapid motion. Brilliant meteors, known as fireballs, occur singly and generally consist of a luminous head, followed by a cometlike train of light that may persist for several minutes; some, called bolides, have been seen to explode with a sound like thunder. Fainter meteors, called shooting or falling stars, usually occur singly and sporadically. At intervals, however, hundreds of such meteors occur simultaneously and appear to emanate from a fixed point. These swarms are called meteor showers and are named after the constellation in which they seem to have their point of origin. Some appear annually on the same days of each year and are called periodic showers; others occur infrequently at varying intervals. The periods of meteor showers generally coincide with those of certain comets. Most meteors are dissipated in flight and fall to the earth as dust; a meteor that reaches the surface of the earth or another planet is called a meteorite.

Meteoroid

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Meteoroid, solid body orbiting the sun, becoming a meteor, or shooting star, if it enters the earth's atmosphere. The vast majority of meteroids are the size of grains of dust, but they range upward in size without any definite limit. The largest can have masses of thousands of tons. See Asteroids; Comets.

Asteroid

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Asteroid, one of the many small or minor rocky planetoids that are members of the solar system and that move in elliptical orbits primarily between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

SIZES AND ORBITS

The largest representatives are 1 Ceres, with a diameter of about 1,003 km (about 623 mi), and 2 Pallas and 4 Vesta, with diameters of about 550 km (about 340 mi). The naming of asteroids is governed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). After an astronomer observes a possible unknown asteroid, other astronomers confirm the discovery by observing the body over a period of several orbits and comparing the asteroid’s position and orbit to those of known asteroids. If the asteroid is indeed a newly discovered object, the IAU gives it a number according to its order of discovery, and the astronomer who discovered it chooses a name. Asteroids are usually referred to by both number and name.

About 200 asteroids have diameters of more than 97 km (60 mi), and thousands of smaller ones exist. The total mass of all asteroids in the solar system is much less than the mass of the Moon. The larger bodies are roughly spherical, but elongated and irregular shapes are common for those with diameters of less than 160 km (100 mi). Most asteroids, regardless of size, rotate on their axes every 5 to 20 hours. Certain asteroids may be binary, or have satellites of their own.

Few scientists now believe that asteroids are the remnants of a former planet. It is more likely that asteroids occupy a place in the solar system where a sizable planet could have formed but was prevented from doing so by the disruptive gravitational influences of the nearby giant planet Jupiter. Originally perhaps only a few dozen asteroids existed, which were subsequently fragmented by mutual collisions to produce the population now present. Scientists believe that asteroids move out of the asteroid belt because heat from the Sun warms them unevenly. This causes the asteroids to drift slowly away from their original orbits.

Pallas

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Pallas, the second largest asteroid, the second to be discovered. It was first observed by the German astronomer Heinrich Olbers in 1802. It is about 480 km (about 300 mi) in diameter, and it revolves about the sun in 1684 days.

Vesta

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Vesta (astronomy), asteroid orbiting the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at a mean distance of 2.36 astronomical units (about 353 million km/about 219.4 million mi) and having a diameter of approximately 385 km (about 240 mi). Vesta is the third largest asteroid and was the fourth asteroid to be discovered. German astronomer Heinrich Olbers found it in 1807. In 1999 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spacecraft Deep Space 1 made observations that suggested that asteroid 9969 Braille, which passes close to Earth, and Vesta are composed of similar materials. Scientists used the information to theorize about the relationship between Vesta and the many meteorites that have struck Earth over time.

Redshift

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Redshift, change, or shift, in the light radiated by an object, such as a star or galaxy, that indicates the object’s motion. Scientists have used redshifts to measure the velocities (speed and direction) of distant galaxies. Knowing the velocities of galaxies helps astronomers understand how the universe is changing. This knowledge allows scientists to interpret the distant past of the universe and to predict the universe’s distant future.

Redshift only occurs when an object is moving. Another mechanism can also redden the light of astronomical objects, but it is not considered to be the same as redshift. Dust particles between stars are just the right size to scatter light with short wavelengths more than they scatter light with long wavelengths. As the light of a star passes through a cloud of dust on the light’s way to Earth, more of the long, red wavelengths get through the dust than the short, blue wavelengths do. This makes the star appear redder than it really is, but the light that reaches Earth is the true red light of the star and has not actually shifted. See also Interstellar Matter.

Milky Way

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Milky Way, the large, disk-shaped aggregation of stars, or galaxy, that includes the Sun and its solar system. In addition to the Sun, the Milky Way contains about 400 billion other stars. There are hundreds of billions of other galaxies in the universe, some of which are much larger and contain many more stars than the Milky Way.

The Milky Way is visible at night, appearing as a faintly luminous band that stretches across the sky. The name Milky Way is derived from Greek mythology, in which the band of light was said to be milk from the breast of the goddess Hera. Its hazy appearance results from the combined light of stars too far away to be distinguished individually by the unaided eye. All of the individual stars that are distinct in the sky lie within the Milky Way Galaxy.

From the middle northern latitudes, the Milky Way is best seen on clear, moonless, summer nights, when it appears as a luminous, irregular band circling the sky from the northeastern to the southeastern horizon. It extends through the constellations Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. In the region of the Northern Cross it divides into two streams: the western stream, which is bright as it passes through the Northern Cross, fades near Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer, because of dense dust clouds, and appears again in Scorpio; and the eastern stream, which grows brighter as it passes southward through Scutum and Sagittarius. The brightest part of the Milky Way extends from Scutum to Scorpio, through Sagittarius. The center of the galaxy lies in the direction of Sagittarius and is about 25,000 light-years from the Sun (a light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi).

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