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Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - August 29, 2003
================================================== ====================== * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - August 29, 2003 * * * ================================================== ====================== Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of stories abridged here, and other enhancements are available on our Web site, SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided below. (If the links don't work, just manually type the URLs into your Web browser.) Clear skies! ================================================== ====================== ERASING THE ANCIENT MARTIAN LANDSCAPE When Mars was a youngster, it was a far different place. The now dry and frigid world was arguably warmer and had flowing water on its surface. It was also a pock-marked teenager, with active volcanoes and deep impact scars. But today there is little evidence of the red planet's youth. And if a team of astronomers are correct, it is because Mars has literally buried its past. As a child, Mars formed an intricate drainage system to channel its water. During this period, which ended roughly 3 billion years ago, impacts were relentless as space debris bombarded the planet. The oldest geological formations on Mars hark back to this violent period. But time has managed to erase most of the wounds. Craters smaller than about 30 kilometers aren't found in the numbers expected, and astronomers believe that most of these ancient impact sites have long since eroded away. Explaining these missing craters is difficult because the sparse and disconnected small drainage systems visible on Mars today couldn't have carried enough water to cause all the erosion.... http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1034_1.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STARFEST 2003: DARK SKIES AND ALIENS A diary of Canada's largest annual star party If you've never been in to a star party, I strongly recommend that you attend one. Even if it's cloudy, you are virtually guaranteed to come away with your astronomical batteries tremendously recharged. You meet old friends, make new ones, and make your observing experience so much richer.... http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1032_1.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUBBLE'S CLOSEST LOOK AT MARS This past week seemingly all skygazers turned toward Mars -- the Hubble Space Telescope included. On August 26th, controllers aimed Hubble at the red planet and captured a series of images using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 between 6:20 and 7:12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, only 11 hours -- and 2,422 miles -- shy of Mars's closest approach to Earth in more than 60,000 years. The color-composite photo was assembled from frames taken with red, green, and blue filters. The images were quickly processed and released Wednesday morning.... http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1033_1.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ASTRO NEWS BRIEFS Space Infrared Telescope Facility Finally Takes Flight After a four-month delay, the last of NASA's four "Great Observatories" lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Monday morning. SIRTF, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, will complement the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, providing longer-wavelength views of the cosmos. The infrared universe is especially rich for study, both because infrared light penetrates interstellar dust and because much of the light from the early universe has been redshifted deep into infrared wavelengths. The new telescope, set to be operational in about three months, will see back to the earliest galaxies and into dust cocoons where stars are forming. The Delta II Heavy rocket intended to loft SIRTF last April was used instead used for Opportunity, the second of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, on July 7th. But within two weeks SIRTF's replacement rocket was set up on the pad. This launch was a little unusual in that the Delta's second stage will accompany the observatory into solar orbit instead of being left behind. Once clear of Earth the engine will fire to place SIRTF in an Earth-trailing solar orbit that drifts 15 million kilometers farther from home every year.... MOST SEES FIRST LIGHT A month after its June 30th launch, Canada's first space telescope, MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars), saw first light. According to scientists on the mission, the telescope successfully imaged its first star and beamed the signal back to Earth. Once online full time, MOST will probe the interiors of stars by tracking their tiny surface vibrations and will also look for transits by small extrasolar planets. It also holds the honor of being the smallest space telescope in orbit. http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1031_1.asp ================================================== ====================== HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY * Mars is at perihelion, its closest point to the Sun in its orbit, on August 30th. * First-quarter Moon on September 3rd. * Mars (magnitude -2.9, in Aquarius) rises in the east-southeast in early evening, shining brilliant, fiery yellow-orange. For details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup: http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/ ================================================== ====================== Copyright 2003 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin is provided as a free service to the astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine. Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as our copyright notice is included, along with the words "used by permission." But this bulletin may not be published in any other form without written permission from Sky Publishing; send e-mail to or call +1 617-864-7360. More astronomy news is available on our Web site at http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/. ================================================== ===================== |
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