Latest news with #ScottSutherland
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Failed Soviet Venus probe to crash to Earth later this week
/Scott Sutherland)* A piece of Soviet hardware built to survive the burning, crushing environment of Venus will soon crash down to Earth and, so far, noone has any idea where it might land. On March 27 and March 31, in 1972, the Soviet Union launched two new spacecraft bound for the planet Venus. The first, Venera 8, became the second spacecraft to successfully land on our sister planet and send back data on its extreme environment. The other probably would have been named Venera 9 had it actually made the journey to Venus. However, a problem occurred after it reached space which trapped it in an elliptical orbit around Earth. The spacecraft was subsequently named Kosmos 482, instead, and it was left to eventually burn up in Earth's atmosphere. The first pieces of Kosmos 482 came crashing down only a few days after launch, as four titanium spheres, each bigger than a basketball, landed in a farmer's field near Ashburton, New Zealand. There are reports that a similar object was found in 1978, about 20 kilometres away. The rest which is likely identical to the Venera 8 spacecraft, has stayed in orbit since. ADVERTISEMENT Now, over 53 years later, one of those remaining pieces is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere later this week. Venera 8 descent module Museum replica - NASA The Kosmos 482 descent module is likely an exact duplicate of this Venera 8 lander, which measures roughly a metre across and weighs about 500 kilograms. (NASA) Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Most spacecraft launched into orbit are not designed to survive reentry. As they plow into the upper atmosphere travelling at speeds of around 25,000 km/h, they burn up and — at least in most cases — nothing reaches the ground intact. However, this piece of Kosmos 482 is not like most other spacecraft. It was built to survive the plunge into the dense, scorching atmosphere of Venus. With temperatures close to 500 degrees Celsius and air pressure 90 times what we experience here on Earth, landing on Venus is like being in an oven set on maximum, nearly a kilometre below the ocean's surface. Venus - artist impression - DAVINCI NASA An artist's impression of Venusian mountains, depicted for NASA's DAVINCI mission (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging). (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab) ADVERTISEMENT According to Marco Langbroek, an expert on Space Situational Awareness at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, the current estimate for the reentry is at 8:37 UTC (4:37 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, May 10. However, with a day's uncertainty on either side, it could happen anytime between 4:37 a.m. ET on Friday, May 9 and 4:37 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 11. "As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact," Langbroek wrote in his satellite tracking blog SatTrackCam Leiden. "It likely will be a hard impact," Langbroek added, explaining that it is doubtful that the lander's parachute would deploy, given that it likely has dead batteries after 53 years in space. "There are many uncertain factors in whether the lander will survive reentry though, including that this will be a long shallow reentry trajectory, and the age of the object." When the Kosmos 482 lander comes down, it will surely produce a fiery display in the sky, day or night, for anyone who happens to be in the area. Based on Langbroek calculations, he estimates that the probe will be travelling roughly 240 km/h when it hits the ground. At that speed, and weighing in at around 500 kilograms, it could cause significant, although very localized, damage, and it is certainly capable of causing injuries as well. ADVERTISEMENT As for where the Kosmos 482 lander will crash, noone knows. Based on its orbit around Earth and the uncertainty in the timing of its reentry, it can land anywhere between 52 degrees North latitude and 52 degrees South latitude. 52N-52S Map Wikimedia A map of Earth highlighting the area between 52°N to 52°S. (Base map: Mastersun25/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Highlighting: Scott Sutherland) Basically, that's anywhere between Saskatoon and Red Deer in the north, and the southern tip of South America in the south. There is more water than land between those latitudes. Thus, it is more likely that this probe will splash down into the ocean somewhere. However, there is still a chance it could hit land, and even somewhere that's inhabited. As we approach the day of reentry, these estimates and forecasts may improve, narrowing down the timing and thus giving us a better indication of where it will come down. Check back for updates throughout the week. Watch below: Why one planet in our solar systems spins 'backwards'
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up! The first of two Halley's Comet meteor showers is reaching its peak
The eta Aquariid meteor shower is reaching its peak, so check for clear weather and get out before the sun rises for a chance to see pieces of Halley's comet streak through the sky. Each year, from mid-April through until the end of May, our planet passes through a stream of ice and dust that originates from Halley's Comet. During every pass the comet makes through the inner solar system, it heats up, causing it to expel dust and ice particles out into space. Over time, the gravity of the planets and the Sun has caused this comet debris to become stretched out along the nucleus' orbit. Even now, although the comet is very far from Earth and not expected to swing past us again until 2061, we still encounter this debris stream twice as we orbit around the Sun. Comet 1P/Halley's path through the solar system is shown here in white. The debris the comet leaves behind is represented by small white dots along and within the comet's orbit, which becomes much more concentrated closer to Earth, in this case producing the eta Aquariid meteor shower. ( As the tiny meteoroids from the stream get swept up by Earth's atmosphere, they produce brief flashes of light in the night sky, known as meteors. At this time of year, the meteors all appear to originate from a point in the sky near the star eta Aquarii, in the constellation Aquarius. As a result, astronomers call this the eta Aquariid meteor shower or the eta Aquariids. The best time to see the eta Aquariids is between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time. That is when the radiant — the point in the sky the meteors appear to stream out of — rises with Aquarius in the pre-dawn hours. This simulated view of the night sky shows the radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower, near the constellation Aquarius, above the eastern horizon on the morning of May 6, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) While the eta Aquariids occur over a period of roughly a month and a half, they put on their best showing between May 3 and May 9. However, the greatest number of meteors is expected during the peak, on the morning of Tuesday, May 6. At that time, the shower could produce between 20-40 meteors per hour. Simply because it's difficult to focus on the entire horizon at once, most observers tend to see about half that number, though. That averages out to one meteor every three to four minutes. MORE SPACE: For most meteor showers during the year, we're advised to sit back and take in as much of the sky above as possible. This is because meteors tend to show up randomly, and with the radiant of a meteor shower climbing higher in the sky throughout the night, the meteors can hit the atmosphere anywhere overhead. However, the eta Aquariids are a bit different. With the radiant rising so late, it doesn't reach very high in the sky before the meteors become lost in twilight. Look low in the eastern sky for the best chance at spotting these meteors. (Austin Human/Unsplash) It's also possible to spot eta Aquariids even before the radiant rises. "At this elevation meteors can still skim the upper layers of the atmosphere and will appear as long 'earthgrazers'," says Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Society. "The condition continues at radiant rise and while the radiant lies low in the sky. As the radiant gains elevation, the meteors are able to penetrate deeper into the atmosphere creating shorter and quicker meteors." READ MORE: With the First Quarter Moon rising on the fourth, this meteor shower is peaking during a Waxing Gibbous Moon. While that phase of the Moon is usually bad news for viewing meteors, in this case the timing is on our side. The astronomical events for May 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and meteor showers. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, conjunctions courtesy Stellarium) With the Waxing Gibbous Moon setting just as the meteor shower radiant rises, we will have a moonless sky to enjoy the eta Aquariids peak. That won't even affect the earthgrazers that Lunsford mentioned, since we can turn our backs to the Moon setting in the west, to look for meteors in the east. The eta Aquariid meteors put on a decent enough show on their own. However, observers have also reported a different phenomenon, known as persistent trains. As Comet Halley meteoroids streak through the air at 240,000 km/h, we see the typical meteor flashes. However, after some meteors wink out, a glowing trail is left behind in their wake which can float on the wind for minutes or even hours after. Four frames taken from a persistent train video, shot on October 21, 2022, show the initial Orionid meteor flash, and three views of the persistent train that developed in its wake. (Brenda Tate & Tim Doucette via Storyful) Given how rarely this phenomenon has been recorded, researchers aren't sure exactly how they occur. It could be that the meteors release so much energy that they strip electrons from the air molecules they speed past. When those electrons rejoin with the air molecules, they release that extra energy as a burst of light, similar to how auroras occur. It's also possible that the train results from chemiluminescence, which is when metals vapourizing from the fast-moving meteoroid chemically react with oxygen and ozone in the atmosphere to produce light. The eta Aquariids are just the first of two meteor showers that we see each year from Halley's Comet. Most comets tend to pass near Earth's orbit only once. As Halley swings around the Sun every 75 years or so, the path it traces is at just the right angle that it intersects with Earth's orbit twice. This diagram shows the two points when Earth passes near the path of Halley's comet, in May and October each year. Arrows indicate which direction the comet debris is travelling during each period of the year, with Earth encountering the outbound debris for the eta Aquariid meteor shower in April and May and the inbound material for the Orionid meteor shower in October. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Scott Sutherland) In April and May, we sweep through the 'outbound' flow of Halley's debris, which is the dust and ice that trails behind the comet after it rounds the Sun and is headed back into the depths of the solar system. Since this debris is coming at us from the direction of the Sun, we only see these meteors in the hours just before sunrise. During the month of October, we pass through the 'inbound' flow of Halley's debris, which follows the comet's path as it approaches its closest distance to the Sun. This results in the Orionid meteor shower. With the meteoroids arriving from opposite the Sun, the Orionids last for much of the night, from around 10 p.m. and until sunrise. Thumbnail courtesy Brenda Tate & Tim Doucette, via Storyful Click here to view the video
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up! What's going on in the May night sky?
Eyes to the sky for the month of May, for a chance to spot pieces of Halley's Comet streaking by overhead. Here is the Astronomical Guide to May 2025: May 3-4 — Mars near the Waxing Crescent Moon May 4 — First Quarter Moon May 5-6 — eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks May 12-13 — Full Flower Moon May 20 — Last Quarter Moon May 22-24 — Waning Crescent Moon near Saturn and Venus May 27 — New Moon May 28 — eta Aquariid meteor shower ends May 31 — Mars near the Waxing Crescent MoonThe astronomical events for May 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and meteor showers. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, conjunctions courtesy Stellarium) The Waxing Crescent Moon will be in the western sky from the first to the third of the month, in the hours just after sunset. Look on the night of the 3rd to see it near the planet Mars and the Beehive Cluster. The First Quarter Moon is on the 4th, with a Waxing Gibbous Moon passing through our skies each night after until the Full Flower Moon on the night of the 12th to 13th. This Flower Moon is the final micromoon of 2025. As this Full Moon is farther away from Earth than a typical Full Moon, it will appear smaller and dimmer in the sky. Check it out just after sunset or just before sunrise, though, for it to look substantially larger, thanks to the mysterious Moon Illusion. Passing through its Waning Gibbous phase from the 13th to the 19th, the Last Quarter Moon will occur on the 20th. The Waning Crescent Moon can then be seen in the predawn sky each morning from the 21st through the 26th. Check it out, low in the sky along the eastern horizon, on the mornings of the 22nd through 24th to catch it passing by the planets Venus and Saturn. The Crescent Moon passes by the planets Venus and Saturn in the predawn sky from May 22nd through 24th. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The New Moon is on the 27th, giving us our darkest skies of the month. It's a great time for stargazing! After which the cycle begins again as the Waxing Crescent Moon will once again grace our evening skies until the end of the month. See it near the planet Mars again on the night of the 31st. DON'T MISS: Spring Constellations dominate the night sky during the month of May. To the south, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Serpens/Ophiuchus, and Aquila are visible in the evening sky each night, with Hydra stretching across much of the horizon as well. The constellations in the southern sky at midnight on May 15, 2025. (Stellarium) After midnight, Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius follow along, with Pisces rising towards dawn. To the north, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major ("The Big Dipper"), and Ursa Minor ("The Little Dipper") remain the easiest constellations to pick out, as they circle the north celestial pole. The constellations in the northern sky at midnight on May 15, 2025. (Stellarium) Cygnus, Hercules, Boötes, and Draco also feature prominently. SPACE WEATHER: Back on April 19, Earth crossed into a stream of dusty debris in space, left behind by famous Halley's Comet. This began the yearly eta Aquariid meteor shower. Although it started off slowly through the latter half of April, this shower quickly reaches its peak once we transition into May. According to NASA, the best time to view the eta Aquariids is between May 3rd and 9th. However, the morning of May 6 is when the meteor shower peaks. The radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower — the location in the sky where the meteors appear to originate from — in the predawn hours of May 6, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The 'radiant' of the shower only crests the eastern horizon just after 3 a.m., local time. As a result, the eta Aquariids are definitely an 'early riser' meteor shower, and it only offers a short window each morning to see it. During the peak, from around 3 a.m. through morning twilight on the 6th, observers with a clear, dark sky could see anywhere from 20-40 meteors per hour. Give yourself about 20 minutes without any exposure to bright light (including your smartphone) for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Then, look straight up, taking in as much of the sky above as possible, as their brief flashes can show up at any point overhead. Urban light pollution will reduce the number of visible meteors, as the glare of illumination from buildings, street lights, and signs 'washes out' the sky, so only the brightest meteors can shine through. Fortunately, with the Waxing Gibbous Moon setting in the west just as the eta Aquariid radiant rises in the east, the sky should be free from lunar light pollution, providing excellent viewing conditions for the show. However, check your weather forecast before going out, to ensure that the sky above you isn't overcast, so at least some portion of the sky is available to watch for meteors. READ MORE: One fascinating phenomenon we can see with the eta Aquariids is 'persistent trains' — a glowing trail left behind after a meteor winks out, which can persist in the air for anywhere from minutes to hours. Four frames taken from a persistent train video, shot on October 21, 2022, show the initial Orionid meteor flash, and three views of the persistent train that developed in its wake. (Brenda Tate/Tim Doucette/UGC) Exactly what causes persistent trains is still something of a mystery. Meteor scientists (meteoriticists) have some hypotheses, but the phenomenon has been difficult to study in detail, as it has only rarely being captured on camera. Although the eta Aquariids peak early in the month, this shower has a very long 'tail' to it. Even though NASA recommends seeing the shower up until the 9th, we can still spot bits of Halley's Comet occasionally streaking through the predawn sky right up until Earth exits the comet's debris stream on May 28. Click here to view the video
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up! What's going on in the April night sky?
Eyes to the sky for the month of April, for a chance to spot debris from two different comets streaking through our night skies, and the smallest Full Moon of 2025. The Astronomical Guide to April 2025: April 4-5 — First Quarter Moon April 5-6 — Mars near the Waxing Gibbous Moon April 12-13 — Full Pink Moon April 14 — Lyrid meteor shower begins April 19 — eta Aquariid meteor shower begins April 20-21 — Last Quarter Moon April 21 — Mercury highest above eastern horizon before dawn April 21-22 — Lyrid meteor shower peaks April 24,25 — Mercury, Venus, and Saturn near Waning Crescent Moon April 27 — New Moon, Venus at its brightest April 30 — Lyrid meteor shower endsThe astronomical events for April 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and meteor showers. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, planet conjunctions courtesy Stellarium) The Waxing Crescent Moon will be in the western sky each night to start off the month, until the First Quarter Moon on the 5th. The second week of the month will feature a Waxing Gibbous Moon until the night of the 12th-13th, when the Full Pink Moon will rise — the farthest, smallest, and dimmest Full Moon of 2025. Passing through its Waning Gibbous phase from the 13th to the 20th, we will see the Last Quarter Moon on the 21st. The Waning Crescent Moon can be seen in the predawn sky each morning after until the New Moon on the 27th. Although we will not see it, this will be the closest 'super' New Moon of this year. DON'T MISS: Spring Constellations are taking over across the night sky during the month of April. To the south, Orion is still visible in the western sky each evening, with Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Serpens/Ophiuchus following along throughout the night. The constellations in the southern sky at midnight on April 15, 2025. (Stellarium) To the north, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major ("The Big Dipper"), and Ursa Minor ("The Little Dipper") are still the easiest constellations to pick out, with Hercules and Draco featuring prominently as well. The constellations in the northern sky at midnight on April 15, 2025. (Stellarium) SPACE WEATHER: After over three months of waiting, the yearly 'meteor shower drought' between January and April ends this month. The Lyrids On the night of the 14th, Earth enters a stream of debris in space left behind by comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). The tiny meteoroids in this stream will produce meteors in our night sky, which appear to originate from the constellation Lyra. This is the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The Lyrids start out sparse, with maybe one or two meteors per hour, for the first few days of the shower. This number will increase as we approach the most concentrated part of the stream, until the shower peaks at around 20 meteors per hour on the night of the 21st through the 22nd. After the peak, the number of meteors diminishes until Earth exits Comet Thatcher's debris stream on the 30th. The radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower in the eastern sky on the night of April 21-22. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The timing of the Lyrids peak, with respect to the phases of the Moon, is fairly good this year. On the night of the peak, the meteor shower radiant rises at around 9:30 p.m., and a Waning Crescent Moon will appear above the horizon around 4 in the morning. That leaves most of the night with a dark, moonless sky, and even the light of the Crescent Moon shouldn't spoil the show. This is good news, because the Lyrids typically produce about 20 meteors per hour during their peak, so we can use all the help we can get to spot as many of them as possible. One exceptional thing about this meteor shower is that the meteoroid debris from Comet Thatcher hits the top of Earth's atmosphere at exceptionally fast speeds, around 100,000 km/h. Thus, anything larger than a grain of dust in the stream tends to produce a bright fireball that can easily be spotted, even during a Full Moon! The eta Aquariids On April 19, a second meteor shower begins, as Earth crosses into a second debris stream in space, this time left behind by famous Halley's Comet! This begins the eta Aquariid meteor shower. As with the Lyrids, the eta Aquariids begin with just a few meteors per hour, visible in the few hours just before morning twilight. We won't see this meteor shower peak until early May, though. The radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower in the predawn hours of May 6, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) One fascinating phenomenon we tend to see with the eta Aquariids is something called 'persistent trains'. These are glowing trails left behind after the meteor winks out, which can persist in the air for anywhere from minutes to hours. Four frames taken from a persistent train video, shot on October 21, 2022, show the initial Orionid meteor flash, and three views of the persistent train that developed in its wake. (Brenda Tate/Tim Doucette/UGC) Exactly what causes these persistent trains is still something of a mystery. The problem, mostly, is that they have only rarely been recorded, so researchers only have a few examples to study. (Thumbnail image courtesy Fiona Donnelly who captured this Lyrid meteor along with the Northern Lights in April of 2017.)
