Astronomy.com blog

Are we boldly going places?

Bill Andrews — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:55:00 GMT

NASA’s done a good job getting us into space, but should it work harder on convincing people why that’s a good idea? NASA photo

Chances are you’ll recognize the phrase, “To boldly go,” as part of the monologue introducing each episode of Star Trek. I’ve heard it called the most famous split infinitive in the English language, and whatever a person’s science knowledge or familiarity with Star Trek, they’ll usually recognize “To boldly go — where no one has gone before.”

Jeremy McCarter argues in “Rocket Men,” a story in the November 9 issue of Newsweek, that we need more of Star Trek’s ilk. He says a big factor in NASA’s past successes was the public’s general fascination with space, thanks to TV shows and popular books. He quotes from the book Rocket Men (2009) that “all three of rocketry's founding fathers read From the Earth to the Moon, and it changed the course of their lives.” To really get the population excited about space, he says, we need to show space once again as a backdrop for excitement, drama, and adventure, and not just the place where killer asteroids, aliens, and lousy movies come from.

Now, half the fun of the article was renewing my geek cred as McCarter listed off popular depictions of space. I agreed with almost all his characterizations, especially his praise for the underappreciated TV show Firefly and its movie sequel, Serenity. And while I can’t lay claim to having seen The Empire Strikes Back “several hundred” times, as he does, I once performed in a musical adaptation of it.

But, more than simply agreeing about classic sci-fi, I agreed with everything else McCarter said too. If we really want to go out and conquer the stars — or even just the nearest planets and their moons — we need a public that thinks it’s a good idea. Science and a sense of adventure have historically gone hand in hand, and if that isn’t clear to us anymore, someone has messed up. NASA does a pretty good job of keeping folks amused with its videos and tweets, but amusing is a long way from astounding, mesmerizing, or even just super cool.

I’m probably not an expert on super cool (see Star Wars musical reference, above), but I know Star Trek, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, and Contact helped get me interested in space, and I’m definitely not the only one. NASA’s been going into space for a few decades now, but perhaps it’s time it start boldly going.

Did any movies, books, or TV shows inspire you to get into space? Do you think NASA’s doing a fine enough job right now, thank you very much? Or do you (impossibly) think Firefly wasn’t that good?

Approach of the robot armada!

Bill Andrews — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:23:00 GMT

In this artist’s illustration, an orbiter works together with blimps and rovers to explore an unfamiliar landscape. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory photo

Wolfgang Fink has a dream straight out of science fiction: Instead of sending a paltry robot or two to distant planets, scientists should send multiple expendable robots. Robots that can talk to one another and adapt to unexpected events. Robots that can think.

Creepy as that might sound to some, it’s really just the next step in space exploration, according to Fink, visiting associate in physics at the California Institute of Technology and a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“This armada of robots,” Fink said, “will be our eyes, ears, arms and legs in space, in the air, and on the ground, capable of responding to their environment without us, to explore and embrace the unknown."

In particular, he thinks such a plan would be perfect for studying Saturn’s moon Titan, with its mysterious geological features and complex weather systems. (Of course, this armada also could work on any other body scientists wish to study, such as Mars or Venus.) Fink and his team are working on robots that would do the work of a field geologist or astronaut, and they’d be able to work alone or as part of a team. Current proposals already exist for these robots to explore Titan, calling specifically for a lunar orbiter, an air balloon, and several rovers.

"We are basically heading toward making robots that command other robots," said Fink. "It's sort of like commanding a small army of robots operating in space, in the air, and on the ground simultaneously."

Now, this is all pretty clever, and the fact that actual scientists can legitimately suggest such robots is just more proof that we’re living in the future. But to refer to such a futuristic concept (particularly reminiscent of a finger-twiddling robot in Isaac Asimov’s story “Catch That Rabbit”) with the anachronistic term “armada” is truly genius. I mean, can you think of anything catchier than “The robot armada”?

Ares I-X finally reaches T-minus-zero

Matt Quandt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:42:00 GMT

Three days ago, Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds wrote his first in what will be a series of blogs about meteorites and meteorite collecting. While we talked with Mike about that first piece, we learned that he was going to attend the Ares I-X launch. In this entry, he shares what it was like to witness Wednesday’s successful test flight. Mike also took photos of the event, and we'll post those with this entry soon.

Ares I-X lifted off from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center after a number of countdown starts and stops over 2 days. The flight appears to be a success, and we await the data from the myriad of probes on the rocket.

This is a big rocket! Going out to the pad the night before the first launch attempt October 27 underscored what everyone had been saying about Ares. Not only did the size surprise me at a height of 327.4 feet (100 meters), but the mock-up Orion and Escape Tower caught me off guard. Like most, I have seen illustrations and mock-ups of Orion. But at first glance at the pad Monday night, it looked like a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and escape tower!

I felt the frustrations of the Ares I-X launch team on both days. With a 4-hour launch window Tuesday, all felt optimistic a launch would happen. The Florida weather was, well, Florida weather: unpredictable. It was approaching 90° Fahrenheit and muggy. NASA had specific weather conditions for this mission that included flying through no clouds and maximum wind velocities. The no-cloud issue was due to the concern that as Ares I-X would pass through clouds, static electricity would build up and damage the instrumentation packages. The wind issue is a normal condition for launches; 20 knots maximum in the case of Ares I-X. Even though I enjoyed the breeze as I waited — and waited, and waited — I knew conditions were not right.

For the Tuesday launch attempt, a variety of problems came up. First the launch team was behind in pre-launch preparations. Weather dynamics came and went: green (go for launch) to red (no-go). Then there was the now-infamous tarp issue:

There is a series of probes mounted in the top of the rocket. To expose these probes for flight, the launch team would pull on a lanyard to remove a tarp at the top of Ares I-X. Note that the gantry did not go up to the top of the rocket. So when they pulled on the lanyard, the tarp became stuck! This caused another delay. By the time the tarp was finally free, the weather was green and go. At that point launch security “found” a cargo carrier ship in the splashdown zone. How was it allowed to get into that closed zone in the first place? So another delay. By the time the cargo carrier was out of the splashdown zone, the weather was red and no-go, and the Ares I-X launch attempt was scrubbed for the day.

On Wednesday, October 28, the Rotating Service Structure rollback was a little late. Weather was again an issue. The Ares I-X launch team kept pushing back the launch time. I thought we were in for a repeat of the previous day. Finally, all was a go, and Ares I-X screamed off the pad.

I didn’t know what exactly to expect, even though I’ve covered launches all the way back to 1975, including the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and Apollos 11 and 17.

I was surprised at how quickly Ares I-X pitched over — I thought something had gone wrong. Since this was a ballistic lob, there was no need for a straight up then pitch over. The flight was short and sweet, accompanied by a loud cheer from the press site. The launch was fairly noisy, as we’ve grown accustomed to with the shuttle. Separation of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) first stage was different than that of the shuttle because it separated from a mock-up second stage and Orion. The SRBs on the shuttle fall away from the External Tank.

The Ares I-X launch was spectacular. The question now is: Will this be Ares’ only launch?

SmartBean encourages kids’ interest in astronomy

Karri Ferron — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:19:00 GMT

Smartbean lists images from the Hubble Space Telescope like this one of the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) as a reason kids will love astronomy. NASA photo

Cultivating children’s interest in astronomy is a goal for professional scientists, planetarium directors, schoolteachers, and astronomy clubs alike. So it’s nice to see when parents are encouraged to get involved in astronomy with their kids. In a recently published article, SmartBean is doing just that.

SmartBean is a web site dedicated to providing parents with excellent K-12 academic resources and news. In honor of the International Year of Astronomy’s Galilean Nights, it published “10 Reasons Your Child Will Love Astronomy.” The article highlights things like the breathtaking views a kid can see through a telescope, the educational but fun way astronomy activities can be incorporated into a child’s life, and the fact that astronomy is constantly changing with new discoveries and research.

I thought the article was a nice jump-start for parents. What do you think? What resources would you recommend for young kids interested in astronomy?

Meteorite expert Mike Reynolds chats about falling stars

Michael Bakich — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:50:00 GMT

Astronomy Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds presented a talk at the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show about meteorite collecting. During the talk he passed around some great examples. Reynolds is going to share his expertise about meteorites periodically with Astronomy.com blog readers.

While chatting with Astronomy magazine Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds the other day, he proposed a (roughly) monthly series that focuses on meteorites. Everyone here loved the idea, so it’s my job to introduce Mike and the first of the series. No problem.

Reynolds has spent 34 years in astronomy and space sciences in the gamut of a high school and university instructor, planetarium and museum director, researcher, writer, and lecturer. He earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Science Education from the University of Florida. Reynolds has received widespread recognition for his work, including his selections as the 1986 Florida State Teacher of the Year, NASA Teacher-in-Space National Finalist, and the G. Bruce Blair Medal winner.

He has written a number of astronomy books, including the book Falling Stars (about meteorites) and articles. Reynolds has led numerous astronomical expeditions worldwide and has also served as an invited speaker internationally. Mike is Executive Director Emeritus of the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California, and is currently Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences and teaches astronomy at Florida State College in Jacksonville.

Falling Stars!

Welcome to Astronomy magazine’s latest blog about meteorites. We will explore different meteorite falls and finds, types of meteorites, meteorite shows, and the latest in this monthly blog. And if somebody recovers a new meteorite, I’ll immediately blog about the new find.

I got my start in meteorites as a third-grader when my class went to a children’s museum. I was already interested in astronomy and space, so while visiting the museum’s gift shop I was looking for anything astronomical. What caught my eye was a small Canyon Diablo meteorite; I spent my milk money and the 50 cents my parents had given me to buy something at the museum’s gift shop on this meteorite. That started a passion for these fascinating rocks from space. And yes, I still have that meteorite!

Canyon Diablo is an iron meteorite; one of three major classes or groups of meteorites based on their compositions. And meteoriticists further divide each class based on specific characteristics.

Iron Meteorites – composed primarily of iron and nickel, accounting for about 5 percent of all meteorite falls. Scientists further classify these dense objects based on the iron-to-nickel ratio. When sliced and then etched with acid, some irons produce spectacular patterns of lines due to iron-nickel matrix crystalline arrangement. Earth irons do not exhibit this pattern.

Stone Meteorites – contain about 75 percent to 90 percent silicate materials; they account for more than 94 percent of falls. Most stony meteorites contain iron-nickel alloy. Stones fall into classifications based on the inclusion or lack of chondrules (millimeter-sized spherical crystals). Stony meteorites include the rare lunar and martian meteorites whose origins can be traced back to the Moon or Mars.

Stony-Iron Meteorites – a mixture of silicates and iron-nickel in roughly equal proportions; only about 1 percent of all falls. Stony-irons divide into two groups based on how the mixture distributes. Pallasites, one class of stony-irons, are perhaps among the most spectacular meteorites when sliced and collectors treasure them for their beauty.

People usually think of iron meteorites as the predominant type; they are not. Iron meteorites, often called “irons,” make up only a small percentage of all meteorite falls. Irons look and feel like what a meteorite “should,” thus the misconception that they are the classic meteorite type. We’ll explore all three types of meteorites throughout these blogs. And by the way – stony meteorites — or “stones” — make up the greatest number of recovered meteorite falls and finds. (A fall occurs when someone sees a meteor and recovers a meteorite or meteorites. A find happens when somebody simply finds a meteorite with no known associated fall.)

How easy or hard is it to find a meteorite? According to one source, there is more total gold worldwide — 2,000 tons or so — than the total mass of all meteorites recovered in the world in museum, university, and private collections. Scientists estimate that between 20,000 and 100,000 tons of material enter Earth’s atmosphere each year; however, most of it:

Burns up in Earth’s atmosphere;

Becomes atmospheric dust;

Lands in the ocean; or

Is simply never found.

Think about the water-to-landmass ratio of Earth (Arthur C. Clark said it best when he stated, “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when clearly it is Ocean…”). And consider the amount of land that is simply inaccessible. Yet people recover new meteorites all the time, some from fresh falls.

Meteoriticists estimate that more than 45 tons of meteoritic material has come from the famous Canyon Diablo meteorite fall of approximately 25,000 to 50,000 years ago. Canyon Diablo meteorites classify as iron — coarse octahedrite (IAB).

One of my favorite meteorites in my collection: a 994-gram Canyon Diablo iron meteorite that was “pinched” at one end during the final impact of that massive fall. Mike Reynolds Photo
Canyon Diablo meteorites are wonderful iron meteorites, often displaying the incredible forces of impact. Samples have also been known to contain diamonds or other interesting inclusions. Cut, polished, and etched Canyon Diablo specimens demonstrate the Widmanstätten pattern, due to nickel-rich and nickel-poor bands within the crystals. In 1808, Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten, a Viennese scientist, independently discovered patterns in iron meteorites. Even though the pattern carries Widmanstätten’s name, English geologist G. Thompson first noted it and published his results in the French Bibliothèque Britannique in 1804. The patterns represent a section through the three-dimensional octahedral structure in the iron meteorite formed of bands of kamacite with narrower borders of taenite. Only iron meteorites exhibit these patterns.

Someone machined this Gibeon, an iron — fine octahedrite (IVA) meteorite, into a cue-ball sized sphere. They then etched it with acid to show the Widmanstätten pattern. Mike Reynolds Photo
The Canyon Diablo crater, known as Barringer Crater or Meteor Crater, is one of the youngest “large” craters on Earth. Apollo astronauts used Meteor Crater for training prior to their lunar surface missions. If you are ever near Flagstaff or Winslow, Arizona, in Coconino County, Meteor Crater is a must-see stop. The designers of the U.S. Interstate System did us a great favor in building Interstate 40 just north of Meteor Crater.

Please note that it is illegal to hunt for meteorites at the Barringer Crater. In fact, you should always have permission to hunt for meteorites when on private property; the laws in the United States are specific in this regard. Laws vary from country to country; some do not allow the export of meteorites whatsoever. We will explore these legalities more fully in future blogs.
Do you have a meteorite or cratering question? How – and where – to buy meteorites? Collecting tales? Successful meteorite hunts? A favorite meteorite? Favorite meteorite books and publications? A must-see meteorite exhibit? Please e-mail me at my college address: mreynold@fscj.edu. We will explore your meteorites questions and more each month!

Keep looking up!
Dr. Mike Reynolds

Related video:

Collecting meteorites, with Editor David J. Eicher (available to magazine subscribers)

Mad scientists’ revenge?

Bill Andrews — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:57:00 GMT

Stewart David Nozette, later arrested by the FBI for attempted espionage, worked on the LRO’s Mini-RF hardware. NASA Photo

We here at Astronomy magazine try to stay out of politics as much as we can because, after all, astronomy can be plenty controversial on its own — Pluto, anyone?. But sometimes, we just can’t help it. Take, for instance, the case of Stewart David Nozette (pictured at right), the former NASA scientist who was arrested October 19 for allegedly trying to sell government secrets.

This illustration shows NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) over the lunar surface, with the Mini-RF antenna attached to its Moon-facing panel. The scientist who worked on the Mini-RF, Stewart David Nozette, was arrested for attempted espionage on Monday. NASA Photo

Nozette worked on both the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions that made recent headlines with discoveries of water on the Moon. He also worked at some pretty high-level government organizations, including the Air Force's Phillips Laboratory (now a part of the Air Force Research Laboratory), the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (now called the Missile Defense Agency), the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He even went to MIT, the most well-known villain-training school ever (and my alma mater).

Allegedly, Nozette tried selling secrets to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli spy, for a grand total of $11,000. But at least that’s not all the money his alleged espionage may have gotten him — the FBI says he worked for an Israeli aerospace company that paid him $225,000 in the last 11 years. It doesn’t look particularly good for Nozette right now — if convicted he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Coming so fast after the October 9 arrest of a CERN physicist for suspected links with al-Qaeda, I wonder if we’re not seeing the rise of the real-life mad scientist. Usually, I’ve found, people think of scientists as one of two stereotypes: the absent-minded, stuffy, but generally harmless lab-coat wearer, and the evil genius who either wants to become immorally rich or rule the world. I’ve only met a few scientists who fits either description perfectly, but it seems Nozette might come close to the latter. Maybe he just got tired of being thought of as the former? Either way, I think we can all agree this probably is not the best way to dissuade the public of its stereotypical notions.

So what do you think? Happy that scientists are taking a stand and showing the world they’re not all harmless old eccentrics? Or horrified that a member of your favorite lunar mission might turn out to be a spy?

Nicolaus Copernicus: “Old, old blue eyes”

Michael Bakich — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:26:00 GMT

Like Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), renowned Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) had blue eyes, according to genetic tests that identified his remains. This paints a much different picture than the ones I grew up with. Researchers announced the findings last November and published them in July. They suggest that Copernicus most likely had blue eyes, fair skin, and light hair color.

In 2005, a team led by Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski found an incomplete skeleton under the St. Cross altar of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Frombork, on Poland’s Baltic coast. Despite the lack of a lower jaw, the skull provided enough clues for identification.

Tests showed that it belonged to a man who died between the age of 60 and 70 (Copernicus died when he was 70). Furthermore, the man had suffered a broken nose (Copernicus had a crooked nose because of an accident he suffered as a child). The skull also featured a cut mark above the left eye (Copernicus’ self-portrait shows a scar above his left eye).

Of course, a DNA test would provide conclusive proof, but where do you get Copernicus’ DNA? Why, from a library, of course! The researchers found just what they were looking for in the astronomy reference book, Calendarium Romanum Magnum, by Johannes Stoeffler (1452–1531).

They found the book — which Copernicus owned for years — in the Museum Gustavianum at Uppsala University. And among the book’s pages they found 9 hairs. The researchers found usable DNA on four of them. And, guess what? Two were identical to each other and to the profile from the skeletal remains recovered from the St. Cross Altar tomb. The researchers concluded that the remains from the St. Cross Altar tomb are those of Copernicus.

Copernicus also was probably fair-skinned with light hair. How do I know that? Because the team’s genetic analysis also found a variation in a gene called HERC2, which mainly occurs in people with blue eyes. Recent studies have associated the HERC2 variant with lighter hair color and lighter skin.

So, although there’s another “blue eyes” in town, I think Sinatra would be OK with it. After all, who better than Copernicus, the man who replaced Earth as the center of the solar system with the Sun, could more appropriately boast, “I did it my way”?

Get ready for some Galilean Nights

Karri Ferron — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:27:00 GMT

Official Galilean Nights poster

Another International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project kicks off tomorrow night around the globe. The goal of Galilean Nights, October 22-24, is to allow hundreds of thousands of people all around the world to experience their own “Galileo moment” when they look up at the sky through a telescope for the first time. Currently there are more than 1,000 public observing events in more than 70 countries to help achieve such a goal. The Galilean Nights web site lists them all.

Plenty of astronomy clubs, universities, and professional observatories in the United States are participating, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an event to attend. But even if there isn’t one near you, it’s never too late to plan your own observing party. Invite friends and neighbors over one night for their first view of Jupiter. While they’re there, have them do some star counts to learn the visibility in your area. Start Stephen James O’Meara’s Ghost Hunt challenge, and see how many spooky objects on his list you can find.

The Galilean Nights organizers are also encouraging participants to photograph what they see and share the sights with the wider world through the Galilean Nights astrophotography competition. Astrophotographers of all levels are encouraged to participate.

In addition to these great activities, observatories are making their facilities available to the world for remote observing sessions. As well as attending local Galilean Nights observing events, anybody with access to the internet will be able to control telescopes on the other side of the world. Those taking part in remote observing sessions will be able to take photographs of astronomical objects from their own personal computers.

All in all, there are tons of ways to participate and enjoy some observing and outreach. So how will you be spending your Galilean Nights?

Behind the scenes of Hubble 3D IMAX movie

Bill Andrews — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:17:00 GMT

STS-125 astronauts Mike Massimino (lower left) and Mike Good (right, on arm) rehearse Hubble Space Telescope repairs in NASA’s NBL in this IMAX footage from Hubble 3D. NASA photo

Toni Myers is my kind of big-time Hollywood director. She’s worked on such famous space-themed IMAX movies as Space Station 3D, Destiny in Space, and 1985’s The Dream is Alive. I remember seeing Dream is Alive when I was just a kid, and it played no small role in my fascination with the skies. She’s also the director, writer, and editor of the upcoming IMAX movie Hubble 3D, due to be widely released in IMAX theaters March 19, 2010. Even though she’s still hard at work editing, I talked to Myers recently about NASA, movies, and the tyranny of deadlines. Here are some of the highlights, slightly edited for clarity.

Astronomy: What made you start making movies about space?

Myers: Well, at the time of the first IMAX space film, I was part of a team founded by Graeme Ferguson (the co-inventor of IMAX). When the IMAX projector was put in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Mike Collins, the director at that time [and an Apollo 11 astronaut] saw IMAX and said, “This is the medium. This is the only thing that can really convey what we experienced.”

Graeme heard that loud and clear. We’d made other films on other topics before, but once he heard [how Collins felt] we launched a campaign to try and get the IMAX camera into space. That was the start of actually making films in space, and it was really spearheaded by Graeme, who founded the unit.

IMAX camera operator Peter Kragh (left) films STS-125 astronauts Mike Good (foreground) and Mike Massimino (to the right inside the Hubble mock-up) as they rehearse Hubble repair activities at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) in Houston, Texas. NASA photo

Astronomy: Have you ever wanted to branch out beyond space and try making other types of movies?

Myers: We do do other films, though we seem to specialize in airless environments. Our units have produced three 3-D underwater films. We make those in collaboration with a very wonderful cinematographer/director by the name of Howard Hall, and we first made one in 1994, Into the Deep. That’s an adventure of a different kind in a different direction. But we do seem to come back to space a lot. One thing just leads to another, and it is a topic of endless fascination. I’d love to go myself!

Astronomy: Speaking of going to space, you must work pretty closely with NASA to make these films. What’s that like?

Myers: The collaboration has been absolutely wonderful, right from the beginning. We supply the training and the cameras and the filmmaking expertise; NASA supplies the astronauts and the spacecraft. I think NASA could see right away how these films bring an experience that is only the privilege of a small sector of people to absolutely everybody, from the age of 3 to 103. Actually, I think the biggest fans of the films are the NASA engineers and crews because they’re seeing things in the film that they don’t get to see normally. There’s a level of detail that isn’t readily available anywhere else. Even when we saw the first footage come back for The Dream is Alive, all of us sat absolutely jaws-on-the-floor at seeing what the Earth looked like 6 stories high. It was absolutely like being there.

Astronomy: With your latest film, Hubble 3D, are you focusing on the science the Hubble Space Telescope has done, or the story of getting it to work, or something else entirely?

Myers: There will be some early material of its original deployment in space, and we’ll track the story a little bit about the flawed mirror and the first service mission. But the main mission that we’ll focus on is last May’s STS-125, which is the last service mission. We also plan several flights through Hubble data, which we’re animating in 3-D — for instance, one is from Earth right to the heart of the Orion Nebula. We basically want to allow people all over the world to see some splendid examples of how Hubble has changed our whole idea of what our universe is. But, it won’t be everything, that’s for sure!

Hopefully, as with some of the other films, we can inspire people to pursue a career in astronomy. An example of that – totally unexpected by us – is when Susan Helms was going to be one of the first permanent “inmates” of the International Space Station. She was interviewed on the Today show, and they asked her what had inspired her to become an astronaut, and she said, “The IMAX film The Dream is Alive.” We didn’t plan that one, believe me! You can’t begin to cover all the science there is on any given topic in 40 minutes. What you can do is really open people’s eyes as to what is out there. Our goal is to have people leaving the theater wanting to know more.

In this footage from the upcoming film Hubble 3D, Astronaut Andrew Feustel transfers the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement unit from the telescope to its temporary stowage position in the space shuttle Atlantis cargo bay. NASA photo

Astronomy: Do you know what your next project might be?

Myers: I actually don’t. We were doing our last underwater film, Under the Sea 3D, in conjunction with this one, so the two films were going in parallel for about 18 months. I haven’t had a minute to think forward. I should, but I think my biggest challenge right now is getting this one finished. I’d love to do more space films, and there are lots of science films that are very interesting. But I really just have been so totally immersed in this I haven’t given it much thought.

Astronomy: Maybe a vacation’s in order?

Myers: Uh, yeah! That always looms as a nice thing, but then you start worrying, “Well I better get the next project going!” You know how it goes with deadlines.

Astronomy: A little too well, in fact. On that note, then, my last question: Anything else you’d like to add?

Myers: I’d like to say that the crew of the final repair mission (STS-125) was absolutely superb in terms of the work they did. They had an incredibly difficult mission in terms of the intricacies of what they had to do outside on their spacewalks, and I’m in awe of what they accomplished. Also, we wouldn’t be doing this film if it weren’t for Warner Brothers. Going into space was a new adventure for them, and I’m just so thrilled that they wanted to do it. So I do want to give them credit for agreeing to launch with us to the stars!

And finally, I just wanted to highlight the fact that I think the legacy of Hubble itself is absolutely astonishing. Every time I look at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and some of those gravitational lens photos and things, it’s just life altering, isn’t it? I think a lot of people haven’t had that experience, and I hope this film gives them a little bit of it.

An amateur astronomer discovers an exploding star

Michael Bakich — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:21:00 GMT

This 5-minute exposure shows Stuart Parker’s latest supernova discovery in spiral galaxy PGC 17517. Stuart Parker photo

New Zealand amateur astronomer Stuart Parker just sent me an e-mail in which he announced his fourth supernova discovery. Parker routinely surveys numerous galaxies as part of a regular search program.

He discovered the magnitude 17.1 object October 18 in PGC 17517, a magnitude 13.6 galaxy in Pictor. PGC is an acronym that designates this galaxy as one in the Principal Galaxies Catalogue, which contains 73,197 entries.

 Peter Marples and Colin Drescher, both of Queensland, Australia, confirmed Parker’s supernova, and he received the discovery credit from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. That organization designated the supernova 2009jz and announced it to the astronomical community as Central Bureau Electronic Telegram (CBET) 1984. 