Snooping around our cosmic neighborhood

Thanks to astronomers we're learning more about the universe far, far out there beyond the flickering stars visible to our naked eyed.

• First, they have given us a view of a "30-year-old black hole", a remnant of a supernova SN 1979C (it was discovered in 1979) in a galaxy called M100, about 50,000,0030 light years away.  The supernova is believed to have "formed when a star about 20 times more massive than the sun collapsed."   That means that we are looking at a birthing event that HAS happened a long time ago, but whose images are reaching Earth observers only now. 

New Found Black Hole.

Here's the Huntsville Times story, "Marshall-managed Chandra X-ray telescope finds youngest black hole in 'neighborhood'": 

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found evidence of the youngest black hole known to exist in our cosmic neighborhood. The 30-year-old black hole provides a unique opportunity to watch this type of object develop from infancy.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The black hole could help scientists better understand how massive stars explode, which ones leave behind black holes or neutron stars, and the number of black holes in our galaxy and others.

The 30-year-old object is a remnant of SN 1979C, a supernova in the galaxy M100 approximately 50 million light years from Earth. Data from Chandra, NASA's Swift satellite, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and the German ROSAT observatory revealed a bright source of X-rays that has remained steady during observation from 1995 to 2007. This suggests the object is a black hole being fed either by material falling into it from the supernova or a binary companion. 

"If our interpretation is correct, this is the nearest example where the birth of a black hole has been observed," said Daniel Patnaude of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. who led the study. 

The scientists think SN 1979C, first discovered by an amateur astronomer in 1979, formed when a star about 20 times more massive than the sun collapsed. Many new black holes in the distant universe previously have been detected in the form of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). 

However, SN 1979C is different because it is much closer and belongs to a class of supernovas unlikely to be associated with a GRB. Theory predicts most black holes in the universe should form when the core of a star collapses and a GRB is not produced. 

"This may be the first time the common way of making a black hole has been observed," said co-author Abraham Loeb, also of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "However, it is very difficult to detect this type of black hole birth because decades of X-ray observations are needed to make the case."

• The most recent story (20 November) is about a "new planet from another galaxy that has strayed into the Milky Way ... slightly larger than Jupiter, [and] orbiting a star 2,000 light years from earth. The star, called H-I-P 13044 is part of a stream of stars that were engulfed by the Milky Way several billion years ago." 
  
  The discovery is the first of its kind.
  
  Some newspapers around the world would probably have this in their front page by Monday, 22 November 2010.
  
  We may recall that end-September this year, there was the discovery of  Gliese 581 or the Goldilocks planet in another solar system, which has 'earthly' features, which means it can support life.
  

The Martian from Earth?

• We all know that space travel is now possible after Neil Armstrong and other NASA astronauts set foot on the moon, and after space stations have been set up and manned by both American and Russian astro-scientists.  There has been a couple of rich fellows who have paid to hitch a ride to the space stations, and if we remember, they went on board the space craft in Russia. 

•  Lately, the Chinese government launched their moon space program, which will be capped by their man on the moon by 2013.

• There has been Martians in science fiction. Of course, no 'life' has been observed in that planet.  This one is non-fiction:  If Earthmen decide to establish colonies on Mars, there will be no return trips.  Theirs will be permanent colonies: Earthman becomes a Martian! 

Of course, the idea of a no-return trip has sparked debate. 

Here's the story by Nicholas K. Geranios, "One-way ticket to Mars? One scientist wants permanent colony," which appeared in front page of The Northern Virginia Daily on 16 November:

PULLMAN, Wash. - It's always cheaper to fly one way, even to Mars.

Two scientists are suggesting that colonization of the red planet could happen faster and more economically if astronauts behaved like the first settlers to come to North America - not expecting to return home.

"The main point is to get Mars exploration moving," said Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a Washington State University professor who co-wrote an article that seriously proposes what sounds like a preposterous idea.

At least one moon-walking astronaut was not impressed.

"This is premature," Ed Mitchell of Apollo 14 wrote in an e-mail. "We aren't ready for this yet."

Also cool to the idea was NASA. President Obama has already outlined a plan to go to Mars by the mid-2030s. But he never suggested these space travelers wouldn't come home.

"We want our people back," NASA spokesman Michael Braukus said.

The article titled "To Boldly Go" appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Cosmology, which featured more than 50 articles and essays on Mars exploration.

Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies, a physicist at Arizona State University, argue that humans must begin colonizing another planet as a hedge against a catastrophe on Earth. They believe the one-way trips could start in two decades.

"You would send a little bit older folks, around 60 or something like that," Schulze-Makuch said.

That's because the mission would undoubtedly reduce a person's life span from a lack of medical care and exposure to radiation. Radiation could also damage reproductive organs, so sending people of childbearing age is not a good idea, Schulze-Makuch said.

Mars, which is a six-month flight away, has surface gravity, an atmosphere, abundant water, carbon dioxide and essential minerals. The two scientists propose the missions begin with two two-person teams in separate ships that would serve as living quarters on the planet. More colonists and regular supply ships would follow.

The technology exists or is within easy reach, they wrote. By not taking the extra fuel and provisions necessary for a return trip to Earth, the mission could cut costs by 80 percent.

Davies and Schulze-Makuch say it's important to realize they're not proposing a "suicide mission."

"The astronauts would go to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers of a permanent human Mars colony," they wrote.

They acknowledge the proposal is a tough sell for NASA, with its focus on safety, and suggest the private sector might be more fertile ground.

"What we would need is an eccentric billionaire," Schulze-Makuch said. "There are people who have the money to put this into reality."

Indeed, British tycoon Richard Branson, PayPal founder Elon Musk and Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos are among the rich who are already involved in private space ventures.

Psychological profiling and training of the astronauts, plus constant communication with Earth, would reduce debilitating mental strains, the two scientists said.

"They would in fact feel more connected to home than the early Antarctic explorers," they write in their article.

The mental health of humans in space has been extensively studied. Depression can set in, people become irritated with each other, and sleep can be disrupted, studies have found. The knowledge that there is no quick return to Earth would likely make that worse.

Both men contend that Mars has abundant resources to help the colonists become self-sufficient over time. They write that the colony should be next to a large ice cave to provide shelter from radiation, plus water and oxygen.

"We are on a vulnerable planet," Schulze-Makuch said. "Asteroid impact can threaten us, or a supernova explosion. If we want to survive as a species, we have to expand into the solar system and likely beyond."

• Mention of an "asteroid impact" reminds of visual encounters of comets that make regular appearances (sometimes years) in the earth's sky.  Comets do make interesting subjects of astronomical studies as they relate to the creation or evolution of the earth and other planets.

Images from the fly-by of a NASA spacecraft on Comet Hartley 2 has added new knowledge about the strange mix of objects in the cosmos--galaxies, solar systems, planets and exoplanets, meteors, comets, asteroids.

Here's Alicia Chang on the up close and extraterrestrial fly-by of Comet Hartey 2 in the Casa Grande Dispatch:

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft sped past small comet Hartley 2 on November 4, beaming pictures back to Earth that gave scientists a rare close-up view of its center (images  that revealed a peanut-shaped comet belching jets of poisonous gases).

The close encounter occurred 13 million miles from Earth when the Deep Impact craft, hurtling through space, flew within 435 miles of comet Hartley 2. It’s only the fifth time that a comet’s core has been viewed up close.

Scientists are interested in comets because they’re icy leftovers from the formation of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. Studying them could provide clues to how Earth and the planets formed and evolved.

Thursday’s flyby is actually an encore mission for Deep Impact. It set off cosmic fireworks on July 4, 2005, when it fired a copper probe that crashed into comet Tempel 1. The high-speed collision spewed a cloud of debris into space, giving scientists their first peek of the interior.

After the $333 million comet-buster, NASA recycled Deep Impact for a new mission to visit another comet. It was supposed to target comet Boethin in 2008, but it was nowhere to be found. Scientists theorized the comet may have broken up into small pieces.

Deep Impact was then redirected to Hartley 2. Roughly 11⁄2 miles long, Hartley 2 is the smallest comet to be photographed up close. On its way there, the craft spent several months scanning a cluster of nearby stars with known planets circling them.

While its latest task lacks the Hollywood drama of the Tempel 1 crash, researchers still consider it an important mission. Unlike in 2005, viewers could not see Thursday’s comet encounter in real time since the craft’s antenna was not pointed at Earth as it flew past Hartley 2.

Since September, Deep Impact has been stalking Hartley 2 like a paparazzo, taking images every 5 minutes and gathering data. It’s the first craft to visit two comets.

Deep Impact will observe Hartley 2 until Thanksgiving and then wait for further instructions from NASA. The space agency has not decided whether to reuse Deep Impact again. The craft does not have enough fuel on board to do another flyby.

The latest images add to scientists’ cometary photo album, said astronomer David Jewitt of the University of California, Los Angeles, who had no role in the project.

Hartley 2 passed within 11 million miles of Earth on Oct. 20 — the closest it has been to our planet since its discovery in 1986.

British-born astronomer Malcolm Hartley, who discovered the comet, said he never imagined a spacecraft would get so close to his namesake find.

 References.

1.  Marshall-managed Chandra X-ray telescope finds youngest black hole in 'neighborhood'.  (2010, Nov 15).  Huntsville Times. Retrieved from  http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/11/marshall-managed_chandra_x-ray.html 

2.  Geranios, Nicholas K. (2010, Nov 15).  One-way ticket to Mars?  One scientist wants permanent colony.  The North Virginia Daily.  Retrieved from http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/11/15/1048210?sac=World 

2.   Chang, Alicia. (2010, Nov 05). Comet Hartley 2. Up close & Extraterrestrial. Casa Grande Dispatch. Retrieved from http://www.trivalleycentral.com/articles/2010/11/05/casa_grande_dispatch/top_stories/doc4cd4243bcc03d336013736.txt