Website For Astronomers To Report Unexplained Aerospace Phenomena

A website has been launched giving amateur and professional astronomers a formal mechanism for reporting any unexplained phenomena they observe when studying the night sky.
Initiated within the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), the Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (UAP) Observations Reporting Scheme aims to provide a global focus for sightings by astronomers and contribute toward a better understanding of transient phenomena occurring in the atmosphere.
The reporting scheme has been set up by amateur astronomer Philippe Ailleris, who proposes to use the IYA2009's network of professional and amateur astronomers to collect additional and more rigorous information on UAPs, more popularly referred to as UFOs.
"These phenomena are mainly seen in the night sky, a domain that astronomers have long considered their own, and it is important to collect testimonies from members of the population that are trained observers.
We aim to approach this controversial field of UAP sightings from a professional, rational point of view and without any preconceived ideas. Certainly whenever there are unexplained observations, there is the possibility that scientists could learn something new by further study," said Ailleris.
Ailleris has developed a questionnaire that requests precise details of the sightings, including the location, time, elevation, velocity, apparent size and distance of the UAP, as well as a description of the terrain and weather conditions at the observation point and any sketches, photos, audio or video footage.
The website provides detailed information on common nocturnal and daytime misidentifications, such as sightings of satellites, weather balloons, rockets and natural phenomena such as meteors, planets, ball lightning, sprites and mirages. There are also links to relevant websites where people can further check charts and details.
"As well as allowing people to double check their sighting against explainable causes, we hope that the website will be a useful tool for the astronomy community to redirect enquiries from the general public and to help engage with the public in discussions about the science behind what is seen in the sky.
Many professional and amateur astronomers are scanning the skies with all kinds of technical equipment - telescopes, binoculars, video-cameras, cameras with spectrographs - which creates an excellent opportunity to obtain supplementary data related to UAP sightings.
This is also a great opportunity to engage with the general public and discuss some of the challenges astronomers face in determining various parameters such as coordinates, altitude, distance, speed and size.
I hope we can use this opportunity to enthuse young (and not so young) people and prompt them to start looking upwards and outwards to make sense of their place in the Universe," said Ailleris.

Avatar Moon Pandora Could Be Real

In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable - and inhabited - alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. With NASA's Kepler mission showing the potential to detect Earth-sized objects, habitable moons may soon become science fact.
If we find them nearby, a new paper by Smithsonian astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger shows that the James Webb Space Telescope
(JWST) will be able to study their atmospheres and detect key gases like carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor.
"If Pandora existed, we potentially could detect it and study its atmosphere in the next decade," said Lisa Kaltenegger of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).
So far, planet searches have spotted hundreds of Jupiter-sized objects in a range of orbits. Gas giants, while easier to detect, could not serve as homes for life as we know it. However, scientists have speculated whether a rocky moon orbiting a gas giant could be life-friendly, if that planet orbited within the star's habitable zone (the region warm enough for liquid water to exist).
"All of the gas giant planets in our solar system have rocky and icy moons," said Kaltenegger. "That raises the possibility that alien Jupiters will also have moons. Some of those may be Earth-sized and able to hold onto an atmosphere."
Kepler looks for planets that cross in front of their host stars, which creates a mini-eclipse and dims the star by a small but detectable amount. Such a transit lasts only hours and requires exact alignment of star and planet along our line of sight. Kepler will examine thousands of stars to find a few with transiting worlds.
Once they have found an alien Jupiter, astronomers can look for orbiting moons, or exomoons. A moon's gravity would tug on the planet and either speed or slow its transit, depending on whether the moon leads or trails the planet. The resulting transit duration variations would indicate the moon's existence.
Once a moon is found, the next obvious question would be: Does it have an atmosphere? If it does, those gases will absorb a fraction of the star's light during the transit, leaving a tiny, telltale fingerprint to the atmosphere's composition.
The signal is strongest for large worlds with hot, puffy atmospheres, but an Earth-sized moon could be studied if conditions are just right. For example, the separation of moon and planet needs to be large enough that we could catch just the moon in transit, while its planet is off to one side of the star.
Kaltenegger calculated what conditions are best for examining the atmospheres of alien moons. She found that Alpha Centauri A, the system featured in Avatar, would be an excellent target.
"Alpha Centauri A is a bright, nearby star very similar to our Sun, so it gives us a strong signal" Kaltenegger explained. "You would only need a handful of transits to find water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methane on an Earth-like moon such as Pandora."
"If the Avatar movie is right in its vision, we could characterize that moon with JWST in the near future," she added.
While Alpha Centauri A offers tantalizing possibilities, small, dim, red dwarf stars are better targets in the hunt for habitable planets or moons. The habitable zone for a red dwarf is closer to the star, which increases the probability of a transit.
Astronomers have debated whether tidal locking could be a problem for red dwarfs. A planet close enough to be in the habitable zone would also be close enough for the star's gravity to slow it until one side always faces the star. (The same process keeps one side of the Moon always facing Earth.) One side of the planet then would be baked in constant sunlight, while the other side would freeze in constant darkness.
An exomoon in the habitable zone wouldn't face this dilemma. The moon would be tidally locked to its planet, not to the star, and therefore would have regular day-night cycles just like Earth. Its atmosphere would moderate temperatures, and plant life would have a source of energy moon-wide.
"Alien moons orbiting gas giant planets may be more likely to be habitable than tidally locked Earth-sized planets or super-Earths," said Kaltenegger. "We should certainly keep them in mind as we work toward the ultimate goal of finding alien life."

A Blue Moon For New Year's Eve

When you hear someone say "Once in a Blue Moon" you know what they mean. They're usually talking about something rare, silly, and even absurd. After all, when was the last time you saw the moon turn blue? Well, rare or not, we're having one this month, and according to astronomer David Reneke from Australasian Science magazine, it's going to happen on New Year's Eve!
It's not at all clear where the term 'Blue Moon' comes from. It dates back at least 400 years. According to modern folklore, a Blue Moon is the second full Moon in a calendar month.
"Usually months have only one full moon, but occasionally a second one sneaks in, David said. "Earlier cultures around the world considered the second full moon to be spiritually significant."
Full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible to fit two full moons in a single month. This happens every two and a half years, on average. By the way, February is the only month that can never have a Blue Moon by this definition. This month features full moons on December 2 and December 31.
Does the blue Moon actually turn blue? No. Blue moons are rare, and that's where the phrase comes from, "once in a Blue Moon".
There are occasions though when pollution in the Earth's atmosphere can make the moon look particularly bluish. The extra dust scatters blue light.
For example, the Moon appeared blue across the entire Earth for about 2 years after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.There were also reports of blue moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
"A New Year's Eve like this year's one really does come around once in a blue moon," David said. "Look up at the sky on December 31 and see for yourself." For the first time since 1990, revellers will be able to ring in the New Year under the light of a Blue Moon. The next blue moon to occur on New Year's Eve will not happen until 2028.
"Blue Moons don't have any real significance scientifically but they're fun to look at,' David said." Anytime you can get people out to look at the real sky to me is a great plus, enjoy it while you can this New Year's Eve."

China To Launch Second Lunar Probe In 2010

China will launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, in October 2010, a top Chinese space scientist told China Daily on Thursday. The newspaper quoted Ye Peijian, chief designer of the nation's first moon probe, as saying that the second lunar orbiter will carry different payloads and orbit the moon in a different way.
"It will orbit 100 km closer to the Moon
and be equipped with better facilities. We expect to acquire more scientific data about the moon with increased accuracy," he was quoted as saying.
Though Chang'e-2 was at one time the backup to Chang'e-1, it has gone through technical upgrades for its new mission. Payloads on board have been improved, and the vehicle now boasts a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera on board, which has a much higher resolution than the camera on China's first lunar probe.
Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist with China's lunar exploration team, said on Wednesday during an interview with People's Daily Online that systems on Chang'e-2 are undergoing "match-up and drills" and everything has gone well.
Tests will also be carried out during Chang'e-2's mission to prepare for the lunar-lander and rover, Ye was quoted as saying.
He also told the third International Conference on Space Information Technology in Beijing Thursday that the country's lunar-lander and rover, Chang'e-3, is also well on the way toward liftoff - the project is in the prototype stage and its launch is set for before 2013.
Chang'e-3, China's first lunar-lander and rover, is scheduled to be launched from a Long March 3B launch vehicle from the Xichang satellite launch center before 2013, Ye was quoted as saying.
At present, work on Chang'e-3 has gone beyond the planning stage and the machinery is now in the prototype stage.
The landing site on the moon for Chang'e-3 has also been chosen. Ye said it will be in the Sinus Iridium (Bay of Rainbows).
The scientific objectives of the project include investigating the lunar landscape and exploring the geological structure of the moon. The mission will also help China study the material composition of the moon and search for usable resources.
Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 are part of the second phase of China's lunar exploration program.
China launched its lunar mission in 2007 when it successfully put an unmanned probe, Chang'e-1, into lunar orbit. The spacecraft transmitted pictures of the moon's surface in January 2008.

Is There Life On The Moon ?

Scientists are looking for life in space. So far, they haven't found any life beyond Earth itself. We seem to be getting closer to discovering life somewhere else in our own solar system, with Mars, and some moons of Jupiter and Saturn being considered likely hiding spots for microbes..
Could there be life closer to our home planet? Probably not, but it's worth considering what could be lurking on the Moon. We've discovered evidence that the polar regions of the Moon are the coldest natural places in the solar system. It's not the sort of environment that's friendly to life. Anything that tried to survive there would certainly freeze. But what could these conditions preserve? Could the Moon be a storehouse of chemicals and structures that have disappeared from other regions of the solar system?
Part of the reason why we explore space is not only to discover life, but to find the precursors to life. Outer space holds the records of what conditions were like when the Earth was young, and life could have been getting started on our planet.
If certain regions on the Moon have been frozen for eons, the Moon could be one of our most promising areas for biotic chemistry research.
This material could have been deposited by comets impacting the Moon, or it could have developed locally through chemical processes. Exactly what we will find, and how it got there, are mysteries waiting to be solved.
Substances awaiting discovery could include organic molecules, amino acids or even crude lipid membranes that resemble the walls of living cells. Even something as simple as checking the chirality, or "left or right-handedness", of the arrangement of atoms in a molecule, could be significant.
Some lifeforms will use one form of a molecule, but cannot absorb the "mirror image" of the same molecule, even though it's really the same chemical.
Getting to this material won't be easy. It will take more than a simple rock scoop or drill to retrieve it, and preserve the material inside. We will need sensors that can perform in-situ analyses of the soil and the volatiles it contains (such as water). Similar instruments have already operated on the surface of Mars.
Some material may even need to be transported in a refrigerated state all the way back to Earth, a challenging task for any mission planner. Keeping the material free from contamination will also be important.
At the moment, most attention on the polar regions is focused on the search for water. The quest for astrobiology shouldn't be forgotten in future missions.

Kansas Scientists Probe Mysterious Possible Comet Strikes On Earth

It's the stuff of a Hollywood disaster epic: A comet plunges from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere, splitting the sky with a devastating shock wave that flattens forests and shakes the countryside. But this isn't a disaster movie plotline.
"Comet impacts might be much more frequent than we expect," said Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas.
"There's a lot of interest in the rate of impact events upon the Earth. We really don't know the rate very well because most craters end up being destroyed by erosion or the comets go into the ocean and we don't know that they're there. We really don't have a good handle on the rate of impacts on the Earth."
An investigation by Melott and colleagues reveals a promising new method of detecting past comet strikes upon Earth and gauging their frequency.
The research shows a potential signature of nitrate and ammonia that can be found in ice cores corresponding to suspected impacts. Although high nitrate levels previously have been tied to space impacts, scientists have never before seen atmospheric ammonia spikes as indicators of space impacts with our planet.
"Now we have a possible new marker for extraterrestrial events in ice," Melott said. "You don't just look for nitrates, you also look for ammonia."
Melott studied two possible cometary airbursts with Brian Thomas, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Washburn University, Gisela Dreschhoff, KU adjunct associate professor of physics and astronomy, and Carey Johnson, KU professor of chemistry.
In June 1908, a puzzling explosion rocked central Siberia in Russia; it came to be known as the "Tunguska event." A later expedition found that 20 miles of trees had been knocked down and set alight by the blast. Today, scientists have coalesced around the idea that Tunguska's devastation was caused by a 100-foot comet that had entered Earth's atmosphere, causing an airburst.
Some 13,000 years earlier, an occurrence thought by some researchers to be an extraterrestrial impact set off cooler weather and large-scale extinctions in North America. The "Younger Dryas event," as it is known, coincided with the end of the prehistoric Clovis culture.
Melott and fellow researchers examined data from ice cores extracted in Greenland to compare atmospheric chemistry during the Tunguska and Younger Dryas events. In both instances, Melott's group found evidence that the Haber process - whereby a nitrogen fixation reaction produces ammonia - may have occurred on a large scale.
"A comet entering the atmosphere makes a big shock wave with high pressure - 6,000 times the pressure of air," said Melott.
"It can be shown that under those conditions you can make ammonia। Plus the Tunguska comet, or some fragments of it, landed in a swamp। And any Younger Dryas comet presumably hit an ice sheet, or at least part of it did. So there should have been lots of water around for this Haber process to work. We think the simplest way to explain the signal in both objects is the Haber process. Comets hit the atmosphere in the presence of a lot of water and you get both nitrate and ammonia, which is what both ice cores show."
Melott cautions that the results are inconclusive because the ice cores are sampled at five-year intervals only, not sufficient resolution to pinpoint peaks of atmospheric nitrates and ammonia, which rapidly would have been dissipated by rains following a comet strike.
But the KU researcher contends that ammonia enhancement resulting from the Haber process could serve as a useful marker for detecting possible comet impacts. He encourages more sampling and analysis of ice cores to see where the nitrate-ammonia signal might line up with suspected cometary collisions with the Earth.
Such information could help humankind more accurately gauge the danger of a comet hitting the Earth in the future.
"There's a whole program to watch for near-Earth asteroids as they go around the sun repeatedly, and some of them have close brushes with the Earth," said Melott.
"But comets are a whole different ball game. They don't do that circular thing. They come straight in from far, far out - and you don't see them coming until they push out a tail only a few years before they would enter the inner solar system. So we could be hit by a comet and only have a few years' warning - possibly not enough time to do anything about it."

Night sky of Mount Everest

Very few sights could make mighty Mount Everest seem insignificant, but this could be one of them - an awe-inspiring image of the stars in the night sky casting their glow from inconceivable distances onto the world's highest peak. The photograph shows the constellation Auriga looming above Everest, seen to the left of its smaller Himalayan neighbour Lhotse, while in the foreground stands a stupa - a Buddhist monument. The celestial scene was pictured late last month near Namche Bazar, Nepal, above the gateway to the mountain range.Almost directly over Everest is the dazzling star Capella. While in astronomical terms it is relatively close to our own solar system, its distance is still a mind-boggling 42.2 light years - that's 248 trillion miles - making Everest's five-mile height seem minuscule. Though to our eyes it appears as a single star - the third brightest in the Northern sky - Capella is actually a complicated system of four stars revolving in two binary pairs. Auriga means 'charioteer' and to the ancient Greeks it represented either the lame god Hephaestus or his son, the inventor of the four horse chariot which earned him a place of honour in the sky.
Also visible in the photograph is Aldebaran, the 'bull's eye' of the constellation Taurus, and above it the famous 'seven sisters' of the Pleiades. What might appear to be a fallen star nestling in the folds of the mountains is in fact the brightly lit monastery of Tengboche.