Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has captured its deepest view of the Universe, producing images of galaxies that have never been seen before

Every one of those blobs is a galaxy!

See More Photographs:

http://www.utahskies.org/HST/Archives/galaxies.html

Sky this Week (YouTube Video)

Mostly full moon interferes with dark sky views this week. There are some Jupiter Great Red spot crossings visible as well as some moon transits to observe. ISS is not visible in the Denver area this week. Cassini team released some cool shots of aurora on Saturn. A nova has occurred in constellation Eradanus -- visually its magnitude +8.2. Impressive when compared with previous photos showing only a 17 magnitude star in the same place. Fun to photograph and observe changes in brightness over the coming weeks.

Science Centric | Scientists complete first global geological map of Jupiter's moon Ganymede

Larger than both planet Mercury and dwarf planet Pluto, it's also the only satellite in the solar system known to have its own magnetosphere. ...

Thunderbolts.info | The Electric Universe Versus The Big Bang

The big bang was not "discovered" but contrived by mathematicians following the proposal of a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and astronomer, George Lemaitre, for the origin of the universe from a "primeval atom" or "Cosmic Egg exploding at the moment of the creation." The theory defies physics principles and is unrealistic, needing most of the matter in the universe to be invisible (not even dark) and a mysterious 'dark' energy.

ScienceDaily.com | Astrophysics: High Energy Galactic Particle Accelerator Located

An unprecedented measuring campaign has succeeded in precisely defining the place of origin of high-energy gamma radiation in the galaxy Messier 87. This radiation can only be produced by accelerating elementary particles to very high energies in enormous cosmic objects. Now the underlying extreme physical processes and inherent implications can be investigated in more detail.

Our neighbouring galaxy Messier 87 (M87) accelerates elementary particles to extremely high energies - millions of times higher than anything possible with the particle accelerator LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN. These particles contribute to the cosmic radiation that can be measured on earth. For the first time, physicists can now locate exactly where the acceleration of the particles takes place, i.e. right next to the black hole in the centre of the galaxy.

READ MORE>>>

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Physicist Calls for Airline Industry to Educate Workers about Radiation Levels

European Organisation for Astronomical Research ESO unveils an amazing, interactive, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire night sky

LINK to GigaGalaxy Zoom: http://www.eso.org/gigagalaxyzoom/B.html

The first of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project — a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO’s observing sites in Chile — has just been released online. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world.

READ MORE>>>

SpaceDaily.com | Earth Rocks In Space

UAnews.org | Evening Lectures on Migrating Planets, Hazardous Asteroids Search

In this artist's concept, a narrow asteroid belt filled with rocks and dusty debris orbits a star similar to our own sun when it was approximately 30 million years old. (Illustration credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T.Pyle, SSC)

Planetary sciences professor Renu Malhotra will speak on “Migrating Planets” on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Did the solar system always look the way it is now? New studies by Malhotra and others find that the outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – were more tightly clustered in the early solar system, then moved away from each other.

Malhotra’s models show that as the solar system evolved, Jupiter moved slightly closer to the sun, while the other giant planets moved farther apart from each other and farther away from the sun.

The migration likely perturbed asteroids that contributed to the heavy bombardment of the inner solar system.

The evidence is recorded as close as the moon and as far away as Pluto.

Catalina Sky Survey director Ed Beshore will talk on “The Search for Hazardous Asteroids from Mount Lemmon” on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

On Oct. 5, 2008, the UA’s Catalina Sky Survey discovered a small asteroid named 2008 TC3. It is the first asteroid discovered with a 100 percent certainty of colliding with Earth.

Just 17 hours after Catalina Sky Survey team member Rich Kowalski discovered 2008 TC3, it fell harmlessly in the desert of northern Sudan. During those 17 hours, amateur and professional astronomers made more than 570 observations of the asteroid. Months later, U.S. and African students and researchers recovered more than eight pounds of meteorites from the fall.

Beshore will also talk about how the Catalina Sky Survey searchers for dangerous asteroids, and some ideas about what might be done if an Earth-threatening asteroid is found.

Research

Astro-ph

• Bailey, B.L., Malhotra, R., Two dynamical classes of Centaurs, Icarus, in press.
• Tiscareno, M.S., Malhotra, R., Chaotic diffusion of resonant Kuiper Belt objects, AJ, 138, 827-837 (2009).
• Minton, D.A., Malhotra, R., A record of planet migration in the main asteroid belt, Nature, 457:1109-111 (2009).
• Volk, K., Malhotra, R., The Scattered Disk as the source of the Jupiter family comets, ApJ, 687:714-725 (2008).
• Malhotra, R., Minton, D.A., Prospects for the habitability of OGLE-2006-BLG-109L, ApJ-Letters, 683:L67-L70 (2008).
• Moro-Martin, A. Wyatt, M.C., Malhotra, R., Trilling, D.E., Extra-Solar Kuiper Belt Dust Disks, in "The solar system beyond Neptune", edited by A. Barucci, H. Boehnhardt, D. Cruikshank, A. Morbidelli, The University of Arizona Press (2008).
• Moro-Martin, A., Malhotra, R., et al., The dust, planetesimals and planets of HD 38529, ApJ, 668:1165-1173 (2007).
• Minton, D.A., Malhotra, R., Assessing the massive young Sun hypothesis to solve the warm young Earth puzzle, ApJ, 660:1700-1706 (2007).
• Moro-Martin, A., et al., Are Debris Disks and Massive Planets Correlated?, ApJ, 658:1312-1321 (2007).
• Ito, T., Malhotra, R., Dynamical transport of asteroid fragments from the nu6 resonance, Advances in Space Research, 38(4), 817-825 (2006). Preprint
• Pascucci, I., et al., Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Upper Limits to the Gas Mass in Disks Around Sun-like Stars, ApJ, 651:1177-1193 (2006).
• Moro-Martin, A., Wolf, S., Malhotra, R., Signatures of planets in spatially unresolved debris disks, ApJ, 621:1079-1097 (2005).
• Kim, J.S., et al., Formation and evolution of planetary systems: cold outer disks associated with sun-like stars, ApJ, 632:659-669 (2005).
• Moro-Martin, A., Malhotra, R., Dust outflows and inner gaps generated by massive planets in debris disks, ApJ, 633:1150-1167 (2005).
• Hahn, J.M., Malhotra, R., Neptune's Migration into a Stirred-Up Kuiper Belt: A Detailed Comparison of Simulations to Observations, AJ, 130:2392-2414 (2005).
• Strom, R.G., Malhotra, R., Ito, T., Yoshida, F., Kring, D.A., The origin of planetary impactors in the inner solar system, Science 309, 1847-1850 (2005). Preprint
• Kortenkamp, S.J., Malhotra, R., Michtchenko, T., Survival of Trojan-Type Companions of Neptune During Primordial Planet Migration, Icarus, 167:347-359 (2004). Preprint
• Michtchenko, T., Malhotra, R., Secular Dynamics of the Three-Body Problem: Application to the upsilon Andromedae Planetary System, Icarus, 168:237-248 (2004). Preprint
• Meyer, M., et al., The formation and evolution of planetary systems: First results from a Spitzer Legacy Science Program, ApJS, 154, 422--427 (2004).
• Bernstein, G.M., D.E. Trilling, R.L. Allen, M.E. Brown, M. Holman, R. Malhotra, The Size Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Bodies, AJ 128:1364-1390 (2004). Erratum.
• Yoshida, F., et al, Photometric observation of a very young family-member asteroid (832) Karin, Publ. Astron. Soc. Japan 56, 1105-1113, (2004). Preprint
• Moro-Martin, A. Malhotra, R., Dynamical models of Kuiper Belt Dust in the inner and outer Solar system, AJ, 125:2255-2265 (2003).
• Tiscareno, M., Malhotra, R., The dynamics of known Centaurs, AJ, 126:3122-3131 (2003).
• Allen, R.L., Bernstein, G.M., Malhotra, R., Observational Limits on a Distant Cold Kuiper Belt, AJ, 124, 2949-2954 (2002).
• Malhotra, R., A dynamical mechanism for establishing apsidal resonance, ApJ, 575:L33-L36 (2002).
• Moro-Martin, A., Malhotra, R., A Study of the Dynamics of Dust from the Kuiper Belt: Spatial Distribution and Spectral Energy Distribution, AJ, 124:2305-2321 (2002).
• Allen, R.L., Bernstein, G.M., Malhotra, R., The edge of the Solar system, ApJ 549:L241-L244 (2001).
• Malhotra, R., Duncan, M., Levison, H., Dynamics of the Kuiper Belt, in Protostars and Planets IV , University of Arizona Press-Tucson, p. 1231-1254 (2000). Preprint
• Malhotra, R., Holman, M., Ito, T., Chaos and stability in the Solar system, PNAS, 98(22):12342-12343 (2001).
• Stepinski, T.F., Malhotra, R., Black, D.C., The Upsilon Andromedae System: Models and Stability, ApJ 545:1044-1053 (2000).
• Malhotra, R., Migrating Planets, Scientific American 281(3):56-63 (1999). pdf
• Hahn, J.M., Malhotra, R., Orbital evolution of planets embedded in a massive planetesimal disk, AJ 117:3041-3053 (1999).
• Malhotra, R., Chaotic planet formation, Nature 402:599-600 (1999).
• Showman, A., Malhotra, R., The Galilean Satellites, Science 286:77 (1999).
• Malhotra, R., Orbital resonances and chaos in the Solar system, in Solar System Formation and Evolution, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ASP Conference Series vol. 149 (1998). Preprint
• Malhotra, R., Williams, J., The heliocentric motion of Pluto, in Pluto and Charon, D.J. Tholen, S.A. Stern, eds., Arizona Space Science Series, Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson (1997).
• Liou, J.C., Malhotra, R., Depletion of the outer asteroid belt, Science 275:375-377 (1997).
• Showman, A., D.J. Stevenson, R. Malhotra, Coupled orbital and thermal evolution of Ganymede, Icarus 129:367-383 (1997).
• Showman, A., Malhotra, R., Tidal evolution into the Laplace resonance and the resurfacing of Ganymede, Icarus 127:93-111 (1997).
• Malhotra, R., The phase space structure in the Kuiper Belt, AJ 111:504-516 (1996).
• Malhotra, R., The origin of Pluto's orbit: implications for the Solar system beyond Neptune, AJ 110:420-429 (1995).
• Malhotra, R., Dynamical model of pulsar-planet systems, in Millisecond Pulsars -- A Decade of Surprise, M. Tavani, D. Backer & A. Fruchter, eds. Pub.: Astronomical Society of the Pacific. p. 399-410 (1995).
• Malhotra, R., Nonlinear Resonances in the Solar System, Physica D 77:289-304 (1994)
• Malhotra, R., A mapping method for the gravitational few-body problem with dissipation, Cel. Mech. & Dyn. Astron. 60:373-385 (1994).
• Malhotra, R., The origin of Pluto's peculiar orbit, Nature 365:819-821 (1993).
• Malhotra, R., Orbital resonances in the Solar Nebula: strengths and weaknesses, Icarus 106:264-73 (1993).
• Malhotra, R., Orbital dynamics of PSR1257+12 and its two planetary companions, ASP Conf. Proc. # 36 (1993)
• Malhotra, R., Three-body effects in the planetary system of PSR1257+12, ApJ 407:266-275 (1993).
• Malhotra, R., D. Black, A. Eck, A. Jackson, Resonant orbital evolution of the putative planetary system of PSR1257+12, Nature 356:583-35 (1992).
• Malhotra, R., Tidal origin of the Laplace resonance and the resurfacing of Ganymede, Icarus 94:399-412 (1991).
• Malhotra, R., Capture probabilities for secondary resonances, Icarus 87:249--264 (1990). Erratum
• Malhotra, R., S.F. Dermott, The role of secondary resonances in the orbital history of Miranda, Icarus 85:444--480 (1990).
• Dermott, S.F., P.D. Nicholson, R. Gomes, R. Malhotra, Modelling the IRAS Solar System dust bands, Advances in Space Research 10(3):171--180 (1990).
• Malhotra, R., K. Fox, C.D. Murray, P.D.~Nicholson, Secular perturbations of the Uranian satellites: Theory and practice, Astron. & Astrophys. 221:348--358 (1989).
• Dermott, S.F., Malhotra, R., Murray, C.D., Dynamics of the Saturnian and Uranian satellites: A chaotic route to melting Miranda? Icarus 76:295-334 (1988). pdf

ESO - European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere | Zoom to the Arches Cluster - Voyage to the heart of the Milky Way

Click to view video on ESO website

In this zoom sequence we start with a view of the central parts of the Milky Way Galaxy and work inwards towards the Arches Cluster, buried deep beyond the dust clouds. At the last stage, we see the transition from visible to near-infrared observations, piercing through the clouds and revealing the stars of the Arches Cluster.

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http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/arches/

Arches Cluster:
Star Factory Near Galactic Center Bathed In High-Energy X-Rays

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Northwestern/F.Zadeh et al., IR: NASA/HST/NICMOS, Radio: NRAO/VLA/C.Lang

This composite image shows an envelope of 60-million-degree gas around a young cluster of stars, known as the Arches cluster. The Chandra data, shown as the diffuse blue emission in the inset box, overlays a Hubble Space Telescope infrared image of the same region, in which some of the individual stars in the cluster can be seen as point-like sources. Both the X-ray and infrared observations are shown in context of the spectacular filamentary structures that appear in radio wavelengths displayed in red. Radio observations were obtained using the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes.

The Arches cluster contains about 150 hot, young stars concentrated within a radius of about one light year, making it the most compact cluster of stars in our Galaxy. Many of these stars are 20 times as massive as the Sun and live short, furious lives that last only a few million years. During this period, gas evaporates from these stars in the form of intense stellar winds. The envelope of hot gas observed by Chandra is thought to be due to collisions of the winds from numerous stars.

Studies of the Arches cluster, located about 26,000 light years from Earth, can be used to learn more about the environments of "starburst" galaxies millions of light years away where this phenomenon may be occurring on a much larger scale.

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September 1, 2009 - The Daily Galaxy: Massive Magnetic Fields Observed at Center of the Milky Way ... "The Arches", megascale ribbons of hotplasma flowing around the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy. ... these magneticfields channel vast streamers of hot plasma which radiate ..

April 30, 2008 - The Daily galaxy: Massive Magnetic Fields Observed at Center of the Milky Way

... Hidden at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A-star is the mass of three million ... Massive Magnetic Fields Observed at the Milky Way Core ... One such ultra-impressive artifact is "The Arches", megascale ribbons of hot plasma flowing around the supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy. ...

Astronomical Society of Northern New England | Astronomical Highlight : September

http://maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=279437&ac=Outdoors

• Sept. 2. The moon passes 3 degrees north of Jupiter.

• Sept. 3. Jupiter will appear to lose all four of its largest moons for a time this morning.

• Sept. 4. Full moon is at 12:03 p.m. This is usually called the Harvest Moon, but only if it is nearest the equinox, which happens two years out of three. This year the October full moon is nearest the fall equinox, so September's moon is called the full corn moon.

• Sept. 9. Viking 2 was launched to Mars on this day in 1975.

• Sept. 11. Last quarter moon is at 10:16 p.m.

• Sept. 13. The moon passes one degree north of Mars this morning.

• Sept. 16. The moon is at perigee, or closest to the Earth this morning at 226,212 miles. The moon passes just south of Venus today.

• Sept. 17. Saturn is in conjunction with the sun.

• Sept. 18. New moon is at 2:44 p.m. EDT.

• Sept. 20. Venus passes half a degree north of Regulus in Leo the Lion.

• Sept. 21. The fourth-largest asteroid, named Juno, is at opposition at 4 a.m. today. You can see it with a pair of binoculars in Pisces.

• Sept. 22. The autumnal equinox occurs at 5:19 p.m.

• Sept. 24. The moon passes less than one degree north of Antares — 700 times the diameter of our sun and one of the biggest stars in our galaxy — this morning.

• Sept. 26. First quarter moon is at 12:50 a.m.

• Sept. 27. The moon is at apogee, or farthest from the Earth today at 251,302 miles.

FraserCoastChronicle.com.au | Earth's twin may be out there somewhere

Thunderbolts.info | When Sirius Was Red

Sirius A and its faint companion, Sirius B. Credit: Hubble Space Telescope/NASA/ESA,
H. Bond (STScI) and M. Barstow (University of Leicester).

A prime application of the historical method concerns the colour of Sirius A or α Canis Majoris, the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius appears bright white today, but – as the English amateur astronomer, Thomas Barker (1722-1809), first pointed out in 1760 – was emphatically qualified as red in many classical texts. Poetical passages aside, Seneca commented that Sirius was of a deeper red than Mars, while Ptolemy labeled the star “reddish” and grouped it with five other stars, all of which are indeed of red or orange aspect.

apod.nasa.gov - Astronomy Picture of the Day | Laser Strike at the Galactic Center to measure the distortions of Earth's ever changing atmosphere

Explanation: Why are these people shooting a powerful laser into the center of our Galaxy? Fortunately, this is not meant to be the first step in a Galactic war. Rather, astronomers at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) site in Chile are trying to measure the distortions of Earth's ever changing atmosphere. Constant imaging of high-altitude atoms excited by the laser -- which appear like an artificial star -- allow astronomers to instantly measure atmospheric blurring. This information is fed back to a VLT telescope mirror which is then slightly deformed to minimize this blurring. In this case, a VLT was observing our Galaxy's center, and so Earth's atmospheric blurring in that direction was needed. As for inter-galaxy warfare, when viewed from our Galaxy's center, no casualties are expected. In fact, the light from this powerful laser would combine with light from our Sun to together appear only as bright as a faint and distant star.

Seven new asteroids have been discovered by a group of Bulgarian astronomers from the Zvezdno Obshtestvo Observatory.

Space.com | Total Amateurs Discover 'Green Pea' Galaxies