Astronomy News For March, 2021 “Its all about Mars” UAE HOPE ORBITER REACHES MARS FEBRUARY 9, 2021 • Mission is to study Mars atmosphere and climate. • A truly multinational effort including three universities in the US, launched from Japan, assisted by India and others. • The UAE is only the fifth country to successfully reach Mars • The name ”Hope” was chosen to inspire hope and optimism in young Arabs. • https://skyandtelescope.org/astronom y-news/united-arab-emirates-hope- enters-orbit-mars/ China’s Tianwen-1 enters Mars orbit Feb. 10, 2021
• Tianwen means “heavenly questions” or “questions to the heavens.” • Consists of Orbiter and Rover (to land May or June 2021) • Rover includes powerful cameras plus radar to detect subsurface water • https://www.sciencefocus.com/n ews/tianwen-1-china-mars- mission-launches-aboard-long- march-5-rocket/ NASA Perseverance Rover lands on Mars February 18, 2021
Spectacular, breathtaking landing watched by millions worldwide
Watch and listen to the first audible sounds : https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8870/nasas-mars-perseverance-rover-provides-front-row-seat-to-landing-first- audio-recording-of-red-planet/ NASA Perseverance Rover
• The largest and most capable Rover ever sent to Mars • This geology based mission will search for ancient life and examine rocks and soil • It will collect and store samples to be retrieved by a future mission and returned to Earth (within a decade) • It will also test ability to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere • Includes the helicopter Ingenuity to attempt first flight this Spring • The Perseverance Mission will pave the way for future exploration • Primary mission to last one Martian year (687 Earth days) Mars Perseverance Rover • Perseverance design derived from the Curiosity rover • Includes many components already fabricated and tested plus new scientific instruments • Contains a Core Drill • Employs 19 cameras and two microphones
MOXIE: Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview/ Mars Helicopter Ingenuity
• May launch in March if all goes well • Must go through a battery of tests including: • How well did it survive the launch, journey and landing? • How well can it survive extreme heat and cold? • Can it recharge itself and keep warm? • Will it have enough lift to fly in a less dense atmosphere? • Tests will prove invaluable for future exploration. • Ingenuity will be the first controlled flight on another planet. • This is truly a Wright Brothers moment. Launch window to Mars
• Why did Hope, Tianwen-1 and Perseverance all arrive at about the same time? • Answer: Launch Window • The launch timeline makes use of the Hohmann transfer orbit requiring the least energy to rendezvous with a target • Multiple TCM (Trajectory Correction Maneuver) were made to correct course
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timel ine/cruise/ See also https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/ activity/lets-go-to-mars-calculating- launch-windows/ Current Mars Missions
• NASA--Mars Odyssey Orbiter • NASA—Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter • NASA—Mars Maven Orbiter • European Space Agency--Trace Gas Orbiter • European Space Agency—Mars Express Orbiter • India—Mangalyaan Orbiter • UAE--Hope Orbiter • China--Tianwen-1 Orbiter and Rover • NASA--Perseverance Rover and Helicopter
Photo~ UAE Hope Orbiter 2021 1965
Perseverance Rover Mariner 4 Landed February 18, 2021 Closest flyby July 15, 1965 Geology based, sample collecting mission First closeup photos of another planet Primary mission to last approx. 2 Earth years Mission--8 months but lasted 3 years. Cygnus X-1 yields new secrets.
• First Black hole to be discovered. • Originally discovered by a rocket sent up in the 60’s to measure X-rays from the Moon, they instead began looking at a signal from Cygnus. • Updated measuring by the VBLA (Very Long Baseline Array) has suggested it to be 21 times the mass of our Sun instead of the original 15. • The star that orbits it every 5.6 days is now thought to be 40 X Sun mass. • Cygnus X-1 is one of the closest black holes that we can study. It is 7000 light years away. • https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/first- detected-black-hole-more-massive/ A cluster of Black Holes at the core?
• Two scientists at the Institute of Astrophysics of Paris were expecting to find a super massive black hole at the center of the NGC 6397 globular cluster. • Instead, after analyzing data from Hubble and the Gaia satellite, they found instead of one massive black hole at the center, data suggest as many as five dozen rotating and orbiting each other. • NGC 6397 is only 70 light years across yet holds thousands of stars • Also known as Caldwell 86, it is located in the constellation Ara (The Altar) https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy- • Ara is to the south of Scorpius and best news/planet-eating-white-dwarfs-black-hole-cluster- visible in the southern hemisphere in July. farfarout/ Gulf Stream System weakest in 1000 years • Gulf Stream System acts as a giant conveyor belt bringing warm Gulf water north and sending colder water south, moderating climate and salinity. • Volume of water is 100 X flow of the Amazon per sec. • Change in heat flow to the north will mean more severe weather in northern Europe and rising sea levels US east coast due to earth’s rotation.
If the slowdown continues at the present rate, the system will weaken further by 34 to 45 per cent by 2100. https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/gulf-stream-atlantic-meridional-overturning-oscillation-weakest-in-millenium