VOTE FOR HUBBLES NEXT TARGET

NASA is turning control of the Hubble Space Telescope over to the general public to give non-scientists a chance to choose which target the iconic observatory should turn its camera eyes on next.

The U.S. space agency is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the International Year of Astronomy, which began last month. The options, which Hubble has not previously photographed, range from far-flung galaxies to dying stars. Votes can be cast until March 1.

Hubble's camera will take a high-resolution image revealing new details about the object that receives the most votes. The image will be released during the International Year of Astronomy's "100 Hours of Astronomy" from April 2 to 5.

Everyone who votes also will be entered into a random drawing to receive one of 100 copies of the Hubble photograph made of the winning celestial body.

NASA is also inviting teachers and students to participate in a related Hubble Space Telescope classroom collage activity that integrates art, science and language arts. Students in participating classes can select their favorite Hubble images and assemble them in a collage. Students in each class will also choose their favorite object from the image voting contest and write essays about why they made their selections.

Launched in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has spent 18 years peering into the depths of the cosmos to return stunning images and helping scientists better understand the history of the universe. NASA has launched four shuttle missions to fix and upgrade Hubble. The fifth and final overhaul by astronauts is due to launch on May 12 aboard the shuttle Atlantis.

Commanded by veteran spaceflyer Scott Altman, Atlantis' STS-125 Hubble servicing crew plans to fly an 11-day mission and stage five spacewalks to add new instruments, batteries, gyroscopes and other gear to extend the space telescope's mission through at least 2013.

Click here to Vote or visit the following Web site to cast your vote for Hubble's next target: http://YouDecide.Hubblesite.org

Read More at Space.com

IYA2009 OPENING CEREMONY

After months of anticipation, the official launch of IYA2009 is occurring today, in Paris. Around 900 delegates are in attendance, including eminent scientists and heads of state.

Launched under the theme, 'The Universe - Yours to discover', IYA2009 involves more than one hundred countries, and will stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science.

The official opening ceremony takes place in Paris, 15-16 January 2009, under the aegis of the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Nobel Prize winners, scientists from all over the world and government ministers are attending this prestigious event.

Check out The Opening Ceremony site
The Cosmic Diary website
The Official Website

TELESCOPES OF TOMORROW - EEET

A Modern Telescope

400 years ago, Galileo Galilei first trained a telescope on the night sky. That original telescope was relatively primitive, with a magnifying power of four. Modern telescopes have little in common with their 16th century counterpart. They are bigger, more powerful and far more complex.

A notable example is the European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT. When it goes into operation in 2017, it will be the most modern of its kind, heralding a new class of high-performance telescopes, 100 times more sensitive than today's most powerful telescopes.

This model shows what could one day be the world's biggest telescope. Its main mirror will measure 42 meters in diameter. It's been designed for the European Southern Observatory. The Extremely Large Telescope - or E.L.T as this kind of telescope is called - will give astronomers an unprecedented look at space.

The ground-based telescope will detect the visible and infra-red light that's penetrated the atmosphere. Their biggest headache is the atmosphere itself. Large modern telescopes have to be adjusted to account for the atmosphere. To correct the distortions of the incoming light, Markus Kissler-Patig and his team are applying a sophisticated technique known as Adaptive Optics. He developed it at the European Southern Observatory.

Markus Kissler-Patig thinks: "By the time they reach the telescope, the smooth images coming from space have been distorted by the earth's atmosphere. So we need to correct these distorted pictures . What we do is build a mirror into the telescope - not a smooth one, but one that we can deform. We deform it a hundred times a second - after calculating exactly how the deformations have to look to smooth out the distorted images. It passes on the smoothed-out images to the instruments. It can turn a blob into a high-definition image."

Making the mirror is a huge challenge. So far it's possible to make single mirrors with a diameter of eight meters. But 42 meters? Impossible. So the Extremely Large Telescope's main mirror will be made up of 984 smaller ones fitted together. Each part can be adjusted separately.

The makers also have to secure the telescope against earthquakes, storms and other extreme conditions. A possible site for the giant telescope is the high, dry Chajnantor plateau in Chile. The ESO has already started to build another telescope there. Called ALMA, it will have an array of antennas that will scan the universe in the radio-frequency part of the spectrum. Together, ALMA and the ELT should provide astronomers with fabulous new insights.

The scientists asking themselves if we are alone in the universe? Is there life outside our solar system, outside our planet? We'll be looking for answers to those questions. And the Europeans are prepared to pay for it. The costs of designing, constructing and operating the 42-meter telescope will exceed 800 million Euro. For that they'll get an instrument beyond the wildest dreams of Galileo - who first looked through a telescope at the night sky 400 years ago.

Read More

2009 IS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.

Its a year long celebration of astronomy, which will coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century.

The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the UN. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO - the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s conception of the World forever: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. Astronomical observatories around the World promise to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are.

In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.

On 25th September 1608, Hans Lippershey, a young man from Middelburg, travelled to The Hague to demonstrate one of his inventions to the Dutch government - the telescope. Although Hans was not awarded the patent, Galileo heard of this story and decided to use the "Dutch perspective glass" and point it towards the heavens.

The official IYA2009 opening ceremony will take place in Paris on January 15-16, 2009. It will feature keynote speakers, including nobel laureates, and live video feeds to scientists working in remote locations. Many nations are holding their own opening ceremonies in January and February, showing their dedication to the year.

One of IYA2009's aims is to raise awareness of light pollution and how the beauty of the night sky is progressively being drowned out, particularly over urban areas. The project "Dark Skies Awareness" is tackling these issues head-on in a practical, inclusive manner.

One way in which it is doing this is by holding star-counting events where the public is encouraged to see how many stars in a particular area of the sky are actually visible from their location. When compared with data from truly dark sites, the results are often very surprising! The "How Many Stars" event will run from January 2009.

A list of event highlights is available on the official IYA2009 website, www.astronomy2009.org/highlights. From there it is also possible to contact the National Nodes, responsible for organizing local events in the many participating countries.

IYA2009 seeks to involve the public in its activities, and to this end amateur astronomers have been called upon to help organize and run events. So many people across the globe are already involved, they have formed the world's largest astronomy network.

Catherine Cesarsky, IAU President, says: "135 countries have committed themselves to the Year, all pulling together toward the common aim of making astronomy accessible to the public. IYA2009 will reinforce the links between science education and science careers, stimulating a long-term increase in student enrolment in the fields of science and technology and an appreciation for lifelong learning."

Read More At www.astronomy.com, Wikipedia

Check out The Official IYA Website

The Online News Feed

Tech Edge