Public Stargazing

Public Stargazing

Where:
Frosty Drew Observatory
When:
Friday October 17, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Cost:
$1 Suggested Donation per Person

Tonight's weather is calling for mostly clear to partly cloudy skies with possibly hazy conditions. The 24% waning crescent Moon will rise at 1:59 a.m. offering us super dark skies for our prime viewing times. Haze may keep spectacular viewing on hold, though excellent views will still be had. We plan to open the Observatory and Sky Theatre at 7:00 p.m. In the Sky Theatre a slideshow of astrophotos taken at Frosty Drew will be on display for those looking to kick back and relax. In the Observatory we will focus our telescopes on some of the fabulous deep sky objects visible this season, including the M13, M2, M15, and M92 globular clusters; the M57 and M27 planetary nebulae; and the fabled Andromeda Galaxy. Temperatures should be warmer than usual, making for a great night of stargazing under the Charlestown, RI starscape.

Get out there Rhode Island and enjoy a relaxing night under the stars at Frosty Drew.

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Weekly Happenings
Scott MacNeill

In March 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission left planet Earth embarking on the first mission of its kind. Its destination, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P). Its mission, to intercept a comet, acquire orbit, and deploy a lander to the comet's surface. Skip ahead ten years, and rendezvous with the comet followed by orbital insertion has been accomplished, making Rosetta the first spacecraft to acquire stable orbit around a comet.

The Rosetta mission was launched with the purpose of studying the chemical composition of a comet. Comets are remnants of a young Solar System and hold many clues to the origins and history of the Solar System and planet Earth. As a comet approaches the Sun (perihelion), interaction with the solar wind and radiation will heat up the comet causing the chemical composition of the nucleus to outgas. This outgassing will release water vapor, dust, and rocky particles around the comet's nucleus creating a thin atmosphere, called “coma”. Rosetta and Philae (the lander) will perform a comprehensive analysis of the comet's primordial composition with the goal of identifying left-handed amino acids, the building blocks of life on Earth, while accompanying the comet around the Sun.

The past couple months have kept Rosetta busy orbiting the comet in search of potential landing sites that are accessible to the Philae lander module. The ESA team has analyzed dozens of sites and compiled a list of excellent candidates with a primary site primed for exploration, called “Site J”. On November 12th at 4:03 a.m. EST, the Philae lander will depart from Rosetta en route to Site J. The journey from Rosetta to Site J will take approximately seven hours, with an expected touchdown occurring around 11:00 a.m. EST. Once Philae is on Comet 67P's surface, it will obtain the first photos taken from the surface of a comet. Drilling will commence followed by a detailed inventory of organic chemicals that exist in the comet.

The Rosetta mission is certainly one of the most ambitious missions happening right now. This is the first time humans will land a spacecraft on a comet! Rosetta made the history books in August after successfully acquiring orbit around Comet 67P and will continue to achieve historic measures as the mission continues. Follow along with Rosetta, tweets at @ESA_Rosetta, on the web as it makes the journey, together with Comet 67P, to perihelion and back out of the inner Solar System and get inspired by the awesome things that we can accomplish.

This weekend on Sunday (October 19th), Comet C/2013 Siding Spring will buzz Mars at a close 87,000 miles distant. That is 1/3 the distance of the Moon from Earth. Though early observations of Siding Spring appeared to place the comet directly on a collision course with Mars, recent observations have ruled out any possible impact. Regardless, the comet will put on an excellent show! NASA has its fleet of scientific spacecraft geared up and ready to showcase the event. Tune into NASAs Siding Spring page and stand by as awesomeness begins at 2:28 p.m. ET this Sunday afternoon!

-Scott