Images From Chandrayaan-1

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) has recently released new pictures from their Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft . Probably the most interesting pictures were the ones from the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) that landed on the Moon on Friday, November 16. The pictures are below, and additional pictures are available on ISRO's website. The first two pictures are from the MIP as it was heading towards the lunar surface. The third picture is from the Terrain Mapping Camera onboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Click on the images for a larger view.

Images: ISRO

Hubble Takes First Image of an Extrasolar Planet

An artist's concept of Fomalhaut b

The image on the left is the first visible-light photograph of a planet orbiting another star, an extrasolar planet. It was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet, named Fomalhaut b, orbits the star Fomalhaut. Fomalhaut b is about three times the mass of Jupiter, is located 25 light-years away, and is estimated to be 100 million years old.

The first evidence for the planet came in 2004, when an earlier image by the Hubble Space Telescope of Fomalhaut revealed a ring of protoplanetary debris, having a defined inner edge, very similar to the Kuiper Belt around the solar system. In 2005, a team at the University of California at Berkeley proposed that this ring of debris was being affected gravitationally by a planet in between the star and inner edge of the ring.

The Hubble Space Telescope has now photographed a point of light believed to be the planet Fomalhaut b in that debris. The point lies 1.8 billion miles inside the inner edge of the ring.

Even though the object photographed is a billion times fainter than the star Fomalhaut, it is still brighter than what is expected from a planet three times the size of Jupiter. A possible explanation for this is that the planet has a ring of ice and dust orbiting it reflecting light, like Saturn does, which may later coalesce to form moons.

By comparing images from 2004 and 2006, the team was able to calculate the orbital period of the object. Using Kepler's laws of planetary motion, this came out to an 872-year-long orbit.

Further observations of the planet will reveal more information about the planet, such as a more accurate mass.

For more information, visit:

• The HubbleSite News Release
  

Images: NASA

Indian Probe Lands on Moon

Moon Impact Probe
Image: ISRO

Chandrayaan-1 has touched down on the Moon at 8:31 P.M. (Indian Standard Time, 3:01 P.M. GMT) on Friday, November 14, 2008.  The date was deliberately chosen to be Children's Day in India, and also the birthday of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It landed near the south pole of the Moon.


A few days earlier, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft began orbiting the Moon, and released the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), aboard it, once the spacecraft achieved its final 100 km orbit around the Moon. The probe's descent was captured on video by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and the video was transmitted to ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organization) command centre. Four Indian flags were painted on four sides of the probe, and the landing makes India only the fourth nation to have put its flag on the Moon.


The MIP, with a mass of about 34 kg, included three instruments inside: a video imaging system, a radar altimeter, and a mass spectrometer. The video imaging system provided pictures of the Moon as the MIP made its 25 minute journey down to the Moon. The radar altimeter gave the altitude and rate of descent of the lander, and the mass spectrometer studied the lunar atmosphere, which is very thin.


Rockets on the MIP started to fire as the probe approached the Moon, to soften the landing. The mission concluded with a hard landing on the lunar surface which provided a successful ending of one of the most important phases of the Chandrayaan-1 mission.


ISRO's news report.

MIP landing

Animation: ISRO

Chandrayaan-1 Passes Into Lunar Orbit

Animation showing the different orbits of Chandrayaan-1.

Animation: ISRO

November 8, marked a very important date for Chandrayaan-1 as it passed into lunar orbit. India has become the fifth country to send a spacecraft to the Moon.

In the days leading up to this maneuver, the spacecraft had gradually been increasing its apogee (the farthest distance from Earth in orbit). Now, Chandrayaan-1 is slowly decreasing its height of the orbit around the Moon, and will finally achieve a polar orbit of 100 km (62 miles) from the surface of the Moon. As it does this, the scientific equipment aboard the spacecraft will be turned on as the spacecraft conducts its normal duties.

A "perfect ten" for the Hubble Space Telescope

Arp 147

Image: NASA

A few weeks after the Hubble Space Telescope went into sleep mode, due to an electrical malfunction, it came back with a marvelous photo of two adjacent galaxies, resembling a number "10". The image came just a few days after the telescope resumed scientific observations, and the camera has been proven to show that it has been working exactly like it was before the telescope entered sleep mode.


The pair of galaxies featured, Arp 147, have many interesting features. The galaxy on the right is blue, indicating an area of intense star formation. The shape and the position of the two galaxies is due to the galaxy currently on the left passing through the one on the right, creating a ripple effect starting from the point of impact. The outer material moving in due to the increased gravitational pull of the two galaxies collided with the this ripple traveling outwards. The shock and dense gas created with this collision resulted in the increased amount of star production.


The galaxy on the left passed through this collision nearly unscathed, with the exception being the ring of starlight surrounding it. The bright red object in the bottom left corner of the image is thought to be the nucleus of the galaxy that was hit.


Besides the interesting subject of the image, the Hubble has recently been suffering numerous problems. The last servicing mission for the famous telescope was originally scheduled for February. It has now been delayed to May, since a spare part for fixing this current problem will not be ready for February.


P.S.
50th post for Astronomy and Space!

TMC Onboard Chandrayaan-1 Tested

The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) is among the numerous tools onboard Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan-1 is India's first Moon mission, and the TMC is designed to map the topography of the Moon. Using this camera, Chandrayaan-1 will be able to completely map the surface of the Moon. It was tested on October 29, 2008 by ISRO, and sent back wonderful images of our home planet, Earth. The instrument can take black and white images and has a resolution of 5 meters. The new images are posted below (click for larger view):

Images: ISRO

Chandrayaan-1: India's First Moon Mission

Chandrayaan-1 launches atop a PSLV-C11. Image: ISRO

On Wednesday, October 22, 2008, the launch of Chandrayaan-1 from Sriharikota in India took place. It started its 8 day journey towards the Moon, and is packed with tools and instruments to help it study our satellite. However the biggest and perhaps the most important news about this spacecraft is that it is India's first Moon Mission, and if the impact probe onboard is successful, India will become the fourth nation to place its flag on the Moon.

The Mission

The Chandrayaan-1 (meaning "Moon Craft" in Sanskrit) mission is developed by India's national space agency, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) . Even though it may seem as if humans already understand Earth's closes neighbor well enough, it still holds many secrets. The Moon was a target for exploration in the sixties and seventies, but our interest in it slowly faded away. Now, after more research and a deeper understanding of its past, the Moon has become a destination once again. Plus, it is increasingly becoming a viable stepping stone for exploration of areas deeper in space, such as Mars. India is joining other nations to further explore the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1's mission goals are to learn more about the lunar surface and what lies beneath. Through a period of two years, Chandrayaan-1 is supposed to survey the surface and topography and learn about the composition of some areas of the Moon, especially ice in the polar regions, while orbiting the Moon.

Spacecraft

There are numerous payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1. The spacecraft basically consists of an orbiter and an impactor, but there are a total of eleven instruments, five Indian and six foreign. Powering all these instruments is a single solar panel.

One of the most interesting of these instruments is the Moon Impact Probe, which itself contains numerous tools to study the surface of the Moon. The impactor also carries with itself a picture of the Indian flag, and if successful, India will become the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and Japan.

Alongside the Indian instruments are the foreign ones, coming from countries such as the United States, Britain, and Germany.

Chandrayaan-2

As the Chandrayaan-1 mission is on its way, ISRO is also planning a second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, consisting of a lunar orbiter, a lunar lander, and even a rover. This mission is being developed with the help of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos. The launch for Chandrayaan-2 is currently scheduled for 2012.

The Future

Humans are reaching for the Moon again, and India has joined in with its first Moon mission. India's first mission is just a prelude to what it is planning to bring in the future, with a rover under design and maybe even a manned landing. The new Space Race is well underway, and it seems that it is definitely bigger and more international than the last one.

First Chinese Spacewalk

On the afternoon of September 27, 2008, China made history. Taikonaut and mission commander of Shenzhou VII Zhai Zhigang stepped out of the orbital module at 4:40 P.M. Beijing local time. This is the country's third space mission with taikonauts, and its first spacewalk, becoming the third country to conduct extra-vehicular activity independently. The event was broadcasted live on CCTV across China.

The spacewalk was not the only achievement of Shenzhou VII. This mission is also China's first to carry three taikonauts. After the spacewalk, the crew also released a satellite into orbit.

The spacewalk, which only lasted about 18 minutes, was a major event. It marks yet another step the country is making towards establishing a space station by 2020 and land a man on the moon. The event was also a reminder that the United States and Russia are not the only big players in space. China and other countries are slowly stepping into their ground.

Image: CCTV