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Space and Astronomy News for the 29th March 2025
NASA/ESA/CSA's JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) captures Neptune's auroras for the first time
In exactly the same way highly energised particles from the Sun cause spectacular displays in the upper atmosphere here on Earth, the same process happens on the outer Solar System planets.
Images released this morning from NASA of the Aurora on the outer ice giant planet, Neptune.
Astronomers had seen displays like these on Jupiter, Saturn and even Uranus, but Neptune had evaded confirmation until now.
One of the curious things about the aurora on Neptune is the planet's magnetic field that has a strange tilt away from its axis. On Earth, northern sand southern lights usually occur closer to the pole and away from the equator. On Neptune they are seen much further away from the pole. If this was on Earth, you'd be heading to Queensland to see "the lights" and not Norway.
Read more on this announcement here.
Boeing to take another crack at sending its Starliner spacecraft to the ISS (International Space Station)
Following on the landing last week of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams after their extended stay on the ISS, aerospace company Boeing have stated that the problems that prevented the crew from returning to Earth onboard their Starliner capsule have been solved. Boeing have now confirmed that an uncrewed Starliner flight to the ISS will take place before another crewed mission is attempted.
Starliner at the ISS. Image via NASA
“What we’d like to do is that one flight and then get into a crew rotation flight,” explained Steve Stitch, NASA's commercial crew program manager.
“So, the next flight up would really test all the changes we’re making to the vehicle, and then the next flight beyond that, we really need to get Boeing into a crew rotation. So, that’s the strategy.”
Bear in mind the Starliner capsule that originally took Suni and Butch to the ISS in 2024 returned to Earth and landed safely under remote control.
Read more about the possible return of Starliner to the ISS here.
How NASA is testing Space Suit materials on the surface of Mars
What's the best way to try out to see how a material handles a tough environment? Tie it to the outside of your car and drive around with it for a while to test wear and tear?
The Perseverance Mars Rover and the spacesuit materials it's been testing for the last four years. Image via: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
It's pretty much what NASA has been doing with its Perseverance Rover on Mars. Since landing in 2021 tasked with looking signs of ancient life and further examining the Martian surface and environment, it's also carried a number of auxiliary experiments. One of these is to test a range of fabric and material swatches to see how they handle being on Mars.
“This is one of the forward-looking aspects of the rover’s mission — not just thinking about its current science, but also about what comes next,” said planetary scientist Marc Fries of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who helped provide the spacesuit materials. “We’re preparing for people to eventually go and explore Mars.”
Scientists are about to move onto studying the results of these tests to help design spacesuits that will have to last years in the Martian environment.
Read more here.
Saturn's rings have disappeared...well sort of.
Did you see media reports or online posts this week about how Saturn's rings have "disappeared"?
It's not exactly untrue! Saturn orbits the Sun tilted on its axis in a similar way to the Earth does. It means at some parts of its orbit or "year" the southern part of the Saturn will be pointed more towards the Sun (similar to the summer we've just been through in Australia) and at other times the northern regions will be pointing that way. (i.e. like a northern hemisphere summer) At exactly halfway or at Equinox, Saturn will point evenly at the Sun.
(We had our own Equinox only last week.)
The rings of Saturn are enormous, spanning almost three quarters of the distance from the Earth to the Moon. They're also very thin. In fact, they're probably the flattest structure we know of in the entire Universe. When Saturn goes through Equinox, its rings are pointed right at Earth edge on.
Saturn during a previous ring crossing. Image via NASA/ESA/STScI/Amy Simon
Imagine a playing card -easy to see but almost disappears from view from when you view it edge-on. This is what we're seeing with Saturn's rings and the event is called a ring crossing.
Saturn is very close to the Sun in the sky at the moment and hard to observe. When it emerges from the Sun's glare you'll start to see more of the rings towards the end of year, but you'll really have to wait a couple of years before they're back to being "the rings of Saturn" as we know them.
From an astronomer's point of view, it's not all bad news. It's easier to view Saturn's moons as they cross the planet if the rings are more edge on. The Cassini spacecraft also observed Saturn's rings from above during an Equinox in 2009.
Cassini at Saturn in 2009 showing the view from directly above the rings. Note the shadows. - Image via NASA
By measuring the length of the long shadows cause by tiny variations in the complexities of Saturn's rings and a bit of simple trigonometry, researchers were able find these features were sometimes only a few metres high - on a flat surface some 280,000 kms wide.
A favourite summer constellation, Orion, is about to leave our skies
One of the most familiar and wonderful summer constellations, Orion, is about to leave our night skies for the upcoming cooler seasons.
The view from Sydney on the 29th of March 2025 around 8.00pm - and yes, Orion will appear to be on its side. Image via Stellarium
Over the next few weeks, you'll notice Orion, as well as The Pleiades open cluster and the planet Jupiter will be lower and lower in the skies as it gets dark, only to reappear in the early morning skies in the coming months.
The coming weeks will be your last chance to see or photograph The Great Orion Nebula (M42) for a little while.
We'll be touching on what you'll see in April and beyond next week!
Cheers,
Earl White
BINTEL
29th March 2025
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