NASA Finds Long-Lost Soviet Lunar Rover

The Lunokhod 1 Rover

NASA launched its Lunar Reconnissance Orbiter last year to scout possible locations for future lunar landings/bases for the now defunct Constellation program. Now, even with Moon missions dead, the Orbiter still circles the Moon. On a recent pass, something from the Cold War era was found: a dead Soviet lunar rover!

Lunokhod 1 landed on the Moon on November 17, 1970 and traveled around the Moon for nearly a year, transmitting back information about components of lunar soil and geography. Hwever, all good things must come to an end. Lunokhod's signal was lost on September 14, 1971 and its location was a mystery for nearly 40 years until just a few days ago when the rover was spotted in high resolution photographs of the lunar surface.

Despite being a dead Cold War relic, Lunokhod still has the potential to help science! One feature of the rover was a large mirror designed to reflect laser beams back to Earth. The Apollo missions planted similar reflectors on the lunar surface, too. In the years since Apollo, these reflectors have established. the fact that the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 40mm per year.

Now, with Lunokhod 1 found scientists will have yet another vantage point at which to direct laser beams for future study dealing with variations in Einstein's theory of general relativity as laser measurements can measure the Moon's orbit to within a millimeter of accuracy!
Scierntists had long known this potential for the dead rover. as a result, a team led by UC San Diego's Tom Murphy had been searching for the rover for years. Failure to find it caused some fear that the rover had fallen into a ravine or that it had tipped over, making the mirror unusable. As it turns out, the team was merely scouring the wrong location, as the rover was several miles from its estimated location.

Even Russian scientists have taken note of the achievement, with Ruslan Kuzmin commenting that he felt a "deep interior excitement" upon the news that Lunokhod 1 had been found, and further calling the LRO camera "a fantastic instrument."

So, with the Cold War a thing of the past and the rover located, expect its contributions to science to continue for years to come.

Lunokhod 1's final resting place


Up Next:
Canon 28-135IS USM quick review


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Happy 20th Birthday Hubble!

The Hubble Space Telescope

Okay, it's a belated happy birthday to the Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble's 20th birthday was actually on April 24, which was also, ironically, International Astronomy Day, too.

Launched into orbit on April 24, 1990 aboard the shuttle Discovery, Hubble was officially commissioned the next day. Since then, Hubble has not only beamed some of the most spectacular deep space images ever captured back to Earth, but has literally seen 13.7 billion years back in time to a point just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. For all its triumphs, Hubble was not without its growing pains.

The Hubble became something of an embarrassment when it was first sent up into space. The main mirror was faulty. A subsequent shuttle mission was needed to allow astronauts to replace the mirror. new mirror in place, Hubble became fully operational by 1993.

From its height of 353 miles, far above atmospheric disturbances that plague Earth bound telescopes, Hubble has the clearest eye to the universe that is physically possible. It is estimated that Hubble's images are around 10 times clearer than the best Earth scope images. So far, it has photographed over 30,000 objects, including star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and perhaps most spectacularly, dying stars. Hubble's photos have also helped astronomers discover huge black holes at the center of galaxies, that the universe is expanding at a quickening pace, and the first organic particles in space.

For all its achievements, Hubble is now near the end of its life, as it is scheduled to be replaced in 2014 by the James Webb infrared space telescope.


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Happy Astronomy Day!

Hopefully, everyone interested in astronomy knows that Astronomy Day is today. However, while everyone should be familiar with the date, who knows the history of the holiday itself?

Astronomy Day was started in 1973 by Doug Berger, president of the Astronomical Association of Southern California. Berger's intent: set up telescopes in urban areas to bring astronomy to people who were often ignorant of the night sky.

The idea soon started catching on all around the United States, and then the world. Now, Astronomy Day, in its full name, is the International Astronomy Day, showcasing the holiday's rapid rise from local public outreach into worldwide phenomenon.

Astronomy Day is not set on a fixed date, as it moves around from April to May each year, coinciding with first quarter Moon as much as possible. Astronomy Day is also the culmination of Astronomy Week, too.

So, now that you know all about the holiday that celebrates the hobby that brings us all together, celebrate by doing some astronomy tonight or even today with solar scopes!


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User-Friendly Pages Added

In an effort to make this already long blog more user friendly, I have gathered some mainstays (and sure to grow) categories: astrophotos and equipment reviews, all together and have added links to each on a seperate web page, thus eliminating the need to hunt through previous posts month by month to find what you want (to some degree anyway).


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Nothing To See Here Except More Wasteful Government Spending

Today is tax day. As people all over the country are rushing to their local post offices or Tea Party rallies, I thought I'd get in on the tax day fervor, too. The above photo was not retouched in any way (except for added text). Yes, that's right, some governmental agency spent your tax money to put up a blank sign. Whatever it cost to put up, it was too much.


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March 2010 Astrophotos

Here's the astrophoto gallery for March. Again, a lot of quick stuff except for the Constellation shots. April should start bringing some new deep sky as the LXD55 is finally working again after a reboot. Enjoy.
Young Moon and Venus

The Big Dipper, rapidly rising in the North/Northeast

Leo, almost directly overhead by true dark

Corvus. the tiny constellation in the South, May is the optimum time for viewing for the non-night owls before it quickly disappears

Venus and a 2 day old Moon

The same thing about half an hour later with my new Olympus Styulus 550WP weather-sealed point and shoot. Expect a review of this sub $100 bargain cam soon!

Sunspots through a white light filter

Waning Crescent in the dark

After a cloudy winter, it's nice to see the Sun first thing in the morning

Moonstars with the Olympus, the little P&S can do night astro!

Third quarter Moon

Waning gibbeous in the morning


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New Element Named for Copernicus

Recently discovered element 112 is no longer nameless: it has been named Copernicum, after the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who rediscovered the idea of the heliocentric solar system (Aristarchus of Samos proposed the same idea in the 200s B.C.). While Copernicum is unlikely to impact any of us on an individual basis, it is a fitting tribute to the man who, literally, reordered the cosmos.

To read more: Popular Science


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April Skies: What's Up This Month?

Mercury (right) is making its best evening appearance of the year, don't miss it!

Spring truly arrives in April, which means clearer skies, warmer nights, and, unfortunately, longer days. April is the month to get a last look at the winter constellations. We lose about a minute of daylight a day. By the time true dark arrives, the winter constellations will be riding low in the Western sky. By the end of the month, they'll be lost to twilight. So hurry out and see them while you can.

April sees the spring constellations take their place in the early evening sky. By the time darkness falls, Leo the lion is high and due South while Ursa Major/The Big Dipper is climbing high in the North. April is the first month where one can also use the spring star trail to find his or her way around the sky. Starting at the Big Dipper, follow the arc of the handle to Arcturus (Bootes the herdsman), speed on to Spica (Virgo the virgin), continue the curve to Corvus (the crow), and, if really ambitious, conclude in Crater (the cup). By the time dawn arrives, the Summer Triangle (Lyra's Vega, Aquila's Altair, and Cygnus's Deneb) is high in the Eastern sky,. Hercules, is overhead, and Scorpius is due South.

On the planet front, April is an excellent time for observing planets. All of the Classical planets will be putting on great shows this month. Be sure to catch Mercury at the start of the month, as it is making one of its best appearances of the year. How good? At its peak distance from the Sun, it sets nearly two hours after our nearest star. Next stop: Venus, which climbs higher in the sky every night as the month goes on. Mars, fourth from the Sun, is still almost an all night object, still located in Cancer. the king of the Planets, Jupiter, is also rapidly making its climb into the sky, but this time at dawn. Saturn, last planet to the ancients, is located in Virgo and is a most of the night object as well.

Mercury makes its best dusk appearance of the year, Venus and Jupiter are rapidly climbing, and Mars and Saturn are up most of the night.

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Canon Announces EOS 3D

Canon's newly announced EOS 3D

After a long wait by many, Canon has finally answered many users' prayers with the newly announced EOS 3D. Fitting the pattern started by the 7D in going toe-to-toe with Nikon (7D vs. D300s), Canon has announced the 3D as a direct competitor to the Nikon D700.

Here are some of the specifications at a glance:

Sensor: 16.5 million effective pixels in FF mode, 6.3 million effective pixels APS-C mode
Sensor Size: Full Frame 36x24mm, APS-C Mode: 22.3x14.9mm
Pixel Density: 1.9Mp per square cm.
AF system: Shared in entirety with 7D
Focus Screen: Interchangeable
Image Processor: Dual DIGIC IV
A/D Conversion: 14 bit
File Formats: 3 RAW, 3 RAW+JPEG, 12 JPEG
Movie Mode: full HD at 1920x1080p at a full 30fps, 2 smaller settings, too
Lenses: EF and EF-S
Dust Reduction: Yes
Shooting Modes: P, Av, Tv, Bulb, Program, 3 user defined settings
Metering: Shared with 1D Mark IV
Exposure Compensation: +/- 5 f-stops
ISO Settings: Default 50-25,600, expandable to 102,400
Shutter Speed: 1/8000th-30 seconds, bulb
Noise Reduction: 4 levels done through manual setting only
Viewfinder: 100% coverage, 1.0x magnification
LCD: 920,000 dot live view, 7 brightness settings, anti-reflective
Flash: Pop up, compatible with all Canon external flash units, integrated transmitter
Continuous Drive: 6fps, 8fps with battery grip
Buffer: 26 RAW, 115 highest quality JPEG
Custom Functions: 62
Storage: CF and SD, dual slots for twice the storage or data backup
Power: EP-E6
Battery Grip: EFTE4/E4A (shared with 5DII)
Material: Magnesium alloy inside and out
Weather Sealing: Full
Dimensions: 152x112x75mm
Weight: 850g without battery
Price: $2,999 body only

What's Hot:
Uses both EF and EF-S lenses. Nikon and Sony have had this capability since each manufacturer has had FF cameras. Now, after 3 years, Canon has realized that this is a good move. Better late than never.
Full weather sealing
Pop up flash. Yes, serious flash photogs wouldn't be caught dead using one, but it's good to have for emergencies
Frame rate boosted from 6 to 8fps with battery grip!
Interchangeable focus screens (why they left that out in the 7D, I have no clue)
Giant viewfinder
Dual card slots
Should have super-clean high ISO performance
The sub $3,000 price!

What's Not:
Still no AF assist lamp
Noise reduction off by default
Why not a FF sensor in a 7D body for grip compatibility?

Analysis:
The EOS 3D should be quite a camera as it takes the best of the 1D and 5D series, along with the 7D, and rolls them all into a single, outstanding by spec. sheet camera. The D700 is probably shaking in its shoes as we speak! My prediction is that this thing will be back-ordered for quite some time, so pre-order yours today so you don't have to wait for Christmas for it to finally come into stock.

For more information, see the full press release here.

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