August 2012 - Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society

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China’s Space Program Goes into High Gear
The successful return of three Chinese astronauts from their mission to the Tiangong
space station marks not only a next major step in the Chinese space program but
squarely establishes China’s status as a space faring nation. The 13 days mission proved
complex manoeuvring, docking and undocking procedures as well as the basic living
procedures within the module. This is China’s most complex and longest multi-crew
mission, including the first Chinese woman in space. While the Tiangong is a fairly
basic space station, it will act as a base of operations for the next few missions as vital
steps in China’s plan to build a major space facility by 2020 coinciding with planned
ISS decommission.
The Chinese government have recognised that the demise of the American manned
flight capabilities with the closure of the space shuttle program combined with the need
to maintain ISS operations plus the failing US economy has created a window of
opportunity during which China might be able to catch up and take the lead in space
exploration. In less than 10 years China has gone from its first manned flight to
establishing a station in space. It is expected there will be further missions to Tiangong
to be followed by the launch of the larger Tiangong2 and Tiangong3 later this decade.
Tiangong3 is expected to be a permanently occupied station with multi-docking ports
for cargo carrying vehicles. Taking advantage of the technology changes since the
1960’s China is hoping to leapfrog its way into a leading position. How the rest of the
world, particularly the Americans and Russians respond is unknown but we may yet
have another space race to rival the heady days of Sputnik and Apollo.
Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society
Curiosity Rover on Track for an August Mars Landing
Firing its thrusters for a 40 second manoeuvre NASA's latest Mars spacecraft is set to
deliver the rover Curiosity to a landing target beside a martian mountain on Aug. 5. The
plan is to take the rover close to the martian surface and hover while the rover itself is
gently lower to the ground. The landing site chosen has an environment thought to be
favourable for microbial life. Amongst other things Curiosity will be looking for
biological signs. Whilst not looking for life directly this is the first time such
biological experiments have been conducted since the Viking landings. Information
gathered will help in plans for a manned mission.
Watching Our Black Hole Eat Gas.
ESO astronomers are preparing to watch the black hole at the centre of our galaxy
consume a giant gas cloud. The gas cloud is expected to collide sometime in 2013.
Since its discovery its speed has steadily increased to more than 8 million km/hr.
This is a unique opportunity to observe how a super massive black hole consumes
material, in real time. By mid-2013 the gas cloud is expected to pass the black hole
formally known as Sagittarius A, at a distance of only 36 light-hours (equivalent to
40,000,000,000km), which is extremely close in astronomical terms.
Giant Solar Flares or Nearby Supernova - Tree rings tell an 8th-century mystery
In the late eighth century, Earth was hit by a mystery blast of cosmic rays recorded in tree rings with an increase in the level of carbon
14. Analysis of two ancient cedar trees found a surge in carbon-14 occurred in AD 774 and AD 775. The origin of these cosmic rays
is unclear but likely sources include variations in the solar cycle under the Schwabe cycle or a sudden increase in solar flare activity or
possibly a nearby supernova. The mystery is none of these seem capable of explaining the huge rise in carbon-14 levels. The research
team is fine-tuning their search looking at telltale traces of beryllium and nitrate isotopes. They also plan a wider search of historical
documents to see if, 1,237 years ago, anyone noted a strange flare in the sky. By Peter Lowe
Super Nova in M95 is still going strong after 3 months, first noticed on 16March2012 when Mars was near by.
The way we check the brightness is to compare the super nova with near by stars, find a star with the same magnitude.
Photographed by Greg Walton using 8inch F4 Newtonian EQ6 Pentax Kr 20x30sec iso12800 cropped
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Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society