Posts Tagged public outreach
Space and Scouts
Posted by Danielle in Tidbits & Sundry on May 4, 2009
I was never a Girl Scout (nor was I a Boy Scout, for that matter), so I had no idea there were space-oriented merit badges to be earned! This charming account by Ken Murphy describes his experience riding herd over 50 girls, helping them earn their badges. Neat stuff, definitely give it a read!
Friday Picspam, Part 2
Starting this week’s PICSPAM! off with something old: medieval astronomy lecture notes, from a manuscript written at Melk Abbey in 1490.
The gossip of the week at NASA has been over their ISS Node-3 naming contest, in which Stephen Colbert encouraged his viewers to saturate the poll with a write-in of “Colbert”… which they DID indeed do… which won by a landslide, to NASA’s chagrin. Fortunately, this lovely addition to the Space Station bears the name “Tranquility” — appropriate given the view:
"You Decide" Hubble Reveal
Posted by Danielle in Advertising & Media, News & Happenings on April 7, 2009
Last week, Hubble observed the winning object from the “You Decide” contest, Galaxy Triplet Arp 274, and released the image as a part of the 100 Hours of Astronomy. Both the Hubble contest and 100 Hours are part of the International Year of Astronomy.
On April 1-2, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed the winning target in the Space Telescope Science Institute’s “You Decide” competition in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA).
The winner is a group of galaxies called Arp 274. The striking object received 67,021 votes out of the nearly 140,000 votes cast for the six candidate targets.
Arp 274, also known as NGC 5679, is a system of three galaxies that appear to be partially overlapping in the image, although they may be at somewhat different distances. The spiral shapes of two of these galaxies appear mostly intact. The third galaxy (to the far left) is more compact, but shows evidence of star formation.
Two of the three galaxies are forming new stars at a high rate. This is evident in the bright blue knots of star formation that are strung along the arms of the galaxy on the right and along the small galaxy on the left.
The largest component is located in the middle of the three. It appears as a spiral galaxy, which may be barred. The entire system resides at about 400 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to image Arp 274. Blue, visible, and infrared filters were combined with a filter that isolates hydrogen emission. The colors in this image reflect the intrinsic color of the different stellar populations that make up the galaxies. Yellowish older stars can be seen in the central bulge of each galaxy. A bright central cluster of stars pinpoint each nucleus. Younger blue stars trace the spiral arms, along with pinkish nebulae that are illuminated by new star formation. Interstellar dust is silhouetted against the starry population. A pair of foreground stars inside our own Milky Way are at far right.
Hubble's next discovery… decided!
Posted by Danielle in Advertising & Media on March 2, 2009
In January I posted about Hubble’s “You Decide” voting opportunity, as part of the International Year of Astronomy. Voting closed last night, and the winner is the above celestial target, Interacting Galaxies: Arp 274:
Arp 274 is a pair of galaxies. Drawn together by their gravity, they are starting to interact. The spiral shapes of these galaxies are mostly intact, but evidence can be seen of the gravitational distortions they are creating within each other. When galaxies interact and merge together, the gas clouds inside them often form tremendous numbers of new stars.
The Hubble image will be released sometime between April 2nd and 5th, 2009, during 100 Hours of Astronomy, “a worldwide event focused on renewing interest in the night sky.”
Cosmic Diary
Posted by Danielle in Computer & Internet, Perspectives on February 11, 2009
Cosmic Diary is part of the International Year of Astronomy; astronomers from all over the globe are talking about their jobs, their thoughts, and trying to share the day-to-day life of astronomy, as well as the science. I read a lovely article there yesterday on astronomy and journalism by Brother Guy Consolmagno, the American-born curator of meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. Definitely give the site a read; there’s astronomers aplenty reaching out to the public!
Another Space Poster
Posted by Danielle in Advertising & Media on February 9, 2009
Another interesting poster at SpaceNews.jp, for an event sponsored by JAXA, and related somehow to Yuri’s Night. A sweet illustration of a Japanese schoolboy watching a shooting star.
Space Advocacy Poster
Posted by Danielle in Advertising & Media on February 2, 2009
I found an interesting poster at SpaceNews.jp, for an event sponsored by JAXA (the Japanese space agency.) The artwork is very cute, and if you know anything about Japanese mythology, you’ll probably recognize the rabbits on the moon, making mochi.
Hubble's Next Discovery – You Decide!
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives on January 29, 2009
As part of the International Year of Astronomy, the Hubble Telescope will turn and image a celestial object, never before seen in such detail… and you get to vote for which one! Go to youdecide.hubblesite.org and vote for the one you’d like to see the most. (Also you can enter to win a 16×20″ print of the new image, woo!)
“Hubble’s Next Discovery — You Decide” is part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s observations. People around the world can vote to select the next object the Hubble Space Telescope will view. Choose from a list of objects Hubble has never observed before and enter a drawing for one of 100 new Hubble pictures of the winning object. The winning image will be released between April 2 and 5, during the IYA’s 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global astronomy event geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky. Vote by March 1 to swing Hubble toward your favorite target.
Aesthetics & Astronomy
Posted by Danielle in Perspectives on October 30, 2008
If you have a moment, why not take this survey on aesthetics and astronomy?
Images of the cosmos provide snapshots of various phases of life and death, different physical phenomena, found in locations across the known Universe. Today, some 400 years after Galileo created his, modern telescopes have enabled us to “see” what the human eye cannot. This new generation of ground- and space-based telescopes has created an explosion of images for the public to explore.
This survey will study your perception of multi-wavelength astronomical imagery and the effects of the scientific and artistic choices in processing astronomical data. The images come from a variety of space and ground-based observatories, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, the Very Large Array, the Hinode satellite, and many others. Evaluation of such valuable data will benefit astronomy across the electromagnetic spectrum of astronomical images, and may help visualization of data in other scientific disciplines.
The questions they asked make me think that all input will be extremely valuable for future handling and presentation of astronomical data to the public — they really want to know what you think!
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About Silver Rockets
This blog celebrates space exploration, human spaceflight and the heavens, through lots and lots ofimages.
My name is Danielle Signor, and I am a space cadet. STS-133 NASA Tweetup Attendee!
This is a blog, NOT A SHOP. Click the images for their source or purchase link, if available.
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