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31 August 2015

Space dishes! An Astronomy club's way to fund itself.


Space dishes. Fun way to fund own astronomy club.

As a way to fund my Astronomy Club, I made some Space dishes!
I team up with a friend of mine who is a great drawing artist to make this series.
We decided to make coffee mugs, bowls and breakfast plates.

This was a great way to collect funds for our coming events and to buy better gear for the club.
Family and friends participated and bought the dishes to help us with our hobby.

Of course I have my own set at home and it is wonderful to eat in these unique mugs and plates that remains me always of astronomy, space and beyond...

This project was facilitated by the fact that my girlfriend has a pottery shop and we could use the expertise of the workers at the shop.

I want to Thank Essi, Julia and Vesa for making this project a success, without them it would certainly have been only an idea.

Here are more pictures of the dishes.





































25 August 2015

Astronomy Club Toutatis: 4 days in a row


Star trail of the western night sky in Kustavi, Finland. 22.08.2015
The dense Milky Way can be seen in the middle of the picture.
Credit: KTY Toutatis/S. Lamoureux.  

Fall brings great dark skies in Finland. Also it offers warmer temperatures to enjoy the night sky.
On the 22.08.2015 was the 4th day in a row that we looked at the night sky. We moved to a more open space where the western (and eastern) sky can be seen without obstruction from trees and buildings.

We continued on the theme of the Milky Way, this time I took a star trail with my fish eye lens on my canon 550D. The picture seen above.

Also we manage to edit the 60 photos into a GIF animation of the movement of the Milky Way in our night sky. We saw many shooting stars, planes and satellites. We spent 1,5 hours enjoying the mysteries of our Universe.

Here are what we got this time.

GIF animation of the movement of the Milky Way in our night sky.
Took on the 22.08.2015 Kustavi, FInland.
Credit: KTY Toutatis/S.Lamoureux.

Caption of the GIF animation. The Milky Way.
Credit: KTY Toutatis/S.Lamoureux.

Me and Birgit sitting on the star terasse. Kustavi, Finland.
Credit: KTY Toutatis/S.Lamoureux.

21 August 2015

Astronomy Club Toutatis is in the house.


Astronomy Club Toutatis opened its doors for the youth in Kustavi, Finland. It staged a 3 night watch of the night sky. Participants were all young adults who had the chance to observe the universe through a camera lens. Here is the result. We had 3 activities.
1. Star trails. Showing how the stars revolves around the pole star (Polaris).
2. Have a sense of the movement of the night sky with a GIF Animation.
3. Introduction to the Milky Way Galaxy and Star hopping.

Here is what we got.

GIF Animation of the movement of the Milky Way Galaxy in our night sky.
Duration: 1 hour. Credit: KTY Toutatis/S. Lamoureux.

The Milky Way in the Trees.
Star trail with Polaris at the top of the picture.
Notice the smudge-like star trail of the Milky Way between the trees.
Want to do the same photos and animations. Have a look at these links:




19 July 2015

New Horizons mission to Pluto. The moons of Pluto. Styx.


Image of the Plutonian System. The family portrait of Pluto
consists of Papa Pluto, Mama Charon and the 4 kids: Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx. :)
Credit: HST jAPL SwRI NASA. 
Did you know that the last moon named Styx was discovered while looking for hazards to the New Horizons mission?
No!

Keep reading.
The innermost and largest moon, Charon, was discovered by James Christy on June 22, 1978, nearly half a century after Pluto was discovered. This led to a substantial revision in estimates of Pluto's size, which had previously assumed that the observed mass and reflected light of the system were all attributable to Pluto alone.

Two additional moons were imaged by astronomers of the Pluto Companion Search Team preparing for the New Horizons mission and working with the Hubble Space Telescope on 15 May 2005, which received the provisional designations S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2. The International Astronomical Union officially named Pluto's newest moons Nix (or Pluto II, the inner of the two moons, formerly P 2) and Hydra (Pluto III, the outer moon, formerly P 1), on 21 June 2006.

Kerberos, announced on 20 July 2011, was detected using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during a survey searching for rings around Pluto. It was first seen in an image taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on 28 June. It was confirmed in subsequent Hubble pictures taken on 3 and 18 July. Styx, announced on 7 July 2012, was discovered while looking for potential hazards for New Horizons.


http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Pluto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx_(moon)

16 July 2015

Raining outside! no worries, New Horizons mission to Pluto is on the internet.

Note the velocity Relative to Pluto (km/s): 13.78. Credit: NASA JAPL. New Horizons mission to Pluto 

Everybody is baffled by the New Horizons mission to Pluto.
It got me thinking and with the help from my mom i know now that the spacecraft that passed the Pluto system is going roughly 74,000 km/h. At this time, the spacecraft is traveling at 13.78 km/s relative to Pluto.

This is straight from Wikipedia, Ladies and Gentlemen.
After three years of construction, and several delays at the launch site, New Horizons was launched on January 19, 2006, from Cape Canaveral, directly into an Earth-and-solar-escape trajectory with an Earth-relative speed of about 16.26 kilometers per second (58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph); it set the record for the highest launch speed of a human-made object from Earth.
After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APLNew Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007 at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased New Horizons‍ '​ speed by 4 km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph). The encounter was also used as a general test of New Horizons‍ '​ scientific capabilities, returning data about its atmospheremoons, and magnetosphere. Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems, except for brief annual checkouts.[5] On December 6, 2014, New Horizons was brought back online for the encounter, and instrument check-out began.[6] On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto. On July 14, 2015 11:49 UTC (07:49 EDT), it flew 12,600 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto,[7][8] making it the first spacecraft to explore Pluto.[4][9] Hours later, at 00:52:37 UTC (20:52:37 EDT),[10] NASA received the first communication from the probe following flyby at the time expected. Engineering data indicated that the flyby was successful and the probe operated in all respects as expected.[11][12][13]
So lets see now! The Moon is at a 385,000 km from Earth.
The spacecraft is traveling at 60,000 km/h initially.
The Jupiter push increased the velocity by 4km/s. (14,000 km/h)
60,000 km/h + 14,000 km/h = 74,000 km/h
385,000 km % 74,000 km / gives us the hours it takes to make that distance (in hours).
385 % 60 =  5.20 hours.
So this means the New Horizons spacecraft every 5 hours and some minutes he makes the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Now at roughly 74,000 km/h "Where is he going?" my mom asked me. I frankly don't know the answer to that question, but surely to new horizons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

14 July 2015

Pluto! New Horizons gives us Pluto.


Pluto! New Horizons.NASA.JAPL


We arrived to Pluto!
Now we know why Clide Thoubaugh gave it that name.

Links:
WIKI: Pluto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
WIKI: New Horizons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons)
FB: New Horizons Government Organisation  (https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1?fref=ts)
WIKI: Clide Thoubaugh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Tombaugh)

The Day Pluto Stood Still. Part:3


Pluto as seen from New Horizons on 11.07.2015.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Special Coverage: Pluto Closest Approach (online)

Be part of the historic moment of the encounter of the Dwarf planet Pluto and New Horizons spacecraft. Tune in to NASA TV and follow this exciting day. Truly new horizons for humankind.

Tune in to NASA TV here.

Links:
WIKI: Pluto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
WIKI: New Horizons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons)
FB: New Horizons Government Organisation  (https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1?fref=ts)

The Day Pluto Stood Still. Part:2


2 hours to go for the flyby of New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto.
Credit: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

The Flyby:

On July 14, at 11:49:59 UTC NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make its historic closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto, the most distant solid object to be visited by a spacecraft.


NASA will not be in contact with the spacecraft at closest approach since the spacecraft's instruments will be pointed at Pluto, an orientation that will take the spacecraft's fixed communications antenna off earth point. Earthlings will need to wait about 13 hours for a signal from the spacecraft to arrive at Earth.

Read more HERE on the Flyby schedule and download a PDF file of the activities of the mission.

PDF file: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Resources/Press-Kits/NHPlutoFlybyPressKitJuly2015.pdf

Links:
WIKI: Pluto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
WIKI: New Horizons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons)
FB: New Horizons Government Organisation  (https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1?fref=ts)


The Day Pluto Stood Still. Part:1


New Horizons spacecraft instruments. Credit: NASA/ JAPL
The New Horizons science payload consists of seven instruments – three optical instruments, two plasma instruments, a dust sensor and a radio science receiver/radiometer. This payload was designed to investigate the global geology, surface composition and temperature, and the atmospheric pressure, temperature and escape rate of Pluto and its moons.

If an extended mission is approved, the instruments will probe additional Kuiper Belt Objects that the spacecraft can reach.

The payload is incredibly power efficient – with the instruments collectively drawing less than 28 watts – and represents a degree of miniaturization that is unprecedented in planetary exploration. The instruments were designed specifically to handle the cold conditions and low light levels at Pluto and in the Kuiper Belt beyond.

Continue reading on the New Horizons instruments HERE. (http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Spacecraft/Payload.php)

This is truly new horizons for space exploration. Congratulations to all participants and follower of this historic moment.

Links:
WIKI: Pluto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
WIKI: New Horizons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons)
FB: New Horizons Government Organisation  (https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1?fref=ts)

08 June 2015

Countdown to the dwarf planet Pluto with mission New Horizons on the way


Artist's concept of New Horizons when it reaches Pluto in July 2015.
Source: Wikipedia  

36 Days to go until the flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto. The NASA spacecraft mission New Horizons slowly reaches its destination. This July 14, new horizons we will visit. First time in history, to finally see the once planet and its moons.

Have a look at the latest news HERE.





Wikipedia: New Horizons Mission to Pluto
Visit New Horizon's Webpage HERE.


18 May 2015

The CARNIVAL OF SPACE # 406 @ LINKS THROUGH SPACE



Welcome to Links Through Space. Astronomy for everyone.
This is the blog of our Astronomy Club Toutatis here in Kustavi, Finland
We write/post news about space related topics and
we showcase our Astrophotos and Timelapses.

Our blog is a way for you to follow Space/Astronomy news and find new links through the Internet about Space and astronomy.
So here we have it, Ladies and Gentlemen!
The Carnival of Space # 406 @ Links Through Space. 

Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
Credit: Hubble Space telescope. Nasa/ESA

A look at Hubble Space Telescope's latest releases.

The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
Credit: Carolyn Collins Petersen.
Wishing the venerable Griffith Observatory a happy 80th birthday!
We went to Los Angeles last weekend to celebrate the 80th birthday of the venerable Griffith Observatory.

X-Ray map of Galaxy Abell 1033.
Credit: Chandra/ VLA.
Observations of Abell 1033 galaxy cluster shows radiation known as phoenix type, with its origin in a collision between cluster members. The article is written in Spanish.


2D Flat Spheroid Galaxy.
Credit: Astrophysical Journal - Hidig in Plain Sight:
An Abundance of Compact Massive Spheroids in the Local Universe.
When researchers took a closer look at surveys of galaxies in the local universe, they found many had been mischaracterised. More careful analysis of images revealed that 21 galaxies that originally looked like big 3D clouds of stars – "giant elliptical galaxies" – were actually flat 2D disc galaxies with bulges in the middle.
 Read article on The Universe is fullof rogue stars, rogue planets and galaxies that were tough for  oldertelescopes to see.

Janne Leppäkoski & Patrick Innocent
@ Sahara Sky.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis 
Check us out at Links through Space. Our new post and follow our Astronomy Club’s travel post series on our Astronomy trip to the Sahara, Southern Morocco and enjoy the astronomy behind it. This week it’s all about Stargazing in one of the darkest night sky in the world! 
 Read the Post on Stargazing in one of the best night sky in the World. The Sahara Observatory.

So here you have it!
All the thrills and excitements of the Astronomy/Space community this week.
The Carnival of Space #406

If you run a space/astronomy related blog, and would like to get more awareness, participate in the Carnival of Space. Every week, a different webmaster or blogger hosts the carnival, showcasing articles written on the topic of space. It’s a great way to get to know the community, and to help your writing reach a wider audience. If you’d like to be a host for the carnival, please send email to carnivalofspace@gmail.com.
Carnival of Space photo: Credit: Jason Major

22 April 2015

PARK-ASTRONOMY TURKU APRIL 2015 EVENT. What a hoot!


PUISTO_ASTRONOMIA TURKU 21.04.2015.
Astronomy Public Outreach event in Turku, Finland.
Observation of the Moon and Venus.

PUISTO-ASTRONOMIA TURKU (Means in Finish PARK-ASTRONOMY TURKU) was part of the Astronomers Without Borders's Global Astronomy Month. On Tuesday 21.04.2015 we gathered at Puolalanpuisto (Parc Puolalan) in the city center of Turku, Finland. We invited people to come and have a glimpse of the crescent Moon and the half lid Venus in the telescope.

The event was centered on the eclipsing of the bright star Aldebaran behind the Moon. The Moon was still in daylight when the star "entered" behind the Moon from the left. In fact, it was the Moon that moved to the left and rejoined the star in the background. At 20 o clock it slipped behind the Moon to come out again 1 hour later on the low right side of the crescent Moon. It was really cool!

The Moon with the star Aldebaran on it's eclipse day 21.04.2015.
Credit: Sakari Ekko
A part from that the children who came could see the Moon in the telescope. Easy and big impact observing for kids. With their smiles and all, I guess they liked it. We looked at Venus also and spoke about how Venus has its phases just as the Moon has.

The next Astronomy Public Outreach PARK-ASTRONOMY TURKU is not decided yet, but after this response and high attendance of the public, we will surely organise an event in turku again.
Thank you to all who participated and hope we had a great time.


Here are some pictures of the event.


PARK-ASTRONOMY TURKU APRIL 2015
Credit: Kerttu



The Moon with the star Aldebaran.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis Kustavi Finland

Iphone astrophotography! Its a start.
Credit: Sakari Ekko


All photo none credited are credited: S. Lamoureux/KTY Toutatis Kustavi Finland.

Thanks to AWS and its Global Astronomy Month Events.


07 April 2015

New Horizons Space Mission to Pluto. This summer's hit!


photo credit: Artist’s concept of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft
as it passes Pluto and Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, in July 2015.
NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben 
Who is excited about the New Horizons space mission to Pluto?

New Horizons is a NASA space probe launched to study the dwarf planet Pluto, its moons and one or two other Kuiper belt objects, depending on which are in position to be explored.

Part of the New Frontiers program, the mission was approved in 2001 after cancellation of Pluto Fast Flyby and Pluto Kuiper Express.

The mission profile was proposed by a team led by principal investigator Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute.

Follow its arrival to Pluto in July 2015. This summer will be all about new frontieres and the dwarf planet Pluto and its moons.

Here are some links to get you started.



.

29 March 2015

The Solar Eclipse 20.03.2015. Photos of our Public Outreach activity in Turku, Finland.


20.03.2015 Solar eclipse viewed from Turku, Finland.
Credit: Sakari Ekko
On March 20th, we invited family and friends to come and look at the Solar eclipse. It was part of our Astronomy club's Public Outreach in Astronomy. This partial eclipse was of 84% of totality where we stood at the peak of an high hill in downtown Turku, Finland. It was fairly clouded and misty I would say (judging by the quality of the pictures we got).

But never the less, lots of people came. We had 2 telescope (middle range) to show a larger scale of the eclipse. We had also a couple of pinhole solar projection boxes to look through not directly at the Sun and we had many Sun filter glasses, filtered-binoculars and welder glasses as well.  Plenty to go around, people could  look through all the instrument to catch a glimpse of the Solar eclipse.

Here are photos of our Public Outreach activity on March 20th, 2015. Thank you to all the participants. I hope you liked the event and enjoyed the astronomy behind it!
All pictures credited to S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis or else mentionned.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge!

Group photo of the participants. Solar eclipse 20.03.2015.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis.













27 March 2015

Culturally speaking! Local culture in our Astronomy trip to the Sahara, Southern Morocco.


On my latest astronomy trip to the Sahara in Southern Morocco, I met with many enthusiast people in astronomy. I had a blast doing many activities related to astronomy as Meteorite hunting, astrophotographying the night sky and learning much of astronomy in general at this fabulous hotel/observatory called Sahara Sky. 10 days of meteorite hunting, astronomy learning and stargazing in the Sahara was incredible and just unforgettable. Please join me in a series of posts on my journey through the Sahara in Southern Morocco and one of the most dark skies places I have ever seen.

Me and our guide @ Tamegroute village
Credit: S. Lamoureux
This is a short post on the cultural side of the region I visited while I was there. The town of Tamegroute 15 kilometers away from our location in the Sahara desert was having it's market day. From fruits to spices and donkey sales, the people where bustling. Our guide was the great great grand son of a very old pottery family. The oldest in Tamegroute. He invited us for tea in his shop and gave us the grand tour.

Rocks believed to be Meteorite. The dark rock is 3 kg.
Credit: S. Lamoureux/ KTY Toutatis.
His pottery was amazing, old fashion way and old techniques used still today. At the end we discussed of the old rocks that he had laying around in his shop, we argued that they could be meteorites fallen for the sky. They laughed and went along. 20 minutes later a friend of our guide had come with a big bag of supposed meteorites. In a instant this meeting became a meteorite sale and bargain. We changed his shop of pottery to a shop selling meteorites. It was lots of fun and you felt immediately the warmth of the inhabitants.

Another strange, brutal and beautiful event occurred during the time I was in the Sahara desert. The desert floor turned green. Unprecedented rain falls hit the entire Morocco, leading to some destruction and fatalities. This was a catastrophe. In an other hand, the result of this rain fall gave the opportunity to the desert to grow small vegetation on the surface of it's hills and plateau's. It was incredible to see a green desert. It looked almost like a green rug that was laid down on the landscape for miles and miles. It was cool.

The Sahara floor is green and full of vegetation.
Credit: S. Lamoureux
Another interesting thing with the desert is that when you are isolated for many days behind the dunes of the Sahara desert, your return to civilization is brutal. The people seem more beautiful, more nice, more lively. It was a shock to return to Marrakesh after the 10 days I spent in the desert. I really noticed the loneliness and isolation of the Sahara desert. This also was a cultural chock for me this time around.

This is the last of  9 post series on my Astronomy trip to the Sahara, Southern Morocco. If you have missed the posts, you can find the post-series HERE.
Follow the complete travel post series and enjoy the astronomy behind it. This is all part of the public outreach of Astronomy Club Toutatis, Kustavi, Finland.  

Links:
Village of Tamegroute WIKI


.