Exoplanets: Super Earth - Super Hot - Supercritical fluid world?

A. I. of 55 Cancri e with Earth in front credit: NASA

A new look at an alien planet that orbits extremely close to its parent star suggests that the rocky world might not be a scorching hot wasteland, as was thought.
In fact, the planet may actually be stranger and wetter than astronomers ever imagined.

The exotic planet 55 Cancri e is a relatively close alien planet, just 40 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Cancer (The Crab).

55 Cancri e is part of a multiplanet system that was first detected in 1997. Five planets circle the host star, and 55 Cancri e was discovered in 2004.

READ article on Space.com HERE

The OUTER SPACE series: Astronomy for kids

This week in The OUTER SPACE series: Astronomy for kids
Astronomy is not only for Professionals or grown ups amateur astronomers, it is also for kids. Backyard astronomy can be a wonderful way to spend time with your kids.
There are many activities and games that you and your children can do inside on the computer that compliments well your stargazing sessions.

Remember more you show them the night sky at an early age, more they can have affinities older with astronomy and choose a career in this field.
As we go on in the future, Astronomy and its many branches are becoming more and more in and important discoveries are to be made.

So HERE is a link for games and learning about astronomy related topics.
Enjoy your family time with astronomy inside and outside and clear skies!

The Internet LIMP's THROUGH SPACE

The Internet LIMP's Through Space with all this nonsense of legislation.

Many of the sites I visit daily (and I presume you visit also daily) are closed for 24h. 

A protest that we Here at Links Through Space support. 

You might not realize, but Links Through Space is based in Finland. This makes us a "foreign" site, and exactly the kind of site that would be hammered by laws like SOPA and PIPA.

If you live in the United States, I urge you to understand the law that your lawmakers are trying to implement.

And then take action to let your government know that you deeply disagree.

HERE is another link (Wikipedia) about the law's SOPA and PIPA

Make sense of it all; The Planetary Society Catalog of Exoplanets

Locations of Kepler Planet Candidates credit: Kepler/NASA

Exoplanets.
Also known as "extrasolar planets", are planets outside our solar system, orbiting distant stars.  
To keep track of this fast-changing field, the Planetary Society presents this catalog of exoplanets. 
HERE

Here you will find a complete and up-to-date registry of known exoplanets (16.01.2012) and what is known about them.

By clicking on the name of any exoplanet you can view a dynamic animation of its orbit, along with more detailed information on its physical and orbital characteristics.
READ more on The Planetary Society
 

Russian Phobos-Grunt Mission ended in the Pacific ocean

Planetary probe Phobos Grunt credit: Roscosmos

The failed Russian Mars probe Phobos-Grunt came crashing back to Earth Sunday, January 15 2012
in a death plunge over the Pacific Ocean, according to Russian news reports.
The crash marked a dramatic end to Phobos-Grunt's brief and troubled life. The Probe launched November 8 2011 on a mission to collect soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos and send them back to Earth in a return capsule ("grunt" means "soil" in Russian).
   
Phobos-Grunt's main engines were supposed to fire shortly after liftoff to send the spacecraft on its way to the Red Planet. That never happened, however, and the probe got stuck in Earth orbit.

READ article by Mike Wall, space.com Senior Writer HERE >>>


 

Fall of Russia's Mars Probe Phobos-Grunt back to Earth

Phobos-Grunt probe Credit: Roscosmos artist's conception

Russia launched an ambitious Mars moon probe, the Phobos-Grunt mission, on Nov. 8, 2011.

It's mission was to collect the first samples of the Martian moon Phobos, but the spacecraft was soon marooned in Earth orbit.



Now unable to contact the Planetary probe, officials at Roscosmos are waiting for the reentry of the failed Phobos-Grunt mission.
See how the Phobos-Grunt probe will fall to Earth in January 2012 in the SPACE.com infographic HERE.

1. Look at Video: Amateur Photographers Snap Doomed Phobos-Grunt Over France
2. READ the Complete Coverage: The Fall of Russia's Mars Probe Phobos-Grunt 
3. Wikipedia: Phobos-Grunt mission

ExoPlanetary system: Discovery of Ring System around Sun-like Star

Illustration/Credit: Michael Osadciw/Uni.of Rochester

A team of astrophysicists from the University of Rochester and Europe has discovered a ring system in the constellation Centaurus that invites comparisons to Saturn.

The scientists, led by Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Eric Mamajek study the light curves of young Sun-like stars in the Scorpius-Centaurus association—the nearest region of recent massive star formation to the Sun.

"This marks the first time astronomers have detected an extrasolar ring system transiting a Sun-like star, and the first system of discrete, thin, dust rings detected around a very low-mass object outside of our solar system," said Mamajek

READ Full article at Astronomy Cmarchesin >>>

3 ExoPlanets Smaller Than Earth Found

ExoPlanetary system KOI-961 (AI) Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

ExoPlanetary system KOI-961 has the three smallest exoplanets yet discovered.

NASA’s Kepler mission has detected no shortage of planets; more than a thousand candidates were discovered in 2011, a handful of which were Earth-like in size.
As data from the mission keeps pouring in, astronomers are continuing to confirm and classify these possible exoplanets. Today, a team of astronomers from the California Institute of Technology added three more to the growing list. They have confirmed the three smallest exoplanets yet discovered.

Read full article by Amy Shira Teitel on Universe today >>>
Read also article by Charles Q. Choi on Space.com >>>

Exomoons? Kepler‘s On The Hunt

Artist's rendition of the view from a habitable exomoon.

Recently, Jon Voicey posted an article on the feasibility of detecting moons around extrasolar planets. It was determined that exceptionally large moons (roughly Earth mass moons or more), may well be detectable with current technology.
Taking up that challenge, a team of astronomers led by David Kipping from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has announced they will search publicly available Kepler data to determine if the planet-finding mission may have detected such objects.

Read article from Jon Voicey on Universe Today >>> 

Four New Exoplanets to Start Off the New Year!

Art. Impression/Exoplanet revolving around Exosun

It’s only a few days into 2012 and already some new exoplanet discoveries have been announced. As 2011 ended, there were a total of 716 confirmed exoplanets and 2,326 planetary candidates, found by both orbiting space telescopes like Kepler and ground-based observatories.
The pace of new discoveries has accelerated enormously in the past few years. Now there are four more confirmed exoplanets to add to the list.

Read article from Paul Scott Anderson on Universe Today >>>

Software: STELLARIUM, Home Planetarium

Stellarium, Planetarium for your computer

Happy new year 2012 to everyone!

The year 2012 for us here in Southern Finland, started with rain and storms, wind and clouds... It has been a sky watcher nightmare!
Nothing to do except collimating the scope, cleaning the oculars and see that the mount is well greased.
The Astronomy related blogs/news are also slow on the internet, the astrophotography on Flicker (for exemple) is slow aswell.
That is why I present to you a nice "home" planetarium called STELLARIUM. With this on your computer it is fun to look at what you would see in the night sky for today or tomorrow... Also for those who are more active, it is a fine tool to plan observations, find planet orbits and follow the daily moon.
Also Stellarium is a FREE software, so no fuss and easy to install, as easy to use.
Here is the link to download Stellarium software.

Clear skies for the near future and hope it helps you in the quest to enjoy your environement, space environement!

Venus and the crescent Moon in conjunction 27.12.2011

Click to enlarge /Credit: KTY Toutatis

On a see cruise back home from the Island of Åland, we had the most incredible sight in the sky.
At 17:03 Venus and the crescent Moon where in a perfect alignement. The conjunction was align also with a ship at the horizon.
On the picture you can see the Earth-light reflecting on the Moon (earthshine). Also the crescent Moon was only 10% of a new moon and at the background the Sun was setting down.

You can go and watch more Astrophotos on our Links Through Space FLICKR page

Here are the specs of this picture:
Canon 550D, 55mm lens, f.5.6, ISO 800, Exp:1/3 sec.


Wiki info: Conjunction ( astronomy and astrology)

Venus and the crescent Moon in conjunction 26.12.2011

Click on picture to enlarge /Credit: KTY Toutatis

Here is a picture of Venus in conjunction with the crescent Moon. The Moon was only 4% of the new Moon.
You can see venus in the thin stripe where there is no clouds and just at the right of it is the crescent Moon (all is left of the tree).
This picture was taken on the 26.12.2011 at 17:05 (UTC+2) in Eckerö, Åland, Finland.
Me and my girlfriend went to catch this event , but when we saw the clouds, we tought it was over. but perceverance paid off and we got this unique picture of the event.

Hope you like it, you can comment also!
Cheers from the islands!

Expectation zero. Comet Lovejoy still emerge from behind the Sun

 Expectation zero. Comet Lovejoy still emerge from behind the Sun
Watch this video of the comet emerging from behind the Sun.



It’s the morning after for the sungrazing Comet Lovejoy, and this feisty comet has scientists shaking their heads in disbelief. “I don’t know where to begin,” wrote Karl Battams, from the Naval Research Laboratory, who curates the Sun-grazing comets webpage. “What an extraordinary 24hrs! I suppose the first thing to say is this: I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And I have never been so happy to be wrong!”
Article by Nancy Atkinson
 Read more HERE on Universe Today>>> 

CONCLUSION: Moon eclipsed by clouds in southern Finland

Full Moon /Credit: KTY Toutatis

Conclusion: The lunar eclipse of december 10, 2011 was under cloud cover.

For us here in southern Finland, the clouds took over the sky and we had no chance to see the eclipse.

Many people included me had set up there cameras and telescopes to capture the event.
Personally I was trying to find a higher spot and see where there would be an opening in the clouds, but without success! I decided to cruise around the city in my car to find high grounds that had a view on the east (north-east) but clouds where everywhere.

It was a major disappointment even though it was known that yesterday would be snowy and cloudy.

I guess we have to be content with photos and videos from all around the world and enjoy them for this time.

Next time as we meet with a lunar eclipse in a couple of year we hope to have clear skies and nice warm weather.

Now lets try to capture some shooting stars, as the Geminids are coming into town. The Geminids meteor shower is expected to be at its peak between the 13-14 of december.

Read more on the geminids HERE >>>
Good luck!

Want to measure the moon's diameter?

Want to Measure the Moon? Click here

Are you planning on watching the lunar eclipse today Saturday, December 10?
Would you like to try your hand at doing something new and unusual, like measuring the Moon?
Then join the The Classroom Astronomer (TCA) magazine effort by using time-honored techniques – with a modern twist! Step inside and we’ll tell you where to get the information on how it’s done...

The International Measure The Moon Night is coordinated by The Classroom Astronomer Magazine, which is based in Marietta, GA USA. The publisher of the magazine is Dr. Larry Krumenaker.

The website "measure the Moon" is an simple-educational-fun way for you to find out with real professional methods the distance (from Earth) and size of the Moon. This experiment should be very gratifying, having measured by yourself the size of the Moon. Two options are open to you; the shadow method and the lunar parallax method. For the Lunar parallax method you need to take pictures of the lunar eclipse and cross reference them with counterparts around the world. The International Measure The Moon Night event brings together people from all around the world for an experience you will never forget.
Visit the website measurethemoon and be part of the bigger picture.
Have fun!

Links Through Space 5000 VIEWS and counting, Thanks for your support!

Links through space has reached 5000 views.

Astronomy is growing all around the world and the people are interested.
Thank you for your support and be assured we will keep on taking pictures of the night sky and report astronomy related news.

For the future the Astronomy Club here in Kustavi, Finland remains open for new projects and activities concerning Astronomy that is beneficial for all. Public observations, Starclubs, DVD's and much more...

Thank you again and remember to go outside and look at the night sky, you never know what you will discover next.

Geminids meteor shower from 7.12 - 14.12.2011

Shooting Stars

Its the finale of this year’s meteor showers: The Geminids will start appearing on Dec. 7 and should reach peak activity around the 13th and 14th.

This shower could put on a display of up to 100+ meteors (shooting stars) per hour under good viewing conditions.
However, conditions this year are not ideal with the presence of a waning gibbous Moon (which will be up from mid-evening until morning). But seeing meteors every few minutes is quite possible. Geminid meteors are often slow and bright with persistent coloured trails which can linger for a while after the meteor has burned up.

Here is a link for Best time to observe for Finland HERE>>
Here is a link from wikipedia: Geminids meteor shower

NEW ASTROPHOTOS from Kustavi Finland

Click to enlarge /Credit: KTY Toutatis

Tonight Observations started slowly.

First I set up my telescope to look at the Moon and right bellow it Jupiter, but then the clouds and fog came along and canceled my session.
After a while, I went back and took a couple of snapshot of the Moon's halo. It was nice because Jupiter was right bellow it and made a nice "solar system" family portrait.
Then a few hours later, I caught the Constellation Orion and Taurus with the Pleiades in a motionless sky.
You can see the new astrophotos HERE>>>

Enjoy! and remember to go outside and have a look at the night sky!

SATURDAY 10.12.2011 TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON

Last moments of Full lunar eclipse (Penumbra stage)

Saturday 10.12.2011 ECLIPSE OF THE MOON

A total lunar eclipse will take place on December 10, 2011. It will be the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2011, the first having occurred on June 15.

For those who where there for the last eclipse in Kustavi in June, knows it is an exciting phenomena.

The greatest totality of the eclipse is at 14:31:49 UTC

(16:31:49 finnish time) 

The lunar eclipse starts as the moon rise up from the horizon (In southern Finland). The entire eclipse last for 51 minutes. From 13:33 finnish time to 16:06 finnish time.

 
Here is a link to see how the eclipse progress HERE>>> (source wikipedia)
Here is a link for more information on the lunar eclipse HERE>>> (source timeanddate.com)

Good luck and enjoy!