To Scale Solar System Replica In The Desert!

(CNN) On October 19, the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii spotted something strange zooming through our solar system. It turned out to be a visitor from beyond our solar system, and it's unlike anything astronomers have seen before.

Enceladus, moon of Saturn, observed by the Voyager 2 space probe on August 26, 1981, from a distance of approximately 109,000 kilometers.

(Planetary Society)

Solar System: 10 Things to Know This Week...Halloween Edition!

This week, we’re getting into the Halloween spirit with 10 spooktacular things to let your imagination run wild. 

It’s not Halloween without our favorite scary characters, but what if they could stop bothering us Earthlings and go far, far away? We begin with where Dracula, Frankenstein, and other creepy creatures might choose to live if the galaxy were theirs to claim…

1. The dark (k)night.

The prince of darkness himself, Dracula, can finally seek sweet respite from the Sun. We think he’d love to live on a rocky planet named YZ Ceti d that orbits so close to its red star that it’s tidally locked keeping one side of the planet in perpetual nighttime and the other side in perpetual daytime, with a brilliant red sky (though we can guess which side Dracula will prefer). 

2. Where art thou, werewolves? 

Home sweet home for our furry Full Moon friends might just be on Trappist-1, a planetary system with seven planets—and where standing on one planet would mean the other planets look like six moons (some as big as our Moon in the sky). 

3. Left in the dust. 

We couldn’t think of anyone better to live on Proxima b than The Mummy. Hopefully this ancient monster can finally rest in peace on an exoplanet that scientists theorize is a desert planet once home to ancient oceans. 

4. Cloudy with a chance of Frankenstein.

One scientific experiment we’d like to conduct: whether Frankenstein would rather live on HAT-P-11b or Kepler-3b, theorized to have fierce thunderstorms and lightning. 

5. The walking dead. 

We’re pretty confident that if zombies were to pick a planet, they’d want one that shares their love of death and destruction. We think they’d feel right at home on one of the pulsar planets, which are scorched by radiation because they orbit a dead star. 

6. Rest your weary bones. 

Skeletons need look no further: Osiris, an exoplanet that’s so close to a star that it’s “losing its flesh” as the star destroys it, seems like a perfect match. 

7. Enough of the scary stuff. 

For kids out there, turn pumpkin decorating into an out-of-this-world activity with space-themed stencils, from Saturn to the Sun. 

8. Spooky sounds. 

Cassini’s radio emissions from Saturn could give creaky doors and howling winds a run for their money. Listen to the eerie audio recordings here and find more HERE.

9. Pumpkin-carve like a NASA engineer. 

NASA engineers design and build robots that can fly millions of miles to study other planets for a living—so on Halloween, they can’t help but bring that creative thinking to the grand old tradition of pumpkin carving. Take a cue from their creations with these insider tips.

10. Detective for a day. 

From blades of ice on Pluto to a fuzzy, white “bunny” photographed on Mars, become a solar system sleuth and see if you can solve the stellar mysteries in this slideshow (then compare with how scientists cracked the case). 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

Meteor impact craters of the world

NGC 6960 (Western Veil nebula) & Horsehead Nebula and the Flame Nebula

by David Wills

Planet Neptune, observed by the Voyager 2 space probe, August 25, 1989.

(NASA)

Chasing the Shadow of Neptune’s Moon Triton

Our Flying Observatory

Our flying observatory, called SOFIA, carries a 100-inch telescope inside a Boeing 747SP aircraft. Scientists onboard study the life cycle of stars, planets (including the atmosphere of Mars and Jupiter), nearby planetary systems, galaxies, black holes and complex molecules in space.

AND in just a few days SOFIA is going on a special flight to chase the shadow of Neptune’s moon Triton as it crosses Earth’s surface!

In case you’re wondering, SOFIA stands for: Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

Triton

Triton is 1,680 miles (2,700 km) across, making it the largest of the 13 moons orbiting Neptune. Unlike most large moons in our solar system, Triton orbits in the opposite direction of Neptune, called a retrograde orbit. This backward orbit leads scientists to believe that Triton formed in an area past Neptune, called the Kuiper Belt, and was pulled into its orbit around Neptune by gravity. 

The Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Neptune and Triton in 1989 and found that Triton’s atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen…but it has not been studied in nearly 16 years!

Occultations are Eclipse-Like Events

An occultation occurs when an object, like a planet or a moon, passes in front of a star and completely blocks the light from that star. As the object blocks the star’s light, it casts a faint shadow on Earth’s surface. 

But unlike an eclipse, these shadows are not usually visible to the naked eye because the star and object are much smaller and not nearly as bright as our sun. Telescopes with special instruments can actually see these shadows and study the star’s light as it passes near and around the object – if they can be in the right place on Earth to catch the shadow.

Chasing Shadows

Scientists have been making advanced observations of Triton and a background star. They’ve calculated exactly where Triton’s faint shadow will fall on Earth! Our SOFIA team has designed a flight path that will put SOFIA (the telescope and aircraft) exactly in the center of the shadow at the precise moment that Triton and the star will align. 

This is no easy feat because the shadow is moving at more than 53,000 mph while SOFIA flies at Mach 0.85 (652 mph), so we only have about two minutes to catch the shadow!! But our SOFIA team has previously harnessed the aircraft’s mobility to study Pluto from inside the center of its occultation shadow, and is ready to do it again to study Triton!

What We Learn From Inside the Shadow

From inside the shadow, our team on SOFIA will study the star’s light as it passes around and through Triton’s atmosphere. This allows us to learn more about Triton’s atmosphere, including its temperature, pressure, density and composition! 

Our team will use this information to examine if Triton’s atmosphere has changed since our Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past it in 1989. That’s a lot of information from a bit of light inside a shadow! Similar observations of Uranus in 1977, from our previous flying observatory, led to the discovery of rings around that planet!

International Ground-Based Support

Ground-based telescopes across the United States and Europe – from Scotland to the Canary Islands – will also be studying Triton’s occultation. Even though most of these telescopes will not be in the center of the shadow, the simultaneous observations, from different locations on Earth, will give us information about how Triton’s atmosphere varies across its latitudes. 

This data from across the Earth and from onboard SOFIA will help researchers understand how Triton’s atmosphere is distorted at different locations by its high winds and its strong tides!

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Space Station flight from a clear North Africa over a story Mediterranean

Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.

Image credit: NASA

Solar System: Things To Know This Week

Weather permitting, you can observe the Moon most nights, unless it’s a new moon, when the lighted side of the Moon faces away from Earth. The Moon is by far the brightest object in the night sky and there’s plenty to see. But this week is special…

…October 28 is International Observe the Moon Night (also known as InOMN).

Here’s all you need to know to join in and celebrate:

1. One Planet. One Moon. One Night.

Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an InOMN event and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together.

2. What’s Up?

October’s night skies are full of sights, from the first quarter Moon on InOMN to Saturn making a cameo appearance above the Moon October 23 and 24. Watch our What’s Up video for details.

3. Be Social

Hundreds of events are planned around the globe. Click the top link on this page for a handy map. You can also register your own event.

4. Don’t Just Stand There

Here are some activities for enhanced Moon watching.

5. Impress Your Friends with Moon Knowledge

Download InOMN flyers and handouts, Moon maps and even some pre-made presentations. There’s even a certificate to mark your participation.

6. Guide to the Face of the Moon

Almost dead center on the Earth-facing side of the Moon is the Surveyor 6 robotic spacecraft impact side. Apollo 12 and 14 are a bit to the left. And Apollo 11 - the first steps on the moon - are to the right. This retro graphic tells the whole story.

7. Moon Shots

NASA photographers have done some exceptional work capturing views of the Moon from Earth. Here are a few galleries:

You can’t have a solar eclipse without the Moon.

The 2016 “Supermoon” was pretty spectacular.

The Moon gets eclipsed, too.

That IS a Moon - AND the International Space Station.

The Moon is always a great photo subject.

Some spooky shots of the 2014 “Supermoon.”

And 2013.

Tips from a NASA pro for photographing the Moon.

8. Walking on the Moon

Twelve human beings walked on the face of the Moon. Here are some of the best shots from the Apollo program.

9. Moon Watch

Our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is up there right now, mapping the moon and capturing some spectacular high-resolution shots.

10. Keep Exploring

Make our Moon portal your base for further lunar exploration.

Check out the full version of ‘Ten Things to Know This Week’ HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.