Mike Brown, Destroyer of Planets

                Caltech Professor of Astronomy, Mike Brown knows how to get people’s attention.   Traditionally, science lectures are not regarded as being the most exciting way to spend an evening out.   Perhaps that’s why Dr. Brown decided to title his lecture at Rice University in Houston, TX this past March “How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming”.   I was not present at the actual lecture but thanks to Rice University’s Astronomy Department and their “Public Connection” project I was able to view it online after the fact.

                You may not recognize the name off-hand, even though he was one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2006 and has an asteroid named after him, but I guarantee you are at least casually familiar with some of his work.   Yes, that’s right; he is the man who stripped Pluto of its planetary status.   Or, more accurately, the links in the chain of circumstance that lead to the reclassification of Pluto as a “dwarf planet” can be traced back to discoveries made by Mike Brown and his team of researchers at Caltech University.

                The lecture was one of the best I’ve seen.   Dr. Brown has great comedic timing in addition to having a great story to tell.   The result is a lecture that you can sit through and wish there was more time to talk when it is over.  

                He touched on some Pluto history, explaining how Clyde Tombaugh was in fact searching for the predicted position of the infamous “Planet X” when he discovered Pluto in 1930.   The calculated shape of Neptune’s orbit seemed to suggest that something else’s gravity was tugging on it from the further reaches of the solar system; something large.   While he didn’t find anything at the point in space that was supposed to be inhabited by the theoretical Planet X, Tombaugh did happen to spot the, well, the “spot” on his photographic plates that turned out to be Pluto.   By the way, for those of you who, like me, still have to deal with the topic of Planet X from time to time, the Neptune tug that prompted the search never really existed.   It turned out to be bad data.

                Flash forward 76 years and 90 miles south of Mount Wilson, and we find Mike Brown’s team at the Palomar Observatory working hard to confirm that a moving dot on their data images was in fact the object now known as Eris, the largest of the dwarf planets, or according to Professor Brown, “the slightly pudgier twin of Pluto”.   Actually, according to Mike Brown you would have been extremely lucky to find him physically present at the observatory.   He visited the telescope twice during the seven year project, almost all of the work being done remotely.  

                The discovery of Eris in January of 2005 and subsequent discoveries by Brown et al. have revealed to us a larger solar system encompassing more objects, and more kinds of objects, than the one many of us grew up with.   One of the main messages drawn from the lecture is that anyone observing the solar system as a whole today would see 4 kinds of significantly large objects orbiting around the Sun:   small rocky planets, plenty of tiny asteroids, giant gas planets and now the relatively very small rocky bodies that we call the dwarf planets; and that’s okay, because it makes good sense!  

                So when people complain about Pluto being “downgraded”, I tell them to look at it this way:   Pluto was not demoted, rather, it was made king of its own domain, the First of the Dwarf Planets!

Other interesting tidbits about the project:

 -The team had to build their own CCD camera to suit the needs of the work, resulting in the largest CCD of its time “pieced together with tape and bailing wire”.

-This was the first time since 1930 that anyone had covered so much sky in a telescopic survey.

-After confirming the existence of Eris, Brown’s team painstakingly searched through pictures of the same part of the sky taken by other researchers in the past.   They discovered that the first images of the object to become known as Eris were actually taken in a series of prints from 1950 that were part of a sky survey done at the Palomar Observatory, using the very same telescope that Brown’s team used to find it in 2005.

-For a while after its discovery, Eris was informally named Xena after the TV show character. Later, when Eris was discovered to have a moon it was named Dysnomia, the name of the daughter of the Greek goddess, Eris.   Dysnomia means “Lawlessness” and, as everyone knows, the actress that played Xena is named Lucy Lawless.   For more naming fun, you should see the lecture.

You can watch the lecture online at the below link:

http://earth.rice.edu/marlar/Marlar2010/index.html

Trust me it is worth your time!

Here is Mike Brown’s blog page for first-hand Kuiper Belt, Trans-Neptunian, Dwarf Planet information & more:

http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/

 Also, I’d like to announce that Dr. Mike Brown will be a keynote speaker at Space Center Houston’s Annual Space Exploration Educator’s Conference next year (SEEC 2011).   For more info on SEEC 2011 check out this link:

 http://www.spacecenter.org/teachersSEEC.html

From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., visitors will enjoy live music and dance, demonstrations, talks, book signings and hands-on art, history and science activities for kids. Esteemed museum benefactors, elected officials and the expansion project team will speak at a noon ceremony.

Don't miss headlining act The Git-hoan Dancers, a Tsimshian dance group led by renowned carver David Boxley. The group is Seattle-based, but most of the dancers trace their ancestry to southeast Alaska. Dancing in their striking, carved masks, the performers relay Tsimshian legends such as Mouse Woman and the Cannibal Giant.

The day's activities also include Alaska Native games and dancing by the Alaska Native Heritage Center, wild bird presentations by the Bird Treatment and Learning Center, and a sneak peek at this summer's planetarium shows.

PLAN YOUR VISIT
HOURS: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 22

ADMISSION: Everyone needs a ticket to this event. Museum members are admitted free. Save time and print your tickets at home General admission is $10 adult, $8 student/senior/military, $7 ages 3 to 12, free ages 2 and younger.  Become a member or renew your membership on May 22 and receive two additional months free.

PARKING: The museum garage will be closed for this event. Free handicapped parking will be available on Sixth and Seventh avenues between C and A streets. Other parking within two blocks of the museum includes free street parking, a pay lot at Sixth Avenue and B Street, and the parking garages at the Fifth Avenue Mall and JC Penney.

Mission: Science Literacy Louisville Science Center announces strategic platform, powerful lineup of new exhibits Louisville, KY ( Stardate: April 8, 2010 ) – Today the Louisville Science Center announced its new strategic direction and a powerful lineup of new exhibits featured in the next year. The Science Center, which has been historically committed to science literacy, is expanding its capacity as a leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – skills that are critical to workforce development and innovation, preparing future leaders for the opportunities and challenges of the 21 st century. Over the past year, the Science Center has enhanced its programmatic efforts and offerings, including seasonal Family Science Drop-In Events, a broad array of science camps, the introduction of 5,300 square feet in its new Science Education Wing, and an overall ramped up commitment to science literacy. The Science Center has also worked to be a catalyst for creative, open-minded thinking about science issues that can often be controversial through an adult dialogue series called Scientific Proofs, which launched in November with a conversation on health care reform.

"Science literacy is about empowering individuals and communities to ask questions, think creatively, solve problems and work toward a better quality of life for all," said Science Center Executive Director Joanna Haas. "We are working every day to ignite our community on that front, to encourage a buzz about science, and to create new levels of insight, engagement and understanding of science literacy." Mayor Jerry Abramson said, "There is no question that we need higher levels of educational attainment and overall science literacy in our community, region and state. Increasing interest in science, math, technology and engineering by engaging children at young ages will lead to future innovations that will impact not only our community but our world." The Science Center also announced a new lineup of exhibits, beginning with

Robots: The Interactive Exhibition (which opened March 20) and continuing July 3 with Sesame Street: Presents the Body, followed in January 2011 with Star Trek: The Exhibition , and capped off in June 2011 with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition , based on the timeless works of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia . This exhibit lineup follows the unprecedented attendance experienced during the run of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition , which was open October 3, 2009 – March 7, 2010. Nearly 80,000 people experienced the exhibition and total Science Center attendance increased 80 percent. "With this powerful lineup of exhibits, people will have even more great reasons to visit Louisville," said Jim Wood, president and CEO of the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We expect a huge regional draw for these exhibitions and also expect that, with more people vacationing close to home, that Louisvillians will come out in force to support such great things to do here in our own backyard."

About the Louisville Science Center

Mission

The mission of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is to be the premier regional provider of interactive science learning experiences which enrich the lives of children and adults, enhance the quality of life in our community, and promote a broad understanding of the world. To preserve, protect, and enhance the Museum’s anthropology, geology, paleontology, and biology collections, and to make these collections available for exhibition, education, and research purposes.

Vision

Our Vision is to be the premier regional provider of interactive learning experiences which enrich the lives of children of all ages, enhance the quality of life in our community, and promote deeper understanding of the world.

History

The Dayton Museum of Natural History began in 1893 as a part of the Dayton Public Library and Museum. Over the years, collections gathered by prominent Dayton citizens on their trips around the world were contributed to the museum. Local natural history collections were also contributed. In 1952, a group of citizens organized the Dayton Society of Natural History which took responsibility for the collections and transformed them into the Dayton Museum of Natural History. In 1958, the Museum of Natural History's main building on Ridge Avenue was completed. In 1991, a new planetarium and expanded collection and exhibit space were added. The Society remained committed to the idea of inspiring children to enthusiastically embrace science as a vital aspect of their lives through exhibits and programs that were both entertaining and educational.

Meanwhile, in 1993 a group of interested community leaders formed a steering committee to explore the idea of creating the Children's Museum of Dayton. This group believed that a children's museum could reach children ages two through twelve and instill in them a lifelong love of learning as well as an appreciation for the world around them. To this end, the group formed a governing board, launched a mobile outreach program, displayed model exhibits, and began planning for a permanent home in downtown Dayton.

As the Children's Museum movement gained visibility, the similarity between its philosophy and the Museum of Natural History's mission became very clear. In the summer of 1995, the Children's Museum Board and Board of the Dayton Society of Natural History began discussing ways to collaborate. By January, 1996, these talks resulted in an enthusiastic agreement to fully merge boards under the umbrella of the Dayton Society of Natural History *. As a result of the merger, the Dayton Museum of Discovery was born and assumed all public, educational and programming functions previously associated with the Dayton Museum of Natural History.

The board commissioned a professionally-developed exhibits master plan that would take into account all of the resources and potential brought to the table by both organizations and by May 1999 Phases I and II of an extensive exhibits master plan had been completed.

The name change to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery occurred in January, 1999 in recognition of Oscar Boonshoft, one of the Museum's most dedicated friends.

* The Dayton Society of Natural History is the parent organization of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and its sister organization, SunWatch Indian Village - - a museum of the area's 12th century Fort Ancient Indians.

The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, affiliated with the Association of Children’s Museums, and is a governing member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers. In addition, the Charles E. Exley, Jr. Wild Ohio indoor zoo is fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

In July, as the anniversary of the first moon landing approached, everyone around me was atwitter with excitement remembering exactly where they had been when the witnessed those first steps. "I was out for ice cream with my parents." "My parents let me stay up late." Everyone remembered with great joy the moment their eyes first registered that giant leap. Their faces would light up and their smiles would widen as they shared their story with others around them. I realized these moments were huge. They were inspirational. They marked these individuals in a way that impacted their life. For some, it was inspiration for their educational path.

I eagerly listened to each person recount their moment and then began thinking...I don't have that moment. Sure, I have moments but they are not moments that make me smile or that I look forward to recounting with my children. They are moments of great sadness and tragedy. They are planes flying into towers and space shuttles that don't return.

There are multiple generations of people who don't have that moment, starting with mine. I often wonder if it is too late for me. Our knowledge in science and technology expands exponentially...at rates my grandparents cannot comprehend. Has technology advanced to the point that we are just not surprised by the advancements anymore? Are we, as a people, so used to these advancements that none of them are memorable anymore? Perhaps our priorities have shifted so that we are just not as enthralled with the exploration of space as we once were.

Surely that is not the case. Surely we have just not had the moment. In the months since July, my mind has wrestled with those ideas versus the hope that surely there is still more to come. Today I had my first glimmer of hope in my ongoing battle. I sat at my desk watching NASA TV live and listened intently to the engineers in launch control as they prepared the Ares I for the first test launch. Old footage flashed through my head...Redstone rockets being tested...preparations for the first American in space...the unsuccessful moments and those that still bring tears to our eyes.

As I sat there I realized, this could be the start of my moment. They are testing the first phase of a rocket that could potentially put a human being on another planet. This test may seem small to most of the world, but I understood the impact of this day. It is the beginning of my luna somnium...my moon dream.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Images: Lunar Leftovers.

NASA's LRO mission has sent back its first images of past lunar exploration sites in time for the celebration of our fist adventures to the moon. There are two high-resolution Narrow Angle Cameras and one lower-resolution Wide Angle Camera that make up the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) instrument package. The main mission for this system is to ultimately provide us with a high quality, detailed map of the entire lunar surface.

The images that have just come back are from the pre-mission stage of the LRO. In August, LRO will enter its near circular orbit about 31 miles above the lunar surface. At that time its main mission will begin and the images that it sends back to Earth will be 2-3 times higher in resolution than the ones it just sent back. Right now the LRO is in a higher more elliptical orbit so these first images are all a bit different from eachother in resolution and size. NASA is using this time as a chance to make sure that the cameras and tracking systems are working well. That being said, lets talk about what it did send us in this first warm up round of images.

After entering lunar orbit on June 23 the LRO began preparations for imaging the lunar landing sites that it would pass over in the next few weeks. Between July 11th & 15th it caught these images of 5 of the six lunar landing sites.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jul_lroc.htm

NASA's LRO people were hoping to get good images of the lunar module descent stages left behind by the Apollo missions. Thats exactly what they got! Take a look at these images, the sun is setting low so that the ~10 ft tall lunar modules cast long shadows across the moon's surface. I really like the Apollo 16 site image because the LEM's shadow is actually being cast into the shadow and pit wall of the adjacent crater. Thats an image that I am sure will be thought-provoking to those interested in moon landing hoax theories!

The Apollo 14 image site conditions were extra nice! You can see a left-behind instrument package and the actual trail of astronaut's footprints that connect the package site to the LEM site, amazing!

These images are highly usable for classroom presentations in that they tie in lunar exploration history to the future of lunar exploration. Remember that LRO's job is the first scouting expedition with a long-term mission to get humans back on the lunar surface for extended periods of time.

40 years ago on July 16th 1969, human beings first walked on an object of the solar system that was not the Earth. When we try to imagine the historic occasion, it may seem like "ancient history" to those of us who were not around at the end of the sixties. This is especially true when we look at what a different world we are in today in terms of technology. However, take it from me, forty years is not really that long and can fly by you faster than you think.

As we approach the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission Lunar Landing, I would like to share with you just a few of the interesting, fun, incredible and perhaps some little-known facts about the Apollo Program. The beginnings of the program can be traced back to 1961 and President Kennedy's historic speech. After the tragic Apollo 1 mission fire of January 27th 1967 in which the prime crew, Edward White, Virgil "Gus" Grissom & Roger Chaffee lost their lives, up until Apollo 7 in October of 1968, the Apollo program consisted of unmanned test missions. Indeed before Apollo 4 the Apollo name was not even used (Apollo 1's name was reserved after the accident). Each mission simply had a serial number to identify it.

Apollo 4 was the first test flight of the giant Saturn V booster rocket. This is the rocket that was perfected to take the Apollo Missions safely beyond Earth's atmosphere. Its November 9th, 1967 launch was accomplished in an "All-Up" fashion. The common technique at the time for rocket test flights was to test them in stages. However, the Saturn V's first flight was as a complete rocket, with all stages included.

Walter Cronkite was reporting on this successful test launch from a studio four miles away from the launch site. When the rocket took off, ceiling tiles began falling in the studio, the building's windows began to shake and Cronkite had to dampen the studio booth's window so that it would not shatter in on him! Obviously, we learned a lot about the power of launching rockets from the Saturn V. Today observers can watch launches from a minimum safe distance of only about 2 kilometers because of the dampening system built directly into the launch pad.

Apollo missions 5 & 6 were also unmanned missions that tested further the capability of the Saturn V to deliver its payload safely into Earth orbit. The Apollo 6 mission's command module test unit landed back on Earth 10 hours after initial launch. Each of the missions to follow Apollo 6 would be manned missions. We will be back next time to talk a bit about the Apollo 7 mission which got us a few steps closer to actually touching that wild, distant object, our Moon.

Oh yes, if you ever find yourself near one of the 3 Saturn V, or "Moon Rockets" that are on public display, by all means get yourself over there for a visit. There is one at the Kennedy Space Center. There is one at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and there is one at Johnson Space Center's Rocket Park in Houston, just down the road from where I am typing right now! You can learn all of the amazing facts about the Saturn V from books and film, but you really need to visit one and see its true size, close-up to get a real appreciation for what a major accomplishment its conception, design, construction and implementation are. It is a gigantic testament to the power of the human mind, and for all of you students out there it is a big reminder of just how far math & science can take you!

The final two webisodes are being filmed and will be posted shortly. As our exhibits change, we are excited for the new Circus exhibit to open. We are hopeful that the VSC will be continued and we can bring your webisodes featuring the new Circus exhibit and all its space science ties.

Space Center Houston's distance learning program has gone even more international! We are now a featured electronic field trip in New South Wales, Australia! We connect with Australian grade school students several times a week to talk with them about our programs.

Please let us know what is going on in your own classroom or science center.  If you are a student, please also let us know what other things you would like to see on this site! Happy Fall everyone!

The summer also brings time for teacher professional development. Teachers in both Alaska and Kentucky will be meeting with Space Center educators to learn about what Space Center Houston does to excite students about science. Many Pringles chips have been eaten in preparation for Pringles solar ovens, and preparations are being made for new and exciting high school math and science activities.

We would love to hear what is happening in your centers or classrooms, please spend a few minutes sharing!

This morning it was overcast, with some pretty ominous clouds hanging out in the sky. I was a little worried it might rain on my tour, but by lunch time, the skies has at least partially cleared, and even the humidity was low. It was shaping up to be a nice afternoon. I joined a group of about thirty other center visitors as we boarded our tram and met our tour guide, Josh.

The tour began with all the usual rules, keeping your arms and legs inside the tram, staying seated, keep an eye on small children?We rode under a small overpass, effectively crossing the street, and entered Johnson Space Center. So far, so good.

Our first stop was Historical Mission Control. We climbed 87 steps to a viewing area of the historic mission control room. This is where the Apollo missions to the Moon were run from. We watched a short video summarizing the first Moon landing and what exactly was going on at mission control during this exciting time. It was narrated by Gene Kranz, who was the flight director for many of the Apollo missions (he was played by Ed Harris in the movie Apollo 13, for those of you who are movie buffs). It was pretty cool. We sat in the exact chairs that family of the crew (as well as presidents and other famous visitors) would have sat in while observing the mission. Our narrator told us that the shuttle missions will continue until 2010, and the shuttles will then be retired. I am excited to see what follows the shuttles in the next wave of space exploration!

Once we had finished our visit (and had come back down those 87 stairs), we got back on the tram to ride to our next stop. Along the way, we passed this area, with lots of caution signs.Turns out, this is where they house a whole bunch of Liquid Nitrogen. See, in space, it can be really cold, so they need to somehow simulate those conditions on Earth while they are training the astronauts. Enter: Liquid Nitrogen. That stuff is really cold! It is stored at 320 degrees Fahrenheit BELOW zero in liquid form. Equipment in space will face very cold conditions, so Johnson Space Center uses this liquid nitrogen to create harsh, cold environments in which they can test the equipment that will be sent into space. Our tour guide told us that the temperatures in space can range from 200 to negative 200 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on whether they are in the sun or not. On the Moon, temperatures can drop to 370 degrees below zero. Pretty crazy!

Our next stop was pretty incredible. When astronauts train, they need life size models of some of the things they will be working with in space. Building 9 at JSC, was where they house all the equipment the astronauts train on. We didn?t see any astronauts in there, but it was pretty neat anyway. There was a mock-up of pieces of the International Space Station, including where the astronauts live and where they do their research. There was also a mock-up of the space shuttle, only it didn?t have any wings. The wings are not really needed in for any of the training the astronauts do and they wouldn?t have fit in the building anyway!

I got to see the remote manipulator system, which is basically a huge robotic arm. During training on Earth, they have to limit the amount of weight that can be on the arm to 500lbs at any one time. This is interesting, because in space, the arm is actually smaller, but can hold a lot more weight. Since everything is weightless in space, the weight of an object won?t break the arm the same way it would on Earth. Our guide also talked about this cool system they have come up with on Earth to move really heavy things easily. There is this machine that produces a high amount of blowing air that acts kind of like a air hockey table. It forms a layer of air between the heavy object and the ground, helping the astronaut to be able to push the object around despite the gravity that is acting upon it.

Now, even though the astronauts have facilities with life size practice models to train on, it is still really different here than it is in space. The main issue is the gravity on Earth. In space, the astronauts are in a free fall environment which makes them weightless and able to float around. That is not the case here on Earth. So, here at Johnson Space Center astronauts train in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). It is a giant pool with all sorts of instruments and models that the astronauts might find in space. We didn?t go there on the tour today, but they told us about it. I am hoping to get over there in the next few weeks and take some pictures, so you guys can see just what it is all about.

On our trip back toward our starting point, we passed a small grouping of trees. Our tram tour slowed down and we were told these were the trees planted as a memorial for astronauts who have lost their lives on space missions. The memorial was started on the 10 year anniversary of the Challenger Disaster, and then added to more recently with the Columbia explosion. It is a nice reminder of the people who have given their lives in the name of space and science exploration.

Our last stop on the tour was Rocket Park. Rocket Park is a collection of rockets on display for public view. We checked out the Saturn V rocket, which is the largest rocket ever built by NASA, staggering at 363 feet tall! The rocket is a three stage rocket, which means it takes three different stages of fuel firing to get all the way to the Moon. It is displayed with each of the three stages separated and you can actually walk between two of the stages. This thing is huge! You can?t even fit the whole thing in one picture. By the time it reaches its third stage and goes into orbit around Earth, it is traveling at 17,500 miles per hour. It is then that the rocket can be aimed at the Moon and the third stage can fire again, beginning the three day trip to the Moon. It was pretty cool to be able to stand next to something that big and that powerful.

Well, that's about it for the tour. We got dropped off back at the Space Center for additional exploring. Space Center Houston is filled with tons of interesting things to see and do. Next time, maybe we can check out some of the exhibits here, and see what kinds of cool things it has to offer!