KC KC AstroNews March 2001Astronomy, space and ET news. http://www.kahl.net/astro
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Vol.3, No.3 |
KC KC AstroNews March 2001Astronomy, space and ET news. http://www.kahl.net/astro
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Vol.3, No.3 |
CONTENTS
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SCIENCE FICTION MEETS SCIENCE FACT
===================== STAR TREK and SETI@home ===================== AstroNews readers know that SETI@home uses the internet in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You participate by running a free screensaver program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. But did you know that STAR TREK (Paramount Pictures) was one of the first MAJOR SPONSORS of SETI@home? The Next Generation movie "Insurrection" even had some advertising tie in. The slogan probably went something like "Seek out new life and boldly go where no human has gone before"! SETI@home has nearly 3 million users. Care to join them and use YOUR COMPUTER to seek out new life? Get SETI@home version 3.03 NOW:
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ASTROTIPPLANETARY SOCIETY SETI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If aliens are beaming laser messages across the galaxy, The Planetary Society is increasing the odds of finding them. It opens its Optical SETI Telescope in Harvard, Massachusetts in 2002. Yes SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence! Designed to scan for pulsed laser signals, the all-sky Optical SETI Survey will use a 1.8 meter (72 inch) diameter optical scope dedicated to SETI. It will be the largest in the eastern United States. "Using only 'Earth 2001' technology, we could generate a laser pulse 5000 times brighter than our sun - as seen by a distant civilization in the direction of its slender beam," said project leader Paul Horowitz. "interstellar laser communication is altogether practicable. The SETI Telescope will allow us to search the entire northern sky for such signs of intelligent life." Horowitz and his team designed a custom telescope for an observatory in Harvard. The new optical SETI observatory will search for brief pulses of light, covering the northern sky every 200 clear nights. Seeking flashes of light as short as a billionth of a second. The Planetary Society is funding the project with a $350,000 grant. This will be the twelfth SETI project sponsored by the Society. MORE INFORMATION: Visit http://planetary.org and http://www.oseti.org. A streaming audio interview with actor Tim Russ is on The Planetary Society website, http://planetary.org. Russ speaks about the extrasolar discovery - presumably Planet Vulcan (see AMATEUR ASTRONOMER TIM RUSS = TUVOK THE VULCAN below), as well as his activities as an amateur astronomer. Russ also talks about the final season of Voyager and what it was like to wear a Borg costume for the season premiere episode, "Unimatrix Zero, Part II." |
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DISTANT DISCOVERIESPIONEER FADING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pioneer 10, one of the aging veterans of the U.S space fleet, is fading away into the emptiness of space. Further and further away from the Sun, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep in touch with the geriatric spacecraft. Its signal weaker, its battery is almost dead. Communication slow and tedious. 11 hours for our signal to reach the spacecraft, 11 hours before we hear back from it. The latest failed. We may have heard the last of pioneer. Launched in 1972, it's the first time an Atlas/Centaur booster was a three-stage launch vehicle. Entered the asteroid belt - the first time any spacecraft ever ventured into this supposedly hazardous territory. Flew by Jupiter at a distance of 81,000 miles. Our first close-up look at the giant planet. The first spacecraft to visit the outer planets! In 1983 Pioneer became the first human artifact to leave the Solar System. For many years Pioneer 10 remained the most distant man-made object from Earth. more than 7 billion miles away and receding fast - 12 kilometers every second. It was surpassed by Voyager 1, now half a billion miles further and traveling 17 kilometers per second. So where does Star Trek fit in? Pioneer just might someday come across a race of curious aliens. To prepare for this the spacecraft has a plaque etched with greetings and Earth facts. But wait. For 126,000 years Pioneer will still be in our galactic neighborhood. Alone unless someone else out there stumbles upon in. Kind of the way the crew of the Enterprise stumble across that other Earth spacecraft named Voyager In Star Trek: The Motion Picture. |
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FAR OUT FACTS ============= AMATEUR ASTRONOMER TIM RUSS =TUVOK THE VULCANVoyager's Tim Russ is an amateur astronomer. Wonder why they didn't make his character Tuvok an astronomy buff as well. Russ has been hooked on space since high school. Likes large globular clusters, nebulae and galaxies. He's had a whole slew of telescopes. A Planetary Society member, Russ brought his scopes to the set to show cast mates the moon and planets. Pretty cool for an actor.The guy who plays Tuvok was excited at the discovery of a PLANET in orbit of Epsilon Eridani. Why? It's supposed to be the sun of PLANET VULCAN. You know, Spock and Tuvok's home. Does Russ believe in aliens? "Yes I do. The Drake Equation [an equation by astronomer Frank Drake that estimates the number of star systems with planets that may be able to support life] is a fairly solid one." He reads Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov, Ben Bova, Orson Scott Card, and Greg Bear. What does he think of Voyager? "On occasion they'll contradict themselves. The science is all very, very loosely based on physics, but it's not a priority. Star Trek appeals to dedicated fans," he said. "A future far more optimistic and idealistic than what we have today." Trekkies note: Russ donned the indy filmmaker's cap. He has five episodes
of his short film "Fahrenheit 452: The Art Police" on www.GalaxyOnline.com,
with more planned in the near future. The five-minute comedy spots are
co-written, co-produced and co-directed by Russ, and features him as an
officer of the Art Police squad whose motto is "To Respond and Remove."
The segments also feature appearances by Garrett Wang, Ethan Phillips,
and Robert Beltran
PLANET VULCAN?New Planet discovered orbiting Epsilon Eridani! The news caught millions of Star Trek fans around the world: Has Planet Vulcan, home of steely nerved Starfleet officers Spock and Tuvok been found? Epsilon Eridani - the sun of that most logical of worlds, Vulcan.The discovery of the planet is exciting news to science fiction enthusiasts and professional astronomers. Epsilon Eridani - a real star, a neighbor to our Sun, ten and a half light years away. The new planet is by far the closest one so far observed outside our solar system. Only 3.2 parsecs from Earth. In our backyard. Epsilon Eridani is similar to our Sun, somewhat smaller, and slightly cooler. The new planet's mass is similar to that of Jupiter, its distance from Epsilon Eridani between the distances of Mars and Jupiter from the Sun. 7 years for one orbit. Different from most planets discovered in the past years, which orbit fast and close to their sun. Dust ring characteristics around Epsilon Eridani suggest that there is another planet orbiting the star, much further away than the first. Epsilon Eridani, is probably orbited by several planets - and at distances like in our system. Unfortunately for Star Trek fans, some features do not bode well for
Vulcan. Why?
But for those who believe that the search for planets outside our solar system may eventually lead to the discovery of Earth like worlds, the similarities between science fiction fantasy and astronomical discovery are striking: "What's interesting to me about this is the uncanny interplay between fact and fiction,” says Andre Bormanis, Science Consultant to the Star Trek films and television shows, and Special Consultant to The Planetary Society. “A character named Cochran in ‘Star Trek’ invented the warp drive which drew the attention of the Vulcans. The Vulcans, in turn, are said to come from a planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani. I hope the real Dr. Cochran's discovery draws some notice from the local galactic community." Steve Howell, Head of the Astrophysics Group at the Planetary Science
Institute, and leader of The Planetary Society's extra-solar planets project,
strikes an equally hopeful note: "The discovery of a Jupiter-sized planet
encircling a star similar to our sun, once again confirms the need for
astronomers to place full effort into observations of alien solar systems,”
he says. “One of the next logical steps will be the imaging survey being
supported by The Planetary Society and its membership. This photometric
survey will search for extra-solar planets by recording the small dimming
of the parent star during a transit by an associated planet. If life such
as ours is out there, it will reside on a rocky orb. Finding gas giants
whets our appetites, but the above survey hopes to find even smaller planets
such as Neptune and convince us that terrestrial worlds await discovery.”
.^.
COMING UP!APRIL 2001: ASTRONOMY WEEKMAY 2001: VOYAGER SPECIAL
LIFT OFF!
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