Chaotic Astronomy

A singing NASA supervisor uses song to explain about NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, and how infrared Astronomy differs from visible-light Telescopes like Hubble. Starring Danny Tieger (“My Universe Revolves Around You”), Buffy Henshaw (“Behind the Scenes: When Galaxies Collide”), and Tom Phillips as Flunky #2.

To view more comedic (but educational!) NASA videos featuring Sean Astin, Felicia Day, Mark Hamill, Linda Hamilton, Dean Stockwell, George Takei, Ed Wasser, Betty White and more, visit:

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/videos/irrelevant

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope

Additional imagery sources include:
Hubble Space Telescope
Chandra X-ray Observatory
_________________________

LYRICS:

Spitzer was launched in 2003
The 4th of NASA’s Great Observatories
On an Earth-trailing orbit with its back to the sun
3 eyes to the sky with coolant for one.
Its 66 million miles away
Because the heat from the Earth would affect the display
Were talking sensitive instruments, keep it streaming on course
for its deep space heat-tracing gaze at the Universe

CHORUS
Infrared
Capturing the heat instead
There is light form the sky that we can’t see
In the darkest parts of the galaxy
With Spitzer’s spectrum
We can detect them
Easily

Spitzers greatest gift to the viewing community
s the ability to see through the dust clouds that literally
Block the view of other telescopes
Unless that dust gets busted they stand no hope
Of seeing what we can, Were NASAs greatest addition
But you didnt hear it from me ’cause it aint a competition,
Yeah, were working together, combining forces for the mission
of a better sense of interstellar cosmic composition

CHORUS

Visible light Visible light
We can only see the stars if the stars shine bright
Infrared, (yeah) infrared
Depends on the energy in heat thats shed.

Spitzers pulling pictures like the paparazzi
Though the coolant ran out, so we cant use all three
Weve got notable photos, and even bros know it shows
The secrets of Universe are fully exposed
Like some extrasolar planets, does get you a going
‘Cause the heat from those planets has its own faint glowing
If there are half as many planets around the stars weve found
Its a million times more likely theyve got life spinning ’round
Am I blowing your mind? Are you listening to me?
Were the white coat crew that mapped our galaxy
So youre joining the team, thats hot in the head
Hooked on looking for the cooking bits of orange and red.

CHORUS

Duration : 0:4:55

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Technorati Tags: #2, Astronomy, Caltech, Danny, Flunky, Irrelevant, JPL, musical, NASA, science, Skyface, song, space, Spitzer, stars, telescope, Tieger

Hubblecast 22: Hubble Space Telescope Directly Observes Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered an extrasolar planet, for the first time using direct visible-light imaging. The strange world is far-flung from its parent star, is surrounded by a colossal belt of gas and dust, and may even have rings more impressive than Saturn’s.

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Credit:
- ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
- Visual design & Editing: Martin Kornmesser
- Animations: Martin Kornmesser & Luis Calçada
- Web Hosting: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ)
- Web Technical Support: Lars Holm Nielsen & Raquel Yumi Shida
- Written by: Lee Pullen & Lars Lindberg Christensen
- Host: Dr. J
- Narration: Bob Fosbury
- Cinematography: Peter Rixner
- Music: movetwo
- Footage and photos: A. Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey 2, NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley). Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
- Directed by: Lars Lindberg Christensen

Dr. J is a German astronomer at the ESO. His scientific interests are in cosmology, particularly on galaxy evolution and quasars. Dr. J’s real name is Joe Liske and he has a PhD in Astronomy.

Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre
Garching/Munich, Germany
• http://www.eso.org
• http://www.spacetelescope.org
• http://hubblesite.org
.

Duration : 0:5:2

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To celebrate this stargazing year, amateur astronomers around the world are going to encourage their communities to look to the stars.

Duration : 0:2:55

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Technorati Tags: Astronomy, JPL, NASA, planets, space, stars

The Hubble Space Telescope Is Back – Better Than Ever! The Final Servicing Mission.

“Improved Hubble Shows Evidence of Dark Matter”
• http://www.youtube.com/user/tdarnell#play/uploads/2/3wluv08tDhU [HD]
• http://www.deepAstronomy.com/

“When Hubble Opened its New Eyes”
• http://www.youtube.com/AndromedasWake
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bytNgT7l8k&fmt=22 [HD]

“The Hubble Space Telescope – Rebirth of an Icon (Hubblecast 30)”
• http://www.youtube.com/ESOcast
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjy7YSIH-GI&fmt=22 [HD]

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The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the space shuttle in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, the Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.

The HST is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA’s Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Space Telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. The Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope’s capabilities.

However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble’s orbit outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe’s most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

The Hubble is the only telescope ever designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. There have been five servicing missions, the last occurring in May 2009. Servicing Mission 1 took place in December 1993 when Hubble’s imaging flaw was corrected. Servicing missions 2, 3A, and 3B repaired various sub-systems and replaced many of the observing instruments with more modern and capable versions.

However, following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, the fifth servicing mission was canceled on safety grounds. After spirited public discussion, NASA reconsidered this decision, and administrator Mike Griffin approved one final Hubble servicing mission. STS-125 was launched in May 2009, and installed two new instruments and made numerous repairs.

The latest servicing should allow the telescope to function until at least 2014, when its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is due to be launched. The JWST will be far superior to Hubble for many astronomical research programs, but will only observe in infrared, so it will complement (not replace) Hubble’s ability to observe in the visible and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
.

Duration : 0:6:46

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