Glossary

The Crab Nebula

via reddit

Heya, if you like space maybe you’ll like this comic? It’s one of my favorites and it’s ending soon and it’s all online for freebies! The spaceships are fish and folks get to go around fixing up abandoned ruins in space. It’s utterly beautiful. It’s also ending this month!

We’ll make it out eventually. 

http://www.onasunbeam.com/

(New chapters coming soon)

One-year countdown to solar eclipse, August 21, 2017: path of totality overlaid on U.S. population density and interstate map.

Does an ecplispe cause any unusual effects on the Earth?

Yes, and this is one of the things we’re hoping to study more with this eclipse! If you are in totality, you’ll notice a significant temperature drop. We are also expecting to see changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere. You can help us document these changes using the GLOBE Observer app https://www.globe.gov/globe-data/data-entry/globe-observer ! There are lots of great citizen science going on during this eclipse, and we’d love to have everyone here helping out! https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/citizen-explorers

Ep. 4 Henges and Archaeoastronomy - HD and the Void

Henges are only one type of astronomical tracking and observation monument. Other kinds include using big rocks that already exist and then building something close enough to observe its interaction with the Sun; building an observatory or a big p...

Henges! What the heck are they? And why is the word for studying them (and various monuments around the world that serve a similar purpose) so friggin long? Archaeoastronomy? What even is that? I got quite a few requests for this one so hopefully I did it justice... in my own special, somewhat contrary way.

Below the cut is some elaboration on the episode itself, including my sources, music credits, a glossary, some Google Maps images of the locations I talk about, and a transcript (not an exact record of this episode, but it’s the loose, fairly conversational script I was working with). I mention a couple of books and quote a couple people in this episode so if you want to see that written down, those sources are there too. I’m also on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid.

Let me know what you think of this episode, let me know what you think I should research next*, tell me a fun space fact… anything’s helpful at this point!

*(My thoughts were planets or star classifications. Give me some feedback by May 25th so I can start working on it! The next episode will be on June 5th.)

Glossary:

archaeoastronomy - the study of the astronomical practices, celestial lore, mythologies, religions, and world-views of all ancient cultures. The anthropology of astronomy.

equinox - twice a year, in the spring (vernal equinox) and fall (autumnal equinox), the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth’s axis and Earth’s orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun. The day and night are of equal length.

henge - a prehistoric monument consisting of a circle of stone or wooden uprights.

kiva - a room used for rituals and political meetings for many Southwest American Indian tribes.

petroglyph - rock carvings made by pecking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone. The desert varnish on the surface of the rock is chipped off, exposing the lighter rock underneath.

solstice - twice a year, in the summer (Midsummer) and winter (Midwinter), the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth’s axis and Earth’s orbit around the sun mean that the axis is inclined away from or toward the sun. In Midsummer, the day is longest; in Midwinter, the day is shortest.

Script/Transcript (I do tend to embellish in the moment of recording so it’s not exact, but all the facts are there and I can’t know a fact and not talk about it so trust me, all you’re missing is probably another swear word or two)

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, United States of America

Chichen Itza, Yucutan, Mexico

Stonehenge, Salisbury, England

Newgrange, County Meath, Republic of Ireland

Sources:

The definition of ‘henge’

A slightly more exciting definition of ‘henge,’ with pictures

Classifications of henges in the British Isles

The definition of a petroglyph, with pictures

A 3-minute video about solstices and equinoxes that has images of Chichen Itza and Stonehenge as well as Macchu Picchu, via National Geographic

Another explanation of the equinoxes and solstices; no video, though

The great Stonehenge Purchase!

More on the great Stonehenge Purchase!

Neil deGrasse Tyson writes about Manhattanhenge

Find your own city’s henge!

Burl, Aubrey. The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany. Yale UP: New Haven, CT, 2000. Located on Google Books.

Crouper, Heather and Nigel Henbest. The History of Astronomy. Firefly Books: Buffalo, NY, 2007.

Clive Ruggles quote: “Generally people in indigenous cultures in the past tried to make sense of the cosmos—of the world around them—by drawing links between things; things in the sky, things around them in the landscape, and social things too—all mixed in” (14).

G.B. Cornucopia quote: “One of the Chacoan people’s tools was certainly astronomy, and they were interested in astronomy because anyone living in this harsh environment who does not understand their environment will not survive” (11).

Ed Krupp quote: “Usually monumental architecture isn’t dedicated to observing the sky. It’s a way that people express how they feel at home in the universe; but also how they control the universe” (21).

Glowacki, Donna M. Living and Leaving: A Social History of Regional Depopulation in Thirteenth-Century Mesa Verde. U of AZ P: Tucson, AZ, 2015. Located on Google Books.

McCluskey, S. C.  “Historical Archaeoastronomy: The Hopi Example.”  Archaeoastronomy in the New World.  Ed. A. F. Aveni.  London: Cambridge UP, 1982 (31-58).

McCluskey quote: “began watching when the sun ‘went in’ near the cultural center and motel on Second Mesa” (38).

Williamson, R. A. et al.  “Anasazi Solar Observatories.”  Native American Astronomy.  Ed. A. F. Aveni.  Austin: U Texas P, 1977 (203-218).

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Filler Music: ‘Leaves’ by Patients aka Ben Cooper, who primarily releases music as Radical Face but also has at least three other bands or band names he’s working with/has released music as.

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught

I wish I’d found this before Episode 19, dang it! Such good gifs of astronauts, though.

Coffee in Space: Keeping Crew Members Grounded in Flight

Happy National Coffee Day, coffee lovers! 

On Earth, a double shot mocha latte with soymilk, low-fat whip and a caramel drizzle is just about as complicated as a cup of coffee gets. Aboard the International Space Station, however, even just a simple cup of black coffee presents obstacles for crew members.

Understanding how fluids behave in microgravity is crucial to bringing the joys of the coffee bean to the orbiting laboratory. Astronaut Don Pettit crafted a DIY space cup using a folded piece of overhead transparency film. Surface tension keeps the scalding liquid inside the cup, and the shape wicks the liquid up the sides of the device into the drinker’s mouth.

The Capillary Beverage investigation explored the process of drinking from specially designed containers that use fluid dynamics to mimic the effect of gravity. While fun, this study could provide information useful to engineers who design fuel tanks for commercial satellites!

The capillary beverage cup allows astronauts to drink much like they would on Earth. Rather than drinking from a shiny bag and straw, the cup allows the crew member to enjoy the aroma of the beverage they’re consuming.

On Earth, liquid is held in the cup by gravity. In microgravity, surface tension keeps the liquid stable in the container.

The ISSpresso machine brought the comforts of freshly-brewed coffees and teas to the space station. European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti enjoyed the first cup of espresso brewed using the ISSpresso machine during Expedition 43.

Now, during Expedition 53, European astronaut Paolo Nespoli enjoys the same comforts. 

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren celebrated National Coffee Day during Expedition 45 by brewing the first cup of hand brewed coffee in space.

We have a latte going on over on our Snapchat account, so give us a follow to stay up to date! Also be sure to follow @ISS_Research on Twitter for your daily dose of space station science.

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

Io and Jupiter.

People think they know darkness, and that they experience darkness everyday, but they don’t, really.

Across the United States, natural darkness is an endangered resource. East of the Mississippi, it is already extinct; even in the West, night sky connoisseurs admit that it’s quicker to find true darkness by flying to Alice Springs, Australia, than traveling to anywhere in the lower forty-eight.

Ever since the nation’s first electric streetlight made its debut in Cleveland, on April 29, 1879, the American night has become steadily brighter. In his new book, The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light, Paul Bogard aims to draw attention to the naturally dark night as a landscape in its own right — a separate, incredibly valuable environmental condition that we overlook and destroy at our own peril.

Read More.

Ep. 12 Longitude - HD and the Void

The hardest part of determining longitude was figuring out how sailors could find their longitudinal coordinates at sea. There were a lot of methods proposed but adding a ship into the equation makes precision difficult. Learn about the Longitude ...

The hardest part of determining longitude was figuring out how sailors could find their longitudinal coordinates at sea. There were a lot of methods proposed but adding a ship into the equation makes precision difficult. Learn about the Longitude Act of 1714 and how, even though this podcast loves astronomy, the astronomical method might not always be the best option.

Below the cut are my sources, music credits, a timeline of the astronomers and engineers and clockmakers I mention, a vocab list, a really cool resource that lets you drag continents all over a flattened map of Earth to compare their sizes at different latitudes, and the transcript of this episode. Let me know what you think I should research next by messaging me here, tweeting at me at @HDandtheVoid, or asking me to my face if you know me in real life. And please check out the podcast on iTunes, rate it or review it if you’d like, subscribe, and maybe tell your friends about it if you think they’d like to listen!

(My thoughts on the next episode were the Voyager golden records, space race history, the transit of Venus, or maybe something about the Moon landing. I’m loving Edmond Halley again these days, too. I’m prepping to interview a friend about her graduate-level research into the history of the universe and possibly dark matter, too. Let me know by the 20th and I’ll hopefully have the next podcast up on September 25th! If not then, I’ll push for October 2nd.)

Glossary

azimuth -  a section of the horizon measured between a fixed point and the vertical circle passing through the center of an object. See example in the link. 

equator - Earth’s zero line of latitude. It’s the place on Earth where the Sun is directly overhead at noon on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

kamal - an Arabic navigation tool consisting of a knotted string and a piece of wood. A navigator would tie a knot in the string and, by holding it in their teeth, sight the North Star along the top of the wooden piece and the horizon along the bottom. To return home, the navigator would sail north or south to bring Polaris to the altitude they had observed in their home port, then turn left or right and sail down the latitude, keeping Polaris at a constant angle. Over time, Arab navigators started tying knots at regular intervals of a fingerwidth, called an issbah, that’s about 1 degree and 36 minutes.

magnetosphere - an invisible barrier that surrounds a celestial objet. It is often generated by the movement of the liquid metal core of the object. Around a planet, it deflects high-energy, charged particles called cosmic rays that can either come from the Sun or, less often, from interstellar space.

prime meridian - Earth’s zero degree of longitude. In current maps and time zones, this invisible, imaginary line runs through London, England.

sextant - a device used to determine an observer’s location based on the observation of a known celestial object and a lot of calculation. It is still in use by sailors.

tropic of cancer - a line of latitude that marks where the Sun will be at noon on the summer solstice.

tropic of capricorn - a line of latitude that marks where the Sun will be at noon on the winter solstice.

Script/Transcript

Sources

Longitude at Sea via The Galileo Project at Rice University

Vitamin C necessity via University of Maryland Medical Center

Scurvy via NHS

Scurvy via the Encyclopedia Britannica online

An interactive map that shows how our current map distorts land masses by letting you compare different countries’ sizes.

Sobel, Dava. Longitude. Walker & Co.; New York, 1995.

“anyone living below the Equator would melt into deformity from the horrible heat” (3).

“It simply urged Parliament to welcome potential solutions from any field of science or art, put forth by individuals or groups of any nationality, and to reward success handsomely” (53).

Timeline

Claudius Ptolemy, Greek (100-170 CE)

Johannes Werner (in Latin, Ioannis Vernerus), German (1468-1522)

Tycho Brahe, Danish (1541-1601)

Galileo Galilei, Italian (1564-1642)

Giovanni Cassini (in French, Jean-Dominique Cassini), Italian/French (1625-1712)

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch (1629-1695)

Sir Isaac Newton, English (1642-1726/7)

Ole Rømer, Danish (1644-1710)

John Flamsteed, English (1646-1719)

Edmond Halley, English (1656-1742)

John Hadley, English (1682-1744)

John Harrison, English (1693-1776)

Thomas Godfrey, American (1704-1749)

John Bird, English (1709-1776)

Larcum Kendall, English (1719-1790)

James Cook, English (1728-1779)

Nevil Maskelyne, English (1732-1811)

John Arnold, English (1736-1799)

Thomas Earnshaw, English (1749-1829)

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught

Ep. 17 Dark Sky Reserves - HD and the Void

Dark Sky Reserves exist to prevent light pollution in select areas. Learn about the reasons why these reserves are so important, and also hear about the Bortle Scale, which amateur astronomers use to quantify sky conditions when they are out obser...

Stargazing is a difficult task, especially under adverse weather conditions, but human beings have also made it much harder for ourselves with all these pesky electrical lights and such. Light pollution affects vast swathes of inhabited land, but the introduction of Dark Sky Reserves helps to improve observational conditions for amateur and professional astronomers. Today, you get to hear more about Dark Sky Reserves as well as the Bortle Scale, which is used to judge the amount of light pollution affecting stargazing within an area.

Below the cut are my sources, music credits, a vocab list, and the transcript of this episode. Suggest what you think I should research next by messaging me here, tweeting at me at @HDandtheVoid, or asking me to my face if you know me. Please subscribe on iTunes, rate it and maybe review it, and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it!

(My thoughts on the next episode are space race history, the transit of Venus, Shen Kuo, or Walter Baade. The next episode will be up on December 18th.)

Glossary

airglow - a very faint, bluish, naturally occurring glow that hangs around the horizon on Earth, usually within about 15 degrees of the horizon line.

Bortle Scale - an objective scale to measure the clarity and effect of light pollution on a night’s stargazing. Black and grey zones are the best for stargazing, blue is for rural skies, green and yellow are the rural/suburban transition zone, orange is the suburban sky, red is bright suburbia, and white is for cities and inner cities.

deep-sky object - any cosmological object that isn’t individual stars or something from our Solar System. It’s a classification that includes nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters, and it has its roots in amateur astronomy.

ecliptic - the path of the Sun across the sky over the course of a year.

gegenschein - a faint brightening in the night sky directly opposite the Sun. Astronomers think it’s caused by the reflection of sunlight off of dust ejected by comets or resulting from asteroid destruction.

light pollution - the excessive, misdirected, or intrusive use of artificial, human-made lighting. There are several major types of light pollution:

glare - when too-bright and poorly directed lights blind people.

light trespass - when neighboring lights are so bright that their light spills over and illuminates others’ property.

overillumination - when excessive lights are used in a small area.

skyglow - the visible glow caused by light scattering and reflecting off of the droplets of atmospheric molecules.

lumen - a measurement of a light’s brightness.

magnitude - the measurement of a star’s brightness as seen from Earth. The brighter it is, the lower its magnitude value. Ex. the Sun has an apparent magnitude of -27.

Messier object - a deep-sky object included on a list of 103-110 deep-sky objects made by Charles Messier and his colleagues in the 18th century in an attempt to prevent fuzzy, bright objects from being confused with comets.

zodiacal light - a faint brightening in the night sky along the ecliptic that results from sunlight scattered forward off dust in the direction of the Sun.

Transcript

Sources

Sodium lamp light pollution reduction effects via Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition

Types of light pollution via the British Astronomical Association’s Campaign for Dark Skies, 2009

Light pollution via Sky and Telescope, Dec 2008

The World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness via the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute

Lumens and watts via Lowes

UNESCO World Heritage Site list

Invention of the light bulb via SPS Industrial

Lightbulb components via CIO

Walter Baade bio via the Royal Astronomy Society of Canada

International Dark-Sky Association

“An IDA International Dark Sky Reserve is a public or private land possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural, heritage and/or public enjoyment. Reserves consist of a core area meeting minimum criteria for sky quality and natural darkness, and a peripheral area that supports dark sky preservation in the core. Reserves are formed through a partnership of multiple land managers who have recognized the value of the natural nighttime environment through regulations and long-term planning.”

“The core area must provide an exceptional dark sky resource, relative to the communities and cities that surround it, where the night sky brightness is routinely equal to or darker than 20 magnitudes per square arc second.”

John Bortle’s article on his magnitude scale via Sky and Telescope, July 2006

“I have created a nine-level scale. It is based on nearly 50 years of observing experience. I hope it will prove both enlightening and useful to observers — though it may stun or even horrify some! Should it come into wide use, it would provide a consistent standard for comparing observations with light pollution.”

John E. Bortle receives the Leslie C. Peltier Award in 2013 via the Astronomical Society

Bortle dark sky scale via Big Sky Astronomy Club

Bortle dark sky scale via LSU

Gegenschein via Sky and Telescope, Oct 2015

Messier List via Fred Espenak’s website, Astropixels

Caldwell List via Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)

Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity

Filler Music: ‘New Son/Burnt Iron’ by Trampled by Turtles off their album Palomino

Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught