September 19, 2016 - The Time Machines
The Time Machines Star trails wheel around the south celestial pole in this long-exposure photo from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), located on the 5,000 meter-high (16,400 ft) Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes. This remote location is one of the driest places on Earth, and thus perfect for observing the faint radiation from the Universe’s dimmest objects and coldest regions. Like the titular device in H.G. Wells’s 1895 classic The Time Machine, these sensitive telescopes are virtual time machines, revealing how distant objects in our Universe looked millions or billions of years in the past. Born 150 years ago this week, Wells would undoubtedly have lauded the scientific endeavors of ALMA, which is operated by a consortium of international research institutions.
Image credit: ESO / B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Weekly Calendar
September 19-25, 2016
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 19
Tuesday 20
1945: Wernher von Braun arrives in United States
1966: Surveyor 2 launched
1970: Luna 16 lands on Moon
1979: HEAO-3 launched
1988: Israel launches its first satellite
Wednesday 21
Mercury appears stationary
Aldebaran 0.2° south of Moon
1866: H. G. Wells born
1874: Gustav Holst born
1974: Mariner 10 flies by Mercury for second time
2003: Galileo mission ends
Thursday 22
Equinox 10:21 AM ET
1990: Pioneer 10 reaches 50 AU from Sun
2006: Hinode spacecraft launched
2014: MAVEN spacecraft enters orbit around Mars
Friday 23
Last Qtr Moon 5:56 AM ET
1783: Caroline Herschel discovers NGC 253
1846: J. G. Galle discovers Neptune
1962: “The Jetsons” premieres
1977: Third glide test of space shuttle Enterprise
Saturday 24
1930: John Young born
1962: MOOSE astronaut rescue system proposed
1970: Luna 16 returns lunar soil samples
1999: IKONOS-1 launched
2014: Mars Orbiter Mission enters orbit around Mars
Sunday 25
Pluto appears stationary
1973: 59-day Skylab 3 mission ends
1992: Mars Observer launched
1997: STS-86 Atlantis launched
2008: Shenzhou 7 launched
2013: Soyuz TMA-10M launched carrying ISS Expedition 37/38 crew
2014: Soyuz TMA-14M launched carrying ISS Expedition 41/42 crew