space stuff

A video explaining Israeli Lunar Lander Beresheet’s journey to the Moon.

An artist's illustration of the Beresheet moon lander, built by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries.

Israeli Lunar Lander Beresheet

Beresheet was a small robotic lunar lander (a spacecraft designed to conduct a Moon landing) which competed in the Google Lunar X Prize contest to land a spacecraft on the Moon. SpaceIL, an Israeli organization successfully launched it’s lander on 22 February 2019. This would have been the first privately funded moonshot to reach the lunar surface. Beresheet stands about 1.5 meters tall and is designed to spend two Earth days on the moon taking photos and other measurements (for example measure Moon’s magnetic field at the landing site).

Unfortunately the mission ended in failure. On 11 April the lander began it’s de-orbit and landing procedure. The probe was just 25 km from the surface and the team rotated it to slow the spacecraft down and allow it to land. Only a few minutes left to go, Beresheet’s engine cut out unexpectedly and the team lost communication with the lander. They were able to get the motor restarted but lost control and the lander crashed into the lunar surface.

Iisraeli kosmoseaparaat Beresheet

Beresheet oli väike robootiline kosmoseaparaat, mis oli mõeldud Kuule maandumiseks. See osales Google Lunar X Prize’i kosmoseaparaadi Kuule viimise võistlusel. 22. veebruaril 2019 startis Iisraeli organisatsioon SpaceIL kosmoseaparaadi edukalt. See oleks olnud esimene erarahastatud katse jõuda Kuu pinnani. Kosmosesond Beresheet on umber 1,5 meetrit kõrge ja on disainitud veetma 2 Maa päeva Kuu peal tehes pilte ja mõõtes erinevaid asju (näiteks Kuu magnetvälja sondi maandumispaigas).

Kahjuks lõppes missioon ebaõnnestumisega. 11. aprillil alustas kosmoseaparaat Kuu orbiidilt väljumist ja seejärel maandumisprotseduuri. Kosmosesond oli Kuu pinnast 25 kilomeetri kaugusel, tiim juhtis selle pöörlema, et vähendada selle kiirust ja lubada sel maanduda. Ainult mõned minutid olid puudu täielikust maandumisest kui tiim kaotas sondiga ühenduse. Nad olid võimelised mootori uuesti käivitama, kuid kaotasid siiski kontrolli ja kosmoseaparaat kukkus Kuu pinnale puruks.

Explosive events in a spiral galaxy named NGC 4051 (about 45 million light-years from Earth). 

        ‧⁺˚*･༓☾　Facts about galaxies　☽༓･*˚⁺‧ 

✧    A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter.

✧    The idea of a galaxy was first realized by Thomas Wright in 1917 

✧    There are three main types of galaxies: Elliptical, Spiral and Irregular. Two of them are divided into subtypes based on their particular characteristics.

✧    77% of observed galaxies are spirals, 20% are elliptical and 3% are irregular.    

✧    Some of the galaxies receding from the Milky Way are ellipsoidal, like footballs. Galaxies can also be thin and flat with tentacle-like arms — just like the Milky Way.

✧     Dark matter aside, galaxies are mostly empty space. If the stars within galaxies were shrunk to the size of oranges, they would be separated by 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles).

✧    The enormous black hole in the center of Milky way is in the direction of constellation Sagittarius, the archer. Although the black hole, named Sagittarius A*, cannot be seen with the naked eye.

✧    Most galaxies have a black hole at the center

✧    Two of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way — the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Large Magellanic Cloud — may not have black holes. Or, because both are low-mass galaxies, their central black holes may be too small to detect.

✧    The Milky Way rotates at about 250 kilometers per second and completes a full revolution about every 200 million years. 

✧    There are four galaxies that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye: the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.

A spiral galaxy captured by NASA.

       ⁺˚*･༓☾　Faktid galaktikate kohta　☽༓･*˚⁺‧ 

✧    Galaktika on gravitatsiooniliselt seotud süsteem tähtedest, tähejäänustest, tähtedevahelisest gaasist, tolmust ja tumedast ainest. 

✧    Esimese idee galaktikast realiseeris Thomas Wright 1917. aastal.

✧    Galaktikaid on kolme põhitüüpi: elliptilised, spiraalsed ja irregulaarsed. Kaks tüüpi jagunevad eraldi alatüüpideks nende erinevate tunnuste alusel.

✧    77% vaadeldatavatest galaktikatest on spiraalsed, 20% on elliptilised ja 3% irregulaarsed.

✧    Mõned Linnuteest eemale liikuvad galaktikad on ellipsikujulised nagu jalgpallid. Galaktikad võivad olla ka õhukesed ja lapikud ja kombitsasarnaste kätega — selline on näiteks Linnutee.

✧    Tumedat ainet kõrvale jättes, on galaktikad enamjaolt tühi ruum. Kui galaktika sees olevad tähed tõmbuks kokku apelsinisuurusteks, oleksid nende vahemaad 4800 kilomeetrit (3000 miili).

✧    Tohutu suur must auk Linnutee keskel asub siit vaadatuna Sagittariuse tähtkuju suunas. Must auku, nimega Sagittarius A*, ei ole siiski silmaga nähtav.

✧    Enamusel galaktikatest on keskmes must auk.

✧    Kahel Linnuteele kõige lähedamal asuval galaktikal, Väiksel Magalhãesi Pilvel ja Suurel Magalhãesi Pilvel ei pruugi musti auke olla. Mõlemad on väiksema massiga galaktikad ja seetõttu võivad nende keskmes asuvad mustad augud olla liiga väikesed, et neid saaks tuvastada.

✧    Linnutee galaktika pöörleb kiirusega umbes 250 km/s ja teeb täispöörde iga 200 miljoni aasta tagant.

✧    Maa pealt saab palja silmaga näha nelja galaktikat: Linnutee, Andromeda, Suur- ja Väike Magalhãesi Pilv.

Why does the Moon seem white some nights but pale yellow other nights?

This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange/yellow color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the blue, green, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. That's why you only see yellow, orange, or red.

 The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.  

Miks paistab Kuu mõnikord valge, mõnikord kollane?

Efekti põhjustajaks on Maa atmosfäär. Kui Kuu on horisondile lähedamal, siis peab kuuvalgus tungima läbi palju paksema atmosfääri, kui otse pea kohalt paistes. Kuuvalguse läbi atmosfääri kumamine ongi oranži/kollaka tooni põhjuseks. Selleks ajaks, kui kuuvalgus jõuab silmadeni, on sinise, rohelise ja lilla nähtava valguse killud läbi õhumolekulide laiali hajunud. Sellepärast näebki Kuud ainult kollase, oranži ja punasena. 

Astronomical symbols

Astronomical symbols are graphical symbols which represent different celestial bodies, their aspects, phases and belongig to zodiacs. Also important points on celestial sphere and days of the week. Most of these symbols originate from Antiquity and Middle Ages. Astronomical symbols are being used in astrology, astronomy, astronomical literature, especially in calendars. In alchemy, the symbols are also used to represent the metals which are associated with the respective planets.

Astronoomiamärgid

Astronomical Unit (AU)

From an average distance of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers), Earth is exactly one astronomical unit away from the sun because one astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the sun to Earth. This unit provides an easy way to quickly compare planets' distances from the sun.

It takes about 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach our planet.

Astronoomiline ühik

Maa kaugus Päikesest on 93 miljonit miili (150 miljonit km), mis on täpselt üks astronoomiline ühik. Seega ongi see distants Päikeselt Maale. See ühik võimaldab lihtsalt ja kiirelt võrrelda planeetide kaugust Päikesest.

Wormhole

A wormhole is a theoretical passage through space-time that could create shortcuts for long journeys across the universe. There aren’t any wormholes spotted yet, but on a theoretical level calculations based on wormholes work.

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