Thursday, May 27, 2010

What's up with Jupiter!?

I'm resigned to the fact that all the really cool things happening in the sky are going to happen at hours of the night when I'm comfortably and irretrievably ensconsed in my bed.

Interesting asteroid passes, novae...they're all on the list. Now, Jupiter's on it too.

The fifth planet in our solar system is a pretty dynamic body all on a regular basis. Giant storms the size of Earth or larger, psychedelic weather patterns, multiple moons that go round and cast visible shadows across its face. But now, it's got some real wild goings-on that would almost make it worth setting the alarm for the wee hours of the morning.

First, it's south equatorial belt. Because Jupiter is little more than a giant ball of gas, the planet is nothing but weather. And because of its massive size, it gained a lot of angular momentum as it formed from infalling gas. The result is that it also spins very fast - once every nine hours - which stretches out its weather systems.

The result is its iconic cloud bands. However, lately, Jupiter has been missing its south equatorial belt. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is reportedly visible without anything of the belt near it.

It's something of a mystery. Not unknown, it's happened before. Several times, actually including one I recall back in the early '90s. Even in my primitive Tasco reflector, Jupiter's Great Red Spot was quite noticeable without the competition of the dark, expansive southern belt. In fact, Jupiter's northern equatorial belt has expanded and become even darker.

Also recently, an amateur astronomer who recorded a black cloud that mysteriously appeared in Jupiter's south temperate zone last summer also recorded a bright flash in the atmosphere that can only have come from another impact. Amazing! So far, no sign of a black cloud like last summers or, most memorably, the comet impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, but stay tuned.

The problem? Jupiter doesn't rise until much, much too early in the morning for me. As an astronomer, understandably, I'm a bit of a night owl. "So?" you might say. "Suck it up, buttercup!"

Fair enough. Except that I have a little problem...a large two-storey strip mall to my south. So Jupiter doesn't rise high enough to clear the building before the sun rises. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

So, as the season progresses and Jupiter rises higher...so much the better. However, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my sleep.

Clear skies!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Is that a 'hand' you're shaking?

By now, everyone's heard of physicist Stephen Hawking's assertion that announcing ourselves to the greater galactic community might be a bad idea.And, not one to miss out on an opining opportunity, here's my two percent of a buck's worth.

Hawking's basic premise, on the surface anyway, seems reasonable. Essentially, by announcing our presence to anyone "out there," we run the risk of finding ourselves much as the Native Americans did with the arrival of the more technologically advanced, hygiene deficient Europeans. Let's bring it down to brass tacks by saying, basically, they were 'boned!'

However, it's fair to say that the aliens won't be 15th century Europeans. They may even take baths.

For one thing, it's highly unlikely they will find anything here that they can't find "out there," James Cameron and 'unobtainium' notwithstanding. Water seems remarkably plentiful in the universe and it's doubtful they would find us very palatable. Hey! If they've mastered the fine art of interstellar travel, chances are pretty good they've managed to eliminate a wide variety of the shortages that ails society today. If not, they're not going to get far looking here for the secrets of the universe here, I suspect.

It also assumes they're even going to travel the distance at all. After all, interstellar travel encompasses a host of technical challenges, not the least of which is time and ultimate speed limits! Our first "alien" visitor might simply be a Voyager-like probe. Perhaps it's already passed, or is on its way.

In fact, Fermi's Paradox - if there are aliens out there, given the age of the universe, how come we haven't met them yet - still holds a certain sway. Remember, Frank Drake's famous equation was never actually meant to be the final word on the likelihood of actually finding aliens, simply an agenda of points for a meeting on Project Ozma, one of the first Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) efforts. And, Area 51 conspiracists and the tinfoil hat crowd aside, we have yet to find any real evidence for anyone out there! The universe remains distressingly quiet.

One other thing pops to mind...that of the messenger. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Stephen Hawking. The man is brilliant! But he's not an astronomer, or a part of the SETI team. He's a theoretical physicist. While he has as much to lose by a planet razed to rubble by marauding aliens, he's as much of an authority on it as I am. So why the extra authority given to his voice on a subject out of his normal 9 - 5?

Ultimately, the point is moot. We've already announced our presence to listening...um...'ears' and continue to do so with every radar pulse, flick of a light switch and call on a cell phone. From 50 light years out in space and listening with radio ears, our little blue marble would be the loudest radio source there is in the sky. So the cat's already out of the bag.

So get your tinfoil out and hope for the best. After all, if they're not here now...

Clear - and hopefully unthreatening - skies!