This Week in Space Telescopes

On November 2, 2016 NASA announced the assembly of #JWST and that it is now ready to begin the testing phase of the mission. Join us as Carol and Tony discuss the status and the future of this amazing space telescope mission, still scheduled for launch in October, 2018.

On November 2, 2016 NASA announced the assembly of #JWST and that it is now ready to begin the testing phase of the mission. Join us as Carol and Tony discuss the status and the future of this amazing space telescope mission, still scheduled for launch in October, 2018.

Download all visuals here: http://bit.ly/2g1EQlo A search for binary stars that emit gamma-rays using NASA’s Fermi satellite turned up a luminous object in another galaxy. These objects are characteristically variable. Using additional telescopes including the SWIFT X-Ray telescope and numerous ground based telescopes the team investigated the intriguing source known as LMC P3. One star in the system is tremendously hot (60,000 degrees F or 33,000 degrees C)! There are tremendous particle winds and also electron winds that produce the varying radiation observed. Join Tony Darnell and Carol Christian as they discuss with Robin Corbet and Joel Coley (University of Maryland and Goddard Space Flight Center) along with Malcolm Coe (U of Southhampton) and Laura Chomiuk (Michigan State) their ideas for this investigation, how they found the object and what the observations from multiple observatories tells them about this exotic object.

Using archive data from the Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers are building a more complete picture of rapidly spinning stars. These are stellar objects that spin much more fast than our sun, roughly 10 times faster and exhibit some strange properties. Followup observations from the Swift X-ray telescope give us insight into the activity of these very strange stars. Here is the link to the NASA Press release that has an interesting picture and a video. http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-missions-harvest-a-passel-of-pumpkin-stars

This week Carol and I are trying an experiment. This episode is the audio portion of an Astro Coffee Hangout we did last week on the Deep Astronomy YouTube Channel that featured the latest results from NASA's New Horizons probe to Pluto. There are some visuals associated with this hangout that you can download here: http://bit.ly/2f5jn8f Please let us know what you think of this experiment in the comments or email us at twistpodcast at deepastronomy.com

This week, Carol and Tony discuss Carol's recent trip to Guadalajara Mexico where she attended the International Astronautical Congress meeting. She give us her insight into Elon Musk's speech on SpaceX's plans to get to Mars along with other companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin. Here are some of the links mentioned in the podcast: https://www.iac2016.org/ http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3075/1

This week's episode takes a look at comet breakups and how we find and measure comets. We also take a look at asteroids and examine their danger of hitting us.

Welcome to our first news roundup. The topics for today: SpaceX Explosion; The latest on Juno at Jupiter; ESA's Philae lander found on Comet 67P; 35 years of Voyager I and II Probes

Summer in hot dry climates such as in the U.S. western states often provides the perfect conditions for wildfires such as hot temperatures, low humidity and wind. In addition, lightning strikes and careless people can spark fires as well. Satellites are critical for tracking fire locations, extent and progression. Many Earth looking satellites are in the fleet to support this effort, and in particular NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite (National Polar Orbiting Partnership satellite).

NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission is scheduled to launch on Sept. 8th from the Kennedy Space Center. It will travel to the asteroid known as Bennu and study it extensively. Oh yeah, and it will also grab a sample and bring it back to Earth. Learn more about this very exciting mission in this week's podcast. Don't forget to ask questions and leave comments at TWISTPodcast@DeepAstronomy.com

The Cassini spacecraft has been 19 years studying Saturn and its moons and is still returning amazing science results. This week, Carol and Tony discuss the latest images of Saturn's moon Titan.

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the GPM Core Observatory satellite on February 27th, 2014, carrying advanced instruments that set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space. The data they provide is used to unify precipitation measurements made by an international network of partner satellites to quantify when, where, and how much it rains or snows around the world. The GPM mission contributes to advancing our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improves the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and extends current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society.

Did you know that the martian atmosphere is slowly disappearing? NASA launched MAVEN in an attempt to find out why. What is causing the erosion of the atmosphere? How is it studying it? What does it mean for finding life on Mars?

Have you ever wondered how scientists and engineers work to protect our space telescopes from the harmful environment of space? What about EMP's? What threats to they pose and what are the biggest factors concerning the safety of our space telescopes? And us!

Astronomers think there are probably more planets in orbit around other stars than there are stars in our galaxy. This week, explore the fledgling science of exoplanet astronomy with Tony and Carol and they discuss how these planets are detected, the kinds of planets out there and what this may mean for life elsewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy.

NASA's Dawn mission just completed its science phase on June 30th, 2016. It is the only spacecraft to have orbited two different bodies in our solar system: the minor planet Ceres and the asteroid Vesta. What have we learned about these bodies and by extension, our solar system?

Did you know that NASA works with the USAID that provide observations and state-of-the-art imagery and data to developing countries around the world? The images and data provided by SERVIR, the collaboration of over 80 countries helps governments and programs understand the climate and cope with natural disasters.

The Hubble Constant is essential in relating the expansion speed of galaxies in the universe with their distance. This number has quite a colorful history that culminated in being a prime science driver for building the Hubble Space Telescope. Join Tony and Carol and they talk about the history of this number along with some of the more recent research that constrains it better than ever before.

NASA's NuSTAR mission is looking at the high energy universe to help us understand the nature and distribution of black holes in the galaxy and our universe at large. It is also providing insight into how supernovae create the heavier elements that allow us to exist. It's not easy though, especially when trying to focus X-Rays. Carol and Tony look closely at how this amazing part of the spectrum is being studied by one of the newest X-Ray Space Telescopes in orbit.

Ever hear of a Star Shade? If not, never fear! Carol and Tony discuss this brand new program that test the technology that will help us find more exoplanets in our galaxy. This program is destined to change the way we look at our universe forever, and it's getting started now!