AstroFacts for August 2011

August 31:  The estimated rate of star production in the Milky Way Galaxy is about 7 (plus or minus 3) stars per year.

August 30:  There’s some debate when the last Milky Way supernova was seen: 1604 by Kepler (SN 1604) or 1680 by Flamsteed (Cas A).

August 29:  Although the last known Milky Way supernova occurred hundreds of years ago, the predicted rate is about once every 50 years.

August 28: A chunk of lead wouldn’t survive on Venus because lead’s melting point is about 230 °F less than the surface temp of Venus.

August 27:  It takes the death of massive stars to produce the necessary elements for life on Earth.

August 26:  Wind speeds as high as 1300 mph have been measured on Neptune. Wind speeds for a category 5 hurricane only need to exceed 155 mph.

August 25: Due to Earth’s very slowly wobbling rotation axis, the bright star Vega will be considered the North Star in 14,000 AD.

August 24: The altitude of the Hubble Space Telescope (309 nautical miles) is slightly more than the distance between San Fran and LA.

August 23:  The Moon experiences quakes just like Earth does, but moonquakes are typically a million times less powerful.

August 22:  The first globular cluster (M22) was discovered in 1665 by the German astronomer Abraham Ihle.

August 21:  It took the Apollo astronauts just over 3 days to get to the Moon. Driving at 70 mph it would take 135 days to make the trip.

August 20:  Earth is not an isolated system. Energy is continually arriving in the form of radiation from the Sun.

August 19:  For every three trips around the Sun Neptune completes, Pluto completes exactly two trips.

August 18:  Totality for a lunar eclipse can last up to 1 hour and 42 minutes.

August 17:  A planet must (1) orbit the Sun, (2) be round, and (3) clear out its neighborhood. Dwarf planets only need (1) and (2).

August 16:  The Sun’s core has a density that is about 150 times that of water.

August 15:  Stars make up galaxies; galaxies make up clusters; and galactic clusters make up superclusters, the largest known structures.

August 14:  Due to the Moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, an Earth day is getting longer by 2 milliseconds per year.

August 13:  The Perseid Meteor Shower is named after the constellation Perseus, which is where the meteors appear to come from.

August 12:  

August 11:  

August 10:  At the Sun’s core is a constantly exploding fusion bomb, but the Sun’s own self gravity is enough to contain the explosion.

August 9:  

August 8:  When a president gives their inauguration speech the broadcast doesn’t reach the nearest star until their first term is over.

August 7:  Uranus’ blue color is the result of methane in the planet’s upper atmosphere absorbing red light.

August 6:  Juno will be the first mission to explore Jupiter using solar power. The previous 8 used radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

August 5:  NASA’s Juno mission (http://1.usa.gov/90o8Mq) will take five years to reach its destination of Jupiter.

August 4:  The largest galaxies in the Universe (known as giant ellipticals) can have in excess of a trillion stars.

August 3:  The mineral armalcolite was first discovered by Apollo 11 astronauts and is thus named after ARMstrong, ALdrin and COLlins.

August 2:  A recent discovery by the Hubble Space Telescope has increased the number of known moons around Pluto to four.

August 1:  Although observed before then, Uranus was not officially recognized as a planet until William Herschel’s observations in 1781.