Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Solar Energy News .




STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Instrument Will Observe Spiral Galaxy Near Big Dipper's Handle
by Edwin L. Aguirre
Lowell MA (SPX) Nov 18, 2012


The face-on spiral galaxy M101 in Ursa Major, shown in this photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is the target of Asst. Prof. Timothy Cook's rocket experiment in November.

Astrophysicist Timothy Cook loves to build things, particularly small scientific satellites and instruments, putting them on a sounding rocket and then shooting them into space. "How can one not find space experiments exciting?" asks Cook. "I'm hooked on all those things and I pretty much always have been. I'm fortunate to have been surrounded all my life by supportive people, but this is the sort of thing that's so cool you just do it regardless of what people think."

Cook spent the past two decades conducting experiments at Boston University. In January, he joined UMass Lowell's Department of Physics and Applied Physics as an assistant professor, where he will continue to pursue his passion.

"I don't actually build the rocket, just the payload," he notes. "The largest vehicle I've flown something on was a Pegasus rocket, which is launched from a modified L-1011 aircraft over open ocean to deliver a satellite into low-Earth orbit."

In the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 10, Cook and his research team will be at the Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, ready to launch a NASA-funded science experiment, called IMAGER, which has been five years in the making. They will use a Black Brant IX, an 18-foot-long two-stage sounding rocket capable of carrying up to 1,200 pounds of payload into suborbital flight.

"The success rate for sounding rockets is 80 to 90 percent, which sounds pretty good until you realize that it means a 10 to 20 percent failure rate," says Cook, who is the principal investigator for the NASA project. "Launch gets to be pretty nerve-wracking!"

Observing the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ultraviolet
The IMAGER's observing target is the distant spiral galaxy M101 - also known as NGC 5457 or the "Pinwheel Galaxy" - located about 25 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, near the Big Dipper's handle.

"Our primary goal is to take images of M101 at different ultraviolet wavelengths," explains Cook. "We're trying to find out more about dust in M101 - that's right, dust. It turns out that galaxies are pretty dusty and the dust is pretty important. It blocks a lot of the light from leaving, or even moving around in, the galaxy. Dust absorbs ultraviolet light particularly well, so with our UV instrument we're particularly sensitive to its effects."

The team is looking to find out if the differences in dust absorption are due to the formation or destruction of the dust. Determining how dust varies from M101's core to its rim will help in understanding the evolutionary history of galaxies.

"Astronomy does generate practical spinoffs, but at its heart, at this point in history, it is more inspirational that practical," notes Cook. "Astronomy is more about finding our place in the universe, learning about the stunning, awe-inspiringly cool world that we live in."

Cook's team includes co-investigators Supriya Chakrabarti, who joined UMass Lowell's physics faculty in September, and Karl Gordon of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

He adds: "At this point our field operations are the responsibility of three people: Brian Hicks, a UMass Lowell post-doctoral researcher who just graduated from Boston University after launching Supriya's last sounding rocket; Meredith Danowski, a BU graduate student who really is the brains of the operation, and Jason Martel, a mechanical engineer with our group who just moved to UMass Lowell."

.


Related Links
UMass Lowell
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








STELLAR CHEMISTRY
The curious shape of a supernova remnant in a star-forming cloud
Paris (ESA) Nov 16, 2012
Data from two ESA missions combine in a new view of the peculiar supernova remnant W44. The filamentary shell-like structure, detected by the Herschel Space Observatory at far-infrared wavelengths, is filled with hot gas that shines brightly in X-rays, as seen by the XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory. This composite image highlights how the complex morphology of this remnant has been shaped by its in ... read more


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Airbus, EADS and ENN make a push for new generation aviation fuels

A Better Route to Xylan

More Bang for the Biofuel Buck

Sweet diesel! Discovery resurrects process to convert sugar directly to diesel

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Britain says no calculators for math tests

Off to the Future with a new Soccer Robot

Flying rescue robot can avoid obstacles

Advanced exoskeleton promises more independence for people with paraplegia

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
AREVA deploys its industrial plan to produce a 100 percent French wind power technology

Gannets could be affected by offshore energy developments

Scotland approves 85MW Highlands wind farm

China backs suit against Obama over wind farm deal

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
New blow as Toyota recalls 2.77 mn vehicles globally

Expert's report on economic and environmental advantages of High Capacity Vehicles

Japan car sales in China fall 59.4% in October: group

Green cars ready to race in 2nd Atacama solar challenge

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Romania to hold referendums on shale gas, gold mining

Researchers have made the production of batteries cheaper and safer

Near coal plants, health issues for poor

Oil sands to be economic driver for Canada

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Uranium exposure linked to increased lupus rate

Calif. rejects seismic test at nuke plant

Westinghouse and Siempelkamp Offer Hydrogen Control Technology

Thousands protest at S. Korean nuclear complex

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
EC seeks to 'backload' emission allowances

US power grid vulnerable to terrorist attack: study

Bulgaria and Europe depend on Russian energy exports

White Pavements Could Increase Energy Consumption in Surrounding Buildings

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Inspiration from Mother Nature leads to improved wood

Action needed to prevent more devastating tree diseases entering the UK

Texas A and M scientist taking infrared laser look at forests

Forest fertilization can increase production, decrease carbon emissions




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement