May – Maggio 08 – Astronomy Bulletin Of the Day

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This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the centre of globular cluster M 4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace. M 4 is relatively close to us, lying 7200 light-years distant, making it a prime object for study. It contains several tens of thousand stars and is noteworthy in being home to many white dwarfs — the cores of ancient, dying stars whose outer layers have drifted away into space. In July 2003, Hubble helped make the astounding discovery of a planet called PSR B1620-26 b, 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter, which is located in this cluster. Its age is estimated to be around 13 billion years — almost three times as old as the Solar System! It is also unusual in that it orbits a binary system of a white dwarf and a pulsar (a type of neutron star). Amateur stargazers may like to track M 4 down in the night sky. Use binoculars or a small telescope to scan the skies near the orange-red star Antares in Scorpius. M 4 is bright for a globular cluster, but it won’t look anything like Hubble’s detailed image: it will appear as a fuzzy ball of light in your eyepiece. On Wednesday 5 September, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will publish a wide-field image of M 4, showing the full spheroidal shape of the globular cluster. See it at http://www.eso.org on Wednesday.

In 1764, the astronomer Charles Messier cataloged the brilliant globular cluster M4 in the constellation of Scorpius (click on M4 to find out more).

Nel 1764 l’astronomo Charles Messier cataloga il brillante ammasso globulare M4 nella costellazione dello Scorpione (clicca su M4 per saperne di più).

In 1967, the lunar satellite Lunar Orbiter 4 entered the orbit of the Moon and began taking photographs three days later

Nel 1967 il satellite lunare Lunar Orbiter 4 si inserisce nell’orbita della Luna e tre giorni dopo inizia le riprese fotografiche

In 1971 NASA launches the Mariner 8 probe with the Atlas-Centaur SLV-3C rocket (see photo) with the aim of reaching the orbit of Mars but the launch fails and falls into the Atlantic Ocean

Nel 1971 la NASA lancia la sonda Mariner 8 con con il razzo Atlas-Centaur SLV-3C (vedi foto) con lo scopo di raggiungere l’orbita di Marte ma il lancio fallisce e cade nell’oceano Atlantico

At 01:31 in 2021 was the fifth flight of the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars (see photo above) with its first one-way trip from Wright Brothers Field to an airfield 129 meters to the south. Upon arriving above its new airfield, Ingenuity climbed up to 10 meters and captured high-resolution color images of its new base before landing. Among its objectives: aerial observations of areas not accessible by a rover and detailed stereo images from atmospheric altitudes. The flight started at 15:26. EDT (12:26 pm PDT, 12:33 pm Mars local time) and lasted 108 seconds. The Ingenuity team chose the new landing site based on information gathered during the previous flight – the first “aerial survey” operation on another world – which allowed them to generate digital elevation maps indicating almost completely flat terrain almost without obstacles. Videos: https://youtu.be/PFbzEM8PzHE…