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February’s Night Sky Notes: Constant Companions: Circumpolar Constellations, Part I
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By NASA
Buzzing with bees, baby birds, and wildflowers, the rooftop garden atop building 12 at Johnson Space Center in Houston reflects NASA’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Originally constructed in 1963, the facility was transformed in 2012, incorporating energy-efficient features that earned it LEED Gold certification. The certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. Today, the building serves as a testament to NASA’s commitment to ecological innovation.
Nestled between the Mission Control Center and building 16, this hidden gem is part of a series of pioneering efforts at Johnson to demonstrate how even the most unexpected locations can become vibrant ecosystems.
Aerial views of Johnson Space Center’s rooftop garden. NASA/Bill Stafford Initiated by Joel Walker, director of Center Operations, and designed alongside NASA engineers, the rooftop garden exemplifies green architecture with integrated solar panels, an underfloor air distribution system, and wind turbines.
“It was something of an experiment to see what worked well and what we might use in future projects,” said Walker.
Native Texas Bluebonnet atop building 12 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Center Operations team leads sustainability efforts at Johnson, working across multiple directorates and teams. Together, they manage Johnson’s 1,600 acres, which host a diverse array of plants and wildlife.
Building 12’s green roof provides benefits such as reduced potable water and energy usage, better stormwater management, protection from UV rays, and increased stability in high winds. This unique space provides an ideal environment for nesting birds and visiting pollinators and boasts a projected lifespan of 50 years, significantly longer than the 20 to 25 years typical of a conventional roof.
“I was genuinely surprised by the variety of native species thriving in our rooftop garden,” said Johnson’s wildlife biologist Strausser. “We’ve observed far more species than we ever anticipated, which is both fascinating and encouraging for our conservation efforts.”
Johnson team members meet on the building 12 rooftop to assess and monitor the plants. Initially, the project started with non-native ornamental plants that failed in the harsh Houston climate. Replanting the garden yielded mixed results until the team hand-scattered a blend of native grass seed and wildflowers. This method proved to be a successful, at a fraction of the cost estimated for professional planting.
“Sometimes the easiest way is the best!” said Walker. “It looks great now and is much more durable too.”
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By NASA
3 Min Read July’s Night Sky Notes: A Hero, a Crown, and Possibly a Nova!
Like shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, over 100,000 stars whirl within the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest star clusters visible from the Northern Hemisphere. Located 25,000 light-years from Earth with an apparent magnitude of 5.8, this glittering metropolis of stars in the constellation Hercules can be spotted with a pair of binoculars most easily in July. Credits:
NASA by Vivan White of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
High in the summer sky, the constellation Hercules acts as a centerpiece for late-night stargazers. At the center of Hercules is the “Keystone,” a near-perfect square shape between the bright stars Vega and Arcturus that is easy to recognize and can serve as a guidepost for some amazing sights. While not the brightest stars, the shape of the hero’s torso, like a smaller Orion, is nearly directly overhead after sunset. Along the edge of this square, you can find a most magnificent jewel – the Great Globular Cluster of Hercules, also known as Messier 13.
Look up after sunset during summer months to find Hercules! Scan between Vega and Arcturus, near the distinct pattern of Corona Borealis. Once you find its stars, use binoculars or a telescope to hunt down the globular clusters M13 (and a smaller globular cluster M92). If you enjoy your views of these globular clusters, you’re in luck – look for another great globular, M3, near the constellation Boötes. Credit: Stellarium Globular clusters are a tight ball of very old stars, closer together than stars near us. These clusters orbit the center of our Milky Way like tight swarms of bees. One of the most famous short stories, Nightfall by Isaac Asimov, imagines a civilization living on a planet within one of these star clusters. They are surrounded by so many stars so near that it is always daytime except for once every millennium, when a special alignment (including a solar eclipse) occurs, plunging their planet into darkness momentarily. The sudden night reveals so many stars that it drives the inhabitants mad.
Back here on our home planet Earth, we are lucky enough to experience skies full of stars, a beautiful Moon, and regular eclipses. On a clear night this summer, take time to look up into the Keystone of Hercules and follow this sky chart to the Great Globular Cluster of Hercules. A pair of binoculars will show a faint, fuzzy patch, while a small telescope will resolve some of the stars in this globular cluster.
A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a nova similar to T Coronae Borealis. The red giant is a large sphere in shades of red, orange, and white, with the side facing the white dwarf the lightest shades. The white dwarf is hidden in a bright glow of white and yellows, which represent an accretion disk around the star. A stream of material, shown as a diffuse cloud of red, flows from the red giant to the white dwarf. When the red giant moves behind the white dwarf, a nova explosion on the white dwarf ignites, creating a ball of ejected nova material shown in pale orange. After the fog of material clears, a small white spot remains, indicating that the white dwarf has survived the explosion. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Bonus! Between Hercules and the ice-cream-cone-shaped Boötes constellation, you’ll find the small constellation Corona Borealis, shaped like the letter “C.” Astronomers around the world are watching T Coronae Borealis, also known as the “Blaze Star” in this constellation closely because it is predicted to go nova sometime this summer. There are only 5 known nova stars in the whole galaxy. It is a rare observable event and you can take part in the fun! The Astronomical League has issued a Special Observing Challenge that anyone can participate in. Just make a sketch of the constellation now (you won’t be able to see the nova) and then make another sketch once it goes nova.
Tune into our mid-month article on the Night Sky Network page, as we prepare for the Perseids! Keep looking up!
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By European Space Agency
Photographing faint objects close to bright stars is incredibly difficult. Yet, by combining data from ESA's Gaia space telescope with ESO’s GRAVITY instrument on the ground, scientists managed just that. They took the first pictures of so far unseen dim companions of eight luminous stars. The technique unlocks the tantalising possibility to capture images of planets orbiting close to their host stars.
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By European Space Agency
Image: Moving the Ariane 6 upper part to the launch pad for first flight View the full article
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By NASA
A collaboration between the MSFC Lightning Team, NOAA NESDIS, and the NASA ARSET (Applied Remote Sensing Training) team completed on 4/2/24 with the final installment of a three-part series focused on Lightning Observations and Applications. On 3/26/24, Part 1 was presented to an audience of people from around the globe focused on the background and history of lightning measurements. This presentation was given by Steven Goodman of Thunderbolt Technologies. Part 2 was titled” Overview of Current Lightning Data Products from Remote Sensing” and was given by MSFC Lightning lead Timothy Lang (ST11). This presentation focused a lot on NASA lightning missions, field campaigns, and data access and was given on 3/28/24. The final installment of the ARSET lightning series was given on 4/2/24 by Scott Rudlosky of NOAA NESDIS and Christopher Schultz (ST11) of MSFC. This third part focused specifically on the Geostationary Lightning Mapper and applications of the data for science, identify lightning hazards, and safety. The average total attendance was around 225 people per session. Schultz took a lead role in working with the ARSET team to identify the speakers, topics, and review materials for presentation. Each of the 6 sessions (2 per day per topic, 1.5 hours each session) were followed up with 10-15 questions from the audience. The ARSET team indicates that there is potential for additional lightning-based trainings going forward given the response to this first series.
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