Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес
оригинального документа
: http://star.arm.ac.uk/nibulletin/2005/Jan-13.html
Дата изменения: Fri Jan 14 13:38:16 2005 Дата индексирования: Tue Oct 2 03:57:06 2012 Кодировка: Поисковые слова: о п п |
From: TerryMoselaol.com Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:52:26 EST Subject: Titan Time, Directions for Kids/Family Day, Giant Sunspot, Comet Hi all, 1. Obviously there has been some confusion between Titan Time & GMT (maybe they're on 'Saturn Summer Time'?), as the TV coverage on BBC2 on Friday evening, obviously can't be 'Live', as several readers have pointed out! The timetable for the Huygens landing/splashdown (quoting Jacquie Milligan) is: The following events take place from 09:00 GMT on Friday 14th January 2005 but times are approximate: 09:07 - Huygens' final journey will begin when it enters Titan's atmosphere 09:11 - Pilot, then main, parachute deployed 09:12 - Huygens begins transmitting data back to Cassini 09:26 - Main parachute separates and the stabiliser parachute deployed 09:42 - Surface proximity sensor activated to guide it safely to surface 10:50 - Each of the probe's instruments will have become operational 11:23 - Huygens' lamp turns on allowing the camera instrument to photograph Titan's surface 11:27 - Touchdown on the unknown surface of Titan that could be solid or liquid 13:37 - Huygens landing site will drop below the horizon leaving Cassini unable to collect any further data 14:07 - The first data collected from Huygens should arrive on Earth 16:15 - ESA Press Conference to announce data has been successfully received 19:00 - The first images from Huygens are expected some time after this. "Mission to Titan", Friday 14th, BBC2, 23.30 - 24.30: Coverage (we hope) of the landing/splashdown of the Huyghens probe on Titan. Try clicking on saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm to see the countdown to our first landing on the surface of a world in the outer solar system. If all goes well, it will collect data during its descent and send back pictures of the surface. Titan is bigger than Mercury and Pluto. In fact, it's the 10th largest object in our solar system (after the Sun, the other 7 planets, and Jupiter's moon Ganymede). Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a substantial atmosphere, which shares two interesting characteristics with Earth's atmosphere: A similar atmospheric pressure (Titan's is only about 50% more than Earth's) and a composition of mostly nitrogen (Earth's atmosphere is 77% nitrogen and Titan's is 90% nitrogen). But the rest of Earth's atmosphere is mostly oxygen, while the rest of Titan's atmosphere is argon, methane, ethane, and other hydrogen compounds. Titan is extremely cold, with a surface temperature only about 40 degrees above absolute zero. While this is far too low for liquid water, there's a chance that Titan may have lakes or oceans of liquid methane and ethane, and perhaps even methane/ethane rain or snow. 2. Directions to IAA Kids/Family Astro-Day, St Patrick's High School, Ballinderry Road, Lisburn: From Lisburn take the Longstone Road (main A3 Road) towards Moira. About 1/2 mile from centre of Lisburn you come to a V-Junction with a church in the 'V'. Fork right here: this is the B104 Ballinderry Road. St Patrick's High School is a few hundred yards along on the left. If you are coming from the M1, take the Sprucefield Turn-off (Junction 7) towards Lisburn. Go past the Lagan Valley Hospitalto a major junction, where you turn Left. Go past the Omniplex, to a roundabout, where you turn left. This is the A3 Lonstone Road to Moira. Proceed for about 1/3 mile & you come to the V-Junction for Ballinderry Road as above. If you are bringing a telescope for advice on how to put it together and/or use it, remember to bring all the telescope accessories with you! See you there at 09.45, I hope. 3. A giant sunspot has suddenly developed on the Sun, already 5 times the size of the Earth. There is already some solar wind disturbance, so there's a chance of auroral acticvity over the next night or two. 4. Finally, don't forget to look for Comet Machholz, heading rapidly North from near the Pleiades towards Perseus. It's still around 4th magnitude, easily visible to the unaided eye from a dark site. The Moon is now brightening each evening, so catch the comet now: this is probably as good as it will get. Clear Skies, including those on Titan! Terry Moseley
Last Revised: 2005 January 14th
WWW contact:webmaster@arm.ac.ukGo to HOME Page