Earth to Rosetta, Time to Wake Up

After napping for a little over two years, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta is ready to stretch her…panels. On the 20^th of January this year the ESA held a competition to see who could issue the best wake-up call to the hibernating spacecraft. While I don’t know who won I do know they are quite lucky, as they win a free trip to Mission Control in Germany to see what Rosetta discovers.

In 2008 it passed a comet while flying by Mars. While 2867 Šteins had been discovered in 1969, this was the first time clear images of the comet were transmitted and its massive 5.6 km size could be clearly determined. In 2010 she flew by another one, 21 Lutetia, once again transmitting crystal clear images of an asteroid discovered in 1852. How was it discovered in 1852 with the limited technology available you ask? Probably because it’s over 1,000 km in diameter. That’s astronomically huge! (pun intended)

What makes this spacecraft so unique an sets her apart from other satellites is that Rosetta is the first one to be powered solely by solar technology! As it hibernated during its orbit around the sun to gain momentum its instruments were powered down in order to conserve energy. But while it was powered down it was gaining energy from the sun by gathering it on its massive solar arrays. Hopefully this will give Rosetta the extra “umph!” she needs to survive her mission out in deep space where she will only receive 4% of the sun’s power.

It’s been awhile since we’ve flown out into the deep reaches of space here at To Infinity And…In Theory. So let’s strap on our rocket boots, throw on some Elton John, and climb aboard the red eye to see what Rosetta and her little buddy Philae the Lander have in store for scientists at the ESA.

Comets, Asteroids, and Meteoroids

Yay! We get to start with terminology. I know what you’re saying, “my favorite…” but it’s important to understand there are very important differences between comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. The only reason I do this is because technically these words aren’t really interchangeable like so many others in Astronomy. There are a few key variances.

Let’s start with a comet.

Quite possibly one of the most well-known comets is Halley’s. It was discovered in 1531. Then discovered again in 1607…and again in 1682. It wasn’t until a man named Edmond Halley dug through the various reports of these sightings that he came to one very important conclusion. This comet was the same one. He also predicted that it would come back in 1758. While he didn’t live long enough to see that he was right, plenty of other astronomers did, which led to this comet being named after him.

So what makes a comet a comet? A comet is defined as a relatively small solar system body that orbits the Sun. When close enough to the Sun they display a visible coma (a fuzzy outline or atmosphere due to solar radiation) and sometimes a tail. But what creates the tail on a comet?

As it passes by the sun (which as we know is pretty darn warm…) it begins to burn gases and ice off the surface of the orbiting rock. These superheated gases trail behind the asteroid, sometimes miles long, as it rockets through space. This is what turns the space rock from an asteroid into a comet.

Speaking of asteroids, let’s talk about those next.

That’s Ceres. I know, I know, you’ve seen Armageddon and you’re saying “woah dude, that isn’t an asteroid, that’s totally a planet.” Well you’re half right. It was discovered in 1801 by Sicilian astronomer Giuseppi Piazzi. Originally he thought it was a comet but upon further observation it was determined that it was indeed a planet. Well…a dwarf planet. (They prefer to be called “Little Celestial People”) But seeing as it floats within the asteroid belt, it’s earned its moniker as an asteroid.

Asteroids are small solar system bodies that orbit the Sun. Made of rock and metal, they can also contain organic compounds. Asteroids are similar to comets but do not have a visible coma (fuzzy outline and tail) like comets do. It floats happily between Mars and Jupiter and actually contains one third of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. (Once again…huge) That’s not to say that if it broke orbit and passed close enough to the sun it couldn’t develop a tail, after all, the surface is believed to be made of dust and ice, perfect conditions to grow a coma. However that scenario is quite unlikely considering it’s been content with its lot in life to this point.

The third space rock type we’re going to talk about now is the Meteoroid. This particular floating stone actually has three forms like a Dragonball Z villain. Meteoroids are the first stage, Meteors are the second, and Meteorites are the last. We’ll break down all three in the next section.

A meteoroid is a small rock or particle of debris in our solar system. They range in size from dust to around 10 meters in diameter (larger objects are usually referred to as asteroids). But don’t mistake their smaller diameters for cute and cuddly. Once they enter the atmosphere of Earth they become known as a Meteor. Most of the time they’ll burn up in orbit, but as the blast in Chelyabinsk, Russia in February of last year showed us that’s not always the case.

Once a Meteoroid enters our atmosphere and becomes a Meteor about to cause an impending strike it is officially classified as a Meteorite. The effects of a Meteorite impact can be devastating, equivalent to several nuclear megaton blasts. (Time to call in Bruce Willis) That’s why NASA’s new Near Earth Object monitoring program is so important so we are able to identify threats like this long before they enter our atmosphere in the future so we don’t end up embedded in the crust of the Earth next to the dinosaurs.

So why am I telling you all this? Because the ESA is looking to land on a comet and it’s important to know the extreme challenges they face in doing this. Comets slingshot through the solar system gradually gaining speed as they play off the gravitational forces of the bodies they orbit. Asteroids like Ceres are essentially locked in orbit unless a huge impact was to send them rocketing out of alignment. (Typically that’s how an asteroid becomes a comet or a meteoroid)

Next we’ll talk about the challenges the ESA faces, how they intend to overcome them, and what they expect to learn from this unique mission into the far reaches of space. Let’s start with the biggest one of all, how exactly they intend to make contact with this orbiting mass. The details are far more intricate than you may think.

Space Darts

We’ve all played darts, but space agencies around the world have adapted the game to a whole new level. Think of it like this. When you look at a dart board you select the spot you want to hit. You close one eye, pull your arm back, take a couple practice swings and release it. If you’re experienced, nine times out of ten you hit what you’re aiming at.

Now imagine that dart board is several million miles away. It takes more than closing one eye and a deep breath to hit what they’re aiming for. It takes a series of complicated mathematical equations, physics, and a whole plethora of very expensive technology. Luckily, the ESA has all three down to a…well…a science.

When Rosetta was initially conceptualized in 1993 they were aiming at a different dartboard altogether. Comet 46 P/Wirtanen was caught in the crosshairs but due to postponements and complications with the rocket Ariane 5 ECA they switched it up. So in 2004, when Rosetta was launched its new target was designated 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

But in order for Rosetta to “dock” with this comet certain parameters needed to be met at the outset. First and foremost speeds have to be matched. But 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has been orbiting for a long time. It’s had thousands upon thousands of years to gather the speed it moves at. Unfortunately, we don’t have thousands of years to follow it in orbit trying to play catch up. So how are they going to dock with it?

Through a process called a Gravity Assist Maneuver or Gravitational Slingshot. What it’s doing is moving around the sun and using its gravitational mass in order to gain momentum. The process can be used to accelerate or even decelerate depending on the arc of the object in motion. During its approach vector it makes a wide loop first, then, in order to garner further velocity, the orbit gets smaller and smaller on each approach until finally it’s commanded to break free toward its target.

Think of it in terms of a tether ball. The ball tied to the end of the string in this analogy would be Rosetta; the pole that the string is attached to is the sun. When the ball is struck hard enough it makes a lazy, slow loop around the pole. As the string gets shorter and shorter the speed at which the ball is moving begins to increase until it reaches its terminal velocity. If the ball were to be released from the string it would rocket off in the direction of its trajectory until outside factors like gravity and resistance pulled it down.

However, as we all should know, the voids of space have no gravity or atmosphere; therefore there is no resistance to slow the object down until it enters the gravity of another celestial body. Because of this the object maintains its velocity and is able to quickly get up to the speed of its intended target. But this is just the first problem the ESA has to overcome, the second one, believe it or not, is far more difficult in comparison to that.

The gravity on 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a million times less than that of Earth’s. In other words, one wrong step and you’re floating off into deep space. (Yikes!) This poses a huge obstacle to the European Space Agency in getting Rosetta’s lander Philae to catch a piggyback ride through space.

With the gravity being so low on the surface of this comet one misstep could destroy over two decades of hard work and effort. Because of this Philae was outfitted with some special equipment to help it “stick” to the comet. Two harpoons will inject themselves into the surface to anchor it in place. Philae has also been equipped with self-righting landing gear to make sure he doesn’t tip over and once the feet make contact they will drill into the surface, further ensuring this multi-million dollar piece of tech doesn’t just fling off into space.

Outfitted with several different instruments including radio-spectrographs and sub-surface drills to take samples of the rock to determine the composition, this may be one of the most ambitious projects launched in recent years. But what exactly are they intending to learn from this mission? Would you believe me if I told you they’re looking to answer the question of where we came from? I hope so, because it’s basically the goal here.

But how exactly will some barren ice rock in space tell us where the complicated diversity of life on our planet originated from. Glad you asked. Let’s briefly explore that next in our final section today.

From Space Rocks to Building Blocks

Comet’s, Asteroid’s, and Meteoroids are all capable of containing a variety of materials. Certain classes of the space rocks contain mostly metals, some have been found to be highly dense carbon (diamonds), and some are even stranger still, because they contain organic compounds. If you don’t know, we’re organic compounds, and if you subscribe to the theory of evolution such as I do, then you know we all evolved from single celled organisms that likely were transported here by these tourists of the solar system.

Our planet didn’t start out as a planet. It started out as superheated gasses that formed into heavy elements. As gravity pulled those elements together it formed a solid mass. That solid mass slowly became heavier and generated more gravity and passing comets, asteroids, and meteoroids were pulled into its gravity. That is how we ended up with such a diversity of elements on the planets in our solar system…well, theoretically anyway.

But if some of the bacteria and organic compounds hitching a ride on the backs of these objects survived the entry into atmosphere that would certainly explain how we got here. That’s why landing on this comet is so important. By studying the subterranean composition of it and the formation of its coma as it passes the sun it will give scientists a much clearer understanding of exactly how comets play into the evolution of our solar system.

Philae is expected to make its daring descent onto the surface of 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko later this autumn. I’ll be following this mission closely in the news and when new information develops I’ll be sure to write a follow-up blog on Rosetta and Philae. Until then, good morning, good morrow, and Godspeed Rosetta. I hope you enjoyed your nap, because now it’s time to get down to business.

-       Ryan Sanders

Thanks as always for reading and be sure to share this on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit and EVERYWHERE ELSE! J You guys and gals continue to make this one of the most enjoyable and ambitious undertakings for me to write and I hope they are just as enjoyable for you to read. Comments, questions, or corrections are always welcome so feel free to post them below. For further reading you can follow-up on any of the links listed below. Happy learning everyone!

-       Phys.org article on Philae Lander

-       Wiki entry on Rosetta

-       ESA overview of the entire mission, goals, and instruments

-       Information on the Chelyabinsk blast in Russia early last year

-       Space.com article on many unique facts of Halley’s comet

-       More information from the ESA on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

-       Information from NASA on Rosetta

Sing a Song of Science! - The Magic Pipes

We’ve talked about music before here at To Infinity And…In Theory with last month’s installment on the Theremin, a touchless instrument designed by Russian inventor Léon Theremin. (If you want to know about how he went from bomb designing to musical aficionado who played Carnegie Hall, check out the blog here – “Sing a Song of Science! – The Theremin”) This month we’re going to continue the music of science with a new instrument. This one does involve touch, and it’s called a Magic Pipe.

No, I don’t mean your grandparents Magic Pipe from the box in the attic labeled “Make Love Not War”, I mean that strange conglomeration of wires, bass strings, metal pipes, and electrical relays pictured above. But what makes this instrument so unique? The variety of sounds it can produce is enormous; with the relays it’s capable of looping them. And a master of the instrument such as “That 1 Guy”, (its inventor) pictured above is going to show you how.

While it’s called a Magic Pipe the way it works is anything but by the graces of Hogwart’s. It’s actually just science. (I say that a lot, don’t I?) So just how does this bizarre looking instrument work and what does it sound like? Well first I would check out the video below, and then follow me here at TI&IT today as we see just what it is that makes this one man band capable of touring the globe.

Ya Know… He’s… “That 1 Guy”…

Yep… You guessed it, that’s a saw. He also has a boot that accompanies him in his show. But who is this strange man who made all these things? It seems like he’d fit right in at a mental institution judging by the smile on his face as he holds the toothed side of a saw to his jaw. But he’s actually not insane, just brilliant.

Even though they say it’s a fine line between the two, above all the man is an artist and a performer. Various accounts and interviews disclose he was influenced heavily by music as a child. He grew up performing the upright bass also known as a double bass. It eventually landed him a solid home with The Fabulous Hedgehogs in the 90s. (Don’t know who they are, that’s cool, check out their AWESOME song UpChuck here – Live Performance of UpChuckat LaVals Pizza Parlor in Berkeley California.)

While The Fabulous Hedgehogs are no longer a band, Mike Silverman, the bass player, luckily didn’t drop out of the music scene. Instead he went his own way, but he mastered his instrument. He was starting to feel constrained, and this is never healthy for a creative mind. So what does a brilliant man like him do? Change his name to That1Guy and build his own instrument.

Now, four albums, a couple world tours, and millions of American and Australian fans later, That 1 Guy is going from cultural obscurity, to multi-national fame. (Ya know, no big deal) Mike claims Dr. Seuss as an inspiration for his unique writing style, and also the whimsical and fantastical appearance of his Magic Pipe. Seuss may have inspired his visual presentation, but the musical genre influences of funk, jazz, and rock were always prevalent.

But just how does this unique instrument produce all these crazy sounds?

Ya’ll Don’t Know Diddley Squat ‘Bout No Gutbuckets

Washtub basses are pretty simple concepts. A big stick, a pliable string of some kind to use as a tensioner, and an old washtub to use as a resonator. It doesn’t take a physicist to figure out that by moving the stick around and increasing or decreasing tension you can raise or lower the pitch of the instrument. The gutbucket is its colloquial name, and is typically a rhythm instrument, in the hands of an artisan though it can truly be a force to reckon with.

The washtub bass was usually part of a jug band and was popularized in the early 1900’s by the lower economic classes in Southern areas. (Let’s face it; it’s a stick, a bucket, and a string. I’m poor, I get it.) It wasn’t the first incarnation of this instrument however, the washtub bass is known all throughout the world by many different names and actually has its roots in the ground harp. But how do these simple little wonders work?

It’s something called Acoustic Resonance. When the string (or strings in some cases) of the gutbucket are plucked, and the tension is greatened or lessened it produces different patterns of vibration. These vibrations are transferred over to the metal container via the string it’s touching and as a result produces sound waves. These sound waves are trapped in the container and bounce around inside, ricocheting until they hit their peak frequency. When you stop plucking the string the waves stop being produced but the sound keeps going until an effect called damping (the gradual reduction of a sound wave followed by its dissolution entirely) happens and eventually the washtub goes quiet. The next part of the instrument is just as simplistic in its design.

You don’t get much simpler than a whipping paddle an Altoids tin, and a discarded guitar string. Throw them all together and Voilà! You officially have a Diddley Bow. This was an instrument made popular by the blues circuit, but as I’m sure you can already guess, it’s another one popular amongst the common folk with a little time and creativity. While an ethnomusicologist would refer to this instrument as a monochord zither, I prefer to call it what it is, a cheap alternative, but it isn’t too far off.

As you can see from that image above (a two octave zither) there are some rather notable differences between the blues oriented Diddley Bow, and the zither known the world around. (Seriously, China, Africa, Slovenia, like everywhere has their own version of a Zither!) They can range anywhere from one string to fifty, and is played with either the fingers or a special kind of tool called a Plectrum. Guitars use these too, although most musicians generally refer to them as “picks”. Here’s what a Zither pick looks like:

While the Diddley Bow’s sharp and tinny sound gives it that folksy twang that finds a home in modern day country, it actually has a rather rich history in the blues. The Diddley Bow was an instrument brought over to America between the 16^th and 17^th century from Africa. And if there was one thing folks coming off the boats in those days had to sing about, it was the blues. The inspiration for the Diddley Bow and other single stringed instruments like it is thought to have come from the mouth bow. The mouth bow is just a simple hunting bow, but when held up to the mouth and plucked with a piece of bark or a stick, it utilizes the skull as a resonance chamber. To see both of these unique instruments in action check out the video here.

It’s a bit different from the gutbucket in that it doesn’t have much of a resonance chamber. In fact they used to just screw old wire down to a plank of wood and use a beer bottle as a bridge. The bridge would amplify the sound a bit, acting as a resonance chamber, while the player would use a slide to modify the pitch. Some are so big in their construction it takes two people to play it, but when you consider the fact that these used to be considered children’s toys and starter instruments, that isn’t really so peculiar.

So how exactly are That 1 Guy’s Magic Pipes similar to these two very distinctly different instruments? I’m glad you asked that question. The pipes are used as a resonance chamber in order to pick up the sound waves produced through percussing of the instrument. (The washtub part of the gutbucket) and it has strings on it that are fashioned along the pipe, but because of the way they are fashioned into the bridge they don’t have much of a resonance chamber (The Diddley Bow/Zither) which is why we need to start with the most obvious difference first. The electronics.

Just a Small Sample Please

Mike Silverman’s Magic Pipes are like a seven foot tall steampunk Dr. Seussian wet dream. It has two orchestral bass strings on it, the front one plays host to lower notes while the back string achieves tenor pitches. With 13 trigger points that map to various pedals and loops to produce a variety of pre-programmed sounds, the diversity of music this instrument can produce is limited only by the artist’s imagination. (And sampling rights to certain musical pieces…as Vanilla Ice discovered the hard way.)

Perhaps the most interesting addition to this whole ensemble, in my humble opinion anyway, is the electronic drum kit setup. Capitalizing on his unique ability for multi-tasking, That1Guy has incorporated a bass kick and a snare setup into the entire entity.

The electronic drum kit isn’t exactly a new innovation (another invention Léon Theremin aided in the creation of, the Rhythmicon.) but to me personally, as a musician myself, I have to give the man a hat’s off for being able to play so many intricate and very different instruments all at once, and sing at the same time. Not only does he do this, he does so with great ease. It’s clear the right side of Mike Silverman’s brain is functioning properly.

But the Diddley Drum Gutbucket wouldn’t be complete without its synthesizer sampler. Whether Mike records the sounds himself or finds the sample elsewhere, the 13 trigger points on the pipe are where the magic happens.

The way a sampler works is a sound is recorded by the user and saved on a machine like the one picture at the top of this section. After all the sounds have been saved into the sampler, with the press of a button the user can play those sounds back in any order they so choose. While this tactic has been around since the 1960’s and the conceptualization of the Synthesizer has roots older than you’d think, it was made truly huge during the era of Hip-Hop music through the 80s and 90s. (Techno, Pop, and unfortunately Dubstep all rely almost solely on sampling.)

 The trigger points on the pipes act like the buttons on the sampler. Whether Mike slaps them, plucks the string above, or occasionally uses a drum stick to activate them, the end result is the same. A sample loop is played through an amplifier and, when strung together in a particular order, produce the macabre sounds that give us albums like “The Moon is Disgusting.”

I for one applaud Mike Silverman. In a world populated by hipster teenage crap like Dubstep it’s nice to see somebody out there still has an innovative bone. Mike’s on tour this year and is picking up more and more of a following every day, (and no…not in a Kevin Bacon kinda way.) For news, album information, tour dates, or anything else about Mike and his Pipes you can head on over to his website by clicking here. Hope you enjoyed the blog today everyone!

-       Ryan Sanders

Thanks for reading! As always feel free to share this around on Facebook and Twitter! Hope you all had a great time learning about the history of a few unique instruments! If you want to know a little bit more about some of the unique stuff I talked about today you can by following the links below. Happy learning!

-       How to make your own Diddley Bow (The owner of this blog is not responsible for damage or injury resultant to yourself or personal property. Any DIY project requires a certain amount of skill. If you undertake a project you are not equipped to handle and are injured I take no responsibility.)

-       How to make your own Washtub Bass (The owner of this blog is not responsible for damage or injury resultant to yourself or personal property.)

-       Wiki entry on That1Guy

-       Wiki entry on the Mouth Bow

-       In depth history of Zithers and some different ones found all around the world.

HD 106906 B: The Avant-Garde of Planetary Formation

Theories about planetary formation seem to be full of a lot of black holes (pun intended). Sometimes it’s hard to sift the stardust in the lens to see the picture underneath. There are many insightful theories about how it happens (many excellent ones which we’ll talk about here in this entry today.) Just as there are many very bad ones, (also ones we’ll talk about today.)

Since the dawn of time, man has looked to the heavens for answers. In early days we feared the sight of Mars in the sky and revered the warmth of the sun as holy. We were simple people. So why’d we stop doing all that? Well the answer is science, and telescopes. With the creation of telescopes we eventually decided to put our ingenuity into space exploration. Once we learned how to put telescopes into space, well, that’s when the magic happened.

Perhaps the most famous of all these telescopes is the Hubble, which is still in use today. But one of the telescopes that we’re going to be discussing and focusing on primarily here is much more powerful than that. The Kepler Satellite is tasked with staring at one section of the universe for as long as it has power. That’s a daunting task, the expanse is huge, but what it has uncovered has many scientists throwing tantrums and crying over a life’s work wasted. But where some see complete failure, others see incredible promise.

We discussed Kepler 78 B earlier on in this blog. (You can follow the link to that article here) But now we’re going to talk about its latest discovery. A planet so massive that not only should it not exist according to current formation theories, but also should not be in its current orbit given its location. I’m going to fill you in on what I know about this neat little planet, and what it means to current theories in the scientific community.

(Fig. 1) Demonstrates the distance of HD 106906 B from its parent star

(Fig. 2) Artist’s Rendering of HD 106906 B

The “Star” of the Show

That’s an artist’s rendering of the planet HD 106906 B. Pretty nifty huh? The young astrologer, Vanessa Bailey who discovered it thought so too. See, the planet is 11 times the size of Jupiter, but that’s not what’s so incredible. Its parent star is located 650 AU (Astronomical Units which is the relative distance from the Earth to the sun) away. That’s 60 billion miles! That’s a long way when you think about it, considering Neptune, which is our most distant planet (since the unfair deportation of Pluto) is 30 AU away. That means this planet is most likely receiving no radiation from its star, but yet it’s still generating a ton of energy.

Aside from how it’s generating this energy (it’s a gas giant so there are many different ways it could) the other thing that perplexes us is how it formed. One theory is that when that particular system (The Crux system) formed it originally had two suns locked in a bitter competition with each other. Eventually, one of them was victorious, using up the vital elements it needed to form leaving HD with the scraps.

However it happened, our current understanding of how planets and star systems form isn’t leading us any closer to figuring this out. Following Nebular Hypothesis a planet couldn’t form that far away from its star. That’s kind of bad considering Nebular Hypothesis Theory has been around since the 1700’s. It’s also so widely accepted that it’s taught in schools. (Whoops…) But all scientific progress has to begin somewhere! Nebular Hypothesis may be wrong in this case, but as the old saying goes “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

The Big “Bow Chicka Wow Wow”

(Fig. 3) Timeline of the widely accepted “Big Bang Theory”

In order to fully understand the theories we’re going to talk about today one must understand what scientists believe set all this in motion. The Big Bang Theory is the center of it all. It basically subscribes to the ideal that in the beginning of time the universe essentially “imploded” on itself. This caused it to superheat, creating the primordial elements. Over time these gases bonded together causing electrical storms as the galaxies gradually cooled. This lightening superheated the gases, creating heavy bonds. From that point gravity took over and pulled these asteroids together creating the planets. Stars, giant fission reactions of gravity, electro-magnetism, and gases, and this is all irrefutable.

Except it isn’t irrefutable, but it is the single handedly the most widely accepted theory on why our little rock is here. (Second is Creationism I’d wager a guess) But from this theory came Nebular Hypothesis theory. In 1734, when Swedish cosmologist Emanuel Swedberg proposed that planets were the result of collapsing stars’ violent forces creating heavy elements he was basically laughed at.

Immanuel Kant refined this theory later, in 1755. Using Science and Mathematics he attempted to show how gravity affected the swirling gases, causing them to collapse over time and the forces create planets. It wasn’t until someone with a reputation in the Astronomical community stepped in and created a model showing how stars collapse and contract.

Enter Pierre-Simon Laplace. His protosolar nebulae model was widely received as the definitive answer throughout the 19^th century, but there were problems with it. Namely physics and mathematics related.

How did these small particles come together to form these giant planets? Why did some stars have planets around them and some not even so much as a dust belt? If planets are the result of a collapsing star then shouldn’t it stand to reason that all stars have planets? Not to mention where do all these heavy elements come from? Some take some extreme conditions to form, but yet they’re all here.

Other failed attempts at making this theory work were Thomas Chamberlin and Forest Moulton’s Planetesimal Theory, The Planetesimal theory basically says that the matter collides into each other forming balls of larger matter. The problem with this is how does dust collide? It’s too light for gravity to effect. There is also Woolfson’s Capture Theory, which claims tidal effects between our sun and a protostar caused the planets to form. The problem with this one is it requires special conditions and draws on the assumption our sun formed first and the planets formed later. Our current knowledge however tells us it all happened around the same time, making Woolfson’s theory the least likely.

The formation of HD 106906 B is believed to be attributed to a Binary Star system. Originally the universe had planned for there to be two stars there. However there were not enough elements available to double up and they began to form too close. Because of this only one star formed and the other burned out, unable to start the nuclear reaction in its core to light up the cosmos. This is just a theory, but it sure sounds like a darn good one. To read more about Binary Stars check out the Wikipedia page, here.  

However it happened we’re never going to know without looking into the sky. Let’s take a look at how Astronomers are mapping the stars, and what technology may lead them to the breakthroughs they need to answer one of the age old questions, “how did we get here?”

The Space Renaissance

(Fig.4) The Kepler Telescope under construction at NASA

Even though HD 106906 was discovered by a ground telescope (The Magellan) located in Chile, we’re going to talk about one that’s currently floating around in space right now staring boldly into the heavens. The Kepler Telescope was launched back in 2009 and since then has discovered a plethora of planets.

(Fig. 5) Breakdown of Kepler Satellite and it’s equipment

 Mercurien (Like Mercury), Sub-Terran (Like Mars), Terran (Earth-like) Even ones like Saturn and Jupiter sized ones. The environments found on these planets is as diverse as the human race itself, ranging from absolute zero to virtually barren magma ridden landscapes like Kepler 78 B even planets that scientists speculate are close enough to Earth to sustain life like ours. But how do these strange and unique solar systems and planets actually form?

Sadly we’ve been studying this for centuries and it seems we’re no closer to uncovering the truth. Thanks to the Kepler Telescope however, we are getting closer. Since 2009, NASA has reported over 2,000 exoplanets and over 2,000 stars have been discovered. As technology continues to evolve and we are able to push further into the stars, these systems, some young, some old, could lead us to the answers that have so long eluded us.

(Fig. 6) Confirmed results from Kepler Exploration

The Kepler telescope is named after 17^th century astronomer Johannes Kepler. While he wasn’t responsible for the discovery of how planets form, he did figure out how they move. Kepler is credited with the Laws of Planetary Motion. Not only is that important to modern day astronomy, it was also the basis of Newton’s laws of Universal Gravitation which states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. In other words, multiply the weight of the objects, that’s how much force you have. Then do the math for the distance between them. You got their movement.

Even though Einstein superseded Universal Gravitation with General Relativity it’s still used as a basis for explanation of gravitational forces. Relativity is used when extreme precision is required. But I digress. Back to Kepler.

There were three parts to his law of planetary motion:

1.    The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the two foci.

2.    A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

3.    The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

While the first two were published in 1609 it would be ten more years till observations led him to the discovery of his third law. Those are some pretty incredible discoveries given the technology he had to work with in those early days. It seems fitting to name our deep space stargazing telescope after the man.

The Kepler Probe Don’t Give A Schmidt

(Fig. 7) Palomar Observatory, California

So how do telescopes like the Kepler Satellite and the Magellan Observatory see into space so clearly? As centuries go by we have been improving on the telescope. That led us all the way to 1930, to a man named Bernhard Schmidt. His design would revolutionize the clarity of which we see the sky, one that almost 100 years later, is so tried and true we sent it up into the Kepler Probe in 2009.

“The Schmidt camera was invented by Estonian optician Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. Its optical components are an easy-to-make spherical primary mirror, and an aspherical correcting lens, known as a Schmidt Corrector Plate, located at the center of curvature of the primary mirror. The film or other detector is placed inside the camera, at the prime focus. The design is noted for allowing very fast focal ratios, while controlling coma and astigmatism.

Schmidt cameras have very strongly curved focal planes, thus requiring that the film, plate, or other detector be correspondingly curved. In some cases the detector is made curved; in others flat media is mechanically conformed to the shape of the focal plane through the use of retaining clips or bolts, or by the application of a vacuum. A field flattener, in its simplest form a planoconvex lens in front of the film plate or detector, is sometimes used. Since the corrector plate is at the center of curvature of the primary mirror in this design the tube length can be very long for a wide-field telescope. There are also the drawbacks of having the obstruction of the film holder or detector mounted at the focus half way up the tube assembly, a small amount of light is blocked and there is a loss in contrast in the image due to diffraction effects of the obstruction and its support structure.” – From Wikipedia

This new design changed the astronomy world forever, (obviously if we’re still building satellites that use it today!) As innovation and exploration continue to drive us forward into the world I’m excited to see what scientists come up next. I’ll be following HD 106906 B as well as Kepler 78 B and when more is known I’ll be sure to write more on it. Thanks for reading this guys!

(Fig. 8) The largest Schmidt telescope (2 m), located in Germany.

-Ryan Sanders

For further reading on any of the above mentioned materials you can follow the links below as always. Feel free to share this around on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, where you want to! J Happy learning!

-       Vannesa Bailey’s Scientific Paperon “HD 106906 b: A PLANETARY-MASS COMPANION OUTSIDE A MASSIVE DEBRIS DISK”

-       Tucson News article on HD 106906 B

-       Wiki entry on “Johannes Kepler”

-       Washington Post article on Kepler Satellite

-       Scientific American article on Kepler Extrasolar planet discoveries.

-       NASA’s website, page on Kepler Mission (lots of cool stuff there guys!)