A new place to look for habitable planets

While the Kepler mission continues to grab the headlines for finding planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, a University of Washington professor is suggesting we start to look around stars Kepler can’t see very well: White dwarfs.

Eric Agol, assistant professor of astronomy at the UW, wrote a paper published March 29 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, pointing out that planets in orbit around white dwarfs would be easy to detect, if they exist, and that those planets might well be hospitable to life.

Eric Agol, assistant professor of astronomy
at the University of Washington, suggests that
white dwarf stars would be worth checking
for habitable planets. Photo: UW.

Agol said an interesting coincidence piqued his interest in looking for planets around white dwarfs.

“The closest we typically see planets around stars is something like twice the Roche limit,” Agol explained. “It turns out that that distance for a white dwarf is .01 AU, and it’s right in the center of the white dwarf habitable zone.”

Stars like our Sun eventually become white dwarfs after going through their red giant phases and then shedding their outer atmospheres, leaving a hot, glowing core that has about 60 percent of the Sun’s mass but is about the size of Earth. Agol said if we look at white dwarfs any possibly habitable planets would be relatively easy to find.

“If an Earth were to pass in front of a white dwarf you would see a very deep dip due to the blockage of the light of the white dwarf by the planet, and that would be a signal that would be easy to detect from the ground,” he said. “You wouldn’t need to build an expensive space telescope.”

Agol describes his paper as “fairly speculative.”

“You need some mechanism of creating these planets after [a star’s] red-giant phase, or migrating them inwards from further out, and it’s not clear how often that should occur,” he said. He also allows that he may have been a bit on the generous side when penciling out the habitable zone around a white dwarf. The planets would likely be tidally locked to the stars, adding another complicating factor for life.

Agol figures that we might have to look at 20,000 white dwarfs to have a good chance to find a habitable planet. Since such planets would be so close to their stars, we wouldn’t have to look long, about 32 hours at most, to see a transit. Still, with that many observations, time adds up in a hurry.

Fortunately, Agol says there is a network of telescopes that may be up to the task. The Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network is a group about 20 one-meter robotic telescopes around the world, at sites in the northern and southern hemispheres. The key is that some of them are always in the dark, necessary to observe the same white dwarf for 32 hours. Even with this network, a white dwarf planet hunt would be an ambitious project.

“Even if you devoted those 20 telescopes to this sort of survey it would still take something like 15 calendar years,” Agol said. A wide-field scope could look at multiple stars at once, cutting down that time, and Agol says scopes such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, in which the UW is involved, could help speed up observations of candidate stars.

Kepler grabs the fame, but Agol says that mission really isn’t much use for such a project. For one, it’s only looking at a small patch of sky. And it’s only able to see stars down to about 16th magnitude.

“White dwarfs out to 100 parsecs are going to be more down to like 19th magnitude,” Agol said of the collection of stars the survey would require. “[Kepler] doesn’t really have the sensitivity to look at stars faint enough to survey white dwarfs.”

No space shuttle for Seattle

Retired orbiters headed for Smithsonian, Florida, NY, and LA

Seattle’s Museum of Flight will not be the home to one of NASA’s retiring space shuttles.
Instead, the museum will receive the full fuselage trainer, used by every shuttle astronaut, including Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, the former Museum of Flight chief who led the effort to bring a shuttle to Seattle.

Astronaut Charles Hobaugh occupies his station on the flight deck
during in a Full Fuselage Trainer session in 2009. Visitors will
 get to sit in the same seat when the trainer arrives at the
Museum of Flight in Seattle. Photo: NASA.

“While we are happy for the cities which have been awarded one the retiring space shuttles, we are thrilled to receive the full-fuselage shuttle trainer,” said Doug King, Museum of Flight president and CEO. “Not only is it a unique and exciting educational artifact to have as a centerpiece of our Space Gallery, but, unlike the actual shuttles, we will be able to allow the public to walk inside it and actually see where the shuttle astronauts trained.”

Governor Chris Gregoire expressed disappointment with the decision, but likes the trainer.

“Visitors will not be allowed in the other shuttles and this trainer is a true win for our dynamic museum,” Gregoire said. “It will help inspire young people to the adventure of space and to the excitement of a career in science, technology, engineering and math."

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden made the “orbiter disposition announcement” this morning at the Kennedy Space Center during a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch. It wasn’t a big surprise that Bolden delighted the home-town crowd.

“First, here at the Kennedy Space Center, where every shuttle mission and so many other historic human space flights have originated, we’ll showcase my old friend, Atlantis,” Bolden announced to wild applause. “Not only will the workers who sent it into space so many times have a chance to still see it, the millions of visitors who come here every year to learn more about space and to be a part of the excitement of exploration will be able to see what is still a great rarity: an actual, flown space vehicle.”

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will receive the shuttle Discovery, also not a surprise as this has been widely assumed. The suspense came with the other two shuttles. Endeavor, now on the launch pad awaiting its final mission, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, “only a few miles from the site of the old Rockwell plant where the shuttle was developed and from where its construction was managed,” Bolden said. Finally Enterprise, now at the Smithsonian, was awarded to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York.

Bolden was emotional at times during his talk, in part because of his own close involvement with the shuttle program; he flew on four missions, twice as commander. He’s also had to give out lots of bad news to the runners up. “It’s been a rough day,” he said.

“There were many, many worthy institutions that requested an orbiter and only four to go around,” Bolden acknowledged. “Many of the applicant institutions who did not receive an orbiter will receive significant shuttle hardware and artifacts to help bring to life this dynamic chapter of our nation’s space exploration history for their many visitors. People from across our nation and around the world will continue to learn from these amazing vehicles and the stories of their crews and their missions.”

The trainer will go into the Museum of Flight’s Space Gallery, which is currently under construction.

Congressional delegation makes last push for Seattle shuttle

Artist's depiction of a space shuttle in the new gallery now under
construction. NASA will announce next week if Seattle will be the
 new home of one of the retiring orbiters.
Photo courtesy Museum of Flight.

The congressional delegation from the state of Washington isn’t often unanimous on an issue, but today all 11 of them signed on to a letter to NASA administrator Charlie Bolden urging him to select Seattle’s Museum of Flight as the the permanent home for one of the space agency’s retiring space shuttle orbiters.

It turns out the delegation are big boosters of the museum and its shuttle effort. The letter reads in part:

The Museum of Flight is truly first in class in reputation and museum leadership, and has an unwavering dedication to its educational mission. The facility has been an outstanding curator to some of our nation’s most significant aerospace accomplishments. The Museum of Flight is a source of pride to all of us in Washington state and we are confident that no other facility in the world can match the Museum’s ability to preserve and utilize an orbiter in a manner befitting its historical importance.

Bolden is to announce a decision about the future home of the shuttles next Tuesday, April 12. The Museum of Flight is one of a couple of dozen that have been bidding for a shuttle. This Space.com article from Monday runs down some of the top contenders and pros and cons of each.

The letter also notes that a new Space Gallery to house a shuttle and other out-of-this-world artifacts is already under construction, and reminds Bolden of the Seattle area’s important contributions to the shuttle program and to aerospace in general.
The missive concludes with a strong appeal:

We are confident that the Museum of Flight is an ideal home for a Space Shuttle Orbiter. These important national artifacts deserve to be well cared for in a historically-relevant environment, to have their history told accurately and in an engaging manner, and to inspire the next generation of aerospace workers. No facility is better suited than the Museum of Flight.

The letter was signed by Senators Murray and Cantwell, and Representatives Inslee, Larsen, Herrera Beutler, Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, and Smith.

We note that Bolden visited the Museum of Flight in February, and that one of his former astronaut colleagues, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, is the former president and CEO of the museum and is now devoting her time to the shuttle effort. Perhaps the connection has improved the museum’s chances to land the prize.

Seattle seeks space shuttle, decision in April

We should learn next month whether Seattle will become the permanent home for one of the retiring space shuttles. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden revealed this week that a decision regarding placement for the retiring orbiters will be announced Tuesday, April 12. The Museum of Flight in Seattle is one of 27 institutions that are vying for one of the shuttles.

NASA administrator Charlie Bolden spoke during a Black
History Month program Feb. 5 at the Museum of Flight
in Seattle. Bolden will announce next month if the museum will
become the permanent home for a retiring space shuttle.
Photo: Ted Heutter, Museum of Flight.

The date was not just pulled out of the vacuum of space. April 12 will be the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch and the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin.

“We believe that our mission to be the foremost educational air and space museum in the country, along with Washington state’s extensive contributions to aerospace innovation, make us uniquely qualified to be the final home for one of the shuttles,” said Museum of Flight President and CEO Douglas King. “We are eager to hear NASA’s decision.”

The Museum of Flight may have a leg up on some of the other institutions in the running. Bolden, a former shuttle commander, visited the museum last month and was courted by King and former museum CEO Bonnie Dunbar, herself a retired shuttle astronaut who now devotes her full time to landing a shuttle, working through the museum’s affiliate organization Wings Over Washington.

Former astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, left, and Washington Lt. Governor
Brad Owen applaud during the groundbreaking ceremony last June
for the Museum of Flight's Space Gallery. The gallery, set to be finished
in July, would be home to a space shuttle if NASA awards one to
the museum. Photo: Greg Scheiderer.

In addition, work continues apace on the museum’s new space gallery. Ground was broken on the project last June and, as the Seattle Times reported this week, the framework of the climate-controlled facility’s huge glass front wall went up this week. The 15,500 square-foot gallery, which would be the shuttle’s home in Seattle, is expected to be finished in July.

The shuttle bid also has been supported by the entire Washington state congressional delegation, the State Legislature, and Governor Christine  Gregoire. Congressman Norm Dicks, one of the effort’s most enthusiastic supporters said, “We are cautiously optimistic. As a delegation, we have worked this effort as diligently and thoroughly as possible. We have our fingers crossed!”

If the museum is awarded a space shuttle, it will be part of an exhibit that will not only celebrate the shuttle program, but also look toward the future of space travel while serving as a learning tool to the nearly 140,000 students who participate in education programs at the museum each year.

Whitworth University student scores competitive NASA scholarship

Whitworth University sophomore Brayden Hollis is keeping some pretty high-flying company. The Hillsboro, Ore., native is one of just 100 students in the U.S. to receive NASA’s Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) Scholarship. It’s a great deal for science students; the scholarship provides up to $10,000 for tuition and fees and also includes a 10-week paid summer internship at a NASA field center.

Whitworth University sophomore Brayden
Hollis, a triple major in computer science,
physics, and math, has been awarded a highly
competitive MUST scholarship from NASA.
Photo: Whitworth University.

Hollis stumbled across a listing for the scholarship on the Whitworth website last year. The description said the program was available to students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Hollis said it sounded like him.

“I’m a computer science major, physics major, and math major, which covered three of those,” he said. “Plus I’d done some robotics in high school. I thought I sounded perfect for the scholarship.”

Noting his three majors and 4.0 grade average, NASA agreed and gave Hollis the word last summer that he’d been accepted for the MUST Scholarship. He’s hoping to hear some time in March where he’ll spend his summer internship. He’s applied for a couple of them at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and another at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Hollis said he had not been considering a career in aerospace, but rather was leaning toward computer science.

“I like physics and math a lot as well, and they also all work together really well,” he said, adding that the scholarship is a great opportunity to get some experience.

“It will give me a chance to actually experience computer science and both physics and math in the real world. There are a lot of different opportunities I can apply for, so I can test out a few different ones and see where I want to go and what I want to do.”

The sciences are booming at Whitworth, where the number of science majors has doubled in the last ten years.  About a quarter of the university’s 3,000 students are now majoring in a science field.

“The programs here are really good,” Hollis said. “I’ve been really happy with all of my teachers and my classes. I feel like I’m learning a lot.”

Susan Mabry is Hollis’s NASA mentor, program advisor, and a Whitworth associate professor of computer science. She describes Hollis as an exceptional and well-rounded student who thoroughly enjoys being challenged.

“Brayden is one of those rare students who looks beyond grades or position – he focuses on learning, on mastering material and on seeking ways to employ that knowledge,” Mabry said.

Education is a key at NASA, as explained by its administrator, Charlie Bolden, on a recent visit to Seattle. The MUST Project aims to attract and retain underserved and underrepresented students in STEM through a progression of educational opportunities.

Investments in super bright students such as Hollis seem destined to return great dividends.