Astronomy

A Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist whose work helped determine the precise age and composition of the universe will share the $1 million Shaw Prize in astronomy for 2010, the school announced Thursday. Charles Bennett and two colleagues at Princeton University are being honored for their groundbreaking work with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, a spacecraft launched in 2001 to study cosmic background radiation, said to be a remnant of the "big bang" that scientists say marked the birth of the universe.

Another prophesied Doomsday has passed, leaving doomsayers in deep gloom. But there are two other doom scenarios that should worry us — or at least concern future generations. We all know about global warming, but I recently started worrying about the twin dangers of global wobbling and solar gobbling. I discussed these concerns with a leading astronomer, and he both confirmed and consoled me about my fears. Michael Shara, a former Baltimorean and family friend, now serves as curator of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

In Fred Hickok's classroom, a day passes in 20 seconds, a year in 80 seconds. As associate professor of astronomy at the Catonsville campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, Hickok is also the caretaker of the school's Benjamin Banneker Planetarium, which has a new $312,000 projection system allowing students to study the cosmos through dozens of computer-generated programs that will combine music with celestial ceiling maps. The planetarium is used as a classroom for college students studying astronomy and also serves as a field trip attraction for students from area elementary, middle and high schools.

A Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist whose work helped determine the precise age and composition of the universe will share the $1 million Shaw Prize in astronomy for 2010, the school announced Thursday. Charles Bennett and two colleagues at Princeton University are being honored for their groundbreaking work with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, a spacecraft launched in 2001 to study cosmic background radiation, said to be a remnant of the "big bang" that scientists say marked the birth of the universe.

Some people would travel any distance for a dip of TCBY yogurt. Chris Roelle has different priorities -- he'd go halfway around the worldto watch an eclipse.As a matter of fact, Roelle, president of the Westminster Astronomical Society, has done exactly that. In 1979, he scaled a 14,000-foot mountain in Peru to view a total solar eclipse.In 1984, when weather altered his original plan to observe a solar eclipse from Assateague Island, he set off in hot pursuit of the best viewing position, ending up in North Carolina.

Mars is closer to Earth than it will be for several hundred years, a celestial event that has turned scores of people into amateur astronomers. Last week, many of them met at the Glenwood library branch for a better look at the Red Planet and other wonders of the night sky. The session was sponsored by the library and the Howard Astronomical League, a nonprofit organization of about 100 members. The amateur astronomers hold meetings, star parties and astronomy lessons, all of which are open to the public.

For more than a century, a little-known group of Catholic clergy has turned its attention to the heavens. But the vocation involves more than faith and prayer. The priests of the Vatican Observatory conduct cutting-edge research in physics and astronomy at facilities on a hilltop outside Rome and on a mountain in Arizona. "We try and understand nature as it's given to us," said the Rev. George V. Coyne, a Baltimore native who directed the observatory for 28 years.

With winter setting in, you might want to look up. Way up. Colder temperatures reduce the amount of water particles in the air, which makes the nighttime sky more clear. Better visibility paired with an early setting sun make the colder months prime for stargazing. Here are a few places that regularly offer up-close looks at distant stars and planets. All of these events are free and weather permitting. Anne Arundel Community College holds Community Observing Night the second Saturday of each month.

WEATHER & ASTRONOMY BLOG--Sun reporter Frank D. Roylance updates his Web log daily at marylandweather.com.

Starry night Baltimore's own street-corner astronomer, Herman Heyn, presents "The Stars and Planets of Autumn" tonight at Borders Books & Music in Towson. Heyn earned his title through a long-time amateur interest in astronomy and by haunting the city's sidewalks with his 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. He invites passers-by to peer into the scope and bear witness to the night sky's celestial bodies, including comets, planets, stars and Jupiter's many moons. Tonight's presentation is an all-ages show in which Heyn will feature images he's captured over the years and tell stories about how the sky's scenery changes with the fall season.

Harold Berman, an engineering auditor who worked in the lunar exploration program and was active in Harford County astronomy, died Oct. 25 of complications from congestive heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Owings Mills resident was 84. Born in Indianapolis, he served in the Navy during World War II. He earned a business administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and became an auditor who supervised government contracts. He worked for NASA in Huntsville, Ala., during the 1960s and was part of the Saturn V program, the booster rocket that put men on the moon.

Courtney Despeaux picked up an object shrouded in bubble wrap at the National Federation of the Blind headquarters yesterday and tried to decipher the contents with a few quick squeezes. She couldn't. The blind junior from Severna Park High School found out she was holding a plastic dinosaur only after astrophysicist Simon Steel stripped off the packaging. As does bubble wrap to its contents, the Earth's atmosphere obscures distant stars and galaxies, the scientist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics explained.

The club started with seven members, a few telescopes and the night sky. At first, the stargazers met in a parking lot at Harford Community College to view celestial objects. But as interest in the Harford County Astronomical Society grew, the members sought a permanent home -- a search that ended when the college built an observatory that the club agreed to run. "Having an observatory made a world of difference," said Sal Rodano, a club member and physics professor at the college. "An observatory really supports the theoretical aspects of astronomy.

For more than a century, a little-known group of Catholic clergy has turned its attention to the heavens. But the vocation involves more than faith and prayer. The priests of the Vatican Observatory conduct cutting-edge research in physics and astronomy at facilities on a hilltop outside Rome and on a mountain in Arizona. "We try and understand nature as it's given to us," said the Rev. George V. Coyne, a Baltimore native who directed the observatory for 28 years.

WEATHER & ASTRONOMY BLOG--Sun reporter Frank D. Roylance updates his Web log Thursdays-Sundays at marylandweather.com.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of the long-sought seas of Titan, planetary scientists announced this week. Several instruments aboard the craft, which has been orbiting Saturn and its largest moon for the past two years, have identified large, dark features at the moon's north polar region. The new areas are flat and undifferentiated, several hundred miles across and have sharp, shoreline-type features. Cassini scientists said the latest images are still short of "smoking gun" proof, but represent the best evidence so far that there are large bodies of liquid, probably methane and ethane, on the surface of the solar system's second-largest moon.

Harold Berman, an engineering auditor who worked in the lunar exploration program and was active in Harford County astronomy, died Oct. 25 of complications from congestive heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Owings Mills resident was 84. Born in Indianapolis, he served in the Navy during World War II. He earned a business administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and became an auditor who supervised government contracts. He worked for NASA in Huntsville, Ala., during the 1960s and was part of the Saturn V program, the booster rocket that put men on the moon.

If there's a demonstration that's sure to be crowded tomorrow at Howard Community College's High Tech Learning Expo, it's the laser show by physical science professor Russ Poch."

WEATHER & ASTRONOMY BLOG--Sun reporter Frank D. Roylance updates his Web log daily at marylandweather.com.