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Mercury retrograde isn’t what you think

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Mercury is a little-known, still mysterious world.

But one thing is certain. Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, can’t actually travel backward in retrograde, and doesn’t impact us on Earth. The notion of Mercury retrograde, a common reference in astrology wherein communication and travel are temporarily impaired, can, of course, be a fun musing. The event occurs when Mercury appears to start traveling the opposite direction in the sky.

But this is perceptive trickery. Mercury retrograde is apparent motion, such as when you pass a speeding car on the highway and it appears that car is moving backward. It’s not an exceptional, or momentous, event.

“There’s nothing unusual about it,” Tansu Daylan, a physicist at Washington University in St. Louis who leads NASA telescope observations, told Mashable.

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It happens so regularly — three or four times a year — that some people easily associate events (misunderstandings or travel woes) with the event. “People are actively searching for connections,” Daylan said.

What causes Mercury retrograde

From our perspective, the planets, including Mercury, move west to east across the night sky, relative to the stars. Greek and Roman astronomers, in fact, referred to planets as “wandering stars.”

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If you, hypothetically, could look down on the sun from above, you would see the planets orbiting counterclockwise. This creates the easterly movement, from our perch on Earth. But this changes when two planets become aligned as they orbit the sun, Daylan emphasized. Then, an inner planet (Mercury) moves faster than an outer planet (like Earth), resulting in “apparent retrograde motion” — apparent because Mercury, speeding around our star at over 100,000 mph, does not suddenly start traveling backwards.

The NASA graphic below illustrates apparent retrograde motion, using Mars and Earth. A planet’s appearance in the sky can change when planets align or one “overtakes” another, but the actual orbits don’t change.

A depiction of apparent retrograde motion.

A depiction of apparent retrograde motion.
Credit: NASA

Mercury's southern hemisphere, as captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.

Mercury’s southern hemisphere, as captured by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft.
Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington

Mercury retrograde lasts for a few weeks at a time, so don’t be surprised to hear how it’s connected to a multitude of events. Tellingly, it most recently started again on Aug. 5, 2024 — after the global Crowdstrike disruption.

Though we know Mercury’s orbit isn’t doing anything strange in our solar system throughout the year, it will remain a world of mysteries. It’s a planet that’s difficult to observe from Earth, because of its proximity to the sun. “That means it can be spotted only briefly shortly before sunrise and just after sunset, and always appears close to the horizon,” the European Space Agency explains. What’s more, it’s extremely challenging to reach — any spacecraft endeavoring there must contend with the sun’s overpowering gravity. That’s why Mercury is the least visited of the other inner planets. And, it’s precarious to get too close to Mercury because the searing planet’s surface, hot enough to melt lead, radiates heat into space. The ongoing BepiColombo mission is designed to resist these extremes as it makes unprecedented observations.

Planetary scientists hope to soon answer many questions about Mercury: Is there water? Is it geologically active? How did it get so close to the sun?

But, at least, its strange apparent motion is well understood.

“There’s nothing fancy about it,” Daylan said.





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LIVE: Watch SpaceX Launch Historic Polaris Dawn Astronaut Mission Today

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September 15, 2024

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The Polaris Dawn mission is lifting off today. It is targeted for launch with four astronauts by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 1:08 pm IST with backup opportunities available at 2:53 pm and 4:39 pm.

According to SpaceX, the weather is currently 40 percent favourable for launch. If the mission is scrubbed today, launch opportunities are available at the same time on September 11.

The Polaris Dawn crew includes mission commander Jared Isaacman, retired US Navy pilot Scott Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

All four astronauts have been strapped inside the Dragon spacecraft resilience which will take them to the highest Earth orbit since the Apollo missions. The launch is being streamed live on SpaceX’s X profile and on YouTube by popular channels like Everyday Astronaut and NASA Spaceflight Now.

ALSO SEE: Elon Musk Excited For SpaceX’s First Spacewalk Mission On August 26; ‘This Will Be Epic’

The crew will ascend to an altitude of 1,400 km during the mission which will last five days. Isaacman and Gillis will also script history by conducting the world’s first spacewalk in a commercial mission.

The Dragon spacecraft has been outfitted with a ‘Skywalker’ which is designed to help the crew perform a series of suit tests during their spacewalk. Notably, the spacewalk will take place at an altitude of 700 km on the third day of the mission. SpaceX has even designed special suits for the job.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX Unveils Next-Gen Spacesuits Ahead Of World’s First Commercial Spacewalk This Year

They are also carrying a Starlink router to test the satellite-based laser communication system in space for the first time. Another objective is carrying out experiments to monitor changes in human physiology in microgravity and high-radiation environment.

SpaceX says it is the third mission this Dragon spacecraft is supporting. It has previously been used for NASA’s Crew-1 and the world’s first all-civilian mission to space Inspiration4. Isaacman’s first trip to space was with Inspiration4 which raised $200 million for St. Jude’s children’s hospital. He is financing the Polaris Program which includes two more missions after Polaris Dawn.

(Image: X/@JaredIsaacman)





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NASA’s Hubble And Chandra Telescopes Spot Supermassive Black Holes On Collision Course

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September 15, 2024

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have confirmed an extraordinary discovery – two supermassive black holes locked in a close orbit within a distant galaxy. The galaxy, named MCG-03-34-064, is located about 800 million light years from Earth, and these black holes are the result of a collision between two galaxies.

The Hubble Telescope, using visible-light imaging, revealed three bright spots at the center of this galaxy. Two of these spots are supermassive black holes, detected due to the strong X-ray emissions captured by the Chandra Observatory.

These black holes shine brightly because they are actively consuming surrounding matter, converting it into energy, and releasing intense radiation across space. This makes them known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).

ALSO SEE: Astronomers Discover Supermassive Black Hole Equal To The Mass Of 40 Billion Suns

The distance between the two black holes, according to scientists, is about 300 light-years, which makes them the closest pair of AGNs observed using both visible light and X-rays. Their tight proximity suggests that they are in the early stages of merging, a process that will take millions of years but will eventually lead to a single, even larger black hole.

The third bright spot in the galaxy is a cloud of gas, while a striking blue streak near the black holes could be a jet of energy, likely emitted by one of the black holes as it consumes matter.

This discovery highlights the incredible power of combining Hubble’s sharp visible-light images with Chandra’s X-ray data, providing scientists with a unique view of black holes and galaxy mergers. Over time, the merging of these black holes will reshape the galaxy, offering astronomers valuable insight into the dynamic evolutionary process of the universe.

ALSO SEE: NASA Shares Dazzling Images From Chandra Telescope As It Completes 25 Years In Space

(Image: NASA/ESA)





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SpaceX Shares First Views Of Earth As Polaris Dawn Reaches Highest Orbit In 50 Years

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September 15, 2024

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Astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission are currently in space and pictures from their vantage point are getting released. SpaceX has shared the first visuals of Earth captured by the camera onboard the Dragon spacecraft Resilience.

The video features the top view of Dragon with ‘Starwalker,’ a new hardware installed in the spacecraft for spacewalking purpose, overlooking our planet. These views, according to SpaceX, were captured when Dragon was in a 190 X 1,216 km (closest and farthest point from Earth) orbit shortly after launch.

Dragon then circled our planet eight times before achieving highest orbit (1400 km apogee) in more than five decades.

The mission lifted off at 2:53 pm IST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on September 10 on a Falcon 9 rocket and will last five days. It has a four-person crew including mission commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Poteet and mission specialists Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis (left to right) inside the Dragon spacecraft. Image: SpaceX

In an update shared today, SpaceX said that Dragon has achieved an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 1,400.7 km, making it the greatest distance any of its missions have achieved. It is also the farthest humans have been in space since the Apollo era over 50 years ago.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Mission Finally Takes Off; Watch The Historic Moment

What did Polaris Dawn astronauts do on their first day?

The Polaris Program gave an update about the itinerary the four astronauts followed on their first day.

Once they were in orbit after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol wherein Dragon’s pressure was gradually lowered while increasing oxygen levels inside the cabin. This helped purge nitrogen from the astronauts’ bloodstreams and lower the risk of decompression sickness (DCS). It is an important drill before their spacewalk begins.

About two hours after liftoff, the crew had their first meal in space and carried out the first experiment involving Starlink for about 3.5 hours. They have carried with them 36 science experiments that will be conducted over the course of five days.

On the first day itself, the astronauts were also exposed to high doses of radiation when the Dragon passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In this region, Earth’s magnetic field is weaker and more high-energy particles can enter Earth.

The crew is currently preparing for the historic spacewalk, which would be the first ever in a commercial mission. Isaacman and Gillis will step out of Dragon for the spacewalk on September 12. Interestingly, all four astronauts will get exposed to the vacuum of space during the spacewalk because the Dragon spacecraft does not have an airlock and the entire capsule will be depressurised when it opens.

SpaceX has designed new spacesuits which the astronauts are wearing for the spacewalk. Data gathered about its performance will pave way for new spacesuit technology to support missions to the Moon and Mars.

ALSO SEE: Elon Musk Excited For SpaceX’s First Spacewalk Mission On August 26; ‘This Will Be Epic’

(Image: SpaceX)





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