[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 2 - 09:50:32 ]
Hello! Today's Space Scientist Online Questchat with Astronomer Jim Thieman will begin at 10:30, PDT (1:30 pm, EDT). Be sure to read Jim's bio before coming to the chat: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/team/thieman.html -- If you cannot make it at the time listed, go ahead and type in your questions now and they will be posted once the chat begins. "See you" soon!

[ Zulmarie - 4 - 10:29:25 ]
Good afternoon, Mr.Thieman!!

[ Carmen - 5 - 10:29:32 ]
Hello

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 6 - 10:30:40 ]
Welcome Zulmarie and Carmen! Glad you could make it to chat today!

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 7 - 10:30:49 ]
Hi, this is Jim Thieman. If you have any questions jump in and ask them.

[ Dianyra-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico - 12 - 10:33:16 ]
Hello Sandy, Mr. Thieman!!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 15 - 10:34:28 ]
RE: [Dianyra-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico] Hello Sandy, Mr. Thieman!!
Hi Dianyra! Glad you could make it also! Do you have some questions for Jim today?

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 16 - 10:34:53 ]
RE: [JD-Mrs.Dee/Pines] I'm glad to be hear. I'm in 6th grade. I have read some in the past about radio astronomy and I think it would be neat to be a radio astronomer. I'd like to know first of all what you do at your job each day?
I have a variety of jobs, but as a radio astronomer I spend time trying to analyze the data from satellites such as Galileo and Voyager that tell us more about the radio emissions from planets like Jupiter and how it works.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 20 - 10:36:23 ]
RE: [Helvia-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico] We are working with the antena(Radio Jove) and i would like to know how high above the horizon should Jupiter be?
Glad to hear you are doing Radio JOVE. It is best to use the equipment when your target, Jupiter or the Sun are within two hours of transit, or about 4 hours from rising or setting, but if the signal is strong enough it may come through regardless.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 21 - 10:36:47 ]
EVERYONE: It looks like there are going to be a lot of us today, sooooooo, I'm putting this chatroom in the "Moderate Mode." This means that all of your questions will come to me first, and then I post them a few at a time. This way, we won't inundate Jim with too many questions at once.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 22 - 10:37:45 ]
Soooo, don't retype your questions if you don't see them immediately. I have several of them in my queue right now and will post them one or two at a time, as Jim answers them. Thanks everyone :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 23 - 10:38:11 ]
RE: [Zulmarie-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico] We are having with the machine! first questions: how do you know the longitude of the planet if it has differential rotation?
Good question. The longitude we call System III is tied to the rotation of the magnetic field of the planet, so we determine that rotation period not by the clouds, but by the radio emissions and the location of the magnetic poles. This is a very constant rotation period.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 24 - 10:39:31 ]
RE: [Dianyra-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico] Mr. Thieman, could you give us some comments on how to use the prediction tables from the University of Florida
It would be hard to describe the entire procedure to use the prediction tables here, but we will have a procedure written out and placed on the web site very soon. We also hope to have a program where you can put in your location and get back the predictions for your site.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 25 - 10:40:04 ]
RE: [LindenBrian-LLBC] Hello Mr. Thieman, Greetings from Canada. We thought that we would participate in the chat and see what was new.
Happy to have you, Linden.

[ Dianyra - 28 - 10:40:43 ]
I'm studying Physics, this is my second year:-)

[ Zulmarie - 29 - 10:40:43 ]
I'm studing education in biology, but one of my favorites hobbies it is the astronomy. Also, I'm in the Telescopium Astronomic Society of the Univ of Puerto Rico!

[ Emilio - 30 - 10:40:43 ]
I am studing math and physics and I am the pesident of the astronomy club in the univercity

[ Helvia - 31 - 10:41:14 ]
I a freshman , I am in the program of phisics and we are interest in astronomy.We are doing an investigation with Prof. Carmen Pantoja, about the emissions of Jupiter.And that is why we want to make some ? about the antena (radio Jove)because we are using it in our investigation

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 32 - 10:41:28 ]
RE: [Emilio-CarmenPantoja/UnivPuertoRico] What is the best way to set the radiojove resiver initialy when starting the observations (is some frecuensy better to setup than other)
We recommend that having the frequency knob pointing straight up (12:00 position) is the way to start. If you have it correctly tuned that should put you at 20.1 MHz. Then tune around if you have too much interference there.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 36 - 10:43:41 ]
RE: [Helvia] We saw in the software program a graph of intensity vs. time. I did not understand wich were the units of the vertical axis of the graph?
To tell you the truth, I've forgotten what the units were myself at the moment. The important thing to realize is the relative intensities at the various wavelengths in comparison to each other and that the vertical axis is a log plot, so a small difference there is a large difference in intensity.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 37 - 10:45:25 ]
RE: [JD] What kind of things can you find out from radio transmissions from the planets?
As inidcated already, the radio transmissions can be used to determine the rotation rate of the core of the planet and also tells us about the magnetic field and the charged particles moving in that field. Other things we learn are things such as lightning strikes, and magnetic field quirks.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 40 - 10:47:07 ]
RE: [Donna] If there were atmosphere on Jupiter could you hear the noise?
There is an atmosphere on Jupiter. A very dense one as you go into it, and yes, because it would act like our atmosphere, or more like our ocean in the denser parts, you should be able to hear distant noises.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 41 - 10:49:04 ]
EVERYONE: Your questions are coming in loud and clear! I've got a long list of them in my moderator's queue. Please don't resend them if you don't see them on your screen immediately. I will post all that I get --but I'm doing it slowly so that Jim has a chance to answer all of your questions (and breath at the same time :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 42 - 10:49:11 ]
RE: [Dianyra] I would also like to know what initial settings should be tried on the graph of intensity vs. time
I might have misundersttod the earlier question. The intensity time plot you are referring to is the JOVEChart graph, I assume. I usually start that one at the six minutes across setting and with the vertical scale on the 1-4 setting. That's not too critical. Again, there is a message from Wes Greenman on the web site which suggests good settings.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 45 - 10:51:10 ]
RE: [JD] How long does it take the radio emmissions to get to Jupiter and the other planets?
I assume you mean for the radio emissions to come from Jupiter to the Earth. This depends on which part of the orbit Jupiter is in relative to the Earth. At minimum it is about 4 Astronomical Units away (Earth's orbital radius), and if my memory is correct that is about 30 minutes.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 46 - 10:52:23 ]
RE: [Zulmarie] So the coordinate system, has a zero where there is a maximum emission or something like that?
Sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question, but if you're talking about a log scale, it should never reach zero.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 47 - 10:52:23 ]
RE: [Zulmarie] So the coordinate system, has a zero where there is a maximum emission or something like that?
Sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question, but if you're talking about a log scale, it should never reach zero.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 52 - 10:54:39 ]
RE: [LindenBrian] Jim, What is the exact cause of the radio emissions from Jupiter? Could it be electritcal discharges in Joves atmosphere, or is it the electron flow between Jupiter and Io, or the passage of Io through Jupiters magnetosphere? Does the Magnetic field of Ganymede have any effect as well?
We are pretty sure that the cause of all the radio emissions at Jupiter is the movement of charged particles in the magnetic field, but there are a number of ways this can happen. One way is the sweep of the magnetic field past charged particle generators like IO and Ganymede. There has been a recent finding that Ganymede may indeed cause some radio emissions as well.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 54 - 10:55:38 ]
RE: [Emilio] how many people is in the chat room?
Hi Emilio! It looks like there are about 20 people in the chat room right now.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 55 - 10:56:26 ]
RE: [Donna] Do we have or are there any future plans to monitor Jupiter with a satellite orbiting the planet.
Right now we have Galileo orbiting the planet and monitoring the radio emissions of Jupiter, but, unfortunately, only up to 5 MHz. So, there is nothing in space now that monitors Jupiter at the 20 MHz frequencies and up that we use in Radio JOVE.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 56 - 10:57:37 ]
RE: [Dianyra] From the Radio Jove homepage, in sample page the example says: Recorded WV with loop antenna. How come a loop antenna was used instead of a dipole, like the one we are using?
We tested various antennas at the start of the project, loop included. The best one for the purpose with good sensitivity and ease of setup seemed to be the dual dipole.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 58 - 10:58:48 ]
RE: [JD] How big are the satilites Galilleo and Voyager?
The main bodies of Galileo and Voyager are about the size of a Volkswagen bug, I believe. However, some of the masts and antennas that extend out from the satellites can go to tens of meters.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 59 - 10:59:28 ]
RE: [JD] What exactly is radio jove? I'm in 6th grade and am beginning to wonder if we're in the wrong chat room? :-)
JD: I'll let Jim tell you about the education project RadioJove, but I wanted to tell you that you can ask any astronomy-type questions of Jim. They don't have to be about the education project. So, if there are other things you want to know, shoot!

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 62 - 11:01:01 ]
RE: [Helvia] How can we learn about how to use radio jove for observing the sun
Basically, you do the same kinds of things to observe the Sun as you would to observe Jupiter, just in the day instead of at night. The trouble is we can't predict well when to observe. You have to observe and see if there are storms which do not sound like manmade interference, then go back and verify with professional records whether there were storms at those times. We will be describing this procedure in more detail on the web site.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 63 - 11:01:37 ]
EVERYONE: Your questions are GREAT! Thank you for doing your "homework" before coming to the chat today! It really makes a difference :-)

[ JD - 64 - 11:02:23 ]
Those are pretty big satellites!!!!

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 65 - 11:02:42 ]
RE: [Joel] I want to enhance the Jove kit, by addind several anthenas. We know from your design that the two dipoles are added to a splitter by a coax cable of lenth (lamda/4). If for example I want to add two more anthenas, should the length of the coax cable to the aditional splitter be the same?
That's an interesting question. Right off the bat I would say yes, but a lot depends on how all of these are put together. Antenna design is a complex subject and it would be good if you could send a detailed drawing of your design and we could make suggestions on what we think would work best.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 69 - 11:04:36 ]
RE: [Emilio] Can the red spot of jupiter be explain with fractals? What is your coment about apliying fractals to cosmology?
Fractals are an interesting mathematical approach and can indeed to explain some complex events in ways that other methods don't work as well. I've never heard of them being applied to the red spot, but, given the chaotic nature of Jupiter weather and the emergence and disappearance of spots and their rotation, it might be a good approach.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 70 - 11:06:14 ]
RE: [JD] What exactly is radio jove? I'm in 6th grade and am beginning to wonder if we're in the wrong chat room? :-)
Hi, sorry if you didn't know about Radio JOVE. It is a project I run that is doing radio astronomy for listening to Jupiter and the Sun. Go to http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov to learn more. I'm also willing to answer non-radio JOVE questions.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 71 - 11:08:36 ]
EVERYONE: There are about 20 minutes left in our chat with Jim today. I've still got about 10 questions in the queue so if you haven't seen yours come up on the screen, it'll be there shortly :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 72 - 11:08:38 ]
RE: [JD] What are the differences between the radio waves, radio transmissions and radio emmisions? Are they all the same?
Radio waves would be the electromagnetic radiation that travels from the source to the receiver. Radio transmissions would be more oriented to where or how the radiation was generated. Likewise radio emission would be more concerned with where the radio waves started and how they were generated. Those are very unscientific definitions.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 74 - 11:10:27 ]
RE: [Dianyra] Jim, did the impact of Comet Shoemaker Levy (1994) had any effect on the radio emissions from Jupiter?
Yes, indeed. ALthough not much was seen at decametric wavelengths like what we use in Radio JOVE, there was a very pronounced effect on the radio transmission at GHz frequenceies such as produced by the equatorial belts of charged particles close to Jupiter. They decreased and it took quite a while to return to normal.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 75 - 11:10:38 ]
RE: [Helvia] Are you in California right now? If not where are you
Helvia: Jim is at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which is about 15 miles or so away from Washington, DC. I am located just outside of Denver, Colorado, near the snow-covered Rocky Mountains.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 80 - 11:12:34 ]
RE: [Emilio] How many tornado like fenomena is hapening in jupiter every day?
By tornado like phenomena I assume you mean things like the Great Red Spot and similar features. These are more like hurricanes since they cover such large areas (red spot is bigger than the Earth). There can be as many as dozens on large size scales, but I think if you count smaller ones there are even more.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 81 - 11:12:42 ]
RE: [Joel] I just got here (anyway, I am going to bombard you with questions no matter if they where already asked or not). I missed some of this chat. Are you keeping a LOG of this chat to be available later at the JOVE project page?
Joel: Since you just got to the chat you should know that all of your questions will appear in my moderator's question queue before they appear on the screen. I will post them as Jim answers questions. And yes, I will be archiving this chat today and you will be able to find it in the chat archives and as a link from Jim's bio page.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 82 - 11:14:27 ]
RE: [JD] Do you ever get any radio emmissions from the red supergiant Betelgeuse or any other stars?
I'm not sure about Betelgeuse, but there are definitely radio emissions from many stars, galaxies, etc. It's hard to pick out radio emissions from individual object at the MHz frequencies, but at higher frequencies where big dishes are used as antennas we can pinpoint many radio sources in the universe.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 84 - 11:15:41 ]
RE: [Emilio] what is your Email adress
Emilio: You can send your questions for Jim to me, and I will forward them on to him. My email address is: sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 87 - 11:16:17 ]
RE: [Helvia] How can we differentiate Jupiter's emissions from other bodies
Jupiter's emissions can be determined because we know which direction our antennas are sensitive to receiving signals. When we are pointed towards Jupiter we receive distinctive sounds that seem to only occur when Jupiter is in the beam.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 92 - 11:18:24 ]
RE: [Donna] How do you believe the universe formed? Do you believe that our universe will be sucked into the black hole?
The evidence is consistent with the Universe being formed by an explosion many billions of years ago. I don't think it is clear which theory holds best for continued expansion or having it come back together in one big black hole.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 93 - 11:20:15 ]
RE: [LindenBrian] Jim, Does metallic hydrogen exhibit strong magnetic characteristics?
We believe that metallic hydrogen does form the core of Jupiter and since it is a metal with charged particles moving in it (moving as a liquid) it generates a rather strong magnetic field. SO, there are definitely strong magnetic characteristics.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 94 - 11:20:17 ]
RE: [Joel] If I want to keep in contact with you... can you state in this chat your e-mails? (preety please). Can our group arrange a 'private' or 'special' chat, in a way that you can answer aaaaalllllll our questions?
Hi Joel: Our policy is NOT to give out private email addresses of NASA scientists, etc. because they're already overworked and get bombarded with email. So, the best I can offer you is to give you my email address, which I already stated earlier, and then I can forward questions/requests on to NASA people for you. Then they will answer you if they have the time. We do not arrange special chats with small groups of individuals because we try to reach as many students as we can at one time so as not too make it too much of a time burden on the scientists.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 97 - 11:22:37 ]
RE: [Zulmarie] I'm asking how to set the zero of a coordinate system on Jupiter? Should be based on magnetic poles, but what about the prime meridian?
I understand. The zero of the Jupiter longitude system is defined to be what is facing a particular point in the sky at a particular time. So, System III Longitude (1965) is based on the longitude that was on the central meridian at exactly 1965.0 in time.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 98 - 11:23:00 ]
EVERYONE: JUST 10 MINUTES LEFT... Please don't send anymore questions as I still have 8 questions in the queue and they won't get answered if more come in. Thank you :-)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 99 - 11:23:54 ]
EVERYONE: Today's chat will be archived later this afternoon. You can find the archive by going to the chat archive page or by going to Jim's bio.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 100 - 11:24:15 ]
RE: [Joel] I had watched the probabilities tables from the University of Florida (a link is available at your page). They are hard to read (understand). Can you explain how to use them. I had read in these tables that the prob of emition of 18KHz is zero, unless in a few days, that they go up to 0.1 to 0.2 percent. Theres is another part of the table for 26KHz emitions. Do these dates, when the numbers are higher, the best days of observing the bursts? Or am I totally wrong on my guess of reading the tables?
You have the right idea on reading the probability tables although the units you have are not quite correct. Generally, though the higher the number, the higher the probability. Again, we will put a more detailed explanation on the web site.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 101 - 11:24:48 ]
EVERYONE: Please let us know how we did on our chat today by filling out the short survey form at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys -- This will be a big help to us! Thank you :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 102 - 11:25:35 ]
RE: [Joel] We know that the fenomenons involved in Jupiter radio waves emitions are in the range of 18KHz - 26KHz (am I right?). Do you know of other planets or our sun, if their have other fenomenons with the same range of frequency?
The Sun emits radio waves in the same frequency range. The other radio emitting planets, however, generally emit at lower frequencies that we can't receive on the ground.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 103 - 11:27:08 ]
RE: [Emilio] Waht do you consider be the Univercity to study Astronomy?
There are a number of good universities for doing radio astronomy. Of course, the University of Florida where I came from. Other include, MIT, Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Cal Tech, Ohio, ... Depends on your specific interest.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 104 - 11:28:35 ]
RE: [Donna] When George Abbey from JSC was here a couple of weeks ago he was talking about putting people on Mars during our life time. What do you think?
I would like to hope that we get to Mars within 30 years, hopefully within my lifetime. It won't be easy, but going to the moon wasn't either. If we are willing to spend the time and money and have dedication, we can do it.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 105 - 11:29:32 ]
RE: [LindenBrian] Do any of the other gas giant planets in our solar system exhibit radio emission phenomenon?
Every one of the gas giants gives off radio emission as found by Voyager. Jupiter however is by far the strongest.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 106 - 11:29:38 ]
OK EVERYONE... Jim is going to answer the remaining 3 or 4 questions posted in the chat room and that'll be all for today. You asked some very specific questions and that made for an excellent and most interesting chat! Thanks :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 108 - 11:30:58 ]
RE: [JD] I'm studying about frounhafer lines and I was wondering if radio emissions give more information then color spectrums. THANKS!!
Radio emissions do not tell us about the elements that are in bodies like the Sun, such as spectral lines do, but they do tell us about the charged particle environment in other places and about the magnetic fields there.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 109 - 11:31:01 ]
RE: [Zulmarie] Mr. Thieman and Sandy: Thanks for all your help!! It was a pleasure met you!!
Zulmarie: You are MOST welcome! We are very pleased that you joined us today and hope you can come back again :-)

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 111 - 11:32:49 ]
Questions about Radio JOVE can be addressed to the email address indicated on the web site. We can try to arrange answers or chat sessions through those email messages if you wish.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 112 - 11:33:32 ]
EVERYONE: COME BACK AGAIN NEXT THURSDAY, APRIL 20 for a chat with Jim's colleague, Astronomer Sten Odenwald. Sten just got back from the launch of the IMAGE spacecraft in California and is full of interesting facts to share. He also LOVES to chat about anything related to astronomy! Sign up now!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 113 - 11:34:16 ]
RE: [Dianyra] Thank you Sandy for all your help and interest:-)
Dianyra: THANK YOU!

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 114 - 11:34:17 ]
Sorry I have to go. Again, send questions to the address on the Radio JOVE site if you wish. I'll try to answer any leftover questions that Sandy has, if I can. Bye for now.

[ Emilio - 115 - 11:34:34 ]
Thank you for pacience

[ Helvia - 116 - 11:34:34 ]
Thanks

[ JD - 117 - 11:34:34 ]
Thanks a whole lot, Mr. Thieman!!!!!!!!

[ Dianyra - 118 - 11:34:34 ]
Thanks to you Mr. Thieman, you have being very helpful this afternoon:-)

[ Joel - 119 - 11:34:34 ]
Thanks for all your help. I hope we can repeat this chat soon.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 129 - 11:37:33 ]
I'll try to answer the questions that were left at the end until I have to go to a meeting. Hope the answers are helpful. Glad you could make it!!!

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 130 - 11:39:14 ]
RE: [Zulmarie] For the dynamic spectrum graph, what are the different function for?
In the spectrum graph you can see various frequencies displayed simultaneously and the color indicates the intensity of the yemission. I believe an explanation of the graph is in the readme associated with it, but we are working to put a more detailed explanation online.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 131 - 11:40:14 ]
RE: [Helvia] Do the jupiter satellites have magnetics fields
We have not yet found any intrinsic magnetic fields with the Jupiter moons. I believe Io is still in question, but I don't think the final answer is in on Io yet.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 132 - 11:41:47 ]
RE: [JD] I have forgotten and would like to know how many Earths would fit in the sun (billion,or million)?
As I recall, the number was more like a million, but that seems a little high. There is a CD called the Dynamic Sun which is available from the SOHO project which is a great educational resource and has that answer on it.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 133 - 11:45:15 ]
RE: [JD] If it takes about 30 minutes for the radio emmisions to reach earth, about how long would it take the radio emmissions to reach Earth from Saturn,uranus,other planets?
Again, assuming that the satellites are at their closest point in their orbit to Earth, Saturn is about twice as far as Jupiter so twice as long for the transmission. Uranus is about twice as far again and I've forgotten the exact distance for Neptune, but that is something you can find in most Astronomy books and then it is simple multiplication.

[ JimThieman/Astronomer - 134 - 11:47:46 ]
RE: [Emilio] What is the way you recomend to calibrate the radiojove reciver and what instrumentation is needed?
Calibration requires careful calibration equipment, but the developer of the radio receiver is now developing what we hope will be an inexpensive calibrator which we hope to make available soon. This would be an additional cost, but hopefully less than $100.