[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 0 - 20:50:57 ]
Welcome back to the Space Scientists Online chat series with astronomer and educator Dr. Sten Odenwald! Sten's chat will begin at 11 am, PST (2 pm, EST). Be sure to have all of your space-science-related questions ready for Sten because he is ready to answer them!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 2 - 09:49:35 ]
RE: [Matt] Sorry, I didn't know that the chat was today at 11 when I signed up, here is my question... then I have to go back to class How do we understand the 3 dimensional shape of things like galaxies and nebulas when we can only see them from one vantage point? A cube looks like a square from one vantage point until we walk around it... gotta run ciao
Matt: No problem :-) Sten will answer it once the chat begins and there will be an archive of this chat available later today!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 4 - 11:04:16 ]
RE: [Matt] Sorry, I didn't know that the chat was today at 11 when I signed up, here is my question... then I have to go back to class How do we understand the 3 dimensional shape of things like galaxies and nebulas when we can only see them from one vantage point? A cube looks like a square from one vantage point until we walk around it... gotta run ciao
Hi Matt. This is a great question, and because there are so many different systems out there to study, the answer is rather complicated. For galaxies, in general, you can figure out what they might look like by looking an many different ones. Also, from a photograph, you can sometimes mathematically rotate the image to get a front view if it is not too tilted as a spiral galaxy. It is a very difficult and risky business to try to figure out what a specific galaxy looks like from every angle...especially one like the Milky Way that we are inside of. For nebulae, its much harder because they are so irregular.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 9 - 11:06:49 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Have you ever been in space?
Hi...no I have never been in space. I am a prefectly happy astronomer who likes it on the ground!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 11 - 11:07:59 ]
RE: [Cesar-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] How big is the biggest star you ever found other than the sun?
Well...I don't study individual stars, but one of the biggest I know is a red supergiant called Mu Cephi which would extend all the way to the orbit of neptune if it was in our solar system.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 15 - 11:09:02 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Is space hard to study?
Space, itself, is very hard to study, but the things in space are not too hard if you have the right equipment like telescopes, cameras and spectroscopes!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 18 - 11:10:21 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] What is your favorite star to study?
Hmmm...I don't have an individual favorite, but as a group, I find the stars that have the newly discovered planets around them very exciting. They may tell us a lot about how typical our solar system is in the universe.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 21 - 11:11:16 ]
RE: [Alex/Silvia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] How many stars have you seen in space?
Hmmm...with my eye on a clear night, I guess the number is something like a few thousand.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 23 - 11:11:56 ]
RE: [Johnathon-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Has man been in a blackwhole
No...and neither has anyone else. the nearest one is about 6000 light years away!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 25 - 11:12:43 ]
RE: [Alex/Silvia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] How small is the smallest star you've ever seen?
Well...I once saw Sirius B which is the white dwarf companion to the bright winter star Sirius. Sirius B is about the diameter of the earth!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 30 - 11:14:54 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] What is your favorite planet to study, besides the Earth?
I think the newly-discovered planets detected around nearby stars are pretty weird. Some seem to be as big as Jupiter, but orbit closer to their stars than Mercury does in our solar system.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 35 - 11:17:05 ]
RE: [jared-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Do you think there is life on other planet.
yes I do. Life originated on this planet only a few hundfred million years after its crust cooled below the boiling point of water. Today, we can find bacteria thriving 2 miles below the crust, and in hot springs where the water is 170-190 degrees Fahrenheit. I think we will find bacteria just about everywhere we find water available as a liquid.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 40 - 11:18:32 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Does your family enjoy to hear about your work?
Sometimes...but we hardly talk about science in my home because there are so many other things we need to talk about first. Exactly how do you start a casual conversation about black holes, or planets around other stars?

[ RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool - 41 - 11:19:36 ]
Thank you for chatting with us today. WE appreciate it very much. Bye!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 42 - 11:21:01 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] How do planets form?
We think we have seen many different primitive 'pre planetary' systems around other stars. It sems to start with a rotating disk of gas that the star forms out of, and distant parts of this disk 'rain out' larger and larger bodies which run together to form even bigger ones. Eventually, you form planet-sized objects which quickly gobble everything else up. We have not seen this stage yet in a nearby star, but it isnt a rare process!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 43 - 11:21:18 ]
RE: [JaredMichelle-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Would you live on any other planet if you had the chance.
No...this one's fine for now!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 44 - 11:21:34 ]
EVERYONE: WHOA! YOUR QUESTIONS ARE GREAT-- THANK YOU, BUT, there is only one Sten and he is typing as fast as he can in order to answer everyone. I have put the chat in a moderated mode, which means your questions will come to me first, before they are posted in the chat room. I will post them SLOWLY to let Sten get caught up. YOU WILL NOT SEE YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL I POST THEM. DO NOT RESEND THEM. Thanks :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 45 - 11:22:14 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] Have you ever been on a show, and talked about your work?
Yes. i was interview on NAtional Public Radio in July 1998 for an hour. We talked about my book 'The Astronomy Cafe:365 questions from Ask the Astronomer". That was fun!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 46 - 11:23:35 ]
RE: [Jessica-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] What colors are the stars are they white like we see them or are they different colors?If they are different colors why do you think so?
They are different colors. the reason you see them as white is because the rods in your retina are very sensitive to light bout only detect black and white. The color receptors, called cones, require a lot of light to see color. You can check this yourself in a darkened room .

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 47 - 11:24:16 ]
RE: [Alex/Silvia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] How many years have you studied satern?
Hmmm...I have never studied saturn as an astronomer, but I sure had fun looking at it when i was a tenager with a telescope I built myself!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 48 - 11:25:23 ]
RE: [Anthony-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] What is the oldest star?
Our own sun is a member of a population of stars that is 4.5 billion years old. The oldest stars are found in globular star clusters which orbit the Milky Way like satellites. Their ages run from 6 billion to 15 billion years or so.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 52 - 11:26:28 ]
RE: [RebeccaStephanieconchitaKenia-Mr.Petitte/HiddenValleyMiddleSchool] What is the most newly discovered planet in our solar system?
I dont really know. I suppose its the latest comet that someone has discovered , or its one of those dozens of asteroids that the 'Spacewatch' folks in Arizona detect every week. Its hard to keep up!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 53 - 11:27:32 ]
RE: [Rebecca] See ya!!!! It was very fun talking to ya.
Rebecca: Thanks for your questions and thanks for joining us today! Hope you can come back again next week for another chat with Sten!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 54 - 11:27:35 ]
RE: [Angelica] Would it be possible to harness the energy of a small black hole?
Yes...but you would have to find one first.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 55 - 11:28:14 ]
RE: [Cesar] How many galaxies have you discovered?
None...I dont 'do' galaxies as individual objects in space.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 56 - 11:28:37 ]
RE: [Rebecca] See ya!!!! It was very fun talking to ya.
Thanks for stopping by Rebecca!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 60 - 11:35:39 ]
RE: [Rebecca] How many rings does Saturn have?
Saturn actually has several thousand rings and ringlets. Some are no more than a few hundred meters wide. Did you know that the ring system is only about 1 mile thick or so?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 61 - 11:37:00 ]
RE: [Stas/Robby] when was the last time you looked at satern?
Hmmm...Its been several years, at least through a telescope like the one you can buy in a store. But I look at the Hubble Space Telescope pictures of saturn quite a bit...have you seen them on the web too? http://www.stsci.edu

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 63 - 11:38:54 ]
RE: [PhyllisGendelman] How can you simulate and sustain an atmosphere in an enclosed space city that is orbiting a planet other than the earth
Yeow. To create a closed biosphere/atmosphere, you have to have an active recycling system which keeps free oxygen circulating for us to breath. This usually means plantlife of some kind. NASA is working on that...but its a hard problem to solve technologically.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 68 - 11:40:17 ]
RE: [RebeccaMichelle] Is there any new signs that theres life on Mars?
No...and even that meteorite they found back in 1996 doesnt look like it really has the 'right stuff' either. Our best chance now seems to be digging on mars to some deeper layers, looking for fossils on mars, or traveling to Europa.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 69 - 11:42:18 ]
RE: [Rebecca] Do you want to go yo space?
No...its too scary for me. There are too many easy ways to die..or suffer from extreme radiation poisoning. If we had kept going with the Apollo program in 1970, we would have a big lunar colony there now for a lot less the cost than building the Space Station. Its too bad we made the wrong decissions back then.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 73 - 11:43:27 ]
RE: [BeckyKendall] I was supposed to see a lift off that was postponed til after Nov. 19th. Do you know when that will actually happen?
Well...not really. I dont keep up with all the NASA launches like I used to. heck..I spend my time answering space questions in Chatrooms ;>

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 74 - 11:44:02 ]
RE: [EricaSalm] How often do we go into space per year?
Hmmm...I think there are about 3-4 Shuttle Launches each year, give or take.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 75 - 11:45:19 ]
RE: [Eddie] will we ever live on mars
Yes...and I have no doubts about that. Its just a qustion of time and money. The soonest we could get there could be 2008, but given the way that COngress votes taxpayers money, a more reasonable arrival will be sometime in the 2020s.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 76 - 11:47:18 ]
RE: [Rebecca] What happened with the camera going to Mars? Did someone make a mistake?
Yes...But I dont know exactly what the deal was. i have heard a lot of 'explanations' but I dont know yet what the official word is from a detailed investigation. It sounds like it was a matter of using consistent units to describe distance or force between two separate NASA institutions. Human error.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 77 - 11:48:48 ]
RE: [Michelle] I heard there was rings around Jupiter. Is this true? If so how many?
Yes. There are rings around Jupiter ,Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The Jovian ring system is pretty sparse and doesnt have nearly as many 'rocks' in it as Saturns. I dont know the exact ring count for Jupiter but there are probably 10 or more...just as a guess from pictures ive sen.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 78 - 11:51:18 ]
RE: [EricaSalm] HOw do astronauts regulate heat in the space ships when we go out into space?
White surfaces and silvered ones reflect heat. Black ones absorb heat. Also, excess heat can be 'ejected' from inside a spacecraft through radiators ,which are not much different than what you have inside your car. The radiators have large surfaces exposed to space and emit infrared 'heat' radiation extracted from inside the spacecraft, usually through some kind of fluid heat-exchanger.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 82 - 11:54:08 ]
RE: [Rebecca] Can there be life on Mars? My class is doing a paper on the phases of Mars. Phase 1, Red Phase. Phase 2, Green Phase. Phase 3, Blue Phase. Is this true?
Hmm...I am not sure I know how you are defining 'phase' Do you mean something like 'Liquid water on surface', "loss of atmosphere' and 'desert planet'? Those are pretty well defined geologically we think.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 83 - 11:56:07 ]
EVERYONE: Our chat with Sten will be over in about 10 minutes. Please be sure to let us know how we're doing with our chats by filling out a short survey at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-survey THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 84 - 11:56:14 ]
RE: [Ramon] Hi Doc Odenwald, I am interested in astrochemistry, because I am a chemisty, and I'd like to know something about the discover of some molecules in space. Mainly fullerene and amino acids
Hi Ramone. Interstellar molecules were detected in the 1970's beginning with Carbon Monoxide, and we now have a catalog of 60+ molecules that have been detected in various dense 'molecular clouds'. the fullerines are seen via certain infrared lines identified with 'polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' at wavelengths between about 2 microns and 10 microns.

[ Eddie - 86 - 11:57:19 ]
Thanks for everything see you soon !!!!!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 87 - 11:57:20 ]
RE: [Eddie] Is it true that a black hole is like a bottemless pit
We think so...except that they probably do have some kind of bottom if the mathematics are correctly interpreted. The bottom is called a Singularity.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 88 - 11:57:54 ]
RE: [Rebecca] Thanks for listening to all of my wierd questions . BYE!!!!!!!
They are most certainly not weird ;>

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 89 - 11:58:53 ]
EVERYONE: Sten will be chatting again next week, same day, same time: Thursday, Oct. 21, 11 am PST (2 pm, EST). The registration for this chat will open this afternoon. Please mark your calendars and join us :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 90 - 11:59:24 ]
Goodby everyone! One day I would love to do a session where I get to ask YOU a few questions. Cheerio for today and stop by again soon!

[ PeterBychowski - 92 - 11:59:45 ]
thank you

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 96 - 12:02:04 ]
RE: [Ramon] is the program Ask the Astronomer working?
yes it is! you can get to it from http://www2.stx.com/cafe/cafe.html Are you having problems getting to the page?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 97 - 12:03:15 ]
RE: [DamienAlvarez] When will the first man be sent to Mars?
Damien: NASA hopes to send the first HUMANS (men and women!) to Mars in about 2015. Are you going to sign up :-)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 98 - 12:05:53 ]
Ok everyone, Sten has left the chat room and has gone back to work! Please sign up for Sten's chat next week :-) Also, fill out the short chat questionnaire also-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys Thanks so much :-)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 102 - 12:09:05 ]
RE: [PeterBychowski] Will we ever be able to take off without launch pads?
Peter: Sorry that Sten didn't get a chance to answer this. Come back next week and post it again, or send it to Sten's web site at: http://www2.stx.com/cafe/cafe.html