Mankind follows a similar path. As I began my studies, some thirty years ago, the possibility of extrasolar planets was only mentioned by my professors with an ironic grin from ear to ear. Today, hundreds of such planets have been observed beyond our Solar System. An article published in Nature in January 2012 now proposes the existence of billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Thirty years ago, life in Universe was considered as a unique event. And now, what about extraterrestrial civilizations? I dream of living long enough to be present for this revelation.

As mankind grows up, we become smaller and smaller.

Throughout time, we have reassured ourselves with stories and models placing us at the center of the Universe, like Ptolemy’s model.

The story of Galileo and his tenacity to prove the Earth was revolving around the Sun is a key moment in the history of science. For centuries, the Church had accepted once and for all Ptolemy’s model, because it was placing the human being at the center of the creation.

Ptolemy’s approach, however, was not religious, but logical. His theory was explaining well enough the positions of planets and predicting the time of eclipses. The observation means of these times were simple geometrical landmarks for visual observations. Stonehenge must have had a similar purpose.

The real shock caused by Galileo was the confrontation between the tangible reality revealed by his telescope, contradicting the geocentric model of the Church. He had in plain view Jupiter and its satellites, understood as a reduced version of the Solar System. He could observe the phases of Venus and could only explain them by placing the planet around the Sun. Giordano Bruno, some years earlier had been burned for having upheld such ideas. But his approach was philosophical and not supported by observation. The future Pope Urban VIII had looked through Galileo’s telescope years before the trial he conducted against his friend.

Seeing and understanding, without believing, admitting that every model is wrong by essence … this is what we scientists learn on the benches of Universities. That’s sometimes a hard concept to grasp!

As the first images sent by the Hubble telescope came to our eyes, I remember some astronomers just denying them as they were not in accordance with the standard model of the time, which is now obsolete.

Today, the Earth is still flat.

Of course, we know it’s round in shape since we saw it with our own eyes as we stood on the Moon. What I mean by the Earth is flat, is that our perception of the shape of the Universe and of its evolution is as erroneous as pretending the Earth is flat. We know today that we cannot directly observe most of the matter composing our Universe, the dark matter. We know that our Universe is expanding, and that, counter to our physical laws, this expansion is accelerating. We have no idea of its shape or structure. Just plain hypothesis.

Since the large success of Starmap, I have been contacted by many users. Very modestly, among many others, my application has given them occasion to look at the stars and ask themselves some questions. Through the forthcoming articles, I will attempt to provide them with some keys, not for explaining our Universe, but to let them understand why we explain it the way we do.

Rephrasing a french saying … if you look for certainties, grow turnips, don’t look at the stars.

Some dates and milestones

2005YU55 is an asteroid that will fly closer to the Earth than the moon in the next few days, a so-called NEO (Near-Earth-Object) [USA-today].

According to USA Today, the asteroid is scheduled to fly between the Earth and the moon’s orbit Tuesday, Nov. 8. Such events are fortunately very rare. We expect the next object to be flying this close to us not to arrive until sometime in 2028.

The good news for Starmap and Spacemap users is that it is viewable in both of these applications, and Spacemap is the only iPad app to show the 2005 YU55′s orbit in 3D animation.

Starmap, a leader in astronomy applications, publishes this information on our iPhone and iPad apps.

Here is how to access it:
As Starmap catalogues contain 470,000 asteroids, these are not delivered by default with the application. However, updating the catalogue is quite easy. Go  the Settings, select Solar System, Asteroids, and select the package Main Belt. The Main Belt is a region between Mars and Jupiter occupied by  700,000 to 1.7 million asteroids. Not all of them are known of course.

Once Starmap has uploaded the asteroid package, go to the Search function, and look for 2005YU55.

[update, many users are downloading the asteroid catalogue  and there is a lot of traffic right now. In case of time-out, simply try again].

Astronomers are permanently surveying these objects. As you might notice in Spacemap, the asteroid is not flying really close to Earth when zooming. The truth is that the trajectories of such objects are quite erratic and our knowledge only of their paths is only partial. The average precision is the Moon-Earth distance. So when an object flies close the Moon orbit, it is very carefully monitored by Scientists.

For more scientific information, check the Minor Planet Center, NASA and Wikipedia.

Difficult answer, heavy responsibility…

My first recommendation would be: go for quality. I tried some cheap telescope (about 80$)  a friend of mine purchased on eBay and this was a real nightmare. Cheap and unstable mounts make observations a painful experience and give the false impression to beginners that observing is difficult… well … it can be difficult, but it should not be because of stability !

If your budget is limited to 100$, I would say, buy some nice binoculars and a stable tripod. You will see a lot already. If astronomy is not your thing after all, the binoculars will always serve for other purposes.

According to my experience, a good telescope for beginners,  is a Newton, with a focal length of  about 90 cm and an aperture of 10cm (the famous 114/900 type …). Its optics is simple and easy to tune. It will offer enough light to see many deep sky objects like galaxies or planetary nebulae. You will not be limited so fast.

As for the mount, I would choose an equatorial one. At first, beginners might feel a little disoriented as its axis of rotation should be aligned with the North (or South) pole. Be relaxed on this matter. It took me two hours to exactly align my telescope on Polaris the first time … but this was for astro-photography. If you want to observe Saturn for instance, just set the axis about to north, pointing about to Polaris. This will be sufficient ! I had my first Newton with twelve … so believe me, I know what observing with a badly aligned telescope means. And after all, finding Polaris and understanding the Earth rotation is part of the fun. And once aligned, even roughly , following a planet or the Moon for few minutes will be much easier as this only implies turning one axis wheel.

And what about auto alignment, motors, etc … ? Well, not everyone will agree with me, but I take the risk of a statement. I never saw any automatic alignment hardware working reliably and repeatedly. I have seen too many beginners being disappointed. So my message is “pointing by hand is the best way to learn the stars !”. Keep motors for astro-photography only and put your money into quality optics and mechanics rather than in what I consider as a gadget for beginners.

Finally, before buying your first telescope, why not attending to a star-gazing party ? There are astronomy clubs everywhere and getting your hands on a real telescope might be the best way to go further after all …

As I was testing the new Moon map of Starmap in real conditions, I’ve been surprised by how much there is to see there. Its geology and its formation are well illustrated by some of its surface structures, easily observable, even with binoculars. The spokes around the crater Tycho, sometimes as long as 1500 km, are amazing witness of catastrophic collisions. Seas and Oceans — or Mare — are ancient lava pools. But my favorite is certainly the Great Wall (Rupes Recta). Imagine a 100 long cliff, 300 meters high, and perfectly straight.

My point here is not to talk about the Moon formation, but how to use Starmap to re-discover it. Travelling on the lunar surface with a telescope and a paper map is not so easy. So, enter your optics configuration in Starmap and switch to the eye piece mode. Some optics are inverting the image, making the spotting even more difficult. Just swipe your finger vertically or horizontally to have Starmap exactly display what you see in real.

When you observe the Moon, the bottom menu will change. Beside the Moon catalogue, you will find the Moon Brightness slider. Adjust the brightness and contrast so that it reflects what you see in your eye-piece. I added this function after the first tests as the map was too bright for large magnifications, making any identification almost impossible. Matching the map to the real observation conditions is the key to successful observations. Then search for Rupes Recta in the catalogue and simply follow the yellow arrow.

Moon structures are best observed at the limit between light and shadow, at grazing incidence of light. Using the frontier as a start point, spotting a well identifiable structure helps a lot to know where you are — especially when changing your eye piece. The Moon Image in Starmap is a compound of many images taken near the light/shadow limit. So do not be surprised that when going away from the shadow, the contrast will decrease, compared to what Starmap shows you.

Try the map. This is an invitation to rediscover the Moon, and you will be amazed by how much you can see there !

PS: I am presently working on Moon librations for future releases.

Starmap is the perfect app for viewing the universe with realistic maps and detailed factual information. Based on the iPhone compass geo-location technology, Starmap Pro pinpoints your exact location and lets you view the sky in real-time, and zoom in/out on objects in the sky as you please. Starmap has several other features to enhance your space-viewing experience, including information and images on celestial objects, sky-gazing information specific to your area, and more. This application is perfect for the casual stargazer or the professional astronomer. Starmap Pro is available in iTunes for iPhone, iPad, and iTouch.

Spacemap takes you on a star voyage, beyond the Solar System, to the outer bounds of the known Universe. Beautiful animations, sound effects … but overall scientific precision. All known comets, asteroids and planets orbital paths are exactly rendered. 25 000 objects, like galaxies or stars can be located in this 3D model of the Universe. Even extraterrestrial planets and Objects that may collide with the Earth are included.