27 August 2008

THE SKY’S NOT THE LIMIT FOR CANADIANS

Amateur astronomers win time on the MOST space telescope

Two Canadian amateur stargazers will trade in their backyard telescopes for one above their backyards... 820 kilometres above their backyards.

Last year, the MOST team created an opportunity to make MOST mean "My Own Space Telescope". Amateur astronomers and students across Canada were invited to submit proposals for science to be done from orbit. The MOST Science Team has just selected the first two winners: David Gamey, from Toronto, who inspires his Scout packs to look to the stars, and Gordon Sarty, from Saskatoon, whose day job is to peer into the human brain.

“It’s like a cosmic version of the Olympics,” says MOST Mission Scientist Dr. Jaymie Matthews. “The Beijing Olympics had the slogan “One World, One Dream.” Our slogan could be “One Universe, Many Dreams”. Ordinary Canadians have proven themselves to be gold medallists reaching a podium which rises to the stars.”

David Gamey chose as his MOST target one of the brightest stars in Canada's winter night sky, a red supergiant about 800 times bigger than the Sun. The name of the star, Betelgeuse, may not look familiar, but when you hear it spoken aloud, you'll recognise it as the title of the movie "Beetlejuice". Gamey, an amateur astronomer who teaches basic astronomy to Cubs, Scouts and youth groups, found that Betelgeuse (in the shoulder of the constellation Orion the Hunter) is one of the most popular stars he talks about in his training sessions.

"Cubs are fascinated by this bright star, asking questions like: When will it explode? Will our Sun turn into a supergiant like Betelgeuse? Does it have any planets?" says Gamey. "In a way, Canadian kids are my collaborators on this proposal, because Betelgeuse means something to them. It's a perfect candidate to bridge the curiosities of young people and scientists through the amazing capabilities of MOST."

Betelgeuse is near the end of its life, and this star has lived that life in the fast lane, with a life span maybe less than a hundredth of the Sun's. "MOST will look for subtle vibrations in Betelgeuse that can tell astronomers its true mass and age," explains Professor. Matthews. The space telescope will also check for spots at the surface of the star. "It's the stellar equivalent of acne," jokes Matthews. "Or maybe liver spots, since this star is in its senior years. We'll be conducting a medical examination of a star in its last millennia before dying in a supernova explosion."

Gordon Sarty's proposal has a title that sounds like something a real rocket scientist would write: "Spins and Orbital Debris in the Microquasar LS 5039."

Picture a hot star - 23 times more massive than our Sun - locked in an orbit with a black hole. The winds of gas from the star (like the much gentler solar wind that triggers the Northern Lights) spiral toward the black hole and their death cries emerge as gamma rays. LS 5039 is called a microquasar because it looks like a miniature version of a quasar: a black hole in the centre of a distant galaxy. Understanding LS 5039 - practically our neighbour compared to quasars billions of light years distant - may help us understand the very first galaxies that formed soon after the Big Bang.

“My 5-year-old daughter Darien gave me a hug when I told her the news that I’d been selected,” says Sarty, a member of the Saskatoon Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and an expert on brain activity and MRI at the University of Saskatchewan. Sarty has been an amateur astronomer since he was 9 years old watching the Moon landings. “I’ve been observing variable stars for almost twenty years using a homemade telescope and my eyeball,” explains Sarty. “It feels like a step up - way up - to observe a microquasar with Canada’s space telescope.”

Sarty suggested that MOST could look for the subtle dimming of light as knots of gas pass in front of the LS 5039 star en route to oblivion. MOST data will enable scientists to use LS 5039 as a cosmic laboratory to study how gas is transferred from an ordinary star to a black hole, and how the star's magnetic field affects that escaping gas, teaching us lessons about our own Sun and its solar wind.

The MOST Science Team also gave an "Honourable Mention" to Jocelyn Larouche, of Jonquiere, Quebec, who proposed that MOST monitor a star located in front of a rich star-forming nebula, a cloud of gas and dust where stars are being born. His proposal to search for planets around this star would be a long shot (astronomical odds, so to speak) so it was not selected this time. According to Matthews, "This star may be an intriguing target for future space missions, and Jocelyn deserves recognition for his insight and imagination."

Professor Matthews considers this initiative a win-win situation for Canadian science. "It’s a great way to help the public relate to space research. And the quality of the proposals means that it has actually expanded the scientific potential of Canada's space telescope in directions we as the designers never imagined."

There were other worthy proposals, which are still in the running for the future. The door remains open for other aspiring skygazers from across Canada to submit ideas for the MOST space telescope. Just use the “MOST = My Own Space Telescope” link on our welcome page to find helpful on-line submission tools.