Sunday Stamps: Astronomy

Just looking around and found this special postcard from Ulrich. So I decided to write this post for Viridian´s Sunday Stamps.

Here the stamp itself, a bit bigger. It´s beautiful. 

The Horse-head Nebula is part of our Milky Way. Though the mist in the form of a horse's head is a deep dark cloud that absorbs all light, you can see it with a telescope - a silhouette in front of the glowing Orion Nebula.

And here the whole set:

A special feature is the tenant of the 55-cent stamps of the solar system in a sheet. The sun and the Milky Way combine both brands. The four special stamps were designed by the graphic artist Hans Werner Schmidt. Year of print 2011. 

Which one do you prefer?

JAPANESE ASTRONOMY

This week I have received a nice set of 10 used stamps from Sumie, from Japan.
These stamps were issued by Japan in March 2008, to commemorate the Astronomical Society of Japan’s centenary. They feature Jupiter, Saturn, a Spiral Galaxy, satellite ASTRO E-II, the Hayabusa probe which rendezvoused with near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa, the Subaru teleskope with Edge-On Galaxy, Mars and the Nobeyama radio Observatory. Below you can take a glance of the MS.

Relying on the fact that almost anyone knows something about planets, I searched a bit to know more about the other astronomical objects and tools.

Galaxies come in a variety of shapes, with the shapes depending in a way not yet completely understood on the evolution of the galaxies. More than half of all observed galaxies are spiral galaxies. 

A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy, originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as the bulge. These are surrounded by a much fainter halo of stars, many of which reside in globular clusters. Spiral galaxies are named for the spiral structures that extend from the center into the disk. The spiral arms are sites of ongoing star formation and are brighter than the surrounding disk because of the young, hot OB stars that inhabit them.
Sometime a galaxy is turned in space so that we see it edge on.  When this happens we often also see a dark line running down the center of the galaxy.  This is a concentration of cooler interstellar dust outlined against the brighter background made by the stars that comprise the galaxy. 

Suzaku (formerly Astro-E2) is a satellite for studying X-rays emitted by stars, galaxies, and black holes. It is a joint project between Japan and the US, and was launched on July 10, 2005. For those interested in learning more about this satellite please join Suzaku Learning Center.

Hayabusa was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa, to Earth for further analysis. See here the Mission Profile.


Subaru Telescope is the 8.2 metre flagship telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. Latest news here.


The Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) is a division of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and consists of three radio instruments located in Nobeyama, a village in the Japan Alps at an elevation of 1350m. Official website here.


So here I am "lost in space" with all these galaxies, observatories and nebulae. Just wonderful. This reminds me of a song from DUNE: Million miles away from home.

Title: Centenary of the Astronomical Society of Japan

Date of Issue: 21 March 2008

Country: Japan

Denominations: 10 x 80 Japanese Yen

Source: http://www.spaceandastronomystamps.com/jpn.xhtml

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY - CANADA

Since the dawn of time, we’ve looked to the sky for hints of our cosmic roots—our place in time and space. The celestial jewels above have been an oracle for religions, a muse for poets and a compass for explorers. They continue to form the basis of our calendars, our clocks and our seasons. Our modern world is clearly indebted to the contributions of the world’s astronomers.

On April 2, 2009 Canada Post issued two domestic rate (54-cent) stamps to celebrate 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy and recognize the significant role that Canadians have played in uncovering the mysteries of outer space.

Each stamp pairs an important Canadian observatory with a nebula. 

One stamp features the National Research Council’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO) in Saanich, BC. Completed in 1918, the DAO was the first Canadian observatory of international calibre and, for a brief period, it was the largest operating telescope in the world. It is pictured before the Horsehead Nebula, an evocative cloud of cold gas and dust silhouetted against bright, swirling gases in the constellation of Orion. View short film here: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/tours/tour-orion/

The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against another, brighter nebula IC434. The prominent horse head portion of the nebula is really just part of a larger cloud of dust which can be seen extending toward the bottom of the picture.

The other stamp features the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). This world-class 3.6 metre telescope is located atop the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano rising 4,200 metres above the Pacific Ocean. Opened in 1979, the highly-successful CFHT is Canada’s first partnership in an international observatory, in this case between the University of Hawaii, France’s Centre national de la recherche scientifique, and the National Research Council of Canada. The observatory is featured before the Eagle Nebula, a massive tower of cold gas and dust shaped like a mythical beast in the constellation of Serpens. The Eagle Nebula is a region of our galaxy where stars are currently forming out of dusty hydrogen gas. Ultraviolet light from newly-formed stars in the vicinity of the nebula is pumping energy into these gas clouds, causing them to glow in visible light. Find out more about its colours here: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/meaning_of_color/eagle.php

and a short movie with facts here:

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/tours/tour-m16/

These stamps are also included in the MS I have received from Kimberly.

In the background you can see the Carina Nebula. A Bok globule nicknamed the "caterpillar" appears in the middle upper part. Its glowing edge indicates that it is being photoionized by the hottest stars in the cluster. It has been hypothesized that stars may form inside such dusty cocoons. 


The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is the only international Mauna Kea observatory belonging to Hawai`i as well as to its two other international partners, Canada and France. CFHT played a leading role in establishing Mauna Kea as one of the best astronomical sites in the world. Canada's participation in the CFHT project has also been a very important step in the development of the Canadian astronomical community and placed Canada at the forefront of the international scene.


More astronomical images by CFHT can be found at: www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/HawaiianStarlight.html

Title: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY
Date of Issue: 2 April 2009
Country: Canada
Denominations: 2 x 54 cents
Source: http://www.canadapost.ca