Memorial Day Skywatching: See the Half Moon Pass Mars

Monday evening bring us a first quarter moon, offering U.S. skywatchers a chance to close out the Memorial Day holiday with a lunar treat and the fading planet Mars.

The first quarter moon is also sometimes called the "half" moon, although as darkness falls across North America close inspection with binoculars or a small telescope may reveal that there is actually a little more than half of the moon illuminated by the sun. That's because the actual moment of first quarter occurred earlier in the afternoon at 4:16 p.m. EDT or 1:16 p.m. PDT (2016 GMT). 

When it gets sufficiently dark you'll also take notice of a rather bright yellow-orange star appearing well above and a bit to the moon's left. That’s not a star, however, but a once brilliant planet that continues to ebb in brightness: Mars. Look for this colorful world shining high in the southwest during dusk and lower in the west-southwest as night grows late.

Mars will remain prominent all evening, despite the fact that it will continue to slowly fade in the days and weeks to come as it gradually pulls away from the Earth. When the moon passes it by on Monday, it will still be shining at a respectable magnitude +0.5, which is just a trifle dimmer than the ruddy star Betelgeuse in Orion. [Amazing Pictures of Mars]

Astronomers measure the brightness of objects in the sky on a magnitude scale. The lower an object's magnitude number, the brighter it appears in the night sky. Small digits and negative number magnitudes denote the brightest night sky objects.

By the end of June, Mars will have faded fourth-tenths of a magnitude, to +0.9 (remember the higher the number, the fainter the object), making it just a bit brighter than Spica, the brightest star in the Virgo constellation. By that time its position will be about midway between Spica and the planet Saturn to its east and the bluish 1st-magnitude star Regulus in Leo to its west.  

But Mars will then be edging toward Spica and Saturn and will have a striking interaction with those two objects later in the summer.

On June 21, Mars will leave the boundaries of Leo, where it has resided since the beginning of February, and moves into Virgo. On the North American evening of June 28, Mars will pass just 15 arc minutes – 0.25 degrees – south of the 3.8-magnitude star, Beta Virginis. To get an idea of how close that is, that’s one-half the apparent width of the moon. 

Because Mars soon comes to eastern quadrature – a point in the sky that is 90 degrees east of the sun – on June 7, it should now appear distinctly gibbous in even a very small telescope. Most amateur telescopes won’t be showing any substantial detail on Mars; in fact by the end of June its apparent diameter will have shrunk to 6.6 arc seconds, which is less than half the size Mars appeared to us in early March when it was closest to earth at 62.6 million miles (100.7 million kilometers) away.  In contrast, by Jun. 30, Mars will have receded to a distance of 131.8 million miles (212.1 million km) from us.

But at least we have a spacecraft heading for the Red Planet that is drawing near! 

The Mars Science Laboratory, which launched in November 2011, is carrying the 1-ton Curiosity rover which is scheduled to land on the Martian surface early on Aug. 6 to begin a two-year prime mission. Curiosity's landing site is near the base of a mountain inside Gale Crater, near the Martian equator. Researchers plan to use Curiosity to study layers in the mountain that hold evidence about wet environments of early Mars. 

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing picture of the moon and Mars that you'd like to be considered for use in a story or gallery, please send images and comments to SPACE.com managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Spring's Greening Seen from Space

With the onset of spring comes first the buds on trees and then the riot of green leaves, which is so pervasive it can even be seen from space.

NASA's Aqua satellite took this new image of the Piedmont, a forested plateau between the Appalachians and the lower elevation plains along the U.S. Atlantic coast, on April 7 with its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument.

The Appalachian Mountains themselves are still colored brown because trees at higher, and thus cooler, altitudes were likely still in bloom and had not yet begun to produce leaves, according to a NASA statement.

The appearance of spring leaves has become an important tool for determining how the start of spring has changed over time. Blooming flowers and other signs of spring, such as bird migrations, have been edging ever earlier in recent decades as climate change brings warmer temperatures earlier.

Combined with observations on the ground, satellite measurements of spring greening can help scientists better study the effects of global warming. Research by Mark D. Schwartz, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, that marries these two types of observations has found that the onset of spring has moved up by 1.1 days per decade in North America since 1960, according to a NASA statement. Change has been particularly fast in the west, where it has advanced by 1.5 days per decade.

Schwartz said this year's spring greening was "exceptionally early," not surprising given the unusually warm weather experienced by much of the country this winter and the summer-like temperatures that have popped up early this spring.

Of course, not all plant species benefit from the warmer temperatures; some tree species need the cold of winter to grow properly come spring. A study of satellite observations from 1982 to 2005 found that about 30 percent of North America — particularly areas south of 35 degrees north latitude — have actually been greening later due to the lack of cool winters.

This article was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site of SPACE.com.

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Weather forecast delays shuttle's arrival to NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — The space shuttle Enterprise's scheduled arrival in New York City has been pushed back because of possible bad weather.

NASA says Monday's planned arrival of the shuttle has been postponed "until further notice."

The Enterprise is being brought to the city where it has a new permanent home waiting at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

NASA managers are monitoring weather forecasts and will reschedule the shuttle's flight as soon as possible.

The plan is to fly the shuttle atop a carrier aircraft to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. It will be moved by barge to the Intrepid museum for public display.

The museum is at a decommissioned aircraft carrier moored off Manhattan. It's been making room for the shuttle on its flight deck.

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Alaska Northern Lights Expedition Wants Your Help to Find Science Balloons

Want to tramp around in Alaska's backcountry, do a good deed for science and snag a free high-definition camera at the same time? If so, a team of northern lights researchers has a job for you.

Members of an expedition called Project Aether: Aurora lofted nearly two dozen instrument-laden weather balloons toward central Alaska's dazzling northern lights displays during the first two weeks of April. The researchers were able to retrieve all but six of the fallen payloads before they had to leave Alaska this past weekend.

They want your help in getting those six payloads back, and they're willing to pay for it. If you find one of the balloons, you get to keep the GoPro camera that launched with it — as long as you send in the SD memory card, along with the payload's GPS device.

Retrieving a balloon won't be easy. While all of them were launched from the vicinity of Fairbanks, the remaining six fell back to Earth in rugged and remote areas that the Project Aether: Aurora team didn't have time to get to. [Photo Journal: Alaska Northern Lights Expedition]

Still interested? Expedition leader Ben Longmier, a plasma physicist at the University of Houston and chief research scientist at Ad Astra Rocket Co., gave SPACE.com the go-ahead to publish the latitude and longitude coordinates of the six payloads' current locations:

1. 65.90440 degrees north, 146.67557 degrees west

2. 65.12816 degrees north, 147.88901 degrees west

3. 65.06421 degrees north, 148.50345 degrees west

4. 65.13792 degrees north, 148.53404 degrees west

5. 64.89979 degrees north, 148.54439 degrees west

6. 64.62183 degrees north, 148.47850 degrees west

Payload No. 3, just northwest of Fairbanks, is the team's highest priority, Longmier said, because it was launched into a particularly stunning northern lights show. (This balloon also carried a SPACE.com T-shirt high into Earth's atmosphere, if that sweetens the pot any. If you find the shirt, feel free to keep it — but please send us a photo.)

Payload No. 4 is the second-highest recovery priority. Number 6 doesn't have a camera, but Longmier said he'd provide a GoPro to anyone who returns that payload's GPS device. He also threw a further piece of mystery and intrigue into the mix.

"One of these payloads contains a Le Petit Prince action figure," Longmier told SPACE.com via email. "The person to recover the payload that contains the Le Petit Prince will receive a special GoPro accessories package. Le Petit is a brave explorer, but he is becoming cold, lonely, and waiting in the darkness surrounded by wolves and other wild Alaskan animals. Please bring him back soon!"

To give you a better idea of what you're looking for, Longmier provided a brief description of the fallen balloons.

"They contain a mixture of GPS [equipment], parachutes, PVC, carbon fiber and modified GoPro cameras," he said. "The most notable feature of the payloads is the bright orange and white 36-inch-diameter parachute, and the burst 3- to 4-foot-long white latex balloon."

Project Aether: Aurora modified its GoPro cameras to make them work better in low-light conditions. If you recover a payload but would like a "normal" GoPro, Longmier said he'd exchange with you. In any case, recovery teams should contact him at blongmier@uh.edu for shipping details.

The expedition launched a variety of other instruments along with the cameras in an effort to gain a unique perspective on the northern lights. Project Aether: Aurora also aims to inspire schoolkids all over the world to get more interested in science, technology and math, and ultimately to consider a career in these fields.

The team hopes it captured stunning aurora footage that will help catch students' eyes, and it's working with GoPro to get these images out to the public.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Manhattan Project scientist Cowan dies at 92

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Devoted to finding a way for science to help society, not much escaped the influence of chemist George Cowan. From the Manhattan Project and the hunt for evidence of the Soviet Union's first nuclear tests, to the Santa Fe Institute and the iconic Santa Fe Opera, friends recalled the fruits of his visionary ways.

Cowan died Friday at his home in Los Alamos. He was 92.

Friends confirmed his death to The Associated Press, saying it was the result of a fall at his home. Cowan was in good health and was planning to travel and continue working with the nonprofit science institute that he helped found in 1984.

"It's very sudden, very unexpected. An enormous loss," said close friend and institute co-founder David Pines. "The world is diminished for all of us who knew him."

Cowan worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for nearly 40 years. He started in 1949 as a scientist and went on to serve as a director of chemistry and as associate lab director of research.

After doing graduate studies at Princeton, Cowan continued his nuclear research as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. According to the Santa Fe Institute, Cowan was a troubleshooter for the effort at various research sites around the country and was among the few people who had knowledge of the bomb's separate components.

Cowan arrived at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1949 and within weeks began directing efforts to turn up radioactive fallout in samples that were collected near the Soviet border. What Cowan and his team detected indicated the Soviets were in possession of a nuclear bomb.

Cowan was considered one of the world's experts on nuclear weapons diagnostics by 1956, according to a biography from the lab.

"We can truly say that our country lost a true hero today," former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said in a statement. "He cannot be replaced, but let's hope he left footprints for us to follow."

Cowan was appointed to the White House Science Council during the Reagan administration.

It was during one of his meetings with the council that he looked around the room and thought about the need to educate the next generation of scientists to ensure the government would continue to have a valuable cadre of advisers.

Conversations about the formation of the Santa Fe Institute followed, some of them being held in the director's conference room on the fourth floor at Los Alamos Lab.

"He was a superb judge of people," said Pines. "He had a real instinct for who was a promising scientist and who was not and this was invaluable to him as he became a manager at Los Alamos."

Bill Enloe, chief executive of Los Alamos National Bank, which was founded by Cowan, said the chemist had a unique ability to lead people.

"It was not by intimidation or by position. It was because what he said made so much sense," Enloe said. "He accomplished a great deal because people were anxious to help and work with him."

Enloe ticked off a list of Cowan's accomplishments that ranged from his scientific accolades and the start of the scientific think tank to the early childhood development programs in New Mexico that he helped influence.

Then there was Cowan's love of travel, food, wine and music. He sat on the board of the Santa Fe Opera and was the first treasurer of the opera's foundation.

Pines recalled the story Cowan had told him about his role in helping preserve the opera, a venue that today draws thousands of visitors from around the world to its unique outdoor stage.

"He managed to get a loan for them from the bank that tied them over," Pines said. "Otherwise the Santa Fe Opera would have gone under many, many years ago."

Officials at the Santa Fe Opera downplayed the suggestion that the organization was ever on the financial ropes, but they said Cowan was a terrific asset to the opera while he served on the board.

Friends used words such as intelligent and practical to describe Cowan, who lived in the same modest home on Los Alamos' 42nd Street since first moving there with his wife decades ago. His wife, Helen "Satch" Dunham, was also a chemist. She died last year and the couple had no children.

Cowan was a philanthropist, having given most of his wealth to charitable causes that he was passionate about, Enloe said.

"He had a large impact on a lot of people," he said.

___

Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM

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Unique 'Green' Service Brings Organic to the Masses

Interest in eating healthy is growing, but accessing locally sourced or organic foods isn't always easy, especially for those living in the inner city or far flung rural communities.

That dilemma presented Matt Ewer and his wife, Elizabeth Blessing, with a business idea. They are co-founders of Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, an online home delivery service that's making it easier than ever for Midwest residents to eat healthy — all year round.

According the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly 5 percent of all food now purchased is organic and more than half of organic food is purchased in traditional grocery or big box stores. It's no longer the domain of health food stores. Still, it's not always easy for people in cities or rural communities to get find it and that's where Green B.E.A.N. Delivery comes in.

The company brings locally grown organic produce and natural groceries directly to consumer's homes in six Midwestern cities. By connecting Midwest food producers with Midwest communities through its year-round home delivery service, the company has created a sustainable network promoting the health of the community, local economy and the environment. More than 10,000 familiesuse Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, the company said.

"We deliver organic produce and natural groceries directly to our members' doorsteps," Ewer said. "Our company makes healthy, local and sustainably grown foods convenient, affordable and accessible to Midwest communities, while providing an avenue for local artisans and farmers to share their food crafts with the local community."

B.E.A.N is an acronym for the larger initiatives the company is pushing forward: Biodynamic, Education, Agriculture and Nutrition. Green B.E.A.N. Delivery has spawned several sister companies that have been developed to strengthen its multi-faceted approach to advocating sustainability within our current food systems.

Those include: Tiny Footprint Distribution, which distributes locally sourced products to retail establishments, Farm to Kitchen Foods, which sells healthy, shelf stable food with a focus on local and organic ingredients, Break Room Bins, which provides healthy food options for people in the workplace and The Feel Good Farm, which is Green B.E.A.N. Delivery's own certified organic, 60-acre farm in Sheridan, Ind.

BusinessNewsDaily asked Ewer to tell us a little bit more about his successful venture and how his original idea has blossomed into a variety of new businesses.

BusinessNewsDaily: How long have you been in business?

Matt Ewer: My wife, Elizabeth Blessing, and I founded the company in early 2007 and currently service areas of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

BND: Did you have a formal business plan or did your business just evolve naturally?

M.E.: I did have a business plan, but in the same breath, there has been a lot of natural evolution from 2007 to present. There was no blueprint for me to follow, so there has been a good deal of trial and error, creativity and, of course, very hard work. We have been fortunate enough to accumulate an incredible set of employees that share in our vision. They have made our company’s vision come to fruition.

[Do you feel 'green guilt'? You're not alone.]

BND: Either way, how close has your business stayed to what you originally envisioned it to be?

M.E.: I often get the question if I expected our company to be where it is today. My short and sweet answer is absolutely. We are on track with what my wife and I envisioned when we started Green B.E.A.N Delivery. That being said, we are at the tip of the iceberg. There is so much for our team to achieve. Right now, I am focused on the agricultural side of our company. We are sowing seeds for the future and establishing "The Feel Good Farm" as a leader in Midwest sustainable agriculture.

My main focus for Green B.E.A.N. Delivery is my favorite department, human resources. We are working to make sure that the success of our company is built through solid design and well thought out technique when it comes to the relationship between employer and employees.

BND: How did you finance your statup?

M.E.: The most important thing that I did to help finance my company is making sure that I understood the business I was entering before I started my company. I took out a very small business loan to start the company and made sound decisions along our growth curve. We are very thankful for the support of the community of Indianapolis. Our members have enabled us to create a dynamic food company. We will continue to diversify our services to the community and educate them about the importance of eating healthy and supporting family farms.

BND: How much did you invest?

M.E.: Everything that I have, both financially and mentally. And, now that we have the farm, you can throw physically in there, as well. At this point, we are investing in the business. We have put everything the company has generated back into the company or the individuals that make the company grow and keep improving.

BND: If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently when starting your business?

M.E.: I wouldn't change anything. Everyone makes mistakes and I have learned from the ones I have made as a company owner. I have learned from mistakes I almost made. I have also learned from our successes and the employees I work with every day. I started the company slow and took a grass roots approach. I have basically performed every position. Now that the company is larger, my managers are starting to teach me lessons about their departments. That is rewarding and shows the power of the culture we have built and are continuing to build upon. I believe that running a company follows a certain evolution. That is often times accompanied by a personal evolution. I learn from my company each day and feel fortunate to have this lesson in my life.

BND: What's your best advice for someone with a great business idea who wants to give it a shot?

M.E.: Have passion for what you choose or don't bother. You have to love your industry and you have to understand why you are entering that mode of business. What impact does it have on community? And, what about that business is going to drive you and the decisions you are going to need to make?

Owning your own business is difficult. There is an endless amount of responsibility and you cannot escape your own business. Love what you do and live what you love. If you have that in you, then go for it. Make conscious decisions and fight your way into the market. Otherwise, continue to clock in and clock out.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

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GSK pounces on Human Genome with $2.6 billion bid

LONDON (Reuters) - Human Genome Sciences has rejected an unsolicited bid worth around $2.6 billion from long-time partner GlaxoSmithKline, marking a new takeover battle in a drugs sector recently swept by M&A activity.

The U.S. pioneer of gene-based drug discovery, which sells a new drug for lupus with GSK, said on Thursday the offer of $13 per share, made in a letter on April 11, did not reflect the value inherent in the company.

It has hired Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to help explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. GSK has been invited to participate in that process.

The Rockville, Maryland-based firm was formed 20 years ago with the mission to isolate genes and identify their function in order to develop new drugs. Over the years it has had a rollercoaster ride as hopes for its drugs have waxed and waned.

GSK's offer represents an 81 percent premium to its closing stock price of $7.17 on Wednesday. However, that is still well below the $30 touched a year ago and investors are hoping for more, with the shares doubling to $14.20 by 1930 GMT.

Britain's biggest drugmaker said the rebuff was disappointing as its offer would give investors "immediate and certain value" superior to what Human Genome could achieve as a standalone company.

GSK chief executive Andrew Witty wrote to Human Genome boss Tom Watkins on April 11 setting out the proposal, saying he was prepared to commence a cash tender offer with no financing or due diligence condition.

Buying Human Genome would give GSK full rights to partnered drugs, which include not only Benlysta - the first new drug for lupus in half a century - but also promising experimental drugs for heart disease and diabetes.

Many drugmakers are seeking to do deals to bolster their pipelines, as older products go off patent, and GSK's readiness to buy Human Genome is a sign of confidence in the drugs that the companies have been developing together.

GSK also expects $200 million in cost synergies by 2015, with the acquisition boosting earnings from 2013.

"WHITE KNIGHT" UNLIKELY

Cowen & Co analyst Eric Schmidt said GSK was likely to seal a deal in the end.

"The 81 percent premium versus yesterday's close is a big number, and I'm sure GSK is likely to pay a little bit more to get the deal done. I think it's very likely to be sold to GSK at around $15 or so a share," Schmidt said.

"I doubt anyone else will come in. It's going to be hard for another company to pay that sort of a premium not having the inside scoop on Benlysta or on anything else these two companies are collaborating on."

Tim Anderson of Bernstein said outside interest in Human Genome's drugs was possible but any other non-GSK acquirer would only get partial control, which could deter bidders.

Barclays analysts also see no "white knight" counter-bidder on the horizon, even though the deals between GSK and Human Genome have no tricky change-of-control clauses.

GSK has long been rumoured as a potential acquirer of Human Genome, since it has been in partnership with the firm since 1993 and is already collaborating on a number of medicines.

Still, the decision to pull the trigger on a takeover attempt may surprise some investors because GSK management has tended not to buy out partners it is working with in the past.

BEYOND BENLYSTA

Analysts said GSK clearly saw value beyond Benlysta.

The two companies are also collaborating on a high-profile experimental heart drug called darapladib, which is in Phase III development, and albiglutide for diabetes, which could be filed for approval late this year or early in 2013.

Mark Clark, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said darapladib was the biggest ticket pipeline opportunity, with up to $10 billion annual sales potential, although researchers will not know if it actually works until key trial results in 2013 or 2014.

Benlysta, which is subject to a 50:50 profit share deal between the two companies, has got off to a slow start but is still seen as having potential sales of $2.15 billion by 2016, according to consensus forecasts from Thomson Reuters Pharma. A year or so ago investors had been hoping for $3-4 billion.

Despite disappointment about Benlysta sales to date, investors are likely to be emboldened in thinking they can get a better price for their Human Genome shares by recent developments that show Big Pharma's hunger for biotech assets.

Only on Wednesday, Illumina Inc saw off a $6.8 billion bid from Roche Holding AG.

Roche, too, chose to make an unsolicited offer after Illumina shares had fallen back and Sanofi SA took the same approach in its successful acquisition of Genzyme for $20.1 billion last year.

Human Genome said it had asked for more information from GSK about progress with the experimental drugs the two companies have worked on together, including darapladib and albiglutide.

GSK, which is being advised by Lazard and Morgan Stanley, said the plan to acquire Human Genome would not affect its intention to repurchase between 1 billion and 2 billion pounds ($1.6-3.2 billion) in shares in 2012.

Shares in the British-based drugmaker rose nearly 1 percent. ($1 = 0.6238 British pounds)

(Additional reporting by Sophie Sassard, with Lewis Krauskopf and Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by David Cowell and Gunna Dickson)

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