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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Roseburg shooting victim describes gunman's rampage ... Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise walls and hope for Medford family ... Gold Hill residents say city dawdled as streets flooded ... Roseburg shooting victim describes gunman's rampage ... Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise walls and hope for Medford family ... Gold Hill residents say city dawdled as streets flooded ... Looking Up: Amazing age of discovery Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News By Peter Becker More Content Now These are truly exciting times to live. We know this on many levels, and one way is to consider the quick pace of discovery taking place as space probes launched from Earth continue to explore the solar system. On March 6, 2015, the first spacecraft to visit Ceres went into orbit around the asteroid. This is only four months away when another NASA mission, New Horizons, is due to pass close to Pluto after a nine-year voyage. The Dawn probe has already orbited the asteroid Vesta and greatly increased our knowledge of that body. This is the first time a space probe has visited, and orbited two solar system bodies (other than Earth and the moon). Much more surely lies ahead as Dawn’s instruments study Ceres. Just a few months ago, a spacecraft actually landed on a comet nucleus. As we look out at the night sky, we can still ponder the vastness and how incredible it is we are a part of a great universe far beyond our attempts at full comprehending. It is amazing to think we have had men walking on the moon and when we see the small red-orange speck in the sky we call Mars, there are robotic rovers at work and orbiting probes looking down on the Martian surface. Hopefully we are not distracted if we are tempted to be a little triumphant. We have been to the ocean’s floor and reached the poles; we have climbed the Earth’s highest peaks and encountered life forms unimaginable at one time, in all corners of our world. Yet there is ample room for humility, as we find more questions than answers and sometimes have to refigure what we thought we knew. Ceres, the largest asteroid, is nearly 590 miles wide and thus just over a third the size of Earth’s moon. It is the only object in the astroid belt that has been rounded by its own gravity. In fact it has been termed a “dwarf planet” as is Pluto. Astronomers would like to know if Ceres, long ago, wandered to its present orbit from far out in the Kuiper Belt, a vast outer region of the solar system beyond Neptune, which has numerous small rocky bodies. Pluto is one of them. The cratered surface revealed by Dawn’s camera shows amazing bright spots on Ceres. These are speculated to be sunlight reflecting off exposed ice. You can actually go outside at night and see Ceres, as well as other asteroids, for yourself. The brightest of the asteroids are easily viewed with binoculars. They will appear as dim stars, with no apparent motion. If you go back out over subsequent nights, however, you will be able to track the asteroid’s path in front of the background stars. Sky and Telescope and Astronomy are two popular magazines which often print star charts when a bright asteroid is in good position for viewing. It will take some practice, if you are relatively new to binocular astronomy. First you should learn the constellations. From there you work your way closer, identifying the area of the sky you want, and with the chart you can pick out the patterns of dim stars to point the way to the asteroid. The same method works for tracking down a star cluster, a distant galaxy or comet that happens to become visible. There is no limit to personal discovery awaiting you the next clear night. Enjoy the view! New moon is on March 20. Keep looking up! MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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