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Dryden was the visionary behind NASA's X-15 rocket plane and the Apollo program. Neil Armstrong was the one who flew the spacecraft Dryden envisioned

This is at least the third time since 2007 that the House of Representatives has tried to rename the NASA center after Armstrong

the bill now passed in the House, it will be referred on to the Senate for consideration

Dryden recommended to President John F. Kennedy that the goal of putting a man on the moon within 10 years was achievable and something the American people could rally behind

Neil Armstrong, flying with his Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, accomplished Kennedy's goal of landing on the moon

Armstrong died Aug. 25 at age 82 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures

Dryden was not able to see his dream become reality, as he died in 1965

honor both men's legacies by naming the Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong and the surrounding Test Range after Hugh Dryden

Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) based on the summit of Haleakala on the island of Maui

comet brightened ahead of expectations and was first picked up by an amateur astronomer on March 28th of last year

Comet PanSTARRS is already an impressive sight for southern hemisphere observers

Comet PanSTARRS will then begin curving northward during the last week of February

the comet has a hyperbolic orbit inclined 84.2° degrees relative to the ecliptic

On an 110,000+ year orbit, this is more than likely Comet PanSTARRS first journey through the inner solar system

Comet PanSTARRS will reach an altitude of greater than 5° at dusk for northern hemisphere observers based around 30° north latitude looking low to the southwest starting on March 5th.

The comet will then begin gaining altitude

Keep in mind, Daylight Saving Time begins

looking for the comet around 7:00 pm local on the first week of March, it’ll be at 8:00 pm on the second week

After gaining

elevation from our northern hemisphere vantage point

will then begin running roughly parallel to the western horizon on each successive evening for mid-northern latitude observers

This first half of March is also when Comet PanSTARRS will have the potential to appear at its brightest

best case scenario, we’ll have a comet with a -1st magnitude coma and a tail pointing straight up from the horizon like an exclamation point.

worst case situation, we’ll have a +3rd magnitude fuzzy comet only visible through binoculars

if you observe the comet on no other night, be sure to check it out on the evening of March 12-13th

will be joined by a slim crescent Moon just over a day old.

Comet PanSTARRS will then continue its trek northward

for the remainder of March

By May 1st, Comet PanSTARRS will have dipped back down below naked eye visibility

can be used to corroborate age estimates inferred by other means

In the past, analyses of globular clusters and the Hubble constant

yielded vastly different ages for the Universe, and were offset by billions of years

based on the microwave background and Hubble constant, but it must have formed soon after the big bang

Within the errors, the age of HD 140283 does not conflict with the age of the Universe, 13.77 ± 0.06 billion years

Metal-poor stars can be used to constrain the age of the Universe because metal-content is typically a proxy for age

Heavier metals are generally formed in supernova explosions, which pollute the surrounding interstellar medium.

Stars subsequently born from that medium are more enriched with metals than their predecessors

each successive generation becoming increasingly enriched

HD 140283 exhibits less than 1% the iron content of the Sun, which provides an indication of its sizable age.

had been used previously to constrain the age of the Universe, but uncertainties tied to its estimated distance (at that time) made the age determination somewhat imprecise

obtain a new and improved distance for HD 140283 using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), namely via the trigonometric parallax approach

distance uncertainty for HD 140283 was significantly reduced by comparison to existing estimates, thus resulting in a more precise age estimate for the star

The reliability of the age determined is likewise contingent on accurately determining the sample’s metal content

analyses of globular clusters and the Hubble constant yielded vastly different ages for the Universe

discrepant ages stemmed partly from uncertainties in the cosmic distance scale

determination of the Hubble constant relied on establishing (accurate) distances to galaxies

One of the key objectives envisioned for HST was to reduce uncertainties associated with the Hubble constant to <10%, thus providing an improved estimate for the age of the Universe

the mean implying an age near ~14 billion years

Determining a reliable age for stars in globular clusters is likewise contingent on the availability of a reliable distance

the study reaffirms that there are old stars roaming the solar neighborhood which can be used to constrain the age of the Universe