Astronomy Without A Telescope – How To Impress An Alien (Or Not)
Aerial view of the 300 metre diameter Arecibo radio telescope dish
It's about fifty years since Frank Drake sent out our first chat request to the wider universe. I say about as I think the official date is 11 April 1960 – but I notice a lot of fifty year anniversary blogs and interviews are already being published, so what the heck, I'm not waiting either.(...)
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Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: March 19-21, 2010
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! As one hemisphere warms, another cools… and so our passion for astronomy can sometimes wax and wane. Why not rekindle your viewing spirit by enjoying some lunar targets this weekend? If you don't think identifying lunar features with a small pair of binoculars is exciting – then think on this: Using the most simple form of optics, you are viewing details on a distant world that's a quarter of a million miles away! So what are you waiting for? Get out your binoculars and get ready to enjoy… and I'll see you in the backyard. (...)
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Equinox Sky Show
NASA Science News for March 19, 2010
Grab your binoculars. The crescent Moon and the Pleiades star cluster are gathering for a beautiful close encounter on the first night of northern Spring.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/19mar_equinox.htm?list1035898
Finally, a
Artist’s impression of Corot-9b. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior that closely resembles Jupiter and Saturn. “This is a normal, temperate exoplanet just like dozens we already know, but this is the first whose properties we can study in depth,” said Claire Moutou, who is part of the international team of 60 astronomers that made the discovery. “It is bound to become a Rosetta stone in exoplanet research.”
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Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Launch April 19
Illustration of the X-37 Advanced Technology Demonstrator during flight. Credit: NASA
It's cute. It's little. It's also top secret. The X-37B orbital test vehicle is at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the word is that it will be launched on board an Atlas V rocket on Monday April 19, 2010 at around 10 pm EDT. Other than that, the Air Force isn't saying much about this mini-space shuttle look-alike. The reusable unmanned vehicle is capable of staying in orbit for 270 days, but the mission duration hasn't been announced. Additionally, the ship has a payload bay for experiments and deployable satellites, but no word if any payloads will be included on the inaugural flight of this mini space plane.
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The Multiplying Mystery of Moonwater
NASA Science News for March 18, 2010
Researchers who once confidently stated that the Moon was bone-dry are now thinking the unthinkable: The Moon has so much water, there's actually a "lunar hydrosphere." International spacecraft have recently discovered no fewer than three "flavors" of moonwater and no one knows when the discoveries will end.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/18mar_moonwater.htm?list1035898
Did the Chilean Quake Shift Earth's Axis?
NASA Science News for March 11, 2010
Widespread press reports have noted that February's Chilean earthquake might have shortened Earth's day by a small amount. Today's story from Science@NASA explores a more significant effect---how the quake might have shifted Earth's axis.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/11mar_figureaxis.htm?list1035898
Spirit's Journey to the Center of Mars
NASA Science News for February 24, 2010
NASA's venerable Mars rover Spirit is starting a second career as an explorer of the Martian core--but first it must survive the perilous Martian winter.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/24feb_martiancore.htm?list1035898
The Coma Berenicid Meteor Shower Peaks
Awake during the wee hours of the morning? Try heading outdoors for awhile to watch for the "guess-timated" peak of the Coma Berenicid meteor shower on the morning of January 19. It might not be the most prolific meteor shower on record and this might not be the perfect peak, but this year's presence is making headlines! (...)
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Annular Eclipse Photos, Videos From Earth and Space
Caption: Annular solar eclipse on January 15, 2009. Courtesy Daniel Fischer, "cosmos4u" on Twitter.
The first of two solar eclipses to occur in 2010 took place Friday, January 15. This was an annular eclipse, which means the Sun was not totally covered by the Moon, creating a "ring of fire." The eclipse was visible from a 300-km-wide track that passed over central Africa, across the Indian Ocean, over the southern tip of India and the northern end of Sri Lanka, and then across parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar. At the center of the track, the eclipse endured for 11 minutes and eight seconds, setting a record that won't be beaten until December 23, 3043. Weather cooperated in many regions, allowing good viewing conditions. Here are a few images and videos from Daniel Fischer, who was in Varkala, India, and another group who calls themselves Eclipse Hunt 2010 crew were in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The image above is from Fischer, who said via Twitter that his travels to view the eclipse was a total success. "Deep blue sky, not a single cloud all day, photo plans worked."
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If Phoenix Arises, Science could flow quickly
Caption: This mosaic assembled from Phoenix images shows the spacecraft's three landing legs and patches of water ice exposed by the landing thrusters. Splotches of Martian material on the landing leg strut at left could be liquid saline-water. Larger version on Spaceflightnow.com .Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, NASA/JPL/UA/Max Planck Institute and Spaceflightnow.com.
If the miraculous happens and contact is unexpectedly re-established with NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, science could flow almost instantly if the ships vital operating systems are healthy. Indeed a science plan could be swiftly put in place after determining the condition of the lander, says Doug McCuiston, director of Mars Exploration at NASA Headquarters. McCuiston explained to me in an interview that the initial science would be “a surface change and atmospheric imaging campaign that could begin nearly immediately. In that instance, if the cameras are operable it is easy to begin an imaging campaign with real-time planning”.(...)
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Astronomy Without A Telescope – Getting Orientated
We’ve all been there. You’ve met someone nice – but for some inexplicable reason, they don’t get astronomy. So how do you start gently introducing them to your life’s passion (about astronomy that is) without scaring them away?
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NASA Science News for January 15, 2010
Last year, when NASA's IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) spacecraft discovered a giant ribbon at the edge of the solar system, researchers were mystified. They called it a "shocking result" and puzzled over its origin. Now the mystery may have been solved.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/15jan_ibex2.htm?list1035898
NASA Science News for January 14, 2010
NASA's next great observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, is designed to study stars and galaxies. Astronomers are beginning to realize, however, that Webb will make a great planet hunter too.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/14jan_planetsafari.htm?list1035898