August 16, 2008
August 14, 2008
Goldilocks' Solar System
Computer simulations are of questionable value. Garbage in, garbage out. But this one is interesting because it says our solar system, like Goldilocks' porridge, is just right.
Via Instapundit
August 08, 2008
Jewel Box
August 03, 2008
New home away from home
The confirmation this week of liquid water on Mars may not be startling but it's a solid boost:
"Mars has become a much more attractive location for the establishment of earthly life. That knowledge will help in the refinement of plans for settling the planet in a self-sufficient way, whenever those who wish to do so can somehow raise the money to get there."
Government's bean counters will decide, for now, until private enterprise can figure how to make money off it.
July 30, 2008
Space Station become a spaceship?
It makes more sense to park the ISS in orbit around the moon, rather than let it burn up in the atmosphere after the space shuttles retire in 2010. Otherwise it'd just be another American space effort gone for naught, despite billions spent and years of work and tragedy. But Rand Simberg says it's a bright idea without a future. More likely, the Russians and Europeans might buy the thing.
July 29, 2008
The start of something big
July 27, 2008
Pinwheel galaxy
Almost twice the size of our Milky Way, M-101, shown here in infrared, is about twenty-five million light years away in the Big Dipper.
July 25, 2008
The next hot thing
Burt Rutan is a former Misty FAC pilot of the Vietnam War who later became the first man to fly nonstop around the world without refueling. He's finishing up a commercial vehicle for suborbital hops to space, and here shares his personal vision that commercial space is just around the corner, and what a time it will be. And more.
Via Instapundit
July 18, 2008
Unsleepy lagoon
July 11, 2008
What's Up With The Sun?
June 26, 2008
Star streams
Ghostly shadowed streams of star debris from a torn-apart dwarf galaxy frame the Knife-Edge galaxy, another sure winner for a weekend jaunt, once we figure out how to vanquish forty million light years.
June 24, 2008
Keep looking up
Pick a dot, any dot, in the night sky. Say, one of those in my favorite constellation, Orion. Better yet, pick a blank, black space, where nothing seems to be. Then look again, through Hubble's eyes.
Via The Elephant Bar.
June 16, 2008
Thunderheads over the Midwest
Space shuttle shots of the amazing cloud cover below. Thunderheads look menacing enough from the ground. They look like atomic mushroom clouds from above. The pictures are not current, but they could be, with all the rain that's going on down there these days.
Via DougRoss@Journal.
June 06, 2008
Home from afar
The Orion Spur, about a third of the way in from the outer edge, is where the home planet and the sun lie on this map of the Milky Way. The view without the superimposed map is an illustration of what a distant astronomer in another galaxy likely would see, according to new, infrared info gathered by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
June 02, 2008
It ain't rocket science
May 25, 2008
Just another day on Mars
One of the first photos from Phoenix, a black-n-white "postcard," as the JPL engineers call it, of the Martian arctic. Color panoramas to come later. This is going to be fun.
Phoenix touchdown
The robot made a gentle, five mph landing on Mars about 6:53 p.m. CDT and all looks good:
"...we've found that the lander is tilted only one quarter of a degree, which means we've landed nearly perfectly level. The next step for Phoenix is surface initialization during which the solar arrays, Surface Stereo Imager (SSI), Biobarrier (which has been protecting the robotic arm from contamination since it was sterilized on Earth) and meteorological mast will deploy."
Stay with NASA's Phoenix blog for updates, and reports as the robot gets to work analyzing its site on the Arctic Plain of the Red Planet.
May 20, 2008
Waiting for the Phoenix
Just five days from now, the Phoenix will land on Mars' icy northern plains. NASA has a new blog up in prep for the event, word of which could come as soon as 6:53 p.m. Sunday CDT. Should be exciting. Worth remembering: fewer than half the international attempts to land on Mars have been successful. Phoenix could crash and not be heard from again--nor arise from the ashes.
May 16, 2008
Waiting for the Phoenix
Mars is scheduled to get another curious visitor from Earth on Sunday the 25th. The Phoenix robot lander will touch down at the Red Planet's North Pole and "taste and sniff" the soil and buried water-ice that other robot instruments have shown to be there. Why bother? Aside from the Moon, Mars is the best spot for human colonies beyond the home planet. NASA has a blog that will begin coverage of Phoenix on Monday.
May 14, 2008
The whirlpool galaxy
One of the spectacular benefits of a journey into the black, even if it is thirty million light years away.
May 10, 2008
Which is bigger?
Just in case you have troubling remembering the relative sizes of the rocky planets, like a certain blogger I read whose name I will not mention, who thought Mars was bigger than the home planet.
May 08, 2008
Through ultraviolet eyes
One of a series, this NASA ultraviolet image of Saturn was taken when the rings were at maximum tilt of 27 degrees toward Earth. Saturn has seasonal tilts away from and toward the sun, much the same way the home planet does.
Carrington Super Flare
It's quiet on the sun these days. Too quiet. No sun spots of note. Some scientists regard that as possibly the cause of much of the late snow this spring and say it could be forecasting colder days ahead. But, theoretically, that won't stop another brief super flare from our nearest star like the one that disrupted telegraph communications, caused auroras as far south as Cuba and surprised English solar astronomer Richard Carrington, in September, 1859. Imagine what another one would do to our electronic-dependent world. It could become known as the Day Silicon Died.
April 24, 2008
Forget the moon and Mars
That seems to be Rand Simberg's conclusion in Popular Mechanics. Even McCain, the likely next president, seems lukewarm on W's backing of returning to the moon for a permanent base--now that millions have been spent planning to do so. And, without a microgravity base out there to start from, that's far less expensive than trying to get out of Earth's gravity well, you can forget human travel to Mars anytime soon. At least the NYTimes will be happy. They've always favored robots over astronauts.
April 22, 2008
Today's pretty picture
April 17, 2008
Electric moondust
We've been to the moon. Driven around, even hit golfballs. Been there, done that. Faced with the prospect of returning, and setting up a permanent outpost, however, NASA is studying the place all over again and finding things never imagined. Moondust, for instance. It made a mess of the Apollo astronauts, clinging to their spacesuits and their equipment. Now there's speculation that it could even be electrifying, at least during a full moon. That's when the moon flies through the tail of Earth's magnetic bubble. None of the Apollo landings took place during a full moon, so no one knows for sure, but future explorers may need to ground themselves against a shocking experience, at least once a month.
April 11, 2008
Your hotel room in space
Genesis 2, faintly visible these nights, is a prototype space hotel room--no kidding! It was launched by Bigelow Aerospace as a test to see if inflatable satellites can be orbited and eventually connected together to create a sprawling space hotel. There are currently two modules in orbit: Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. They are easy to notice with the unaided eye because of their motion across the sky. For viewing times and where to look, go here. For pictures and video visit the Bigelow Aerospace web site.
Today's pretty picture
The southern view of my favorite constellation, Orion. The hunter's three-star belt is in the upper left. The whole thing is moving out of easy nighttime view as we leave winter behind for another year.
April 06, 2008
Today's pretty picture
The Horsehead Nebula's neighborhood. That's the horsehead, the little black thing below center and just to the left. A mere 1,500 light years away. Only take a few months with a good star drive, though the folks at home would all be gone by the time you came back. Minor detail.
March 30, 2008
Today's pretty picture
Next time you notice the Big Dipper, think of this spiral galaxy in its northern part--an island universe some 50 million light years away.
March 22, 2008
Gamma Ray glow
March 20, 2008
The first day of spring
As seen from low orbit on the International Space Station. Almost over, if you wait until midnight. Already past if you prefer sundown.
March 15, 2008
Today's pretty picture
The Sombrero Galaxy, a mere 28 million light years away, via the Hubble Space Telescope. Another weekend jaunt in the making, someday, when warp drive is perfected.
March 04, 2008
Looking back
February 23, 2008
Today's pretty picture
Ring of Dark Matter: You know, that unexplained stuff astrophysicists believe fills the gaps in the whole universe. Discovery by the Hubble Space Telescope in May, 2007, of this ghostly ring, formed long ago from the collision of two galaxy clusters, was the best evidence yet that dark matter actually exists.
February 21, 2008
Bullseye
Funny how exercised the Chinese communists (who did it in secrecy), ex-communist Russians (who've never done it at all) and the usual assortment of American critics (who can't do a day without whining about something) get over a little out-of-this-world target practice. The Navy's hitting the satellite on the first try, when it was 150 miles high, looked like nice work from here. With the side benefit of warning Iran, Syria, North Korea, etc., that their nuclear missiles won't be immune.
February 20, 2008
The crowded sky
The moon's sky, that is, where robot surveyors from Japan (above shot) and China already are in orbit with India, Russia and the U.S, soon to follow. Something to think about during tonight's lunar eclipse (see below).
Lunacy
See the moon turn red tonight, maybe even a bit turquoise. And, if you're near Hawaii, you may get to see the Navy shoot down a satellite at the same time. Eclipse Central is at space weather dot com.
UPDATE: Austin is famous for unviewable sky events due to cloud cover, and tonight, alas, is no exception. Fortunately there are Web cam views at the second link, if clouds are in your way, as well.
February 17, 2008
Not all water is fit to drink
Nor all water suitable for microbial life. So seems to be the early conclusions of Spirit and Opportunity's explorations on Mars. But they're not definitive, and more work by more rovers is yet to come. The great thing is that it's all been done by robots, and relatively inexpensively. Someday, when humans do set foot on the Red Planet, they'll land at spots that have been thoroughly investigated and found to be the best candidates for habitation.
February 15, 2008
Alone no more
There've been many newly-discovered candidates in recent years for solar systems like our own, but this latest, the work of researchers from eleven countries (led by Ohio State) and published in the journal Science, appears to be the best of the bunch--finding the giant gas planets sufficiently far from the sun to leave room for rocky planets like Earth. If so, then the home planet would be alone no more.
UPDATE: Indeed, many, if not most, nearby sunlike stars may have rocky, Earthlike planets.
February 10, 2008
Light echoes
A light echo, about six light years in diameter, from the first recorded stellar flash in the Milky Way.
January 23, 2008
Big Steve on space
Physics Nobelist Steven Weinberg--or Big Steve as his graduate students at the University of Texas call him--is down on human spaceflight, particularly NASA's latest goals of sending humanity to the moon and Mars. Down as in against it. Weinberg, who is quite the Austin party animal, makes some sense on it, at least on not sending anyone to Mars until robots like Spirit and Opportunity have thoroughly explored the place and found all the potentially-interesting sites. He does think it's worth considering Mars as a Lifeboat for humanity. But he doesn't consider the moon in this lengthy but worthwhile interview with The Space Review. Possibly because better arguments can be made for sending people there, such as trying to mine oxygen, doing hydroponics for future Mars flights, building a deep space telescope, etc.--and, frankly, just for the hell of it. Be lots cheaper than Mars, too. Anyway, read what Big Steve has to say. Afterall, his field, particle physics, invented the Web you're enjoying. Just too bad he doesn't discuss a moon colony.
Short hop to LEO
Doesn't sound as romantic as "out of this world," now, does it? But, hey, for a few hundred thou Virgin Galactic (another exaggerated idea) will give you a slow climb through the clouds and into the black followed by a whole 4.5 minutes of microgravity. Hardly enough time to think, "Wow, I'm really in space, by golly, gee whiz." Well, actually, you'll be in LEO, otherwise known as Low Earth Orbit. More accurately, sub-orbital. Rather dull, actually, except for the view of Earth's curvature and the multiple sunrises and sunsets. Only you won't have time to see more than one or the other. The stars you'll have to leave for another time. A rather long time, most likely. Not to mention the galactic part.
January 16, 2008
Star field
I grant you this conjunction of the double remnants of two supernova looks like a kindergartener's sloppy attempt to modify his watercolor. But, man, look at the density of that star field in the background. When you talk about going into the black, you don't normally think of this kind of illumination. Getting there could be a problem, though. It's 160,000 light years away.
January 02, 2008
Pleiades
December 29, 2007
Beauty
December 26, 2007
Interstellar mountains
Dust pillars in the Trifid Nebula. Now here's where a powerful vacuum cleaner would really be handy.
December 22, 2007
Winter solstice
Actually, this is from 2005, but, following the sun from rising to setting on Dec. 22 that year, it's a good reflection of today's event as well: the official start of winter here in the northern hemisphere.
December 20, 2007
Shooting stars
A pre-Christmas surprise from Comet 8P Tuttle, on Saturday, the 22nd, could bring us dozens of meteors an hour. Binocular photo of the comet and its attendant meteor dust by Chris Schur of Payson, AZ
"'We could be in for a merry surprise...when Earth passes through a trail of comet dust,' astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute [tells spaceweather.com.] Previous returns of Comet Tuttle to the inner solar system have been attended by outbursts of meteors, most recently in 1980 and 1994."
The peak will be in the late afternooon, central time over North America, so you won't see much then. But there should be some as late as 8 p.m. But you'll need dark skies, as far from city lights as you can get. Look north after sunset.
December 16, 2007
Mountains of creation
December 12, 2007
Magnetic ropes
So the Earth is dependent upon the sun. You knew that. But did you know that the Earth is not just dependent upon the sun, but is actually roped to the sun? Giant magnetic ropes attach the Earth's upper atmosphere directly to the sun--wherein we get, for instance, these Northern Lights over Alaska last March.
December 10, 2007
The sun's X-ray
November 27, 2007
Space weather's tenth
Space Weather dot com, which originally reported on the Sun-Earth environment but has since added a good many other subjects, as well, is celebrating it's tenth year on the Web.
November 20, 2007
The little blue marble
A humbling view for the Earth-centric (aren't we all?), taken by the HDTV camera aboard a lunar-orbiting Japanese robot satellite out in the black. It's mapping the moon in high-definition for possible future Japanese landings.
November 17, 2007
Comet Holmes
The moon has all but obscured Comet Holmes' big fuzzball, but it was still dazzling in this Nov. 11 view from southern France. The streak on the left is the track of a satellite. Speculation here on why Holmes' dust cloud is so big.
November 15, 2007
Space needs men (and women)
Robots, alone, no matter how perfectly programmed, will never do:
"The station’s cost and complexity dwarfs any other international technical project in history. But such machines, built by people, are imperfect, and now and then, they will break down. To make the station work, we’ll need capable people on the spot. No robot we can build can cope with the complexity of what we’ve already built, what we’re now attempting in orbit."
Bigger than the sun?
That's Comet 17P/Holmes (left), at least in the 1.4 million kilometer diameter of its dust cloud. But it's nowhere near the mass of the sun, of course, compared here to Saturn. Thank goodness. Got a little scary there for a minute, right? It's also an unaided-eye fuzzball in the Constellation Perseus.
October 30, 2007
Still waiting for the elevator
October 24, 2007
Space race
October 11, 2007
Ruler of the solar system
Just when you think oft-photographed Jupiter won't yield any more secrets, a new space probe flies by and coughs up spectacular new shots of the solar system's dominant planet. The N