Featured Posts
Centauri Dreams
6 Apr 2010, 13:26 UTC
Recently we looked at James and Gregory Benford’s thoughts on interstellar beacons, noting that using cost as a likely constraint allowed the authors to discuss how cost would affect design, and therefore the parameters of any beacon we would be likely to observe. But what is it about interstellar beacons that sets them apart from transient phenomena? After all, it was no longer ago than 1963 that Nikolai Kardashev proposed that the radio source CTA 102 could be evidence of a Type II or III extraterrestrial civilization (i.e., one that is able to use the entire energy output of its star, or in the most extreme case, of its entire galaxy). When Gennady Sholomitskii announced his observation that CTA 102’s radio emission was varying, something of a sensation ensued. Those of us of a certain age can recall Roger McGuinn’s song ‘CTA 102,’ written and performed by McGuinn’s group The Byrds. It was on their Younger Than Yesterday LP, released in 1967. A sample: CTA 102 Year over year receiving you Signals tell us that you’re there We can hear them loud and clear and so on. We soon learned, of course, that the source of these emissions was a ...
Detecting Transients: Pulsars or Beacons?
6 Apr 2010, 13:26 UTC
Recently we looked at James and Gregory Benford’s thoughts on interstellar beacons, noting that using cost as a likely constraint allowed the authors to discuss how cost would affect design, and therefore the parameters of any beacon we would be likely to observe. But what is it about interstellar beacons that sets them apart from transient phenomena? After all, it was no longer ago than 1963 that Nikolai Kardashev proposed that the radio source CTA 102 could be evidence of a Type II or III extraterrestrial civilization (i.e., one that is able to use the entire energy output of its star, or in the most extreme case, of its entire galaxy). When Gennady Sholomitskii announced his observation that CTA 102’s radio emission was varying, something of a sensation ensued. Those of us of a certain age can recall Roger McGuinn’s song ‘CTA 102,’ written and performed by McGuinn’s group The Byrds. It was on their Younger Than Yesterday LP, released in 1967. A sample: CTA 102 Year over year receiving you Signals tell us that you’re there We can hear them loud and clear and so on. We soon learned, of course, that the source of these emissions was a ...
Space Fellowship
6 Apr 2010, 12:48 UTC
(NASA) - Space shuttle Discovery’s seven-member crew will spend their first full day in space today conducting normal scans of their spacecraft, preparing spacesuits for use later in the mission and readying the shuttle to dock to the International Space Station early on Wednesday. The day will focus on using the robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System extension to inspect Discovery's thermal protection system tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon heat shielding on the shuttle’s wings [...]
Shuttle Crew Busy with Heat Shield Inspections and Docking Preps
6 Apr 2010, 12:48 UTC
(NASA) - Space shuttle Discovery’s seven-member crew will spend their first full day in space today conducting normal scans of their spacecraft, preparing spacesuits for use later in the mission and readying the shuttle to dock to the International Space Station early on Wednesday. The day will focus on using the robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System extension to inspect Discovery's thermal protection system tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon heat shielding on the shuttle’s wings [...]
The Mars Society
5 Apr 2010, 21:27 UTC
The NASA website has a story about the Space Florida/Mars Society cooperative high school project.
Mars Experiment Design Competition
5 Apr 2010, 21:27 UTC
The NASA website has a story about the Space Florida/Mars Society cooperative high school project.
Universe Today
5 Apr 2010, 20:54 UTC
Sorry, sorry — I'm late in posting the answer from last week's Where In The Universe challenge. But you can find it back on the original post. And check in later this week for a new test of your visual knowledge of the cosmos!© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
Answer for Last Week's WITU Challenge
5 Apr 2010, 20:54 UTC
Sorry, sorry — I'm late in posting the answer from last week's Where In The Universe challenge. But you can find it back on the original post. And check in later this week for a new test of your visual knowledge of the cosmos!© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
Bad Astronomy
5 Apr 2010, 20:40 UTC
For those folks in Los Angeles (and parts of Nevada, Idaho, western Montana, Calgary and Edmonton): if you are up at 03:34 Pacific time tonight, you can watch as an asteroid blocks the light of a naked-eye star! Sky and Telescope has the details. Basically, the asteroid 824 Anastasia will pass directly in front of the star ζ (Zeta) Ophiuchi. At magnitude 2.5, the star is easily visible, about as bright as Polaris (though honestly, from LA you may need binoculars). The map shown here on the left is from Sky and Tel; click it for a higher-res version. The asteroid itself will be invisible to the eye; it’s at magnitude 14.7, a thousandth as bright as the faintest object you can see even from a dark site. But when it passes in front of the star, the star will dim or blink out for up to 8 seconds. This occultation, as it’s called, is important because by mapping exact locations and timing from a large number of observers, the shape of the asteroid can be found! Well, more or less, since we only see it in profile, but it’s still a nice clue to the characteristics of an otherwise ...
Southern Californians: spot a naked-eye occultation tonight!
5 Apr 2010, 20:40 UTC
For those folks in Los Angeles (and parts of Nevada, Idaho, western Montana, Calgary and Edmonton): if you are up at 03:34 Pacific time tonight, you can watch as an asteroid blocks the light of a naked-eye star! Sky and Telescope has the details. Basically, the asteroid 824 Anastasia will pass directly in front of the star ζ (Zeta) Ophiuchi. At magnitude 2.5, the star is easily visible, about as bright as Polaris (though honestly, from LA you may need binoculars). The map shown here on the left is from Sky and Tel; click it for a higher-res version. The asteroid itself will be invisible to the eye; it’s at magnitude 14.7, a thousandth as bright as the faintest object you can see even from a dark site. But when it passes in front of the star, the star will dim or blink out for up to 8 seconds. This occultation, as it’s called, is important because by mapping exact locations and timing from a large number of observers, the shape of the asteroid can be found! Well, more or less, since we only see it in profile, but it’s still a nice clue to the characteristics of an otherwise ...
Astroblog
5 Apr 2010, 20:30 UTC
The New Moon is Wednesday April 14. Mars is within binocular distance of the Beehive Cluster again. Saturn is seen in the evening above the eastern horizon near the bight stars Regulus and Spica. Venus appears low in the twilight. Jupiter is near the crescent Moon in the morning sky.Evening sky looking North showing Saturn, Mars and the Moon at 10:00 pm local time on Sunday April 11. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Wednesday April 14.Saturn is rising around 6:30 pm local daylight saving time and is easily visible in the late evening sky as the bright yellow object between the bright stars Regulus and Spica. Saturn was at opposition, when it was at its biggest and brightest, on Monday March 22. However, now is still a very good time for telescopic observation of the ringed world. On the 15th, Saturns' Moon Titan cruises just under the planets south pole.However, it is best to wait until 11 pm or midnight, when Saturn is quite high in the sky for the best telescopic views. Saturn's' rings are opening, and look quite beautiful, even in a small telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit ...
The Sky This Week - Thursday April 8 to Thursday April 15
5 Apr 2010, 20:30 UTC
The New Moon is Wednesday April 14. Mars is within binocular distance of the Beehive Cluster again. Saturn is seen in the evening above the eastern horizon near the bight stars Regulus and Spica. Venus appears low in the twilight. Jupiter is near the crescent Moon in the morning sky.Evening sky looking North showing Saturn, Mars and the Moon at 10:00 pm local time on Sunday April 11. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Wednesday April 14.Saturn is rising around 6:30 pm local daylight saving time and is easily visible in the late evening sky as the bright yellow object between the bright stars Regulus and Spica. Saturn was at opposition, when it was at its biggest and brightest, on Monday March 22. However, now is still a very good time for telescopic observation of the ringed world. On the 15th, Saturns' Moon Titan cruises just under the planets south pole.However, it is best to wait until 11 pm or midnight, when Saturn is quite high in the sky for the best telescopic views. Saturn's' rings are opening, and look quite beautiful, even in a small telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit ...
Weirdwarp
5 Apr 2010, 18:08 UTC
I looked at the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets in an earlier post and now it is time to look at the other planets especially Jupiter. These are just totally weird planets. it is not possible to land a spacecraft on the surface of Jupiter as, by today’s standards, your spacecraft would be crushed [...]
Atmospheres of the Gas Giants
5 Apr 2010, 18:08 UTC
I looked at the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets in an earlier post and now it is time to look at the other planets especially Jupiter. These are just totally weird planets. it is not possible to land a spacecraft on the surface of Jupiter as, by today’s standards, your spacecraft would be crushed [...]
Universe Today
5 Apr 2010, 18:03 UTC
What an amazing shot of the International Space Station "flying through" an aurora at orbital speeds of 28,000 kmp (17,500 mph)! Super-space-photographer and Tweeter Soichi Noguchi captured this spectacular image earlier today, taking advantage of some rare solar activity. "Fly through Aurora at 28,000kmh. Happy 1,000 tweets" Noguichi wrote on Twitter. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center sent out a notice early this morning saying : "A geomagnetic storm began at 05:55 AM EST Monday, April 5, 2010. Space weather storm levels reached Strong (G3) levels on the Geomagnetic Storms Space Weather Scale. The source of the storming is an Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejection associated with a weak solar flare that occurred in Active Region 1059 on April 3 at 05:54 AM EST."(...)Read the rest of Amazing Pic: ISS Flys Through Aurora (101 words)© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Astrophotos, aurora, ISS Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
Amazing Pic: ISS Flys Through Aurora
5 Apr 2010, 18:03 UTC
What an amazing shot of the International Space Station "flying through" an aurora at orbital speeds of 28,000 kmp (17,500 mph)! Super-space-photographer and Tweeter Soichi Noguchi captured this spectacular image earlier today, taking advantage of some rare solar activity. "Fly through Aurora at 28,000kmh. Happy 1,000 tweets" Noguichi wrote on Twitter. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center sent out a notice early this morning saying : "A geomagnetic storm began at 05:55 AM EST Monday, April 5, 2010. Space weather storm levels reached Strong (G3) levels on the Geomagnetic Storms Space Weather Scale. The source of the storming is an Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejection associated with a weak solar flare that occurred in Active Region 1059 on April 3 at 05:54 AM EST."(...)Read the rest of Amazing Pic: ISS Flys Through Aurora (101 words)© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Astrophotos, aurora, ISS Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh
StarStruck
5 Apr 2010, 16:47 UTC
Intrepid "shuttle geek" Susan Poulton is winging back home today after witnessing the space shuttle Discovery's successful predawn lift-off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. —Image courtesy NASA Look out for further Poulton pictures and ruminations from the scene, but in the meanwhile, here're a few details on STS-131. Marking the fourth to the last shuttle launch before the fleet gets retired in the fall, Discovery is on its way to the International Space Station for a bit of orbital spring cleaning during its 13-day mission. To spruce up the outside, the shuttle crew is planning on three spacewalks, during which astronauts will replace an ammonia coolant tank, switch out batteries for the solar array, and retrieve an exterior science experiment. On the inside, the astronauts will be busy installing equipment they've hauled up, including racks of new science experiments, a freezer for preserving specimens, and a new exercise machine. Coming home, the shuttle crew will be carrying down excess hardware and a cargo hold full of trash. Perhaps in a cosmic nod to its "Cinderella" mission, the shuttle launch created a glowing trail arching over the Disney castle in Orlando, as seen by photographer Kent Phillips. It seems a fitting ...
