The images are in from yesterday’s flyby. Take a look at Mercury:
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins
MESSENGER
Here is that unnamed impact basin, seen for the first time. The outer diameter is about 160 miles. The basin has a double-ring structure with a floor of smooth plains material. The lighter material is of course ejecta.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins
MESSENGER
Here is Mercury’s [...]
If you thought the Lagoon yesterday was pretty, then reset your awe-meter. Check. This. Out.
D’ya like that? Huh? Do ya? Had enough? No? Then check THIS out!
Jeebus. Click either to brobdingnangate. In fact, you can get massively huge versions here and here. We’re talking 30 and 40 Mb each, so be ye fairly warned, says [...]
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Here is an image of the Oregon sky courtesy of the photographer and reader Matt James. Matt you have a fine image here. Just look at all those stars, beautiful is what it is. As I was studying this image and all I could think of is “there are people out there that doubt there [...]
This is an image of the planet Mercury taken by the Messenger spacecraft yesterday (27 Sept) as it prepared to make a close pass by the planet tomorrow (29 Sept).
The closest approach to Mercury’s surface will be an astounding 142 miles (228 km). and will occur at 17:55 EDT tomorrow afternoon. The flyby will be [...]
PhysOrg: How did evolution begin?
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YouTube: Sagan (and Hawking) sing 'Glorious Dawn'
Cumbrian Sky: Carnival of Space 122 ...(read more)
…in the big picture of things that is?
It’s little wonder that all I can do is shake my head when I’m watching the news.
Here’s the video link.
Cassini provides us with another unique look at Saturn.
Click here for a full res version from NASA.
The Cassini press release:
Rhea joins other Saturnian moons in casting a shadow on the rings in this image taken as the planet approached its August 2009 equinox.
From the middle left to upper right of the image, the moon’s long [...]
This beautiful image is a color-enhanced view of Ganymede. Large enough to be considered a planet in its own right, it orbits Jupiter instead of the sun.
DLR, JPL, NASA, Galileo Project (Enhanced color)
Discovered by Galileo on January 13, 1610, Ganymede is the largest moon in to solar system. The 7th moon out from Jupiter, Ganymede [...]
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Spitzer: Weird clump of swirling planetary material spotted
Nat'l Geographic: Exact date pinned to pyramid construction? ..(read more)
NRAO: High-school student discovers strange cosmic object
Onion: Civilization to reach lowest point at 3:32 p.m. Friday
The New Yorker: Where will synthetic biology lead us? Cracked: 13 animals lifted directly from your nightmares ..(read more)
The Cassini spacecraft has made new findings about the Saturn ring system. Up to now the thinking has been the ring system was all but flat. Turns out the rings have “walls” and bumps that reach up to 2.5 miles in places.
These are truly remarkable findings! I am a bit jaded I suppose, [...]
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Here’s another one of those stunning planetary images that really stops you in your tracks. It’s just been released by the Cassini mission imaging team and shows Saturn (and a few of its moons) as seen by the Cassini spacecraft, just last month. The eery illumination of the rings is due to [...]
Astronomy Blog You are : in Astronomy Blog archive First Light An astronomy blog usually but not always based in the UK . Pondering questions such as Is it a space probe or spacecraft First Light First light Those two words have been echoing around my head for the past few weeks but reached a crescendo today with the release of the first images from the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft In astronomy , first light is that special moment in the life of a new instrument or telescope when it does its first observation of the Universe . It is like a moment of . birth For Planck astronomical photons have been entering the telescope since it was released from its Sylda cocoon shortly after launch . But at that point the instruments weren't turned on and the whole spacecraft had to be checked and cooled down over several weeks . Even after they were switched on , the instruments had to be tuned and tweaked to make sure that they were working as well as possible in this new environment of space . It was only on around August 13th that the instruments were declared ready and the first astronomical observations could truly begin . That date marks first light for Planck In the case of
I know I seem to mention LookUP a lot but I'm quite proud of it and it keeps improving. I made it as a meta service which looks through Simbad, NED, Skybot etc. in an attempt to find any astronomical object by name rather than just a subset of the Universe.Now Rob Simpson has made use of the XML output to add LookUP on Twitter. If you have a Twitter account you can send a message of the form: "@lookupastro Mars" and it will reply back to you with the coordinates (Right Ascension and Declination) and a link to more info. Of course it is probably quicker to just use LookUP online, on your iPhone or normal phone but what Rob has done is very neat. - taken from Astronomy Blog (www.strudel.org.uk/blog/astro/)
Most of the world doesn't speak English as a first language. That isn't surprising although it can be if you don't leave the English-speaking parts of the web. One of the things that's been tried on the Jodcast is to translate the news segment into different languages. This is good because it allows non-English speakers to hear the content and it could also help with learning as you can hear the same content in different languages. Over the years there has been news in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Hindi and even Farsi but none of these have lasted for more than a few months as the students providing the translations get busy or leave. Now we're trying again with the wonderful Lizette Ramirez translating the latest astronomy news into Spanish. If you speak Spanish, please check it out. - taken from Astronomy Blog (www.strudel.org.uk/blog/astro/)