Monday: May 17, 2010
- Venus and our moon align for one brief Kodak moment.
During spring time, Venus shines brightly, and as these photos show, Venus appears as a bright object before it disappears behind the moon and then reappears on the other side in a game of celestial hide-and-seek.
Wednesday: May 12, 2010
- Scientists have discovered that Jupiter somehow managed to lose a stripe.
The band was present at the end of 2009, right before Jupiter moved too close to the sun in the sky to be observed from Earth. When the planet emerged from the sun's glare again in early April, its south equatorial belt was nowhere to be seen.
- Rogue star mystery finally deciphered thanks to Hubble Space Telescope.
The massive, hot star seemed out of place when astronomers first spotted it in 2006, and now thanks to Hubble, we know why. The misfit, 30 Dor #016, appears to have been ejected from a cluster of even heftier stars, pinging off of them and off into space at tremendous speed.
Monday: April 26, 2010
- NASA releases brand new Hubble images in honor of the telescope's 20th birthday.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured over 570,000 images of roughly 30,000 objects in our known Universe? What, you didn't know that? Then go ahead and start your day off right with some additional cosmic photography.
Tuesday: April 20, 2010
- NASA to send first humanoid robot out into space later this year.
The robotics aren't quite advanced enough yet to send an actual android that is advanced as the ones you've seen on Star Trek - but it's a start. As to when these robot astronauts will turn on their masters and decide to destory all of our satellites - anybody's guess.
Friday: April 9, 2010
- NASA decides to unveil a whole slew of sweeping new programs
This budget provides an increase to NASA at a time when funding is scarce,' he said. 'It will enable us to accomplish inspiring exploration, science and R and D, the kinds of things the agency has been known for throughout its history.'
Thursday: April 8, 2010
- Hubble discovers mysertious giant planet orbiting a tiny nearby star.
The team reports the '2M044144' brown dwarf possesses a companion about 5-10 times heavier than Jupiter. The companion orbits some 2.25 billion miles from the small star, and must be less than 1 million years old, roughly the age of the brown dwarf.
Wednesday: March 17, 2010
- The great big red spot over on Jupiter has brand new glow about it.
Turns out that great big red spot is not just a plain old oval after all. It seems to act as a mood ring of sorts to indicate weather and circulation patterns for nearby storms systems. You can see this glow for yourself at home, assuming you have your very own infrared telescope facility.
Thursday: March 4, 2010
- NASA has discovered an abundant amount of water on the moon.
The quantity of water present at the lunar poles is significant,' Spudis writes; 'at the north pole alone, the 600 million metric tons of water there -- turned into rocket fuel -- is enough to launch the equivalent of one Space Shuttle (735 mT of propellant) per day for over 2000 years.'
Monday: March 1, 2010
- Always wondered what it would be like to make sushi in space?
There is a pretty funny video/interview embedded over on the opposite side of the click. The sushi prep actually starts at about one minute in. Mark this as one small step for man and one giant leap for sushi-kind. Bon appétit.
Monday: February 22, 2010
- Space shuttle Endeavour lands safely at Kennedy Space Center.
Astronauts Bob Behnken and British-born Nicholas Patrick conducted three spacewalks during the mission, racking up a total of 18 hours, 14 minutes outside the orbiting outpost.
Friday: February 12, 2010
- Hubble manages to capture an overly blue view of Saturn.
Aurorae result from charged solar wind particles trapped in a planet's magnetic field striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. Just like Northern Lights on Earth, Saturn sees similar polar light shows as a result.
Wednesday: February 10, 2010
- Twenty-one unbelievable photos of Mars for your Martian viewing pleasure.
Behold the wondrous splendor of Martian landscapes in all their strange atmospheric glory. After viewing these photographs I have a strange desire to go watch Total Recall. Two weeks!
Tuesday: February 9, 2010
- Take a video tour of the International Space Station in HD thanks to YouTube.
Always wanted to know what life would be like aboard a working space station? This seven minute video will give you a good indication of just that. Enjoy, future space travelers.
Wednesday: February 3, 2010
- Rare asteroid collision caught via Hubble space telescope.
Have a glimpse of what it looks like when two asteroids crash into each other in wide open deep space. Well, not so deep really - this event occured in an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Monday: January 25, 2010
- Internet access finally comes to astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
And what did the astronauts do first with said brand new Internet access capabilities? Why they sent the first tweet from space of course. NASA expects this newly announced capability to 'enhance morale and productivity.'
Tuesday: January 19, 2010
- Eleven minute solar eclipse won't happen again until the year 3034 says NASA.
NASA said on its website the eclipse was annular, meaning the moon will block most of the sun's middle, but not its edges, causing it to look like a ring. This blockage will last for 11 minutes, 8 seconds, an annual duration NASA said would not be exceeded until December 23, 3043.
Tuesday: January 5, 2010
- Five new lightweight planets discovered via Kepler space telescope.
All five planets in question are really close to nearby stars making them a little too hot for any actual human/alien life. Also, the orbital period is about three to four days but still, your face would melt off.
Monday: January 4, 2010
- Mars Spirit Rover may be stuck for good this time.
This poor little vehicle has had nothing bad luck since it got to Mars. Latest reports from NASA indicate that Spirit is currently stuck in a sand trap and has lost a wheel as well. Bummer.
Tuesday: December 29, 2009
- A collection of the top ten space photos of 2009 just for you.
Behold the almighty power of a Geminid meteor as it streaks across the Mojave Desert of California. These meteors are apparently quite easy to see since they move slower and are essentially just comet leftovers. The real lesson here is that leftovers can be a good thing after all.
Monday: December 28, 2009
- Scientists would like you to know that they have spotted fog on one of Saturn's moons.
Brown and colleagues first looked at the data using a digital filter they developed that reveals details only on the moon's surface. In the filtered images, the fog appears during the moon's late southern summer as bright, reddish-white patches hovering above the surfaces of lakes.
Friday: December 11, 2009
- The Big Dipper constellation gets an upgrade via brand new star addition.
Alcor, the bright star that forms the bend in the dipper's 'handle,' has a dim red dwarf star orbiting it. They've put out this very pretty image, in which Alcor is renamed Alcor A, and its newly-found satellite star is called Alcor B.
Thursday: December 10, 2009
- Ten ways that space travel is nothing like how it appears in television or movies.
You might get an outburst of energy during an explosion on a spacecraft and maybe even some quick flames burning up leaking oxygen, but it wouldn’t be anything near the spectacle of, say, the Death Star exploding in Star Wars.
Wednesday: December 9, 2009
- Hubble manages to capture images of some of the oldest galaxies ever seen.
NASA said that not only are those the oldest galaxies ever seen, but the data that can be extracted from the image will provide 'insights into how galaxies grew in their formative years early in the universe's history.'
Friday: November 20, 2009
- Want to know what Earth would look like if it had a ring system?
Rings views from Earth's surface were created according to the location's latitude, northern or souther hemisphere, and the viewer's orientation. The size of the rings was calculated respecting the Roche limit for the Earth.
Thursday: November 19, 2009
- Jupiter's moon might be home to a variety of aquatic fish-like life.
That amount of oxygen would be enough to support more than just microscopic life-forms: At least three million tons of fishlike creatures could theoretically live and breathe on Europa, said study author Richard Greenberg of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Monday: November 16, 2009
- NASA confirms that there is in fact water on the moon.
...if you remember, a month ago we were talking about teaspoons going into glasses over football fields. Well, now I can say today that in the 20 to 30 meter crater LCROSS made, we found maybe about a dozen of these two-gallon buckets worth of water.'
Monday: November 9, 2009
- A collection of amazing Martian landscape photography just for you.
These photos were shot via NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which has been orbiting the planet for several years. And if you like these photos, chances are you'll love using Google Mars.
Thursday: October 29, 2009
- Exploded star blast is now the most distant space object ever seen.
The star in question actually would've had to exploded about thirteen billion years ago to be visible to our telescopes. So technically, that means that this star would've exploded a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away (golf clap).
Tuesday: October 27, 2009
- Newly discovered lava-tube on the moon might make for one cozy lunar base.
If the idea of underground shelter gains traction, lava-tube locations could join potential water sources and other factors in the debate over just where people should put down roots on the moon.