Universe Today

Some urban legends just won't die, and sometimes, unfortunately, they are given new life. We've already discussed and dismissed the rock on Mars that looks like a Bigfoot – a teeny, tiny little Bigfoot (Jan. 25, 2008). And now it's back. And it's completely ridiculous. Amazingly, this guy thinks a publication like National Geographic will take him seriously. Here's an excerpt from the press release:

"A lawyer in the United States has written the National Geographic Society, asking it to publish in National Geographic his discovery that a photograph taken and beamed back to Earth by NASA's Mars Rover Spirit contains evidence of life on Mars. In his letter, Andrew D. Basiago, 47, wrote that his analysis of the NASA photograph of the Red Planet captioned PIA10214 has revealed images of human and animal life forms, as well as statues and other structures built by advanced, intelligent beings. "This image is the most significant photograph ever taken by human beings from Earth," Basiago wrote.

If you take the time to download and look at this "expose" you'll see what Basiago does is take a large panoramic image from the Spirit rover (the original large panorama can be found here) which is a very high resolution image, and crop out small portions and zoom in so incredibly close that the images become blurry. He then claims these blurry images of rocks on Mars are things like humanoids, animals, statues and other objects.
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I've been meaning to put together an article highlighting the best space images of 2008, but I see time is slowly slipping away from me to get this out before 2008 turns into 2009. However, I'm in luck! A few people have already done the work for me, and so I'll just link to them. First, of course, is Phil Plait over at the Bad Astronomy Blog, who does his annual Top Ten Astronomy Pictures, and this year's choices by the BA were excellent. Next, Dave Mosher over at Discovery Space has just put together a slideshow of his picks for the Best Space and Astronomy Pictures of 2008. Nice job, Dave! And this just in (update 8:10 pm) — Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog has a great selection of The Year in Pictures 2008. Thanks Emily!

There are more links below, but I know if I would have done a list myself, the image above would have been my #1 pick. This shot by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE Camera of the Phoenix lander descending through Mars' atmosphere is truly outstanding. It's an unbelievable shot, and I'll always remember how my jaw dropped in disbelief when I first saw it.

And now back to everyone else's best pics of 2008 lists:
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Filed under: Astronomy, Space Exploration | 8 Comments »

If you're certain the Universe revolves around you, I have some bad news for you. Researchers from the University of British Columbia say Earth's location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose Earth is at the center of a giant void in space. A decade ago, it was discovered the Universe's expansion was accelerating. This continually expanding Universe was attributed to dark energy, the highly repulsive and mysterious stuff that has yet to be detected. But some scientists came up with an alternate theory where Earth was near the centre of a giant void or bubble, mostly empty of matter. But new calculations solidify the case that dark energy permeates the cosmos.
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Filed under: Cosmology, Dark Energy | 24 Comments »

We'll squeeze in one more WITU Challenge for 2008! The goal of this challenge is to test your skills and knowledge of the cosmos. Guess where in the Universe this image is from, and give yourself extra points if you can guess which spacecraft is responsible for the image. Post your guess in the comment section (no links to hints please!) and check back tomorrow for the answer. Good luck, and Happy New Year!

UPDATE (1/1/09): The answer has now been posted below. If you haven't made your guess yet, no peeking before you do!!
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The Cassini Equinox Mission released new images of Saturn, revealing stunning detail of the planet's rings. As Saturn advances in its orbit toward equinox and the sun gradually moves northward on the planet, the motion of Saturn's ring shadows and the changing colors of its atmosphere continue to transform the face of Saturn as seen by Cassini. While the Cassini spacecraft will always have good views of the rings, during 2009, Saturn's rings will disappear from view on Earth. As Saturn approaches its equinox, the rings will be "on edge" from our vantage point, meaning that Saturn's rings will appear thinner and thinner until on September 4th, 2009 the rings will seem to vanish! But don't worry, they will reappear about three months later. But during that time, Cassini will track the changing light effects on the rings. Above, Cassini snapped a series of images during two hours in July that have been put together to create a full, natural color view of the planet, its rings, and six of its moons: Titan, Janus, Mimas, Pandora, Epimetheus and Enceladus. The image was taken over the course of approximately two hours as Cassini panned its wide-angle camera across the entire planet and ring system on July 23, 2008

But most impressive is a sweeping panorama of nearly the entire ring system, shown in natural color. See below!

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NASA released a detailed and sometimes graphic new report outlining what happened during the break-up of the Columbia space shuttle on Feb. 1, 2003. The purpose of the report is to specify what was learned from the Columbia accident in regards to crew safety and survivability for future spaceflight. The extensive 400 page report contains information that had already been released over the years, but also includes a new minute-by-minute timeline describing what happened to the vehicle as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, and revealing the commander and pilot attempted to troubleshoot a cascade of problems in the final moments before the shuttle went out of control. As the report states, "This report is the first comprehensive, publicly available accident investigation report addressing crew survival for a human spacecraft mishap, and it provides key information for future crew survival investigations. The results of this investigation are intended to add meaning to the sacrifice of the crew’s lives by making space flight safer for all future generations."

The report is actually quite interesting to read, and it vividly brings back the events of the Columbia accident which happened almost six years ago.
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Filed under: Space Flight, Space Shuttle | 21 Comments »

January 1 of 2009 brings with it the International Year of Astronomy, a worldwide celebration commemorating Galileo Galilei's first astronomical observation through a telescope. 135 nations are collaborating to promote astronomy and its contribution to society and culture, with events at regional, national, and global levels, to bring the Universe closer to more people on Earth. Events and activities will take place over the coming 365 days and beyond. How can you participate? Here's a list of several IYA activities events taking place during the next year. If you or a group you are affiliated with are hosting an IYA event, feel free to post it in the comments section. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) has been launched by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). With so many events, the IYA is sure to make "The Universe, yours to discover."
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Filed under: Astronomy | 6 Comments »

Ice on the moon or no ice? That is the question. It's long been thought that water ice could be hiding in deep, dark craters near the Moon's poles. However in October, 2008 Japan's Kaguya spacecraft took the best look yet inside the Shackelton Crater at the lunar south pole and didn't see anything resembling ice, dashing hopes for an abundant water source for future colonists on the moon. But now a team of researchers have re-analyzed data from NASA's 1998 Lunar Prospector mission – the spacecraft that deliberately took a kamikaze nose-dive into the moon hoping to create a visible ice plume, which it didn't. But researchers from Glasgow and Durham Universities in the UK say that a new look at old data shows polar craters that are shaded from the sun could have ice in concentrations of up to 10 grams for each kilogram of rock.
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If you're a PlayStation 3 fan, or if you just received one as a holiday gift, you may be able to do more with the system than just gaming. A group of gravity researchers have configured 16 PlayStation 3's together to create a type of supercomputer that is helping them estimate properties of the gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes. The research team from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, calls their configuration the Gravity Grid, and they say the Sony PlayStation 3 has a number of unique features that make it particularly suited for scientific computation. Equally important, the raw computing power per dollar provided by the PS3 is significantly higher than anything else on the market today.
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Filed under: Black Holes, Physics, Science | 25 Comments »

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! I trust everyone had a pleasant holiday? If you received new binoculars, a telescope or an eyepiece as a present – then why don't we put them to a workout with some great new targets to have a look at? Why stop at just one galactic star cluster when you can catch three-in-one! It's a great time for the galaxy hunt, too… So let's step out in the dark together, cuz' here's what's up! Read more…

Filed under: Astronomy, Observing | 4 Comments »

With Christmas just around the corner, we thought we'd investigate a mystery that has puzzled historians for hundreds of years. In the bible, the birth of Jesus was announced by a bright star in the sky that led the three wise men to his birthplace. What are some possible astronomical objects that might look like such a bright star in the sky? And were there any unusual events that happened at that time?

Click here to download the episode.

Or subscribe to: astronomycast.com/podcast.xml with your podcatching software.

The Christmas Star – Transcript and show notes.

Filed under: Podcasts | 68 Comments »

Are you ready for another Where In The Universe Challenge? Take a look and see if you can name where in the Universe this image is from. Give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft responsible for the image. As usual, we'll provide the image today, but won't reveal the answer until tomorrow. This gives you a chance to mull over the image, drink some eggnog, and provide your answer/guess in the comment section — if you dare! Check back tomorrow on this same post to see how you did. Good luck and enjoy the holidays!

UPDATE (12/25): The answer has now been posted below. If you haven't made your guess yet, no peeking before you do!!

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Two upstart commercial space companies have been awarded contracts by NASA for commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station. SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies received a contract for $1.6 billion while Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. has a contract valued at $1.9 billion. NASA has ordered 12 flights from SpaceX and eight from Orbital. In October, at this year's International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, SpaceX Vice President of Marketing and Communications Diane Murphy said that the six- year-old company has it in their sights to be able to fly to the space station by 2009. For now, the contract is for cargo only, however SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket are human rated, and would be capable of delivering up to 7 crew members to the station. The Dragon could also be used as an escape vehicle. If SpaceX and Orbital can be successful in cargo re-supply, it could pave the way for a potential solution to the gap between the shuttle retirement in 2010 and when the Constellation program would be ready to fly, hopefully by 2015.
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Filed under: Space Exploration, Space Flight, Space Station | 12 Comments »

International Space Station Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov, conducted a five-hour 38-minute spacewalk on Dec. 23, successfully installing an electrical probe on the Russian Pirs airlock module designed to track down problems with Russian Soyuz capsule. They also retrieved a space exposure experiment and mounted instrumentation on the Zvezda command module that will monitor disturbances in the ionosphere. But the spacewalkers encountered problems with a second experiment package, designed to expose biological samples to the space environment, to properly plug into the station's power and data system. After extensive troubleshooting, Russian flight controllers ordered Fincke and Lonchakov to disconnect the Expose-R experiment and return it to the airlock.
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A coalition of leaders working on the concept of a space elevator has joined forces to form the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC). The new independent group is designed to promote standards and foster research relating to the construction of an Elevator to Space at the global level. Founding members of ISEC include the Spaceward Foundation, the Space Elevator Reference, the Space Elevator Blog, EuroSpaceward and the Japan Space Elevator Association. Heading the new organization is Ted Semon of the Space Elevator Blog, who will serve as president. Michael Laine, president of the space elevator company Liftport is excited about the consortium. "I think it’s a great thing," he said. "This has been in the works for months, and the need to bring the different organizations under one roof has been long overdue. All five of the major organizations have been acting independently, which made sense in the beginning, but now we need coordination and cooperation."
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Filed under: Space Exploration | 36 Comments »