Universe Today - December 19, 2000 |
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the U N I V E R S E T O D A Y Space Exploration News From Around the Internet, Updated Every Weekday. December 19, 2000 - Issue #359 http://www.universetoday.com info@universetoday.com An HTML version of this newsletter including pictures is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/html/misc/today.html ************************************** A note from Fraser... Florida Today's Space Online (http://www.flatoday.com/space/today/index.htm) is now officially dead. Well, not entirely dead, you can still go to the page, but it just has an ad for SPACE.com. I'm really running out of independent news sources at this point, I guess I'll have to write more of my own stuff. :-) While Space Online is still fresh in people's memory, I'd like to take a second to recognize the incredible impact this site has had on the state of space news reporting. They started posting space news in the Compuserve Flatoday Forum back in 1993, six years before I started Universe Today. They made a smooth transition to the web, and were pretty much the ONLY source of quality space news until just a few years ago when lots of sites started popping up. Their coverage was always comprehensive and intelligent, never dumbing down the science. You could always count on Space Online to report everything space-related, and to report it FIRST. On a personal note, I had a chance to correspond every now and then with Producer Roger Guillemette, and he was always happy to link to Universe Today articles, often within hours of Jennifer writing them. I really appreciated the boost they gave me. I guess they didn't die, but it feels that way. A friend recently noted, "seeing that screen was like getting a call and hearing a friend had died." So thanks to the crew of Space Online for making a difference in life of this space enthusiast. Your work was important and appreciated, and I look forward to whatever you all do next. Fraser Cain Publisher Universe Today P.S. Because of the holidays, expect the newsletter to be a little spotty. Sometime it will be because of a lack of news sources, other times it will be because I'm too full of turkey to move to the computer. ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Ganymede May Have an Ocean * NASA Produces Sounds of Jupiter * Voyager 1 Has Almost Left the Solar System GANYMEDE MAY HAVE AN OCEAN ------------------------- Scientists believe they've found another of Jupiter's moons that may contain a liquid ocean under an icy crust - Ganymede. Magnetic readings taken by the Galileo spaceprobe indicate there is a vast, melted body of liquid water several kms thick 200 kms beneath the moon's frozen surface. And on Earth, wherever there is liquid water, there is always life, and although this isn't true in space, it does raise the chances that life could be found on Ganymede. Original Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/aguganymederoundup.html Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1074000/1074692.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/17/space.ganymede.reut/index.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/jupiter.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/astrobiology.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/jupiter.html NASA PRODUCES SOUNDS OF JUPITER ------------------------- As the Cassini spacecraft approaches Jupiter, it's detecting changes in the magnetic field of charged ions in space. These changes are in low radio frequencies, and so were converted by NASA into an audible sound file. The waves were detected by Cassini's radio wave and plasma science instrument (RPWS) on Dec. 8th at a distance of 23 million kms from the planet. Original Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/acoustic/ Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1076000/1076291.stm http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/17ganymedeocean/ Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/jupiter.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/missions.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/jupiter.html VOYAGER 1 HAS ALMOST LEFT THE SOLAR SYSTEM ------------------------- Traveling in space since 1977, Voyager 1 is now twice as far from the Sun as Pluto's orbit, and it's about to reach the first part of the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space - the termination shock. Next comes the heliopause, where the particles streaming from the sun end, and space actually beings. Voyager 1 is expected to reach the termination shock in the next three years; however, increased solar activity might push this shock back past Voyager again. Original Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/aguvoyager.html Internet Coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/19voyager1/ Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/nasa.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/missions.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/nasa.html ************************************************ Space-related sites... Adventures in Astronomy - http://www.mindspring.com/~thendrix Links to a Large Variety of Astronomy Related Sites Bad Air and Space Museum - http://www.badairandspace.com "A futuristic vision of an outer space skid row."--Los Angeles Times Oglethorpe Astronomical Association - http://members.nbci.com/andyb3/oaa/ Savannah Georgia's Astronomy Organization UK Space - http://www.ukspace.com The UK's leading web site for Space Industry in the UK. Contains up to the minute press releases, upcoming events and UK Company's details . Supported by UKISC and BNSC. Toni Straub's Homepage - http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e9027355 Download skyglobe - a cool astronomy program. Also links to LunarSat and to J-Track (3D satellite tracking). San Diego Astronomy Association - http://www.sdaa.org/ The association has 500 members enjoying activites and our own observing site at Tierra del Sol. David A Hardy's Astro Art Pages - http://www.hardyart.demon.co.uk One of Planet Earth's longest-established artists in the fields of astronomy, aerospace, SF, earth sciences, etc. Fine art or illustration, traditional or digital (on PowerMac G4 500) AstroSoft - Free astronomy software - http://www.astrosoft.co.uk The new free astronomy and physics software resource. Download freeware simulations and educational software. Odyssey Magazine On-Line - http://odysseymagazine.com Free articles from our award-winning science magazine ODYSSEY, Ask a Scientist Questions/Answers, Mystery Photo puzzle, current issue teacher's guide, much more! Iowa Space Grant Consortium - http://www.public.iastate.edu/~isgc The NASA sponsored Space Grant program in Iowa. ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER. All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |