Universe Today - December 13, 2001
A note from Fraser... Meteor Shower/Solar Eclipse
I wrote an article about these two events a couple of days, but I thought I'd remind you again:
Geminid Meteor Shower
This meteor shower (only a shower, not a storm) will peak tonight at around 11:00pm local time for most observers in the Americas, Africa and Europe. It won't be as crazy as the Leonid storm last month, but you should be able to see upwards of 100 meteors/hour at the peak. The few that you will see will contain a lot of Earthgrazers with long spectacular trails. Let me know if you have any luck. Here's some information from NASA.
Annular Solar Eclipse
This will be visible on Friday from a significant part of North and South America, with the best views from Costa Rica/Nicaragua. This is an annular solar eclipse, so the moon won't completely cover the sun; instead, viewers on the ground will see a ring of fire at the eclipse maximum (which would be pretty amazing too). So, if you traveled to watch this eclipse, let me know how it goes for you. And here's some information from NASA, including viewing times for various places.
Fraser Cain, Publisher - Universe Today
 NASA |
Mars Odyssey Finds Water
Even while it's still aerobraking into orbit around the Red Planet, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft has returned some useful data. NASA scientists say that the spacecraft has found deposits of hydrogen on the surface of Mars, which might indicate extensive deposits of water ice. Odyssey is now two-thirds of the way through its aerobraking procedure, and should arrive in a proper orbit by mid-January, when it will begin a much more extensive analysis of the planet.
Original Source:
Reuters Article
Other Coverage: BBC News - CNN Space - Discovery.com Similar Stories: Mars Odyssey Related Sites: Mars Related Books: Mars |
 NASA |
Endeavour Crew Packs Up, Prepares for Departure
The crew of Expedition 3 spent the day packing garbage into Endeavour's Leonardo cargo module. Although transfer of command to Expedition 4 happened on Saturday, the official ceremony happens this afternoon. Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov will board Endeavour on Saturday, undock from the station, and then return to Earth on Monday.
Original Source:
NASA Status Report
Other Coverage: BBC News - CNN Space - SPACE.com Similar Stories: Space Shuttle Related Sites: NASA Related Books: NASA |
 Harvard |
How the Universe Will End
A new theory from theoretical astrophysicist Abraham Loeb predicts that our galaxy has a lonely future ahead. Most astronomers agree that the universe is expanding; not only that, galaxies are actually accelerating away from each other because of some unknown force expanding the universe. In another 100 billion years, the rest of the universe will be so far away and moving away from us at nearly the speed of light, that only a few nearby galaxies will be visible.
Original Source:
Harvard News Release
Other Coverage: Cosmiverse - SPACE.com - Spaceflight Now Similar Stories: Astronomy Related Sites: Astronomy Related Books: Astronomy |