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| Future Ice Free Summers in the Arctic |
| Aug 24, 2005 - Climate scientists are predicting that the Arctic Ocean could be completely free of ice during the summer within 100 years thanks to rising ocean temperatures. Several feedback mechanisms will also accelerate these changes. For example, the white ice reflects radiation from the Sun, and contributes to lower temperatures. As the ice melts, the region becomes darker and the melting should speed up. (Full Story) |
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| Pandora Hovers Above the Rings |
| Aug 24, 2005 - As it passed through the ring plane, Cassini took this amazing photograph of Saturn's moon Pandora, hovering just above the rings. Saturn's F ring is thinly visible just above the main rings which are the dark line across the picture. You can also see some variation in the height of Saturn's cloud tops in this photograph, which look like ripples in an ocean. Pandora is only 84 km (52 miles across). (Full Story) |
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| Supernova in Galaxy NGC 1559 |
| Aug 24, 2005 - On the night of August 4, 2005, legendary amateur astronomer Reverend Robert Evans discovered a supernova just north of galaxy NGC 1559. In the days that followed, astronomers classified it as a Type 1A supernova, the kind created when a white dwarf constantly pulls material from a larger stellar partner; eventually it can't hold any more and explodes as a supernova. These kinds of supernovae explode with a set amount of energy, so astronomers can use them to measure distance to galaxies. (Full Story) |
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