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| Two New Moons for Pluto? |
| Oct 31, 2005 - Time to revise your idea of Pluto. New images gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed that this distant planet could two additional moons. If this is true, Pluto will be the first Kuiper Belt Object found to have multiple moons. The candidate moons have been provisionally named S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2, and are approximately 44,000 km (27,000 miles) away from Pluto. (Full Story) |
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| Book Review: Strange Angel |
| Oct 31, 2005 - Is science fiction an arena where fantasies run wild or an experimental lab where new technologies, cultures and even physics can be assessed? Afficionados of this genre more likely think the latter. But not long ago, science fiction stories and even rocketry were considered little more than a fool's occupation. One person bucked this trend. He is Jack Parsons and he is also the central figure in George Pendle's biography entitled Strange Angel. From this we read how Parsons made believers of many people who ridiculed science and space travel. (Full Story) |
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| The Pleiades. Image credit: David Malin |
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| What's Up This Week - October 30 - November 6, 2005 |
Oct 31, 2005 - Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! We begin the week on the eve of All Hallows as we learn the significance the Pleiades. Come... Join in the fun as we as the night steals our souls and gives us X-ray eyes. We'll search for glowing bones, watch fireballs, look into the eyes of a "Demon", brave a supernovae and stare down the "God of War". Go outside under the stars, if you dare. Because...
Here's what's up! (Full Story) |
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| Power Problem with SSETI Express |
| Oct 31, 2005 - Things haven't gone well for the student-built SSETI Express, launched last week from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on board a Russian Kosmos 3M launcher. Ground controllers haven't been able to make contact with the satellite since Friday, and a preliminary analysis points towards a failure of the satellite's electrical system. Controllers have a plan that might be able to restore power to the satellite, but it will take a few more days to know if it's going to work. (Full Story) |
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| Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL. |
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| Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will... on Mars |
| Oct 31, 2005 - When you're exploring new territories, all kinds of things can go wrong. When you're exploring millions of kilometres away from Earth in an environment totally hostile to human life, these risks get deadly. NASA's Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group has put together a list of top risks for human Mars explorers, including the dust and potential biohazards. But one of the biggest risks is the lack of water - it's absolutely essential for a long-duration visit to the Red Planet. (Full Story) |
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| Spitzer Presents Black Widow Nebula for Halloween |
| Oct 31, 2005 - NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this chilling image of the Black Widow Nebula for Halloween. In this image, there are two gigantic bubbles of gas being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows of newborn massive stars. These baby stars can be seen as yellow specs where the bubbles overlap. (Full Story) |
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