Astrosphere for December 19th, 2007

For your photo today, it’s another image of Mars nearing its closest point to the Earth. This one was captured by Efrain Morales Riviera in the forum.

Astronomy in the UK is in deep trouble. The Science & Technology Facilities Council has had their budget slashed by £80 million. Find out more and help out here.

Centauri Dreams has more details about the Tunguska research I reported on today. And so does Bad Astronomy.

Here’s a great idea: a space exploration reality show, with a group of potential explorers cooped up together on a mock spaceship here on Earth. Okay, maybe it’s a terrible idea.

Maybe off-world children will wear gravity suits in the future to simulate living on Earth.

On an administrative note, Pamela and I will be attending the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, TX in January. If you’re going drop me a note. We’re going to try and organize some kind of meetup for Astronomy Cast.

Several people mentioned this great interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in the Washington Post.