New high-resolution images of Mars have revealed several glaciers in the planet's mid-latitudes, far away from its polar ice caps. Scientists had speculated that many of Mars' mid-latitude features looked like they had been formed by shifting ice, but there wasn't any sign of the actual glaciers. New images from Mars Odyssey show features, such as debris lines on valley floor, which are amazingly similar to Earth glaciers.

The Japanese Subaru telescope took this high resolution image of spiral galaxy NGC 2403, located 10 million light years away. NGC 2403 is an Sc type galaxy with open spiral arms and a small nucleus. It's approximately half the mass of our own Milky Way galaxy and has large quantities of neutral hydrogen gas. Edwin Hubble used NGC 2403 as evidence to help prove that galaxies move faster away from us the further they get.

Although NASA engineers are working on radical new kinds of propulsion, like ion engines, nuclear rockets, and even solar sails, they're still tuning up the old standby liquid-fueled rocket. Current rockets burn a small amount of fuel into preburners which power pumps that force the rest of the fuel into the combustion chamber. A new strategy will be to run all the fuel through the preburners which will create higher pressures, and should give better performance from the rocket.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this amazing photograph of our neighbour galaxy, Andromeda. The image was made by stitching together 11,000 separate images of the galaxy taken over the course of 18 hours of observations by Spitzer. Under Spitzer's infrared gaze, Andromeda reveals an off centre ring of star formation and a spot where it looks like another galaxy punched a hole as it passed through the galactic plane.

An Ariane 5GS rocket lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana today. On board were two satellites: a Syracuse 3A defense satellite, built by Alcatel Alenia Space and a Galaxy 15 communications satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The satellites were released into their geostationary transfer orbits about 30 minutes after launch. This was the 23rd Ariane 5 launch.

Here's a complilation photo of last week's annular eclipse taken by Martin Whipp. The series of images were taken using a Sony VX-2100 3CCD camcorder and Thousand Oaks solar filter from York, England.

Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has released detailed new photographs of the region surrounding the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. Chandra has confirmed that there is a mysterious group of newborn stars orbiting less than a light-year away from this black hole. Previous models predict that these stars should be torn apart by tidal forces from the black hole. It's possible that there's dense enough disk of material around the black hole that it has enough gravity of its own to hold these stars together. It's also possible the stars formed somewhere else and migrated to this current location.

Aaron Price from Slacker Astronomy has set up a new fund to help the hurricane ravaged observatories and astronomical societies along the US Gulf Coast. If you'd like to help some fellow astronomers get back on their feet, check the site out and see how you can get involved.

Fraser Cain
Publisher, Universe Today

P.S. Aaron also wanted me to remind you to listen to Slacker Astronomy #29: Carrying the 1?s Along Gravitational Highways. He's particularly proud of it. :-) Give it a listen!

Tom Davis delivers another amazing photograph from his backyard observatory in Idaho of the Flaming Star nebula - IC405. The photo was taken using an Astro-Physics 155EDF f/7, STL-11000M.

Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.

Great scientists don't necessarily make for great people. One reportedly never took a bath in his long life. Many were so anti-social as to have their mental stability questioned. Sordid character traits often set them well apart from peers and students. Joshua Gilder and Anne-Lee Gilder explore this avenue in their book Heavenly Intrigue. In it, they bring to life the olden times of Europe and two great astronomers, Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe. Then, step by step, they lead the reader onto a great scientific undertaking that might have its roots in a less than great murder.

A Northrop Grumman/Boeing team has unveiled new details about the successor to the space shuttle: the Crew Exploration Vehicle. This new spacecraft, reminiscent of the original Apollo capsule, is expected to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2012 and return them to the Moon by 2018. Unlike Apollo, however, the CEV will carry four astronauts to the Moon and back. It will orbit the Moon autonomously, allowing all four astronauts to descend to the surface.

John Bunyan took this picture of the Orion Nebula at the California Star Party using an Orion Atlas GoTo mount and 80mm reflector.

Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! While the Moon will figure strongly in this week's observations, that won't stop us from locating Neptune, visiting a faint comet or studying a radio source. Join us as we hike along the Alpine Valley, stare into the eye of Plato, reveal the details in Clavius and set sail on the "Ocean of Storms." It's time to open your eyes to the skies...

Because here's what's up!

ESA officials have confirmed that the Cryosat mission smashed into the Arctic ocean minutes after launch on Saturday. It was launched on board a Rockot vehicle - a converted SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile - from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The 135m euro satellite was designed to monitor ice thickness around the planet. Another version of the satellite may be constructed.

After 17 months of productive data collection, NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite has gathered all the data it needs to pronounce Einstein right or wrong. The probe was launched in April 2004, with four spherical gyroscopes designed to test two of Einstein's predictions about General Relativity: how the Earth's gravity warps space, and how its rotation drags space around with it. Scientists will now spend about a year analyzing the data before presenting their conclusions.

Researchers from NASA have confirmed that it would have been impossible for advanced life forms, like fish or mammals, to live in the Earth's early oceans because it was such a toxic environment. The scientists studied ancient rock formations, and found evidence of photosynthetic bacteria living as recently as 1.6 billion years ago. This bacteria would have required both sunlight and an environment rich in hydrogen sulfide - this environment would have been quite toxic for air breathing creatures.

ESA's CryoSat ice observation satellite is scheduled for a Saturday launch from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Once in orbit, the satellite will used a specialized radar altimeter to measure changes in land and sea ice thickness over a three-year period. Until now, scientists have known that Arctic sea ice is shrinking, but not if it's thinning. Existing Earth observation satellites don't have the resolution to detect smaller pieces of pack ice, so CryoSat will help fill the gaps.

This Cassini photograph shows several of the large craters that pockmark Dione, one of Saturn's moons. The most prominent crater in the image is 188 km (73 mile) Dido, and the smaller crater above it is Antenor. On the sunlit side you can see some of the wispy markings, which Cassini has revealed to be a complex system of fractures in the moon's surface.

Gregory Blount captured this image of the International Space Station as it passed over his my farm near Ketchum, Ok. Greg used a Nikon D70. This photo is facing south, just as ISS passed below Corona Borealis and into Sagittarius.

Do you have photos you'd like to share? Post them to the Universe Today astrophotography forum or email them to me directly, and I might feature one in Universe Today.