Space and astronomy news
[/caption] Early next week, a NASA craft designed to hammer the moon will travel from California to the Kennedy Space Center — one step closer to the planned April 24 launch. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, will hitch a ride to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter carries a suite …
[/caption] The CoRoT satellite has found the smallest terrestrial exoplanet yet, — with a diameter just under twice that of Earth — complete with a rocky surface you could walk on and possibly even oceans to sail across. However, if you traveled there, you might want to bring some protection, as the temperature of this …
Continue reading “Smallest Terrestrial Exoplanet Yet Detected”
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! The Moon is back again, but what a terrific target for winter studies. Why not get out your binoculars and telescopes as we take a look at strange and unusual places like the Serpent Sea, the Marsh of Sleep and the Lakes of Time, Death and Dreams? If you haven’t wished upon …
Continue reading “Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: January 30 – February 1, 2009”
[/caption] I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could look at images from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter all day…and there are days I have spent a great deal of time perusing through the gorgeous, high-resolution images. Here are just a few of the latest images the HiRISE team …
Continue reading “Latest Images From HiRISE (More Eye Candy)”
[/caption] We stand on the edge of the next phase of planetary discovery. Hundreds of massive, Jupiter-like planets have been discovered, but now astronomers are turning up smaller, more familiar planets. Planets the mass of Earth are out of reach today, but a new class of super Earth planets are now being discovered, and more …
The nominations are in, the votes have been counted and the Universe Today writers have been consulted; the Top 10 Scientific Endeavours of 2008 are decided! After much consideration by the readers of the Universe Today, it became quickly apparent what the popular choice would be, and some of the Top 10 may not come …
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[/caption] “We remain on track to complete a lethal demonstration in 2009,” says an Airborne Laser (ABL) developer. “There’s nothing like flaming missile wreckage to show the world the system is viable and that it works.” Indeed, and it looks like the initial dreams of having an anti-missile laser system have come one more step …
[/caption] Although it’s similar in size, Venus is very different from Earth. The temperature at the surface is hot enough to melt lead, with an atmosphere of almost pure carbon dioxide, 92 times thicker than Earth’s atmosphere. Even with this extreme environment, is it possible that there’s life on Venus? Probably not. Here on Earth, …
[/caption]2008 has been an astounding year of scientific discovery. To celebrate this fact, Time Magazine has listed the “Top 10 Scientific Discoveries” where space exploration and physics dominate. Other disciplines are also listed; including zoology, microbiology, technology and biochemistry, but the number 1 slot goes to the most ambitious physics experiment of our time. Can …
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[/caption] Mercurian world is one of extremes. 700 Kelvin on the side exposed to the Sun, yet some areas are never exposed to sunlight and are as cold as deep space. Scientists do not believe there has ever been life on Mercury. The atmosphere on Mercury is almost non-existant. It doesn’t protect the planet from …