One of the great outstanding questions in science is known as the “theory of everything”. What underlying laws of physics explain the forces we see in nature? Are gravity and electromagnetism the same force? One popular theory is known as string theory, and proposes that everything in the Universe is made up of tiny, vibrating strings.
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Distant Cluster of Galaxies Viewed by Hubble
This beautiful picture is of a distant collection of galaxies called the Abell S0740 galaxy cluster, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It’s located more than 450 million light years away in the constellation Centaurus.
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Blackened Sea Launch Heads for Home
After last week’s rocket explosion, the Sea Launch facility is making its way back to the home port in Long Beach, California. The latest photographs show how the Odyssey Launch Platform is blackened by the explosion from the Zenit-3SL rocket that was supposed to carry the NSS-8 satellite into orbit.
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NASA Astronaut Charged With Attempted Murder
As you’ve probably heard by now, NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak was arrested this week, and charged with attempted kidnapping. Nowak, who flew on board the space shuttle Atlantis just last July, was captured by police when she attempted to confront rival Colleen Shipman over the affections of a third astronaut: Bill Oefelein. Nowak was found with a variety of weapons on her and in her car.
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Sunita Williams Sets Women’s Spacewalking Record
Astronauts Mike Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams spent another day in space on Sunday, continuing the process of switching over the International Space Station’s power and cooling systems. Spacewalks are pretty important in themselves, but during the journey outside, Williams broke the record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman.
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Martian Probes Need to Dig Deeper
If they want to find life on Mars, future explorers will need to dig down deep under the surface. This is according to new research published by University College London Researcher Lewis Dartnell.
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Book Review: Saturn – A New View
I love large format picture books. Most any subject suffices, as the photographs are like little works of art, each selected with care and passion. However, space themed books are real treasures for me, and Saturn – A New View by L.Lovett, J.Horvath, and, J.Cuzzi is a jewel in the treasure chest. Within it, wide expansive images bring this distant planet into immediate, astounding view.
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Podcast: Variable Stars
Our Sun has been around for billions of years, and will last for billions more. We’re lucky, it’s pretty stable and regular as stars go, only changing in brightness a little now and then. But there are stars out there that change dramatically; astronomers call them variable stars, and they demonstrate just how bizarre and dangerous the Universe can be.
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What’s Up this Week: February 5 – February 11, 2007
Monday, February 5 – On this day in 1963, Maarten Schmidt measured the first quasar redshift and in 1974 the first close-up photography of Venus was made by Mariner 10. With a bit of time to spare before the Moon rises tonight, let’s begin our journey further south into Lepus as we take a look at Alpha. Its name is Arneb and it is a quality double star that resides around 900 light-years distant. Arneb’s 11th magnitude disparate companion will take a larger scope to resolve. Its wide separation of 35.5″ means it is probably not a true physical companion, but it is a challenge worthy of your time.
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Spacewalkers Begin Switching Over the Station’s Cooling System
Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams spent nearly 8 hours outside on the International Space Station on Wednesday, beginning the process of reconfiguring the station’s power and cooling systems.
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