Or landing on Ceres to find out what those bright spots are. We would need something to do while those other probes were en route.
Printable View
Or landing on Ceres to find out what those bright spots are. We would need something to do while those other probes were en route.
http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/...t-bright-star: it is "only" 4.22 light years away. And we still don't know how many stars (suns) are in it. Probably 3.
It looks like I am too far north the see Alpha Centauri although they say it is the third brightest star in the sky.
The problem with Alpha Centauri is that one of the stars is so bright and the others are so dim (being brown dwarf starts near the end of their lives ) that the bright star makes it hard to see the others. We think there are 3 in all, but not sure.
It would be kind of strange having three suns in the sky on any planet surrounding one of the stars comprising Alpha Centauri. I hope there is some nighttime.
In Populär Astronomi over a year ago something I never knew came out. On 9 May last year Dawn began its spiral descent to its lowest position, some 375 km above Ceres. It will be continuing to collect data for as long as possible, but it will eventually become a permanent satellite of Ceres, its own (artificial) moon.
I thought Dawn would crash into Ceres. I guess it is better to have it orbit as long as possible.
It has been nearly a year ago that New Horizons left Pluto and headed deeper into the Kuiper Belt. It has found an icy body 150 km wide and rotating quite rapidly, every 5.4 hours, fast for a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). See http://www.space.com/32946-new-horiz...ond-pluto.html.
http://www.space.com/32973-supermass...-born-big.html. This post on black holes shows how fast knowledge and theory grow...
The article mentioned they only have candidates for what might be black holes. However, the conjecture that massive black holes did not grow to their massive size but started off big is interesting.
This short video shows how varied the terrain is on Pluto: http://earthsky.org/space/best-close...plutos-surface.
The nitrogen ice plains where the strangest feature. I didn't expect anything like that being there.
Galaxy Zoo is a way of classifying galaxies. I read an article in Popular Astronomy on citizen science by Alice Sheppard (p.9). School pupils found the subject confusing as they "never really knew the answers". "This is a fundamental misconception of science that is developed in schools" as a monolith, a mystery and an authority, rather than a method." "They didn't want to get it wrong"(Ben Goldacre) "Only by muddling around, getting confused, can we improve our knowledge. But for school children who had only been taught to pass tests, this was daunting."
There is more, but the above is a good way to describe it succinctly.
This post had me rolling in the aisles. Very funny and very perceptive: http://www.space.com/33005-where-is-...dge-op-ed.html
The seas of Titan are methane, but the plan is to send a submarine to explore them for signs of primitive life. The idea is only at the planning stage and may take 20 years to implement:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/titan-s...ths-of-kraken/
http://earthsky.org/space/pluto-hear...y-active-young
Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission used state-of-the-art computer simulations to show that the surface of Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planum region is covered with churning ice “cells.” These icy cells are geologically young, less than a million years old.
It was interesting that those nitrogen cells are active on Pluto. The planet isn't dead.
That's right, Pluto is very much an active dwarf planet.
The hunt for gravitational waves is on. See http://www.space.com/33094-lisa-path...n-results.html, an interesting post.
The first video in that link was interesting. The gravitational ways occur when objects collide.
This selection of pics is of iridescent clouds. Rather pretty: http://earthsky.org/earth/i-saw-a-cl...what-causes-it
I don't recall if I've ever seen cloud iridescence before. There is an iridescence in some stones. I picked up one for my wife recently The stone is called Labradorite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labradorite
I saw a lens cloud today, my first ever. Lenticular clouds they are called: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud
Those lenticular clouds do look like big flying saucers. I guess I'd have to wait for them to beam me up to be sure.
Kepler has found a large planet orbiting 2 stars.
http://www.space.com/33155-biggest-t...uns-found.html
What I found interesting about this new large gas exoplanet was that it was in the habitable zone and so its moons could have life. Imagine being in a solar system with two suns and then circling a gas giant like Jupiter.
http://earthsky.org/space/astronomer...e-mystery-star. This is the star that was thought to have a Dyson Sphere built or being built around it. It will be under a year's constant observation to check it out.
It would be nice to know if there is an alien megastructure around that star or not.
The point being made is that even if there is not, there must be another explanation.
Another billion dollar shot for NASA, I didn't even know of it until now. It is planned to orbit Jupiter and study its atmosphere, magnetic field, and more besides. The Juno Probe is still not in orbit around Jupiter, if the manoeuvre fails the probe will be shot out into space and be lost.
Saw that. I hope Jupiter's radiation doesn't work havoc with the instruments, though it will be inserted into a 2,672 mile orbit which should be safe. https://www.google.com/search?client...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
The item in the website Space was a bit unclear about the details, so fingers crossed on that one, Tailor!
The name of the spacecraft, Juno, seems appropriate for the mission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)
More on the Juno probe, can be read at this website: http://www.space.com/33190-juno-spac...e-stretch.html
http://earthsky.org/space/youngest-f...oplanet-k2-33b. This was an interesting read!
Based on that article the number of known exoplanets is now 3,437.
If Pluto is potentially habitable that would expand the habitable zone where life is possible. I thought ice expanded when it froze which makes me wonder if Pluto hasn't already completely frozen.
http://www.space.com/33276-opal-piec...meteorite.html. This is a clue to the existence of life on earth.
The other thing to watch for is the Juno Mission, hoping the orbit insertion, due soon, works smoothly.
If Earth's water comes from meteorites where did the meteorites get it?