NASA has released an interactive, educational video game called NetworKing that depicts how the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network operates. The release of the video game coincides with the close of World Space Week, Oct. 4-10.
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In the game, as a new Network Manager, your job will be to build and upgrade a complex communications network in order to …
This article originally appeared on Sky & Telescope’s website
On November 8–9, 2011, the Earth-crossing asteroid 2005 YU55 will speed past us at a distance closer than the Moon. With a diameter of about 400 meters, it will be the largest object that’s ever been seen passing so close. It should reach about magnitude 11.2 at its brightest, as told … Read the rest of this article
Since June last year, the six crewmembers of a simulated mission to Mars have been isolated in a special facility near Moscow. They will ‘arrive back on Earth’ on 4 November and go into quarantine for four days for medical checks.
Mars500’s official ‘One-year-in-isolation’ photo. Credits: ESA
Mars500 is the first full-duration simulation of a human mission to Mars, in … Read the rest of this article
Behold your galactic center. This NASA Hubble Space Telescope infrared mosaic image represents the sharpest survey of the Galactic Center to date. It reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot ionized gas swirling around the central 300 x 115 light-years. This sweeping infrared panorama offers a nearby laboratory for how massive … Read the rest of this article
If you live in a city, ever wondered what the night sky would have looked like before all the city lights drowned out the stars?
This compelling video shows the night sky from various locations and should remind us all of what we’re missing because of the light pollution that’s being coughed up into the sky:
I don’t know what … Read the rest of this article
The Bolshoi Simulation is a massive, incredibly detailed model of everything, providing a comprehensive simulation of the universe’s 14 billion year history. Scientists are now exploring the simulation, and her are some of the most breathtaking results of their efforts.
The image above is just one many stunning images to come out of this new simulation. This particular image shows … Read the rest of this article
On October 8th Earth is going to plow through a stream of dust from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, and the result could be an outburst of Draconid meteors.
“We’re predicting as many as 750 meteors per hour,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “The timing of the shower favors observers in the Middle East, north Africa and parts of Europe.”… Read the rest of this article
The Guardian newspaper in the UK reported that China’s state run television, CCTV, and China’s space agency released a video animation prior to the recently launched Tiangong 1 miniature space station showing extensive footage of rendezvous and docking maneuvers in Earth orbit that is inexplicably set to the tune of “America the Beautiful”, a patriotic hymn that many American’s regard … Read the rest of this article
This is the Orion Nebula, a vast stellar nursery located 1,500 light-years away. We have the Spitzer Space Telescope and its infrared camera to thank for this incredible image.
There’s just so much to love about this image – the swirling interplay of reds and greens, the hidden constellations peeking through the clouds, the little dots of blues and violets, … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
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