Today Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley’s comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Saturday morning, Oct. 22nd, with more than 15 meteors per hour.
Although the moon doesn’t rise till after midnight, the Orionids usually wait until the early morning hours to pick up steam. And there will … Read the rest of this article
ESA’s Herschel space observatory has found evidence of water vapour emanating from ice on dust grains in the disc around a young star, revealing a hidden ice reservoir the size of thousands of oceans.
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This image shows an artist’s impression of the icy protoplanetary disc around the young star TW Hydrae (upper panel) and the spectrum of the disc as …
In July 2011, at the JREF’s TAM 9 meeting in Las Vegas, astronomer Phil Plait moderated a panel discussing the future of space exploration. On that panel were some familiar faces: Bill Nye (the Science Guy), astronomers Neil Tyson and Pamela Gay, and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss.
The video of the panel has been made available by the JREF, so … Read the rest of this article
For the first time, observations coordinated by ESA’s space hazards team have found an asteroid that comes close enough to Earth to pose an impact threat. The space rock was found by amateur astronomers, highlighting the value of ‘crowd-sourcing’ to science and planetary defence.
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For the first time, observations coordinated by ESA’s Space Situational Awareness programme have led to the …
ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory has found water in a comet with almost exactly the same composition as Earth’s oceans. The discovery revives the idea that our planet’s seas could once have been giant icebergs floating through space.
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This illustration shows the orbit of comet Hartley 2 in relation to those of the five innermost planets of the Solar System. …
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
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
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