NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet.
The moon, designated S/2004 N 1, is estimated to be no more than 12 miles across, making it the smallest known moon in the Neptunian system. It is so small and dim that it is roughly … Read the rest of this article
Computer simulations by a pair of researchers at the University of Edinburgh predict that a fleet of interstellar probes could explore the entire Milky Way galaxy within a fraction of the present age of Earth. This may seem like a tall order considering that our farthest interstellar spacecraft, Voyager 1, is still less than a light-day from Earth after being … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers making visible-light observations with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have deduced the actual color of a planet orbiting another star 63 light-years away.
The planet is HD 189733b, one of the closest exoplanets that can be seen crossing the face of its star.
Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph measured changes in the color of light from the planet before, during … Read the rest of this article
Like a comet, the solar system has a tail. NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has for the first time mapped out the structure of this tail, which is shaped like a four-leaf clover.
Scientists describe the tail, called the heliotail, based on the first three years of IBEX imagery in a paper published in the July 10 edition of the … Read the rest of this article
The rover NASA will send to Mars in 2020 should look for signs of past life, collect samples for possible future return to Earth, and demonstrate technology for future human exploration of the Red Planet, according to a report provided to the agency.
The 154-page document was prepared by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, which NASA appointed in January … Read the rest of this article
SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, is an almost uniquely American affair. There was a time when it was funded by the US government, but that funding resource was withdrawn many years ago and SETI research has continued primarily due to private funding. Now the British want to do their bit for this under-funded research topic. Whatever the results – … Read the rest of this article
Hundreds of individual lava flows are seen frozen in time on the flanks of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System.
The images, taken on 21 January 2013 by ESA’s Mars Express, focus on the southeast segment of the giant volcano, which towers some 22 km above the surrounding plains. This is more than double the height of … Read the rest of this article
When NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity blasted off from Cape Canaveral in 2003, many onlookers expected a relatively short mission. Landing on Mars is risky business. The Red Planet has a long history of destroying spacecraft that attempt to visit it. Even if Opportunity did land safely, it was only designed for a 3-month mission on the hostile Martian surface.
The tiny dot against the streaking star field in the image below is one of the last views that ground-based observers will see of ESA’s iconic Herschel space observatory.
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The Herschel space observatory is shown here in monochrome and negative against a backdrop of stars, the latter streaked by the telescope tracking the motion of the observatory as it drifts …
Planetary Resourecs are in the final hours of their crowdfunding campaign. They have a lot in store for you during their LIVE FINALE EVENT, beginning at 3:00 p.m. PDT today (Sunday) (convert to your time) through the close of their Kickstarter campaign at 7:00 p.m. PDT. But before all of that fun starts, they wanted to share … 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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