NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide – dry ice – may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go.
“I have always dreamed of going to Mars,” said Serina Diniega, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and lead author of a report … Read the rest of this article
Nearly a decade ago, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory caught signs of what appeared to be a black hole snacking on gas at the middle of the nearby Sculptor galaxy. Now, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), which sees higher-energy X-ray light, has taken a peek and found the black hole asleep.
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The Sculptor galaxy is seen in a new light, …
The module carrying the telescope and scientific instruments of ESA’s Euclid ‘dark Universe’ mission is now being developed by Astrium in Toulouse, France.
Euclid will be launched in 2020 to explore dark energy and dark matter in order to understand the evolution of the Universe since the Big Bang and, in particular, its present accelerating expansion.
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Artist impression of Euclid. …
The face-on Pinwheel spiral galaxy seen in the image below is at ultraviolet wavelengths in this image taken by ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope. Also known as M101, the galaxy lies 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It measures 170 000 light-years across – nearly twice the diameter of our own Milky Way Galaxy – and contains at … Read the rest of this article
At the end of May (2013), Planetary Resources – the company that plans to do asteroid mining in the not too distant future – a said they were going to make an announcement that would open up space to everyone. Here’s a recording of their news conference:
They, in partnership with The Planetary Society and the Museum of Flight, initiated … Read the rest of this article
Every summer, something strange and wonderful happens high above the north pole. Ice crystals begin to cling to the smoky remains of meteors, forming electric-blue clouds with tendrils that ripple hypnotically against the sunset sky. Noctilucent clouds—a.k.a. “NLCs”–are a delight for high-latitude sky watchers, and around the Arctic Circle their season of visibility is always eagerly anticipated.
News flash: This … Read the rest of this article
Scientists working with NASA’s 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a new and improved movie clip of near-Earth asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon. The 55 individual images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on June 1, 2013.
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In this movie, each of the individual images required about five minutes …
NASA held a media teleconference on Friday, June 7, to provide an update about the long-lived Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The 10th anniversary of this rover’s launch is next month.
The briefing participants were:
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Workers moved the Orion ground test vehicle (GTA) from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Launch Equipment Test Facility on May 13. Lockheed Martin workers uncovered the GTA to prepare it for the second series of pyrotechnic bolt tests at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: Jim Grossman
After a month of being poked, prodded and pressurized in … Read the rest of this article
This mosaic, which features the spectacular Kasei Valles, comprises 67 images taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. The mosaic spans 987 km north–south (19–36°N) and 1550 km east–west (280–310°E). Image Credit:ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Dramatic flood events carved this impressive channel system on Mars covering 1.55 million square kilometres, shown here in a stunning new … 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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