Hubble to Watch Historic Venus Transit, Using Moon as Mirror
Scientists are planning to use NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to observe next month’s historic transit of Venus across the sun’s face.
But there’s a twist. Researchers can’t point Hubble anywhere near the sun, because our star’s bright light could damage the telescope’s super-sensitive instruments. So Hubble will watch the June 5-6Venus transit by using the moon as a mirror.
Imaged Above: Michael Wilce of Central London, UK took 20 composite shots to create this image of Venus transit on June 8, 2004. CREDIT: Michael Wilce
(via the-star-stuff)
Earth May Have Swirled Moon’s Core
Scientists have a new explanation for how the moon got — and lost — its magnetic groove; The Earth did it, at a time when the moon was closer than it is today.
Rock samples returned by the Apollo astronauts show the moon once had a long-lasting, global magnetic field, though it has none today.
On Earth, it is heat from the inner core swirling fluids in the molten iron outer core that triggers the magnetic field-producing phenomenon known as a dynamo.
Comet Storm in a Nearby Star System
Oct. 19, 2011: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has detected signs of icy bodies raining down in an alien solar system. The downpour resembles our own solar system several billion years ago during a period known as the “Late Heavy Bombardment,” which may have brought water and other life-forming ingredients to Earth. “We believe we have direct evidence for an ongoing Late Heavy Bombardment in the nearby star system Eta Corvi, occurring about the same time as in our solar system,” said Carey Lisse, senior research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and lead author of a paper detailing the findings to appear in the Astrophysical Journal.
- October 20
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Astronauts on the International Space Station captured these views of the aurora australis (“southern lights”) and wildfires in Australia in mid-September 2011.
Holy SHIT, this is unreal. I’ve watched it multiple times and I am still having a hard time believing it’s real. Wow.
The Earth and the Moon. Taken 6 million miles away by the Juno spacecraft which is on its way to Jupiter.
Man, space is neat! Everything we love and hate and know is on that pale blue dot.
The blue marble is probably the most famous photograph of Earth ever made. It’s appeared absolutely everywhere and it’s been used to promote every cause under the Sun. It was taken by the crew of Apollo 17—the last manned mission to the Moon—around five hours after launch on December 7, 1972. The photo originally showed Antarctica at the top, but was rotated before release. The original caption reads:
View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is Madagascar. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast.NASA credits the entire Apollo 17 crew— Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt—with the picture, although it’s commonly believed that Schmitt took the picture. It was taken handheld with a space Hasselblad, on 70mm Ektachrome 64 ISO film. NASA’s official designation for the picture is AS17-148-22727, and there exists an AS17-148-22726 that’s almost identical.
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was a geologist, and he wasn’t even supposed to be part of the mission—until it became clear that Apollo 17 would be the last manned mission to the Moon, and NASA wanted a scientist-astronaut on the mission.
(via mothernaturenetwork)
The space shuttle Atlantis orbits over the Bahamas prior to a perfect docking with the International Space Station on July 10.
Huge Gale Crater: NASA unveils Mars landing site
The rover is expected to land in the crater in August 2012.
Hubble telescope snaps spectacular new photos of Neptune
Clouds of methane ice crystals were found hovering over Neptune’s northern and southern hemispheres.
Don’t miss these 10 awe-inspiring images of the moon.
These photos are out of this world! (Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself)
Don’t miss these 8 fantastic images of Saturn.
Saturn water coming from icy moon rain
Despite it’s irregular orbit, the moon Enceladus is constantly raining water around Saturn, creating a water vapor ring around the already ringed planet. At least 4 distinct plumes of water ice spew out from the south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
