Two nearby galaxies peek out through the dust
... discovered over 2000 asteroids — not seen, but actually discovered — including several that pass near the Earth (none on track to hit us,
Posted by Bad Astronomy
Posts in the past four weeks
Tuesday
Mar 09 2010
14:26 UTC
Mar 09 2010
14:26 UTC
Thursday
Mar 04 2010
22:38 UTC
Mar 04 2010
22:38 UTC
Scientists Come to a Conclusion: Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs
Over the years, scientists have debated the cause of the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Now, a panel of 41 international experts says it's official: a massive asteroid around 15 kilometers wide slamming into Earth at Chicxulub, Mexico is the culprit. After surveying a wide variety
Posted by Universe Today
Sunday
Feb 28 2010
01:15 UTC
Feb 28 2010
01:15 UTC
Small Asteroids, Bread Flour, and a Dutch Physicist's 150-year Old Theory
... suggest that smaller asteroids are not pristine chunks of rock, but are instead covered in rubble that ranges in size from meter-sized boulders to flour-like
Posted by Universe Today
Friday
Feb 19 2010
20:14 UTC
Feb 19 2010
20:14 UTC
Opposition of Vesta from Mars
Left Panel, asteroid Vesta as seen from Mars on the 11th of February (for Earth reference see here), Right Panel, Vesta as seen from Mars at the time of Opposition on Mars on & May 2010. Image visualized in Stellarium, location approximately latitude of Adelaide on Mars (as always, click to embiggen). In my series of posts about seeing things from other worlds, (opposition of Mars from Mars and Venus), I'm having a look at the opposition of the asteroid Vesta. (My photographs and sketches her
Posted by Astroblog
Wednesday
Feb 17 2010
01:50 UTC
Feb 17 2010
01:50 UTC
Asteroid Might be Visible to Naked Eye on Feb. 17
An asteroid could be visible with binoculars, or even the naked eye on Wednesday, February 17, 2010. No, it's not coming close to Earth, although this second most massive object in the asteroid belt will be at its closest point to Earth in its orbit, about 211,980,000 kilometers (131,700,000 miles) away. Asteroid Vesta
Posted by Universe Today
Tuesday
Feb 16 2010
19:53 UTC
Feb 16 2010
19:53 UTC
Vesta flys by 40 Leonis
Last night (16 February, 2010), the Asteroid Vesta (the dot with the "v" next to it in the sketch, compare with this sketch) passed between 40 Leonis and Gamma Leonis. My plan to watch Vesta over the week as it approach the pair of stars was stymied by cloud and the occasional need to sleep. Fortunately, the sky was clear on the 16th, unfortunately it was also fairly warm, making for horrid seeing conditions. This wasn't much f a problem for binocular sketching, but I also planned to follow Vesta
Posted by Astroblog
Wednesday
Feb 10 2010
19:30 UTC
Feb 10 2010
19:30 UTC
Opposition of Vesta Februray 2010
The North-east horizon as seen in Australia at 11 pm local daylight saving time (10;00 pm non-daylight saving time) showing the location of Vesta (click to embiggen). While Mars is the focus at the moment, another opposition is upon us. That of the asteroid Vesta. Remember, an opposition is any time we are directly between an astronomical object and the Earth. Oppositions of Mars and Jupiter can be spectacular, but even humble chunks of rock can have oppositions. We generally don´t notice th...
Posted by Astroblog