Book Review: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier by Neil de Grasse Tyson
... human perception of astronomy
Posted by Universe Today
Posts in the past four weeks
Tuesday
May 21 2013
18:52 UTC
May 21 2013
18:52 UTC
Tuesday
May 21 2013
15:02 UTC
May 21 2013
15:02 UTC
The Birth of a Saros — This Weekend's Hidden Eclipse
As the first eclipse season of 2013Âcomes to an end this weekend, an extremely subtle lunar eclipseÂoccurs on the night of Friday, May 24th going into the morning of Saturday, May 25th. And we do mean subtle, as in invisible to the naked eye this eclipse only lasts 34 minutes in duration and less than
Posted by Universe Today
Friday
May 17 2013
15:12 UTC
May 17 2013
15:12 UTC
Seeing the Red of La Superba,' a Magnificent Springtime Carbon Star
The Universe can be a very gray place. But this week, we'll look at a fine example of a class of objects that defies this trend.(...)Read the rest of Seeing the Red of ‘La Superba,' a Magnificent Springtime Carbon Star (887 words) Â David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | One comment |
Posted by Universe Today
Thursday
May 16 2013
20:25 UTC
May 16 2013
20:25 UTC
Blocking Light Sheds New Light on Exoplanet Atmospheres
Exoplanets are uncanny. Some seem to have walked directly out of the best science-fiction movies.ÂFor example, we've discovered a planet consisting purely of water (GJ 1214b) and one with two suns (Kepler 16b). Some planets nearly scrape their host stars once every orbit, while others exist in darkness without a host star at all. The
Posted by Universe Today
Thursday
May 16 2013
16:30 UTC
May 16 2013
16:30 UTC
Writing about Astronomy
My Life with the Firehose of Cosmic InformationI have a new book coming out! ÂIt's calledÂAstronomy 101: From the Sun and Moon to Wormholes and Warp Drive, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Facts about the Universe,Âdue out in a few weeks from Adams Media. I've been working with them behind the scenes on distribution and publicity,
Posted by TheSpacewriter's Ramblings
Thursday
May 16 2013
10:30 UTC
May 16 2013
10:30 UTC
Nasa's Kepler telescope failure is not the end of searching for another Earth
Even if Nasa's Kepler space telescope is coming to the end of its mission, the search for other Earths will continueThe Kepler space telescope is in trouble. On Tuesday, during one of their regular twice-weekly communications slots, Nasa scientists found the telescope in "safe mode". An investigation has now revealed that a stabilising wheel has broken. This led the telescope to place itself in the protective, low-power mode. Without this wheel, the telescope cannot point precisely at its targets
Posted by Across the universe
Wednesday
May 15 2013
21:29 UTC
May 15 2013
21:29 UTC
The End of the Kepler Mission?
Not Yet, but Things Don't Look GoodNASA's Kepler spacecraft, launched in 2009 to search out worlds around other stars, has likely reached the end of its current mission due to the failure of a critical component called a reaction wheel. The spacecraft has four of these wheels which help stabilize Kepler so that it can
Posted by TheSpacewriter's Ramblings
Monday
May 13 2013
17:45 UTC
May 13 2013
17:45 UTC
5 Sky Events This Week: Three-Planet Huddle, Lunar Wall
The lunar wall comes into view, three planets huddle, and the moon joins the Leo constellation in this week's best sky events.
Posted by Breaking Orbit
Sunday
May 12 2013
23:31 UTC
May 12 2013
23:31 UTC
space oddity
sadly, commander chris hadfield is leaving the international space station (ISS) and wont be sending down his regular awe-inspiring images for us to enjoy. see some of his previous posts: space nacho, nuts in space, space rock damage, or towel-wringing in zero-g. but the guy sure knows how to go out with style. he made this video, a space station cover of david bowie's space oddity, and i think it's pretty much the most awesome thing in the universe right now:
Posted by astropixie
Friday
May 10 2013
14:30 UTC
May 10 2013
14:30 UTC
An Awesome Annular Eclipse! Images and Videos from Earth and Space
... spectacular annular eclipse of the Sun was witnessed across Australia and the southern Pacific region early today. Morning dawned mostly clear across the Australian continent, and those who journeyed out to meet the antumbra of the Moon as the Sun rose across the Great Sandy Desert and the Cape YorkÂPeninsula were not disappointed. The
Posted by Universe Today
Friday
May 10 2013
14:28 UTC
May 10 2013
14:28 UTC
Planet Debris Pollute Dead Stars
A pair of dead stars sitting in a star cluster about 150 light years from Earth appear to have their atmospheres polluted with debris from asteroids . Astronomers say this suggests that the basic ingredients for making Earth-like planets could be quite Âcommon in stellar nurseries across the cosmos. “We have identified chemical evidence…
Posted by Breaking Orbit
Friday
May 10 2013
02:56 UTC
May 10 2013
02:56 UTC
annular solar eclipse - on the news!
there was an annular solar eclipse this morning, visible along a thin strip in northern australia. luckily, most of australia could see the sun partially blocked by the moon, and i went on live TV to talk about the event to ABC reporters! live on the news, talking about the solar eclipse! (photo credit: henry lee)big thanks to henry lee for putting together the above image, which includes a screen shot of the ABC news program and a pinhole camera shot of the partial eclipse in progre
Posted by astropixie
Thursday
May 09 2013
15:43 UTC
May 09 2013
15:43 UTC
This Diagram is Better than 183,487 Images
Editor's Note: This guest post was written by Markus Pössel, a theoretical physicist turned astronomical outreach scientist. He is the managing scientist at the Centre for Astronomy Education and Outreach “Haus der Astronomie” in Heidelberg, Germany. When it comes to immediate and widespread appeal, astronomical diagrams have it tough. There's a reason we have Most
Posted by Universe Today
Wednesday
May 08 2013
17:24 UTC
May 08 2013
17:24 UTC
Amateur Astronomer Catches Record Setting Gamma-Ray Burst
Vigilance and a little luck paid off recently for an amateur astronomer. On April 27th, 2013 a long lasting gamma-ray burst was recorded in the northeastern section of the constellation Leo. (...)Read the rest of Amateur Astronomer Catches Record Setting Gamma-Ray Burst (1,089 words) Â David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | 3
Posted by Universe Today
Wednesday
May 08 2013
04:04 UTC
May 08 2013
04:04 UTC
annular solar eclipse: 10 may 2013
this friday morning there will be an annular solar eclipse. an annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes exactly in front of the sun and covers it up, but not completely. there will still be a small fraction of the brightly glowing sun around the full moon, preventing the sky from going that ghostly dark that it does during a total solar eclipse, unfortunately. (see eclipse video here)credit: forrest tanakathe maximum eclipse will be visible across far north austr
Posted by astropixie
Tuesday
May 07 2013
13:48 UTC
May 07 2013
13:48 UTC
Milky Way's Black Hole Munches On Supercooked Gas
It's a simple menu, but smoking hot. The black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is sucking in ultra-hot molecular gas, as seen through the eyes of the Herschel space telescope. (...)Read the rest of Milky Way's Black Hole Munches On Supercooked Gas (394 words) Â Elizabeth Howell for Universe Today, 2013.
Posted by Universe Today
Monday
May 06 2013
18:45 UTC
May 06 2013
18:45 UTC
How to Catch This Week's Ring of Fire' Annular Eclipse
The first solar eclipse of 2013 is upon us this week, with the May 10th annular eclipse crossing northern Australia and the Pacific.(...)Read the rest of How to Catch This Week's ‘Ring of Fire' Annular Eclipse (1,310 words) Â David Dickinson for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: annular eclipse,
Posted by Universe Today
Sunday
May 05 2013
13:31 UTC
May 05 2013
13:31 UTC
Star's Dying Gasp May Signal Black Hole's Birth
... distinctive flash of light emanating from a dying star may make it possible for astronomers to watch a black hole being born, according to new research. This burst of light, which might last three to 10 days, could be visible in optical light and also in infrared, which shows the heat signature of cosmic
Posted by Universe Today
Saturday
May 04 2013
10:01 UTC
May 04 2013
10:01 UTC
what does the ISS have in common with a 2.7m telescope in texas?
earlier this week, international space station (ISS) resident chris hadfield posted a photo of a hole in the solar array attached to the earth's orbiting domicile. see it?a small space rock shot through the solar array and created that hole. it was lucky that the rock didnt go through the main compartments of the ISS. unexpectedly the photo reminded me of my phd days observing with the 2. 7meter telescope in west texas at mcdonald observatory. this telescope is a beast - wi
Posted by astropixie
Friday
May 03 2013
18:08 UTC
May 03 2013
18:08 UTC
Using the Sky
... archaeoastronomythe study of ancient astronomy. It's an interesting topic, one that keeps cropping up as we find and visit places around the world with evidence that our ancestors used certain objects or landmarks as astronomical markers. Finding these means that even many thousands
Posted by TheSpacewriter's Ramblings
Friday
May 03 2013
17:12 UTC
May 03 2013
17:12 UTC
Retired Space Observatory’s Watery Legacy
After nearly four years of glorious service to science, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory mission has come to the end this week. Running out of helium coolant needed to chill its instruments down to near absolute zero means that it has closed its far-infrared eyes to the Universe for good. ÂAfter a…
Posted by Breaking Orbit
Friday
May 03 2013
13:00 UTC
May 03 2013
13:00 UTC
Characterizing Planets with BEER
Faigler et al. apply their BEER algorithm to a collection of stars in the Kepler field and find a hot Jupiter missed by the Kepler Science Team, showing a new way to find and characterize planets without follow-up observations.
Posted by astrobites
Thursday
May 02 2013
14:00 UTC
May 02 2013
14:00 UTC
Into Oblivion: What If the Earth Had No Moon?
AVAST gentle reader: mild SPOILER(S) and graphic depictions of shattered satellites ahead! We recently had a chance to catch Oblivion, the first summer blockbuster of the season. The flick delivers on the fast-paced Sci-Fi action as Tom Cruise saves the planet from an invasion of Tom Cruise clones. But the movie does pose an interesting
Posted by Universe Today
Thursday
May 02 2013
12:57 UTC
May 02 2013
12:57 UTC
saturn's hurricane
thanks to the cassini spacecraft, that is in orbit around saturn, we've known for a while that saturn's north pole features a massive storm in the shape of a hexagon, instead of earth's common circle-hurricane-storms. check this out from november 2012:saturn's north pole hexagon (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)now look at this infrared image taken by cassini late last year. the red shows low clouds deep in the atmosphere, and green reveals high clouds floating above
Posted by astropixie
Wednesday
May 01 2013
18:08 UTC
May 01 2013
18:08 UTC
A Little Solar Activity
On A Snowy DayIt's May 1st. Time for flowers and birds singing and all the lovely northern hemisphere things that we associate with spring. Except for where I live. Here, it's snowing. A blizzard. Two days ago it was nearly 80Â F. ÂSo, it's springtime where I live — with a twist. Also, it's media day
Posted by TheSpacewriter's Ramblings
Wednesday
May 01 2013
11:00 UTC
May 01 2013
11:00 UTC
announcement: new job
big news: i've accepted a new job!i'm thrilled to announce that i'll be staying in sydney for at least several more years, officially splitting my time as a research astronomer and the head of a new outreach office at the australian astronomical observatory (AAO)!i'm very excited about the possibilities in this new role. i look forward to continuing to investigate the unknown aspects of the universe that intrigue me most, while helping my colleagues translate their research for general aud
Posted by astropixie
Saturday
Apr 27 2013
16:06 UTC
Apr 27 2013
16:06 UTC
Stonehenge Was An Ancient Burial Ground For the Rich: Study
The site of Stonehenge — that mysterious collection of British rocks that could have served as a calendar using the stars — was also a graveyard for the elite, according to new research. A British group led by the University College London looked at 63 bodies surrounding the historical site. They determined these people were
Posted by Universe Today
Thursday
Apr 25 2013
18:48 UTC
Apr 25 2013
18:48 UTC
Pippa Plugging (and a bit of Chas)
Had a rather jolly evening last night. I went to a book launch. I'd never been to one before and didn't quite know what to expect – lots of air kissing and long fingernails I guess. In fact it was full of nice normal looking peoples, who divided into three tribes – aspiring writers, civil
Posted by The e-Astronomer
Thursday
Apr 25 2013
17:59 UTC
Apr 25 2013
17:59 UTC
Partial Lunar Eclipse Tonight, 25 April
There's a partial lunar eclipse tonight, visible from the UK, as well as from the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. It won't be hugely dramatic, as it's only a partial eclipse of the Moon, not a total one. Even total lunar eclipses are far less grand than total solar eclipses, unfolding over several
Posted by Dark Sky Diary