About Space
Get the latest headlines from the About.com Space / Astronomy GuideSite.
Updated: 43 min 35 sec ago
Should We Continue to Fund the James Webb Telescope?
When most people think about astronomy they almost immediately picture beautiful images of nebulae, galaxies and star clusters. The primary reason they are able to visualize these objects is because of the amazing work of the Hubble Space Telescope.
...Strong Solar Storm Reaches Earth
A strong solar storm (rated an S3, with S5 being the strongest) erupted on Sunday evening, launching intense radiation and charged particles toward Earth.
Late last night, the coronal mass ejecta interacted with Earth's magnetic field, creating brilliant auroras across northern Europe, and even parts of northern Michigan and Maine and on into Canada.
...A Day on Mercury
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) Probe has settled into orbit around Mercury.
Some of the measurements that have been taken are already generating debate among planetary scientists (more on this later in the week). But the MESSENGER team has also been at work creating very cool animations about what it is like on the surface of the closest planet to the Sun.
...Stephen Hawking Reveals Greatest Mystery in the Universe... Women.
I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming.
When New Scientist Magazine asked the famed physicist what he thinks about most his response was simple. "Women. They are a complete mystery."
...We're As Close to the Sun as We're Going to Get
2011 Space Image of the Year
I find it amusing that so many of the "Top [insert generic topic of interest here] of 2011" lists come out in October or November, more than a month before the actual end of the year. In fact, the 2012 (yes 2012!) North American Car of the Year has already been determined by Motor Trend, several weeks before the end of 2011! (Though they sort of get a pass since Car manufacturers seems to designate the model years of their cars about 6 months ahead of the actual calendar year.)
...Did CERN Find the "God Particle"?
CERN of one of the major experiments looking for the Higgs Boson, sometimes referred to as the God Particle; an as-yet-undetected particle that is believed responsible for giving all other particles mass.
...Kepler Finds Planet in Habitable Zone
The headline over on Yahoo.com earlier this evening read "NASA Finds Planet that can Sustain Life".
Uh, not so fast.
What NASA found, using its Kepler planet finding satellite, was a planet smack dab in the middle of the habitable zone orbiting a Sun similar to our own.
...Curiosity on its Way to Mars
NASA's next generation Mars rover is currently hurtling toward the red planet.
With the goal of landing a human crew on the surface of Mars (perhaps even permanently) by 2030, it is vital that we gather as much information about the surface, and what lies beneath it, as possible.
...NASA Begins Re-purposing Space Shuttle Facilities
With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet there is a lot of underutilized space at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. So NASA is making an effort to re-purpose some of these facilities.
...Russian Probe Fails to Escape Earth's Pull
Asteroid to Pass by Earth Tonight
Asteroid 2005 YU55 is set between the Earth and Moon tonight, November 8, 2011.
If you are interested, and have a telescope at least 6-inches in aperture, you can track the passing rock across the northern hemisphere.
...New Discovery Challenges Theory on Formation of Millisecond Pulsars
I've been on a bit of a gamma-ray kick lately. Sure I'm a little biased, that being my primary area of research and all, but there have also been some very important results to come out of this field in recent weeks and months.
...Could Tractor Beams Become Reality?
I have to admit I was surprised by the headlines touting the funding of tractor beam technologies by NASA.
I've written about this kind of technology before, specifically in the broader context of how tractor beams and energy shields are portrayed in science fiction films like Star Trek. And frankly it's one of the technologies that I also mark in the "things we will probably never have" category.
...What's in a Name? Compete to Rename the VLA.
In one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time, Contact, astrophysicist Ellie Arroway stumbles across a message from space using the Very Large Array (VLA), a radio telescope array in New Mexico. While the film does not focus on this research facility, it certainly emerges as an interesting character of sorts.
...New Mysteries in the Night Sky
My research background is in the field of high-energy astrophysics, specifically working with the VERITAS Collaboration - a gamma-ray telescope array in southern Arizona. While this instrument does some very important work, the energy threshold of the experiment does not allow us to image the complete gamma-ray spectrum.
...