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Will the Rush to Save NASA Compromise Safety?
Ever since President Obama announced his desire to take NASA in a new direction opinions of all varieties followed. And followed in excess. Some have been supportive of the plan, arguing that the old plan was wasting tax dollars on programs that were over budget and overly complicated.
...Observing Gamma-rays - Time Lapse Video
This Image of the Week post is a little different. In fact, it's not really an image at all, but rather a time lapse video of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) at work. The VERITAS observatory is a very high energy gamma-ray detector array located in southern Arizona. The video was made using 999 thirty-second exposures taken on 19 Feb 2010 by Adler Planetarium astronomers Jose Francisco Salgado, Mark SubbaRao, and Paul Knappenberger.
This video captures one of the four telescopes in the array as it scans the night sky searching for gamma-ray signals from galaxies, supernova remnants and other exotic sources. The search for gamma-ray emission will help scientists to better understand the Universe around us, and possibly help answer some of the big scientific questions of our time. What is dark matter? What did the first galaxies look like, and how did they form?
I wish I had some answers for these questions to share with you, but I don't. So for now, enjoy the image, er, video of the week.
Video Credit: Adler Planetarium, Jose Francisco Salgado, Mark SubbaRao, and Paul Knappenberger
Largest Star Ever Found
It's been a hot few weeks in the midwestern states. With the heat index creeping north of 100 degrees, the Sun's presence is being felt more so than normal. But, on one hand we are lucky. Lucky that we don't orbit the likes of the stars recently discovered by the European southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope.
...Amazing Ancient Astronomy - Newgrange Passage Grave
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, my family and I recently returned from Ireland. While we were there we visited several historical sites, but none were really as amazing as the Newgrange Passage Grave in Brú na Bóinne.
...Planck All Sky Survey - Image of the Week
In this age of technological revolution new satellites and observatories are being launched every year. And usually one of the first tasks undertaken is what is known as an all sky survey. In essence, the observatory takes a quick view of the entire sky -- or at least the entire sky that is available to it in the case of ground based observatories. These surveys are good for getting a general view of what the Universe looks like in the observatory's frequency band, as well as potentially identifying previously unknown sources.
...Senate Votes to Postpone Shuttle Retirement
An Oversight Committee of the United States Senate has unanimously voted to postpone the retirement of the shuttle fleet. While the argument for making such a move sounds convincing, even practical, it is really a politically motivated effort.
...NASA Moves Final Two Shuttle Launch Dates
I reported several weeks ago that NASA was contemplating moving the final two shuttle launches, possibly pushing them into 2011. Well, now it is official.
It now appears that November 1 and February 26 are the target dates for the launches. NASA says that the delays are due to an examination of the payload requirements of the flights, and determining that they could not prepare everything in time under the old time table.
..."Haunting" Asteroid Lutetia - Image of the Week
This week I bring you this startling image of the Lutetia asteroid, taken by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Lutetia is one of the largest asteroids in our solar system and has been a favorite of scientists in recent years.
...Black Hole Sets Record
There is a type of black hole system known as a microquasar, wherein a black hole exists along with a companion star from which it accretes material. They are incredibly useful tools in studying the Universe, as they are similar to their much larger quasar brothers.
...Blackrock Castle Observatory - An Irish Gem
By the time this is posted I will be finishing up a two week visit to the amazing country of Ireland. I was across the pond for a meeting with my VERITAS collaborators -- a very high energy gamma-ray experiment -- the last week of June. I then spent most of this week visiting the Irish countryside.
...Extent of Oil Spill Seen From Space - Image of the Week
This addition of the Image of the Week feature really needs no introduction. This image, taken on June 25 of this year by The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite, depicts the extent of the oil that has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.
...Free "Journey to the Stars" DVD Available From NASA
I know that many of you that follow this blog are in an educational profession at one level or another. And if you are anything like me, you are likely spending your summer "break" making preparations for the fall term.
...Scientists "See" Black Hole Feeding on Galaxy
Black holes, by nature, are difficult to observe. Typically, measurements are made by detecting gravitational interactions with surrounding objects. Also, jets of material can be seen streaming from the poles of some black hole systems (see above image of jets from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Centaurus A). But neither of these methods allow for direct detection of the local environment around the object.
...Aurora Australis - Image of the Week
Observing an aurora from space is really nothing new. Astronauts aboard one of the space shuttles or orbiting on the International Space Station (ISS) have been seeing them for years. But this image captured of an aurora Australis is quite unusual in that it appeared over the southern Indian Ocean.
...The Calm Before the Storm?
The Sun undergoes seasons of varying activity, where the frequency of sunspots and solar flares rise and wane. Typically there is an 11 year period between peaks of maximum and minimum activity. However, this most recent minimum -- which some believe we are finally coming out of -- was been quite unusual.
...Brilliant Lunar Eclipse Set For Saturday Morning
For those of you reading this in the western part of North America or around the globe in southeast Asia and Australia (and a few select other places around the world) you are in for a real treat on Saturday. In the western United States (see the above map for your location) in the wee hours of Saturday you will have the opportunity to see the Moon in a partial eclipse.
...France From Space - Image of the Week
After France and Italy both made surprise exits from the World Cup this week I thought their fans might need a bit of cheering up. So I bring you this startling image of the France-Italy border, taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
...NASA Hopes to Postpone the Two Final Shuttle Flights
NASA is currently scheduled to conclude its space shuttle program by the end of 2010. The final two flights are currently expected to lift off September 16 and mid December for Discovery and Endeavour respectively.
...What Earth's Atmosphere Looks Like From Space - Image of the Week
The new image of the week was taken as astronauts aboard the International Space Station looked west at the setting Sun. Of course it is quite a different experience for them as they see 16 Sun rises and Sun sets every day due to the incredible velocity (roughly 17,000 miles per hour) that they orbit the Earth.
...NASA Stops Work on the Constellation Program
While Congress and the President have spent the last several months debating the future of NASA and the manned space program, the work of designing and implementing a new reusable exploration vehicle and launch system have continued. The problem is that this program, called the Constellation Program, was cancelled back in February when the President announced his budget plans.
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