ESA Top News
12 Mar 2010, 11:00 UTC
ESA PR 2010-05 A crew of six, including two Europeans, will soon begin a simulated mission to Mars in a mockup that includes an interplanetary spaceship, a Mars lander and a martian landscape. The Mars500 experiment, as long as a real journey to Mars, will be second to none as the ultimate test of human endurance.
Media opportunity: ESA presents European participants in 520-day simulated mission to Mars
12 Mar 2010, 11:00 UTC
ESA PR 2010-05 A crew of six, including two Europeans, will soon begin a simulated mission to Mars in a mockup that includes an interplanetary spaceship, a Mars lander and a martian landscape. The Mars500 experiment, as long as a real journey to Mars, will be second to none as the ultimate test of human endurance.
Gemini Observatory Press Releases and Websplashes
11 Mar 2010, 22:34 UTC
Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe, so accounting for their formation is an essential problem in astronomy. Most galaxies are either spiral or elliptical, with the latter tending to be larger and more massive. One suggestion that is grounded in fundamental measurements of the universe as a whole is that merging spiral galaxies form elliptical galaxies. A way to test the predictions of this merger hypothesis is to observe examples of galaxy merging in process. Barry Rothberg and Jacqueline Fischer of the Naval Research Laboratory (US) have done that, drawing important conclusions about the objects they observed and the techniques astronomers use to measure them. read more
Underweight or Blinded by Youth? Finding the True Mass of Galaxy Mergers
11 Mar 2010, 22:34 UTC
Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe, so accounting for their formation is an essential problem in astronomy. Most galaxies are either spiral or elliptical, with the latter tending to be larger and more massive. One suggestion that is grounded in fundamental measurements of the universe as a whole is that merging spiral galaxies form elliptical galaxies. A way to test the predictions of this merger hypothesis is to observe examples of galaxy merging in process. Barry Rothberg and Jacqueline Fischer of the Naval Research Laboratory (US) have done that, drawing important conclusions about the objects they observed and the techniques astronomers use to measure them. read more
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
11 Mar 2010, 21:22 UTC
In an attempt to explain away invisible dark matter and dark energy, some theorists have offered new theories of gravity that try to improve on Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. A new study inspired by the work of a Berkeley Lab cosmologist indicates that at least one of these new theories is wrong.
Foiling an Attack on General Relativity
11 Mar 2010, 21:22 UTC
In an attempt to explain away invisible dark matter and dark energy, some theorists have offered new theories of gravity that try to improve on Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. A new study inspired by the work of a Berkeley Lab cosmologist indicates that at least one of these new theories is wrong.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features
11 Mar 2010, 20:03 UTC
By precisely tracking NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its low swoops over Saturn's moon Titan, scientists have determined the distribution of materials in the moon's interior.
Cassini Data Show Ice and Rock Mixture Inside Titan
11 Mar 2010, 20:03 UTC
By precisely tracking NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its low swoops over Saturn's moon Titan, scientists have determined the distribution of materials in the moon's interior.
Most Recent News
- 12 Mar 2010
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12:18 UTC
SpaceTech 2010 - UK space scientists reveal the many benefits of cu...
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11:00 UTC
Media opportunity: ESA presents European participants in 520-day si...
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09:41 UTC
Talking Science comes to Swindon
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09:40 UTC
Signature secures future Sentinels for GMES
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05:00 UTC
NASA Announces Systems Engineering Student Competition
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12:18 UTC
- 11 Mar 2010
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23:38 UTC
Did the Chilean Quake Shift Earth's Axis?
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22:34 UTC
Underweight or Blinded by Youth? Finding the True Mass of Galaxy ...
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21:22 UTC
Foiling an Attack on General Relativity
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20:03 UTC
Cassini Data Show Ice and Rock Mixture Inside Titan
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11:00 UTC
Shocking recipe for making killer electrons
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09:15 UTC
Joint Statement: International Space Station Heads of Agency
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NASA TV Provides Coverage of One Space Station Crew's Return to Ear...
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05:00 UTC
NASA TV Media Channel Provides Clean Feeds for News Organizations
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05:00 UTC
NASA Offers 'FAST' Opportunities For Zero-G Technology Testing
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05:00 UTC
Heads of Agency International Space Station Joint Statement
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00:30 UTC
Whats Happening: Spitzer Detects the "Heartbeat" of Star Formation ...
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23:38 UTC
- 10 Mar 2010
Blogs
The Night Sky Guy
12 Mar 2010, 20:58 UTC
As the saying goes – March comes in like a lion -so it seems appropriate then that the dominate constellation this month in the eastern evening sky is constellation Leo. Leo is one of the few constellations that actually look like their mythological character, making it fairly easy to spot. The lion’s basic form is a [...]
Lion Roars at Night
12 Mar 2010, 20:58 UTC
As the saying goes – March comes in like a lion -so it seems appropriate then that the dominate constellation this month in the eastern evening sky is constellation Leo. Leo is one of the few constellations that actually look like their mythological character, making it fairly easy to spot. The lion’s basic form is a [...]
Centauri Dreams
12 Mar 2010, 19:18 UTC
Yesterday’s trip to the dark side involved the so-called ‘dark flow,’ the apparent motion of galactic clusters along a path in the direction of the constellations Centaurus and Hydra. Today we look at two other dark conjectures — dark matter and dark energy. Are both a part of the universe we observe, or can we do away with them by clever manipulation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity? The latest word, from an international team of researchers studying the clustering of more than 70,000 galaxies, is that GR seems to have passed yet another test. This is useful stuff, because one of the implications is that dark matter is the most likely explanation of the movement of galaxies and galaxy clusters as they seem to respond to an unseen mass. The possibility of dark matter was noted as long ago as 1933 by Fritz Zwicky, who studied the average mass of galaxies within the Coma cluster and obtained a value much higher than expected from their luminosity. Later studies of individual galaxies made it clear that a halo of dark matter would explain anomalous galactic rotations. But all that assumed no changes to general relativity at cosmological scales. Image: A ...
General Relativity Holds Up Under Galactic Test
12 Mar 2010, 19:18 UTC
Yesterday’s trip to the dark side involved the so-called ‘dark flow,’ the apparent motion of galactic clusters along a path in the direction of the constellations Centaurus and Hydra. Today we look at two other dark conjectures — dark matter and dark energy. Are both a part of the universe we observe, or can we do away with them by clever manipulation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity? The latest word, from an international team of researchers studying the clustering of more than 70,000 galaxies, is that GR seems to have passed yet another test. This is useful stuff, because one of the implications is that dark matter is the most likely explanation of the movement of galaxies and galaxy clusters as they seem to respond to an unseen mass. The possibility of dark matter was noted as long ago as 1933 by Fritz Zwicky, who studied the average mass of galaxies within the Coma cluster and obtained a value much higher than expected from their luminosity. Later studies of individual galaxies made it clear that a halo of dark matter would explain anomalous galactic rotations. But all that assumed no changes to general relativity at cosmological scales. Image: A ...
IYA2009 Updates
12 Mar 2010, 17:55 UTC
GLOBE at Night featured on Earth Science Picture of the Day A photo of the constellation Orion high above Portugal's noble Cape Espichel Lighthouse has been selected as today's Earth Science Picture of the Day. The picture illustrates GLOBE at Night. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/844/ 10 ways to participate in Global Astronomy Month this ...
IYA2009 Updates
12 Mar 2010, 17:55 UTC
GLOBE at Night featured on Earth Science Picture of the Day A photo of the constellation Orion high above Portugal's noble Cape Espichel Lighthouse has been selected as today's Earth Science Picture of the Day. The picture illustrates GLOBE at Night. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/844/ 10 ways to participate in Global Astronomy Month this ...
Comets and asteroids news
12 Mar 2010, 16:18 UTC
According to Cbet No.2199 issued on March 11, 2010, the symbiotic star V407 Cyg is undergoing an apparent unusually bright outburst (mag 7.4). The outburst has been detected by Koichi Nishiyama (Fukuoka, Japan) and Fujio Kabashima (Saga, Japan) by means an unfiltered CCD image taken on Mar. 10.797 UT using a105-mm camera lens + CCD. (independent discovery of this outburst by Tadashi Kojima)We performed some follow-up of this outburst, remotely with a 0.25-m, f/4.3 reflector + CCD + Johnson V and Cousins R filters. On 2010 March 12.45, we measured Vj= 8.2 and Rc= 7.2 (accuracy about 0.1 magnitude in each band).Coordinates extracted by our images:R.A. = 21h 02m 09s.82, Decl. = +45d 46' 33".0(equinox 2000.0, reference catalogue USNO-B1)Our image:Please click here for a bigger version:http://tinyurl.com/yc7s9rvThe usual V407 Cyg observed range is magnitude 13 to fainter than 17; it may have been a slow nova in 1936, and a Mira-type variable appears involved with this object, as well. This brightening is well outside its previously stated range and may indicate a nova outburst in progress.According to the AAVSO " Suggested classifications for this source include slow nova with either a Mira secondary or Mira component, or a symbiotic star. Spectroscopy ...
V407 CYGNI in Outburst
12 Mar 2010, 16:18 UTC
According to Cbet No.2199 issued on March 11, 2010, the symbiotic star V407 Cyg is undergoing an apparent unusually bright outburst (mag 7.4). The outburst has been detected by Koichi Nishiyama (Fukuoka, Japan) and Fujio Kabashima (Saga, Japan) by means an unfiltered CCD image taken on Mar. 10.797 UT using a105-mm camera lens + CCD. (independent discovery of this outburst by Tadashi Kojima)We performed some follow-up of this outburst, remotely with a 0.25-m, f/4.3 reflector + CCD + Johnson V and Cousins R filters. On 2010 March 12.45, we measured Vj= 8.2 and Rc= 7.2 (accuracy about 0.1 magnitude in each band).Coordinates extracted by our images:R.A. = 21h 02m 09s.82, Decl. = +45d 46' 33".0(equinox 2000.0, reference catalogue USNO-B1)Our image:Please click here for a bigger version:http://tinyurl.com/yc7s9rvThe usual V407 Cyg observed range is magnitude 13 to fainter than 17; it may have been a slow nova in 1936, and a Mira-type variable appears involved with this object, as well. This brightening is well outside its previously stated range and may indicate a nova outburst in progress.According to the AAVSO " Suggested classifications for this source include slow nova with either a Mira secondary or Mira component, or a symbiotic star. Spectroscopy ...
Cosmic Log
12 Mar 2010, 15:30 UTC
Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. A stylized postcard from Seattle's Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. celebrates Pluto and its moons. The company is planning a tongue-in-cheek teach-in and rally at 1 p.m. PT Saturday to protest Pluto's plight. It's sad to see how many people are willing to pick on a dwarf planet when it's down. Take Pluto, for instance: A couple of years ago, when I visited a "solar system walk" that was erected near my hometown in Iowa, there was a big black X drawn across Pluto's name - as if it didn't belong in the lineup because of its controversial reclassification in 2006. That was one of the reasons why I wrote "The Case for Pluto." I felt as if somebody had to stand up for the little guy. (You can read all about my Iowa encounter here.) I'm feeling a lot better these days: Over the past week, I've been in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois to talk with Midwesterners about the book, and I've been heartened by the experience. Although the faded X can still be seen on the solar system monument in Mount Vernon, it looks as if Pluto and its little pals are finding ...
Pluto finds its place
12 Mar 2010, 15:30 UTC
Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. A stylized postcard from Seattle's Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. celebrates Pluto and its moons. The company is planning a tongue-in-cheek teach-in and rally at 1 p.m. PT Saturday to protest Pluto's plight. It's sad to see how many people are willing to pick on a dwarf planet when it's down. Take Pluto, for instance: A couple of years ago, when I visited a "solar system walk" that was erected near my hometown in Iowa, there was a big black X drawn across Pluto's name - as if it didn't belong in the lineup because of its controversial reclassification in 2006. That was one of the reasons why I wrote "The Case for Pluto." I felt as if somebody had to stand up for the little guy. (You can read all about my Iowa encounter here.) I'm feeling a lot better these days: Over the past week, I've been in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois to talk with Midwesterners about the book, and I've been heartened by the experience. Although the faded X can still be seen on the solar system monument in Mount Vernon, it looks as if Pluto and its little pals are finding ...
Most Recent Blogs
- 12 Mar 2010
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21:07 UTC
Strong Aftershocks Rattle Chile Following Big Quake
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Lion Roars at Night
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New from the South
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no title
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Glacial Ice on Mars
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The Milky Way's Killer Instincts
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Where In The Universe #95
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General Relativity Holds Up Under Galactic Test
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Opportunity Sol 403 (Spirit Sol 423)
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Quote of the Day
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Alert Notice 418
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IYA2009 Updates
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Astronomically Large Lenses Measure the Age and Size of the Univers...
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Experimentation is Required for Progress
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ISS thru 2028 and NewSpace Laws
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LPSC: Wrapping up Tuesday: The Moon, Mars, Mercury, Vesta, and back...
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Flashback: Images From the Week's News
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Naval astronaut Neil Armstrong
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16:18 UTC
V407 CYGNI in Outburst
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16:17 UTC
GLOBE at Night featured on Earth Science Picture of the Day
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21:07 UTC
