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13.7
19 Mar 2010, 06:01 UTC
By Marcelo Gleiser Those who know me also know that Kepler, the brilliant 17th-century German astronomer, is my scientific hero, a real source of inspiration. And since my birthday is today, I am giving myself a small gift and writing about him. In my mind, no other character in the history of science, not even Galileo and his embattlement with the Inquisition, represents so clearly the archetype of the lone visionary fighting to vindicate his world vision while his life is torn to pieces by personal tragedy and religious persecution. I even wrote a historical novel about his life, which was published in Portuguese and hopefully one day will be published in English. (I'm working on revisions now...) Kepler is popularly known for his discovery of the three laws of planetary motion: orbits are elliptical; the planets trace equal areas in equal times as they go around the Sun; and his harmonic law, a mathematical relation between the time it takes for a planet to orbit the Sun and its distance from it. These were the first quantitative laws of astronomy, found in Kepler's book New Astronomy, published in 1609, the year Galileo pointed his telescope to the sky. What ...
Kepler's Mistake: Rethinking The Excesses Of Rationalism
19 Mar 2010, 06:01 UTC
By Marcelo Gleiser Those who know me also know that Kepler, the brilliant 17th-century German astronomer, is my scientific hero, a real source of inspiration. And since my birthday is today, I am giving myself a small gift and writing about him. In my mind, no other character in the history of science, not even Galileo and his embattlement with the Inquisition, represents so clearly the archetype of the lone visionary fighting to vindicate his world vision while his life is torn to pieces by personal tragedy and religious persecution. I even wrote a historical novel about his life, which was published in Portuguese and hopefully one day will be published in English. (I'm working on revisions now...) Kepler is popularly known for his discovery of the three laws of planetary motion: orbits are elliptical; the planets trace equal areas in equal times as they go around the Sun; and his harmonic law, a mathematical relation between the time it takes for a planet to orbit the Sun and its distance from it. These were the first quantitative laws of astronomy, found in Kepler's book New Astronomy, published in 1609, the year Galileo pointed his telescope to the sky. What ...
Cosmic Variance
19 Mar 2010, 04:10 UTC
At this very moment the LHC is busy trying to set a new world record. The goal is to achieve beams circulating at 3.5 TeV, bringing collisions between protons to 3.5+3.5=7 TeV center-of-mass energy. This would be the highest particle energy ever accomplished by humans (nature somehow routinely manages to produce cosmic rays at energies 8 orders of magnitude higher!). This news is hot off the press: we had a talk today by Lyn Evans, and he gave us the latest update. He should know what’s going on, since he’s project leader of the LHC. Evans shared some entertaining anecdotes from the last few years of commissioning, including: They use superfluid helium to cool the superconducting magnets. One of the many weird properties of this stuff is that it has zero viscosity. Which means that, if there’s any sort of hairline fracture anywhere in the 27 kilometer long tunnel, the stuff comes spewing out, and very, very bad things happen. Every component, every joint, every one of the tens of thousands of tiny connections has to be perfect. It is this sort of failure which brought the machine to its knees shortly after commissioning, over a year ago. The magnets ...
Highest energy ever
19 Mar 2010, 04:10 UTC
At this very moment the LHC is busy trying to set a new world record. The goal is to achieve beams circulating at 3.5 TeV, bringing collisions between protons to 3.5+3.5=7 TeV center-of-mass energy. This would be the highest particle energy ever accomplished by humans (nature somehow routinely manages to produce cosmic rays at energies 8 orders of magnitude higher!). This news is hot off the press: we had a talk today by Lyn Evans, and he gave us the latest update. He should know what’s going on, since he’s project leader of the LHC. Evans shared some entertaining anecdotes from the last few years of commissioning, including: They use superfluid helium to cool the superconducting magnets. One of the many weird properties of this stuff is that it has zero viscosity. Which means that, if there’s any sort of hairline fracture anywhere in the 27 kilometer long tunnel, the stuff comes spewing out, and very, very bad things happen. Every component, every joint, every one of the tens of thousands of tiny connections has to be perfect. It is this sort of failure which brought the machine to its knees shortly after commissioning, over a year ago. The magnets ...
Universe Today
18 Mar 2010, 23:33 UTC
Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior [...] Artist’s impression of Corot-9b. Credit: ESO/L. CalçadaChalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior that closely resembles Jupiter and Saturn. “This is a normal, temperate exoplanet just like dozens we already know, but this is the first whose properties we can study in depth,” said Claire Moutou, who is part of the international team of 60 astronomers that made the discovery. “It is bound to become a Rosetta stone in exoplanet research.” (...)Read the rest of Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet (320 words)© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Corot, Extrasolar Planets ...
Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet
18 Mar 2010, 23:33 UTC
Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior [...] Artist’s impression of Corot-9b. Credit: ESO/L. CalçadaChalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior that closely resembles Jupiter and Saturn. “This is a normal, temperate exoplanet just like dozens we already know, but this is the first whose properties we can study in depth,” said Claire Moutou, who is part of the international team of 60 astronomers that made the discovery. “It is bound to become a Rosetta stone in exoplanet research.” (...)Read the rest of Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet (320 words)© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Corot, Extrasolar Planets ...
Lunar Networks
18 Mar 2010, 21:03 UTC
NASA Science NewsMoonwater. Look it up. You won't find it. It's not in the dictionary.That's because we thought, until recently, that the Moon was just about the driest place in the solar system. Then reports of moonwater started "pouring" in – starting with estimates of scant amounts on the lunar surface, then gallons in a single crater, and now 600 million metric tons distributed among 40 craters near the lunar north pole."We thought we understood the Moon, but we don't," says Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute. "It's clear now that water exists up there in a variety of concentrations and geologic settings. And who'd have thought that today we'd be pondering the Moon's hydrosphere?"Spudis is principal investigator of NASA's Mini-SAR team – the group with the latest and greatest moonwater "strike." Their instrument, a radar probe on India's Chandrayaan-1, found 40 craters each containing water ice at least 2 meters deep.Right: A Mini-SAR radar map of the lunar north pole. Craters circled in green are believed to contain significant deposits of frozen water. [more]"If you converted those craters' water into rocket fuel, you'd have enough fuel to launch the equivalent of one space shuttle per day for ...
The Multiplying Mystery of Moonwater
18 Mar 2010, 21:03 UTC
NASA Science NewsMoonwater. Look it up. You won't find it. It's not in the dictionary.That's because we thought, until recently, that the Moon was just about the driest place in the solar system. Then reports of moonwater started "pouring" in – starting with estimates of scant amounts on the lunar surface, then gallons in a single crater, and now 600 million metric tons distributed among 40 craters near the lunar north pole."We thought we understood the Moon, but we don't," says Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute. "It's clear now that water exists up there in a variety of concentrations and geologic settings. And who'd have thought that today we'd be pondering the Moon's hydrosphere?"Spudis is principal investigator of NASA's Mini-SAR team – the group with the latest and greatest moonwater "strike." Their instrument, a radar probe on India's Chandrayaan-1, found 40 craters each containing water ice at least 2 meters deep.Right: A Mini-SAR radar map of the lunar north pole. Craters circled in green are believed to contain significant deposits of frozen water. [more]"If you converted those craters' water into rocket fuel, you'd have enough fuel to launch the equivalent of one space shuttle per day for ...
collectSPACE.com: Today In Space History
18 Mar 2010, 20:09 UTC
An aging intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that was used in the early 1970s for a variety of NASA studies related to the development of the space shuttle, was trucked on Thursday the short distance from where it had sat outside since the early 1980s at NASA Ames Research Center to outside a repurposed McDonald's restaurant where for the past two years the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project has been underway. There, the Titan I will be restored and upgraded for service as an educational tool and a smallsat payload integration testbed by a team representing the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, SkyCorp, Inc., and SpaceRef Interactive, Inc. Although the two-stage Titan I was never used to loft payloads into space, it was briefly considered for the Air Force's Dyna-Soar program and was the predecessor to the Titan II that launched Gemini.
Truck'n and trick'n out a Titan I
18 Mar 2010, 20:09 UTC
An aging intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that was used in the early 1970s for a variety of NASA studies related to the development of the space shuttle, was trucked on Thursday the short distance from where it had sat outside since the early 1980s at NASA Ames Research Center to outside a repurposed McDonald's restaurant where for the past two years the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project has been underway. There, the Titan I will be restored and upgraded for service as an educational tool and a smallsat payload integration testbed by a team representing the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, SkyCorp, Inc., and SpaceRef Interactive, Inc. Although the two-stage Titan I was never used to loft payloads into space, it was briefly considered for the Air Force's Dyna-Soar program and was the predecessor to the Titan II that launched Gemini.
Colony Worlds
18 Mar 2010, 18:54 UTC
Unlike its big terrestrial sister (aka Earth), Mars is sorely lacking in the energy department. While future Martian cities may eventually be powered by algae, solar steam or even geothermal power plants, colonists are going to need an energy source to immediately ”power up” their off world outposts. Fortunately it looks like researches may have discovered a solution that could make living upon Mars a reality. (Emory University) Emory University chemists have developed the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight. The breakthrough, to be published in “Science” and released online by the journal March 11, was made in collaboration with the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry. [...] The long-term goal is to use sunlight to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen becomes the fuel. Its combustion produces the by-product of water – which flows back into a clean, green, renewable cycle. Since Mars receives approximately half of the sunlight as Earth does, future colonists may have to look towards a temporary chemical solution rather than an innovative solar panel (like solar rods). Although this innovative technology is far from perfect (as there are ...
Water Plus Sunlight Equals Clean Energy For Mars?
18 Mar 2010, 18:54 UTC
Unlike its big terrestrial sister (aka Earth), Mars is sorely lacking in the energy department. While future Martian cities may eventually be powered by algae, solar steam or even geothermal power plants, colonists are going to need an energy source to immediately ”power up” their off world outposts. Fortunately it looks like researches may have discovered a solution that could make living upon Mars a reality. (Emory University) Emory University chemists have developed the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight. The breakthrough, to be published in “Science” and released online by the journal March 11, was made in collaboration with the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry. [...] The long-term goal is to use sunlight to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen becomes the fuel. Its combustion produces the by-product of water – which flows back into a clean, green, renewable cycle. Since Mars receives approximately half of the sunlight as Earth does, future colonists may have to look towards a temporary chemical solution rather than an innovative solar panel (like solar rods). Although this innovative technology is far from perfect (as there are ...
Galaxy Zoo Blog
18 Mar 2010, 17:36 UTC
I just got a notification from the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre that our observations of IC 2497 and the Voorwerp have now been scheduled for April 19th. XMM-Newton is esa’s flagship X-ray satellite and can observe photons from 0.2-10 keV. We’ve already got our hard X-ray observations from Suzaku last year, so XMM will have a second, detailed look at the softer X-rays. Also, if there’s anything there, then XMM will give us a very rough image; Suzaku can’t take images, only spectra. After the data are taken, it may take a few weeks for esa to process the raw data before they send it to us. Stay tuned…
Who’s looking at the Voorwerp?
18 Mar 2010, 17:36 UTC
I just got a notification from the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre that our observations of IC 2497 and the Voorwerp have now been scheduled for April 19th. XMM-Newton is esa’s flagship X-ray satellite and can observe photons from 0.2-10 keV. We’ve already got our hard X-ray observations from Suzaku last year, so XMM will have a second, detailed look at the softer X-rays. Also, if there’s anything there, then XMM will give us a very rough image; Suzaku can’t take images, only spectra. After the data are taken, it may take a few weeks for esa to process the raw data before they send it to us. Stay tuned…
Universe Today
18 Mar 2010, 16:53 UTC
Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse. In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over [...] Princeton University scientists (from left) Reinabelle Reyes, James Gunn and Rachel Mandelbaum led a team that analyzed more than 70,000 galaxies and demonstrated that the universe - at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from Earth - plays by the rules set out by Einstein in his theory of general relativity. (Photo: Brian Wilson) Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse.In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over the nine decades since its publication, GR has passed test after test after test, always with flying colors (check out this review for an excellent summary).But the tests have always ...
This is Getting Boring: General Relativity Passes Yet another Big Test!
18 Mar 2010, 16:53 UTC
Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse. In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over [...] Princeton University scientists (from left) Reinabelle Reyes, James Gunn and Rachel Mandelbaum led a team that analyzed more than 70,000 galaxies and demonstrated that the universe - at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from Earth - plays by the rules set out by Einstein in his theory of general relativity. (Photo: Brian Wilson) Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse.In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over the nine decades since its publication, GR has passed test after test after test, always with flying colors (check out this review for an excellent summary).But the tests have always ...
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- 19 Mar 2010
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10:23 UTC
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Planck and the Cold Galaxy
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09:41 UTC
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Cape Town, South Africa I think I need to change the theme of this blog from astronomy and academics to astronomy, academics and travel. I have to admit, somewhere in ...
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09:20 UTC
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Is There Water On The Moon? Bucketloads.
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08:32 UTC
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07:40 UTC
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Hubble 20th anniversary
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07:05 UTC
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13.7
Kepler's Mistake: Rethinking The Excesses Of Rationalism
By Marcelo Gleiser Those who know me also know that Kepler, the brilliant 17th-century German astronomer, is my scientific hero, a real source of inspiration. And since my birthday is ...
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
New Study Debunks Myths About Amazon Rain Forests
A new NASA-funded study has concluded that Amazon rain forests were remarkably unaffected in the face of once-in-a-century drought in 2005, neither dying nor thriving, contrary to a previously published ...
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Southern Ocean Winds Open Window to the Deep Sea
Scientists have discovered how changes in winds blowing on the Southern Ocean drive variations in the depth of the surface layer of sea water responsible for regulating exchanges of heat ...
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04:14 UTC
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Aquatic 'Dead Zones' Contributing to Climate Change
The increased frequency and intensity of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" along the world's coasts can negatively impact environmental conditions in far more than local waters. (University of Maryland press release)
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
The Smell of Salt Air, a Mile High and 900 Miles Inland
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04:14 UTC
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Three FASTSAT Instruments Pass Tests
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
NASA Weather Pioneer Joanne Simpson Passes
Dr. Joanne Simpson, one of NASA's leading weather scientists of the past 30 years, and a world-renowned atmospheric scientist, died on Thursday, March 4, 2010.
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
NASA Spots Surprising Shrimp Beneath Antarctic Ice
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
UV Exposure Has Increased Over the Last 30 Years, but Sta...
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04:14 UTC
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NASA IceBridge Mission Prepares for Study of Arctic Glaci...
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Large Landslide in Uganda
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Dust over China
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions along the Namibian Coast
Acquired March 13, 2010, this true-color image shows pale-hued surface waters along the coat of Namibia, ranging in color from peacock green to off-white. Inland, the image captures the rippling ...
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Ash Plume from Batu Tara
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Landslide in Maierato, Italy
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Flooding in Southwestern Queensland
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Landslide Lake in Northwest Pakistan
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Tropical Cyclone Ului
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04:14 UTC
NASA: Earth Observa...
Mauna Loa Observatory
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04:10 UTC
Cosmic Variance
Highest energy ever
At this very moment the LHC is busy trying to set a new world record. The goal is to achieve beams circulating at 3.5 TeV, bringing collisions between protons to ...
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Habitation Intentio...
CAT: Lag
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03:48 UTC
Simostronomy
Hunting the Edge of the Universe
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Slacker Astronomy
Hunting the Edge of the Universe
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03:33 UTC
The Martian Chronic...
Book Review: The Next 100 Years
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03:32 UTC
Spaceports
Russian Space Expert Says Soyuz Will Resume With Private ...
Russia will increase the number of Soyuz spaceship launches and resume space tourism in 2012, an aerospace industry source told Interfax news agency on Thursday and reported on Russia Today.“There ...
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03:02 UTC
Space Fellowship
Russia could build extra Soyuz capsule for space tours
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02:55 UTC
Space Fellowship
Soyuz Landing Caps Milestone Space Station Mission
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02:50 UTC
Space Fellowship
Webb Telescope's MIRI Instrument Replica Reaches Goddard
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02:44 UTC
Space Fellowship
Cassini Shows Saturnian Roller Derby, Strange Weather
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02:21 UTC
On Orbit
The Most Primitive Supermassive Black Holes Known
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02:07 UTC
Artsnova Digital Ar...
BLUECANVAS Art Contest and New Art
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02:00 UTC
On Orbit
Strange Weather on Saturn
From our vantage point on Earth, Saturn may look like a peaceful orb with rings worthy of a carefully raked Zen garden, but NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been shadowing the ...
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01:38 UTC
NASA Watch
Today's Space Policy Feedback
Mayor Parker urges Obama to save Constellation, KTRK "Houston Mayor Annise Parker this week invited President Barack Obama to come to Houston during her trip to Washington, D.C. to ask ...
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01:28 UTC
Eastside Astro-Blog
Soyuz re-entry seen from ISS.
Astronaut Soichi is having fun in the cupola again. This time he captured the re-entry of Soyuz TMA-16 with his departing ISS friends - Jeff Williams and Max Suraev. The ...
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01:24 UTC
On Orbit
Photo: Houston As Seen From Orbit At Night
The Houston metropolitan area at night is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 22 crew member on the International Space Station. Houston, Texas has been called the "energy ...
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01:17 UTC
Universe Today
Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Launch April 19
It's cute. It's little. It's also top secret. The X-37B orbital test vehicle is at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the word is that it will be launched on board ...
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00:43 UTC
The Launch Pad
Moon 2.0 at SxSW Interactive
The following is a re-posted blog entry from SmartBlogs.com. It is a nice perspective from one of the audience members, about our panel ("Moon 2.0: The Outer Limits of Lunar ...
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00:36 UTC
On Orbit
Titan 1 Arrives at its New Home
The Titan 1 has arrived at Building 596 at NASA Ames Research Center. Photos by Matt Reyes (via Twitpic) show the process of loading things onto the transport trucks. Photo ...
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10:23 UTC
In the Dark
- 18 Mar 2010
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23:47 UTC
The Martian Chronic...
NASA Administrator Addresses Budget Misconceptions
The Planetary Society blog posted this excerpt of some remarks made by Charlie Bolden on the 16th regarding NASA’s new plan. I was going to just select some key points, ...
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23:43 UTC
Spaceports
Nelson Advances Extra Space Shuttle Flight
Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla), today chairing the science and space subcommittee of the US Senate Commerce Committee, hinted strongly that he desired to see one additional flight added to the ...
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23:33 UTC
Universe Today
Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet
Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star ...
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23:47 UTC
The Martian Chronic...
