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SPACE.com
27 Feb 2015, 01:54 UTC
Sometimes, to catch fire you have to sit in the cold.
Catching a Fireball in the Cold
27 Feb 2015, 01:54 UTC
Sometimes, to catch fire you have to sit in the cold.
EarthSky Blog
26 Feb 2015, 21:14 UTC
From the surface of Mars, the two tiny moons Phobos and Deimos look very different than our moon does from Earth. Phobos, the larger and closer moon, occults Deimos, the smaller and more distant moon in the Martian sky. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ. What do the two Martian moons – Phobos and Deimos – look like from the surface of Mars? First of all, they don’t look at all like Earth’s moon does from Earth! The Martian moons are tiny. The larger moon, Phobos, is only about about 14 miles (23 km) across. And Deimos is about half that size. Plus, these little moons orbit Mars more closely than our moon orbits Earth. But, of course, because they’re so tiny, they appear smaller than our moon does from the surface of their home world. In fact, Deimos, the more distant moon, looks like a star in Mars’ sky. But it’s twice as bright as any starlike object seen in Earth’s sky. Deimos orbits at nearly the same speed Mars rotates, so it needs three Martian days to crawl from one side of Mars’ sky to the other. And, by the way, a day on Mars is ...
How do Phobos and Deimos look from Mars?
26 Feb 2015, 21:14 UTC
From the surface of Mars, the two tiny moons Phobos and Deimos look very different than our moon does from Earth. Phobos, the larger and closer moon, occults Deimos, the smaller and more distant moon in the Martian sky. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ. What do the two Martian moons – Phobos and Deimos – look like from the surface of Mars? First of all, they don’t look at all like Earth’s moon does from Earth! The Martian moons are tiny. The larger moon, Phobos, is only about about 14 miles (23 km) across. And Deimos is about half that size. Plus, these little moons orbit Mars more closely than our moon orbits Earth. But, of course, because they’re so tiny, they appear smaller than our moon does from the surface of their home world. In fact, Deimos, the more distant moon, looks like a star in Mars’ sky. But it’s twice as bright as any starlike object seen in Earth’s sky. Deimos orbits at nearly the same speed Mars rotates, so it needs three Martian days to crawl from one side of Mars’ sky to the other. And, by the way, a day on Mars is ...
SPACE.com
26 Feb 2015, 19:25 UTC
The Aragoscope would consist of an orbiting space telescope sitting behind an opaque disc up to 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) wide. This disc would be made of a black plastic material, similar to a garbage bag.
New Space Telescope Tech Could Be 1,000 Times Sharper Than Hubble
26 Feb 2015, 19:25 UTC
The Aragoscope would consist of an orbiting space telescope sitting behind an opaque disc up to 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) wide. This disc would be made of a black plastic material, similar to a garbage bag.
Sky and Telescope
26 Feb 2015, 18:52 UTC
Astronomers have discovered one of the brightest quasars in the early universe. The source, SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 (hereafter J0100+2802), is powered by a supermassive black hole at a redshift of 6.3, meaning that its light left it 12.8 billion years ago. The post Monster Black Hole in Early Universe appeared first on Sky & Telescope. A supermassive black hole found only a billion years after the Big Bang adds to growing questions about how such black holes grew so quickly. Astronomers have discovered one of the brightest quasars in the early universe. The source, SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 (hereafter J0100+2802), is powered by a supermassive black hole at a redshift of 6.3, meaning that its light left it 12.8 billion years ago. The newly discovered quasar SDSS J0100+2802 is the most luminous of known quasars beyond a redshift of 6 (12.8 billion years ago) and seems to be powered by the most massive black hole detected in that cosmic era. Credit: Data: Zhaoyu Li (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory); Background image: Yunnan Observatories (Note: due to the universe’s expansion, this does not mean that the quasar is 12.8 billion light-years away, as various press releases have claimed. Because determining the current physical distances to things ...
Monster Black Hole in Early Universe
26 Feb 2015, 18:52 UTC
Astronomers have discovered one of the brightest quasars in the early universe. The source, SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 (hereafter J0100+2802), is powered by a supermassive black hole at a redshift of 6.3, meaning that its light left it 12.8 billion years ago. The post Monster Black Hole in Early Universe appeared first on Sky & Telescope. A supermassive black hole found only a billion years after the Big Bang adds to growing questions about how such black holes grew so quickly. Astronomers have discovered one of the brightest quasars in the early universe. The source, SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 (hereafter J0100+2802), is powered by a supermassive black hole at a redshift of 6.3, meaning that its light left it 12.8 billion years ago. The newly discovered quasar SDSS J0100+2802 is the most luminous of known quasars beyond a redshift of 6 (12.8 billion years ago) and seems to be powered by the most massive black hole detected in that cosmic era. Credit: Data: Zhaoyu Li (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory); Background image: Yunnan Observatories (Note: due to the universe’s expansion, this does not mean that the quasar is 12.8 billion light-years away, as various press releases have claimed. Because determining the current physical distances to things ...
Astro Bob
26 Feb 2015, 17:39 UTC
First, my apologies. I so wanted to alert you to the half moon’s pass of the bright star Aldebaran last night. But there were network problems with the blog, and I wasn’t able to post. No doubt many of you … Continue reading → The moon kisses up to Aldebaran last night (Feb. 25) during evening twilight seen from Duluth, Minn. Credit: Clint Austin First, my apologies. I so wanted to alert you to the half moon’s pass of the bright star Aldebaran last night. But there were network problems with the blog, and I wasn’t able to post. No doubt many of you noticed it all the same. A quick look up at the moon and you couldn’t help but see the star a little more than one lunar diameter to the southwest. The farther north you lived, the closer they drew together. In far northeastern Canada the moon occulted Aldebaran. Checking the moon several times overnight, it was amazing to see how quickly it departed Aldebaran, forced by its perpetual orbital motion to “go east, young moon, go east”. Tonight our satellite moves a fist further east in Taurus the Bull and beams atop Orion the mighty hunter ...
Watch Io snuff out Ganymede at Jupiter tonight
26 Feb 2015, 17:39 UTC
First, my apologies. I so wanted to alert you to the half moon’s pass of the bright star Aldebaran last night. But there were network problems with the blog, and I wasn’t able to post. No doubt many of you … Continue reading → The moon kisses up to Aldebaran last night (Feb. 25) during evening twilight seen from Duluth, Minn. Credit: Clint Austin First, my apologies. I so wanted to alert you to the half moon’s pass of the bright star Aldebaran last night. But there were network problems with the blog, and I wasn’t able to post. No doubt many of you noticed it all the same. A quick look up at the moon and you couldn’t help but see the star a little more than one lunar diameter to the southwest. The farther north you lived, the closer they drew together. In far northeastern Canada the moon occulted Aldebaran. Checking the moon several times overnight, it was amazing to see how quickly it departed Aldebaran, forced by its perpetual orbital motion to “go east, young moon, go east”. Tonight our satellite moves a fist further east in Taurus the Bull and beams atop Orion the mighty hunter ...
Frontier Fields
26 Feb 2015, 16:17 UTC
One of the coolest marvels in the universe is a phenomenon known as “gravitational lensing.” Unlike many topics in astronomy, the images are not what makes it appealing. Gravitational lensing produces streaks, arcs, and other distorted views that are intriguing, but don’t qualify for cosmic beauty pageants. What makes these images special is the intellectual understanding of […] A Giant Lensed Galaxy ArcThe view of a distant galaxy (nearly 10 billion light-years away) has been warped into a nearly 90-degree arc of light by the gravity of the galaxy cluster known as RCS2 032727-132623 (about 5 billion light-years away).Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Rigby (NASA GSFC), K. Sharon (KICP, U Chicago), and M. Gladders and E. Wuyts (U Chicago) One of the coolest marvels in the universe is a phenomenon known as “gravitational lensing.” Unlike many topics in astronomy, the images are not what makes it appealing. Gravitational lensing produces streaks, arcs, and other distorted views that are intriguing, but don’t qualify for cosmic beauty pageants. What makes these images special is the intellectual understanding of how they are created, and the fact that they are even possible at all. The back story takes an ordinary, everyday process, and transforms it ...
The Marvel of Gravitational Lensing
26 Feb 2015, 16:17 UTC
One of the coolest marvels in the universe is a phenomenon known as “gravitational lensing.” Unlike many topics in astronomy, the images are not what makes it appealing. Gravitational lensing produces streaks, arcs, and other distorted views that are intriguing, but don’t qualify for cosmic beauty pageants. What makes these images special is the intellectual understanding of […] A Giant Lensed Galaxy ArcThe view of a distant galaxy (nearly 10 billion light-years away) has been warped into a nearly 90-degree arc of light by the gravity of the galaxy cluster known as RCS2 032727-132623 (about 5 billion light-years away).Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Rigby (NASA GSFC), K. Sharon (KICP, U Chicago), and M. Gladders and E. Wuyts (U Chicago) One of the coolest marvels in the universe is a phenomenon known as “gravitational lensing.” Unlike many topics in astronomy, the images are not what makes it appealing. Gravitational lensing produces streaks, arcs, and other distorted views that are intriguing, but don’t qualify for cosmic beauty pageants. What makes these images special is the intellectual understanding of how they are created, and the fact that they are even possible at all. The back story takes an ordinary, everyday process, and transforms it ...
Bad Astronomy
26 Feb 2015, 15:45 UTC
Two independent teams of astronomers have just announced the discovery of an unusual planet with a grim future: Kepler-432b. The planet orbits a star nearly 3,000 light-years away and was discovered using the Kepler observatory, which looks for telltale dips in star light as a planet orbits a star; if the planet’s orbit is seen edge-on from Earth, then once per orbit it blocks a small fraction of the star when it passes directly between the star and Earth. Measuring the timing of the dip (and knowing some of the properties of the star) yields a lot of information about the planet, including its size, and the size and shape of its orbit. They also took spectra of the star, breaking its light up into thousands of individual colors, which yields one more crucial piece of information: the mass of the planet. The planet and star orbit a common center of gravity, and as the star moves in its orbit its spectrum changes due to the Doppler shift. This effect is pretty dang small, but measurable using precision instruments. The results are pretty cool: The planet Kepler-432b is roughly five times more massive than Jupiter, but only about 1.1 times ...
Kepler-432b: A Doomed Planet Orbiting a Doomed Star
26 Feb 2015, 15:45 UTC
Two independent teams of astronomers have just announced the discovery of an unusual planet with a grim future: Kepler-432b. The planet orbits a star nearly 3,000 light-years away and was discovered using the Kepler observatory, which looks for telltale dips in star light as a planet orbits a star; if the planet’s orbit is seen edge-on from Earth, then once per orbit it blocks a small fraction of the star when it passes directly between the star and Earth. Measuring the timing of the dip (and knowing some of the properties of the star) yields a lot of information about the planet, including its size, and the size and shape of its orbit. They also took spectra of the star, breaking its light up into thousands of individual colors, which yields one more crucial piece of information: the mass of the planet. The planet and star orbit a common center of gravity, and as the star moves in its orbit its spectrum changes due to the Doppler shift. This effect is pretty dang small, but measurable using precision instruments. The results are pretty cool: The planet Kepler-432b is roughly five times more massive than Jupiter, but only about 1.1 times ...
Starts With a Bang!
26 Feb 2015, 14:43 UTC
Another world orbits the Sun once a year at the same distance as our planet.Continue reading on Medium »
Throwback Thursday: Earth’s second moon?
26 Feb 2015, 14:43 UTC
Another world orbits the Sun once a year at the same distance as our planet.Continue reading on Medium »
