Featured Posts
Astro Bob
17 Apr 2014, 19:09 UTC
Venus occults or covers the star Lambda Aquarii April 17, 2014 A planet covering a naked eye star is rarer by far than a total eclipse of the moon, and yet Venus did just that yesterday afternoon (U.S. time) from Australia, New Zealand and Micronesia. No one in the northern hemisphere witnessed the event; Venus passed south of the star from our perspective. Jonathan Bradshaw of Australia captured this exceptional alignment well in his video despite the shaky atmosphere. Lambda Aquarii, a 4th magnitude star in Aquarius, was wiped from the sky for all of seven minutes. It’s believed that the last bright star Venus or any major planet covered up was 2nd magnitude Nunki in Sagittarius for observers in eastern Africa in November 1981. Venus next occults Pi Sagittarii in 2035 and bright Regulus on Oct. 1, 2044. Mercury will cover up Theta Ophiuchi on Dec. 4, 2015. Mars will pass in front of Jupiter in an extremely rare planet-over-planet occultation on Dec. 2, 2223. Stellarium Very rarely, planets pass in front of each other. Over the 300 year span from 1800 to 2100 only 7 “mutual occultations” of this sort have or will occur. Venus crossed in front ...
Venus hides a star for 7 minutes
17 Apr 2014, 19:09 UTC
Venus occults or covers the star Lambda Aquarii April 17, 2014 A planet covering a naked eye star is rarer by far than a total eclipse of the moon, and yet Venus did just that yesterday afternoon (U.S. time) from Australia, New Zealand and Micronesia. No one in the northern hemisphere witnessed the event; Venus passed south of the star from our perspective. Jonathan Bradshaw of Australia captured this exceptional alignment well in his video despite the shaky atmosphere. Lambda Aquarii, a 4th magnitude star in Aquarius, was wiped from the sky for all of seven minutes. It’s believed that the last bright star Venus or any major planet covered up was 2nd magnitude Nunki in Sagittarius for observers in eastern Africa in November 1981. Venus next occults Pi Sagittarii in 2035 and bright Regulus on Oct. 1, 2044. Mercury will cover up Theta Ophiuchi on Dec. 4, 2015. Mars will pass in front of Jupiter in an extremely rare planet-over-planet occultation on Dec. 2, 2223. Stellarium Very rarely, planets pass in front of each other. Over the 300 year span from 1800 to 2100 only 7 “mutual occultations” of this sort have or will occur. Venus crossed in front ...
The Daily Galaxy
17 Apr 2014, 19:05 UTC
“This is really a tip-of-the-iceberg discovery,” said study co-author Jason Rowe, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who spent a year analyzing data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope that led to finding the planet known as Kepler-186f. "We can infer that other ones are likely to exist. And that’s going to be the job of future missions to find [them].” Scientists have discovered the alien planet, Kepler-186f, slightly bigger than Earth, in the habitable zone of its host star, a dim red dwarf star about 490 light-years from Earth, that might have liquid water and the right conditions for life. NASA scientists think that Kepler-186f — the outermost of five planets found to be orbiting the star Kepler-186 — orbits at a distance of 32.5 million miles (52.4 million kilometers), theoretically within the habitable zone for a red dwarf. The discovery marks a milestone in the quest to find planets that are not just Earth-sized, but truly Earth-like, said Doug Hudgins, NASA’s program scientist for the Kepler mission in Washington. “Whether we are an extremely rare fluke — a phenomenon that only happens once in a universe — or in a galaxy teeming with life ...
Epic Discovery! NASA Announces First Earth-Size Planet Found That Could Support Life
17 Apr 2014, 19:05 UTC
“This is really a tip-of-the-iceberg discovery,” said study co-author Jason Rowe, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who spent a year analyzing data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope that led to finding the planet known as Kepler-186f. "We can infer that other ones are likely to exist. And that’s going to be the job of future missions to find [them].” Scientists have discovered the alien planet, Kepler-186f, slightly bigger than Earth, in the habitable zone of its host star, a dim red dwarf star about 490 light-years from Earth, that might have liquid water and the right conditions for life. NASA scientists think that Kepler-186f — the outermost of five planets found to be orbiting the star Kepler-186 — orbits at a distance of 32.5 million miles (52.4 million kilometers), theoretically within the habitable zone for a red dwarf. The discovery marks a milestone in the quest to find planets that are not just Earth-sized, but truly Earth-like, said Doug Hudgins, NASA’s program scientist for the Kepler mission in Washington. “Whether we are an extremely rare fluke — a phenomenon that only happens once in a universe — or in a galaxy teeming with life ...
The New York Times
17 Apr 2014, 18:35 UTC
A planet known as Kepler 186f, 500 light-years away, is the closet match to our own yet discovered, astronomers say.
Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe a Cousin
17 Apr 2014, 18:35 UTC
A planet known as Kepler 186f, 500 light-years away, is the closet match to our own yet discovered, astronomers say.
Centauri Dreams
17 Apr 2014, 18:04 UTC
We have another ‘habitable zone’ planet to talk about today, one not much bigger than the Earth, but it’s probably also time to renew the caveat that using the word ‘habitable’ carries with it no guarantees. The working definition of habitable zone right now is that orbital distance within which liquid water might exist on the surface of a planet. Whether it actually does is just one of the questions. A second is whether or not we’re in fact dealing with a rocky terrestrial world. So Centauri Dreams approaches the announcement of Kepler-186f with guarded enthusiasm for an exoplanet that looks interesting indeed. Five planets circle this star, an M-dwarf a great deal smaller and cooler than the Sun. Discovered by the Kepler space observatory, the planet presents us with transit information telling us that it is about 1.1 Earth radii, although we don’t yet know what the mass of this world is, and hence can’t make a definitive call on whether or not it is rocky. But Stephen Kane (San Francisco State), one of the researchers involved in today’s announcement, thinks we have reason to think that it is: “What we’ve learned, just over the past few years, is ...
Kepler-186f: Close to Earth Size, in the HZ
17 Apr 2014, 18:04 UTC
We have another ‘habitable zone’ planet to talk about today, one not much bigger than the Earth, but it’s probably also time to renew the caveat that using the word ‘habitable’ carries with it no guarantees. The working definition of habitable zone right now is that orbital distance within which liquid water might exist on the surface of a planet. Whether it actually does is just one of the questions. A second is whether or not we’re in fact dealing with a rocky terrestrial world. So Centauri Dreams approaches the announcement of Kepler-186f with guarded enthusiasm for an exoplanet that looks interesting indeed. Five planets circle this star, an M-dwarf a great deal smaller and cooler than the Sun. Discovered by the Kepler space observatory, the planet presents us with transit information telling us that it is about 1.1 Earth radii, although we don’t yet know what the mass of this world is, and hence can’t make a definitive call on whether or not it is rocky. But Stephen Kane (San Francisco State), one of the researchers involved in today’s announcement, thinks we have reason to think that it is: “What we’ve learned, just over the past few years, is ...
Universe Today
17 Apr 2014, 17:39 UTC
Don’t let them pass you by. Right now and continuing through July, the biggest and brightest asteroids will be running on nearly parallel tracks in the constellation Virgo and so close together they’ll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. (...)Read the rest of Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo, Watch it Happen […] This map shows the paths of Ceres and Vesta in Virgo through late June at five-day intervals. Vesta is currently magnitude +5.8 and Ceres at + 7.0. Both are easily visible in binoculars from suburban and rural skies. The wide view map below will help you navigate from nearby Mars to Zeta Virginis. From Zeta, star hop to Vesta. Stars are shown to about magnitude +8.5. Click to enlarge. Created with Chris Marriott’s SkyMap software Don’t let them pass you by. Right now and continuing through July, the biggest and brightest asteroids will be running on nearly parallel tracks in the constellation Virgo and so close together they’ll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. (...)Read the rest of Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo, Watch it Happen With Just Binoculars (711 words) © Bob King for Universe Today, 2014. | Permalink ...
Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo, Watch it Happen With Just Binoculars
17 Apr 2014, 17:39 UTC
Don’t let them pass you by. Right now and continuing through July, the biggest and brightest asteroids will be running on nearly parallel tracks in the constellation Virgo and so close together they’ll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. (...)Read the rest of Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo, Watch it Happen […] This map shows the paths of Ceres and Vesta in Virgo through late June at five-day intervals. Vesta is currently magnitude +5.8 and Ceres at + 7.0. Both are easily visible in binoculars from suburban and rural skies. The wide view map below will help you navigate from nearby Mars to Zeta Virginis. From Zeta, star hop to Vesta. Stars are shown to about magnitude +8.5. Click to enlarge. Created with Chris Marriott’s SkyMap software Don’t let them pass you by. Right now and continuing through July, the biggest and brightest asteroids will be running on nearly parallel tracks in the constellation Virgo and so close together they’ll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. (...)Read the rest of Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo, Watch it Happen With Just Binoculars (711 words) © Bob King for Universe Today, 2014. | Permalink ...
Parabolic Arc
17 Apr 2014, 17:16 UTC
Ken Davidian of the FAA passed along this notice to me. Registration for ESIL-06 is Now Open! The latest in a series of workshops for Emerging Space Industry Leaders (ESIL) focusing on different issues and sectors of the emerging commercial space industry, ESIL-06 will engage its participants by focusing on the commercial remote sensing sector of commercial space. Here are the details: WHAT: 2-day workshop including industry panels and working sessions. WHO: Students and Young Professionals interested in commercial space. WHERE: Stanford University, Stanford, CA WHEN: All day Thursday and Friday, May 29-30, 2014 WHY: To Network (meet other emerging leaders from across the space industry), Learn (gain insight into the context of commercial space, strategy formulation, and Game Theory) and Have an Impact (utilize lessons and perspectives gained to contribute to the space industry) Apply to attend, check out the schedule, and get more details on the web at http://commercialspace.pbworks.com/w/page/77799674/ESIL-06
Emerging Space Industry Leaders Workshop Set for May at Stanford
17 Apr 2014, 17:16 UTC
Ken Davidian of the FAA passed along this notice to me. Registration for ESIL-06 is Now Open! The latest in a series of workshops for Emerging Space Industry Leaders (ESIL) focusing on different issues and sectors of the emerging commercial space industry, ESIL-06 will engage its participants by focusing on the commercial remote sensing sector of commercial space. Here are the details: WHAT: 2-day workshop including industry panels and working sessions. WHO: Students and Young Professionals interested in commercial space. WHERE: Stanford University, Stanford, CA WHEN: All day Thursday and Friday, May 29-30, 2014 WHY: To Network (meet other emerging leaders from across the space industry), Learn (gain insight into the context of commercial space, strategy formulation, and Game Theory) and Have an Impact (utilize lessons and perspectives gained to contribute to the space industry) Apply to attend, check out the schedule, and get more details on the web at http://commercialspace.pbworks.com/w/page/77799674/ESIL-06
Discovery News - Space News
17 Apr 2014, 15:40 UTC
Hot young stars blaze at the center of a vast cloud of interstellar hydrogen gas in this stunning new observation by the awesomely powerful MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Continue reading →
Chew On This: Best Picture Yet of Gum 41
17 Apr 2014, 15:40 UTC
Hot young stars blaze at the center of a vast cloud of interstellar hydrogen gas in this stunning new observation by the awesomely powerful MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Continue reading →
Backreaction
17 Apr 2014, 14:34 UTC
[Image Source]Einstein’s greatest blunder wasn’t the cosmological constant, and neither was it his conviction that god doesn’t throw dice. No, his greatest blunder was to speak to a philosopher named Carnap about the Now, with a capital.“The problem of Now”, Carnap wrote in 1963, “worried Einstein seriously. He explained that the experience of the Now means something special for men, something different from the past and the future, but that this important difference does not and cannot occur within physics”I call it Einstein’s greatest blunder because, unlike the cosmological constant and indeterminism, philosophers, and some physicists too, are still confused about this alleged “Problem of Now”.The problem is often presented like this. Most of us experience a present moment, which is a special moment in time, unlike the past and unlike the future. If you write down the equations governing the motion of some particle through space, then this particle is described, mathematically, by a function. In the simplest case this is a curve in space-time, meaning the function is a map from the real numbers to a four-dimensional manifold. The particle changes its location with time. But regardless of whether you use an external definition of time (some coordinate ...
The Problem of Now
17 Apr 2014, 14:34 UTC
[Image Source]Einstein’s greatest blunder wasn’t the cosmological constant, and neither was it his conviction that god doesn’t throw dice. No, his greatest blunder was to speak to a philosopher named Carnap about the Now, with a capital.“The problem of Now”, Carnap wrote in 1963, “worried Einstein seriously. He explained that the experience of the Now means something special for men, something different from the past and the future, but that this important difference does not and cannot occur within physics”I call it Einstein’s greatest blunder because, unlike the cosmological constant and indeterminism, philosophers, and some physicists too, are still confused about this alleged “Problem of Now”.The problem is often presented like this. Most of us experience a present moment, which is a special moment in time, unlike the past and unlike the future. If you write down the equations governing the motion of some particle through space, then this particle is described, mathematically, by a function. In the simplest case this is a curve in space-time, meaning the function is a map from the real numbers to a four-dimensional manifold. The particle changes its location with time. But regardless of whether you use an external definition of time (some coordinate ...
The Daily Galaxy
17 Apr 2014, 14:14 UTC
Geologists who analyzed 40 meteorites that fell to Earth from Mars unlocked secrets of the Martian atmosphere hidden in the chemical signatures of these ancient rocks. The results will help guide researchers’ next steps in understanding whether life exists, or has ever existed, on Mars and how water—now absent from the Martian surface—flowed there in the past. Their study shows that the atmospheres of Mars and Earth diverged in important ways very early in the 4.6 billion year evolution of our solar system. The researchers measured the sulfur composition of 40 Mars meteorites—a much larger number than in previous analyses. Of more than 60,000 meteorites found on Earth, only 69 are believed to be pieces of rocks blasted off the Martian surface. The meteorites are igneous rocks that formed on Mars, were ejected into space when an asteroid or comet slammed into the red planet, and landed on Earth. The oldest meteorite in the study is about 4.1 billion years old, formed when our solar system was in its infancy. The youngest are between 200 million and 500 million years old. Studying Martian meteorites of different ages can help scientists investigate the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere throughout history, ...
