Space
Space includes outer space, the sun and planets in the solar system
The Secrets Within Cosmic Dust
Dust captured by a spacecraft from a comet's tail holds clues to the origin of the solar system
December 2009 |
By Robert Irion
What You Should Read -- Sesame Street and the Environment, Smart Pigs, Vaccines, the Amazon, and more...
Here's a roundup of the best of what I've been reading in the past couple of weeks:Are global warming and deforestation too scary for Sesame Street?: A couple of years ago Sesame Workshop named these as adult topics too scary for young children. Instead they focus on teaching kids to respect the Ea...
November 12, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Felicia Day Explains Colliding Galaxies
You may recognize Felicia Day as Dr. Horrible's red-haired obsession (or maybe from that appliance commercial). And if you've been reading this blog, you probably have heard of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which was responsible for last month's discovery of a massive ring around Saturn. Add the ...
November 02, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Picture of the Week--The Kappa Crucis Cluster, a.k.a. the "Jewel Box"
The Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille was the first to find this cluster of stars, in 1751 while on an astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). The Kappa Crucis Cluster (NGC 4755), which resides near the Southern Cross, received the nickname the "Jewel Box" during the next cent...
October 30, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Thursday News Roundup — Black Holes, Traveling to Titan, and More Spiders
According to New Scientist, physicists Tie Jun Cui and Qiang Cheng of the Southeast University in China have succeeded in creating the first black hole, built to absorb and trap solar energy. Based on a theory from Professors Evgenii Narimanov and Alexander Kildishev of Purdue University, the Chin...
October 22, 2009 |
By admin
Meteor Shower Rewards Early Risers Tomorrow
Right now, the Earth is traveling through a trail left behind by Halley’s comet, which last passed through our neighborhood in 1986 (it will return in 2061). These little bits of debris produce a yearly meteor shower, the Orionids, named so because they appear to originate in the constellation Orio...
October 20, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Saturn’s Massive Newfound Ring
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a new ring around Saturn. This ring is very different from those previously known. In some ways, this ring resembles the "accretionary disk" found around some stars more than it resembles the thin, orderly rings that Saturn is famous for.The new ring ...
October 08, 2009 |
By Greg Laden
Space Ships to Crash Into the Moon This Friday!
On Friday, October 9, two space ships will crash into the moon, and you will be able to see it happen.All you need to do is find the crater Cabeus, which is near the Moon's south pole. Be watching at 11:30 UT (That's 4:30 a.m. Pacific Time, 6:30 a.m. Central.) Bring your telescope. It should be a ...
October 06, 2009 |
By Greg Laden
Fantastic Photos of our Solar System
In the past decade, extraordinary space missions have found water on Mars, magnetic storms on Mercury and volcanoes on the moons of Saturn
October 2009 |
By Laura Helmuth
Mars Climate Change Patterns Seen in Ice Caps
Greg Laden is guest-blogging this week while Sarah is on vacation. You can find his regular blog at Scienceblogs.com and Quiche Moraine.You may know that much of the climate change on earth over the last two million years--the coming and going of ice ages--is caused by the "orbital geometry" of the...
September 29, 2009 |
By Greg Laden
Jupiter’s Temporary Moons
How many moons does Jupiter have? The answer may not be as simple as it sounds. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is so big that it can deflect the paths of comets and other objects, some of which might otherwise hit the Earth. Some of those comets hit the surface of the gas giant. O...
September 14, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Hubble Telescope Gets Back to Work
Yesterday, NASA celebrated the rejuvenation of the Hubble Space Telescope by releasing the first batch of images to come from the satellite since it was upgraded in May. That’s when astronauts installed two new instruments—the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph—and repaired two...
September 10, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Sunspots and Climate
One of the more persistent climate change myths is that any warming we've been experiencing here on Earth is because of sunspots, not increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Of course, the Sun is an important factor in climate, and changes in solar output are suspected to be behin...
September 01, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
An Honor and a Party for Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist from Great Britain, was one of two scientists among yesterday's recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Here's what President Obama had to say about Hawking:Professor Stephen Hawking was a brilliant man and a mediocre student when he lost...
August 13, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Apollo 11's Giant Leap for Mankind
40 years ago, the lunar module landed on the moon, providing an unforgettable moment for the millions watching back on Earth
August 2009 |
By Owen Edwards
Q and A: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, reflects on the Apollo 11 mission
August 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Galileo's Vision
Four hundred years ago, the Italian scientist looked into space and changed our view of the universe
August 2009 |
By David Zax
Picture of the Week—Jupiter’s New Spot
Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley was the first person to spot the new spot on Jupiter, on July 19th. Professional astronomers quickly confirmed the sighting and started aiming their powerful telescopes at the gas giant. Scientists now say that a small comet probably created the scar, wh...
July 24, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Forensic Astronomer Tackles Three More Munch Paintings
Forensic astronomer Don Olson solves puzzles. He looks at pieces of art, passages of literature and stories from history and uses science to answer questions like: Why is the sky red in Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream? (Gas and ash from the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa produced colored skies ...
July 22, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Darwin for Dads and More Science Finds in the August Issue
When my daughter was small, I used to take her to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. There, I would explain why the dinosaurs disappeared and how mankind evolved from our primitive forebears. She seemed rapt. But a few weeks ago, after hearing me on the radio discuss a new boo...
July 21, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
