18 July 2008
Moon Transits Earth!
If you know me, you know that I can’t get enough of pictures of our planet from space. I have the Pale Blue Dot quote posted above my desk, and the famous “Earthrise” picture on my office door. So maybe that’s why I find the two new videos posted on the EPOXI (formerly known as Deep Impact) mission website, so amazingly cool. The top one depicts infrared light as red, …
17 July 2008
New insights into ancient water on Mars
The evidence for a warmer, wetter ancient Mars just keeps piling up! In 2 new papers, the team for the CRISM spectrometer onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has reported new evidence for water on the surface of ancient Mars, based on the ubiquitous presence of water-bearing minerals. Universe Today has a great post up on the findings, so I won’t repeat too much of Nancy’s explanation. In brief, the CRISM …
16 July 2008
Spirit's Bonestell Panorama
Hey folks, as you may know, the Spirit rover has been sitting at the north rim of home plate all Martian winter, struggling to stay alive through the short winter days and long nights. She’s been doing some science though: every day or so, we’ve been taking a few more pictures that will eventually go into a gigantic panorama. After more than 120 sols, we recently hit the halfway point …
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dearest readers, sometimes I see something on the internet so awesome that I feel that I must share it with you, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with Mars. This is one of those times. You need, NEED to set aside fifteen minutes and go watch the first episode of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Here’s why: it stars Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser) as the struggling super …
14 July 2008
Recipe for a Planet
So you have a big dinner party coming up, and you really want to impress your guests? Apple pie from scratch too difficult? (who has time to create the universe these days?) This recipe for a delicious Planet can be scaled to fit any crowd and the planet is as much a conversation piece as a culinary treat. Makes ~2-10 planets Serves: billions You will need: 1 Star (Population I …
12 July 2008
iPhone 3G Space and Science Apps
There really are too many cool apps for the new iPhone 3G to list, but here’s a sampling of some awesome scientific apps from Wired – check out the space section! My favorite is Star Map, which acts as a “pocket planetarium” by using the GPS feature of the phone to give you all the info on the night sky over your head! Now if only the data plan wasn’t …
11 July 2008
X-Prize Blog
Hey, remember the X-Prize? Now that the first X-prize has been won, the X-prize foundation is broadening its scope. The next X-prizes include a privately funded mission to the moon, a car that can get 100 miles per gallon, and the ability to sequence 10 human genomes in a day. Even better, there is a new X-Prize blog, where you can keep up with everything X-prize related! Check it out!
The Largest Star
I was giving a public talk a couple days ago and one of the kids asked: “What is the biggest star?” The question reminded me of this awesome gif animation. I just wish it kept going past the largest star, comparing the star with clusters, the clusters with nebulae, the nebulae with galaxies, etc.
More on the HiRISE View of Phoenix
Emily has posted a bunch more information about how the fantastic, stunning, amazing image of Phoenix descending on its parachute was actually taken with the HiRISE camera. It’s a lot harder than point and shoot. Because of the way the camera was designed, the HiRISE team actually had to cause the MRO spacecraft to rotate at the exact rate to match Phoenix’s descent. And they did it! Go read more …
10 July 2008
Carnival of Space #62
Hey, the 62nd Carnival of Space is up at Space Disco! Alas, we did not submit a post this week, but don’t let that stop you from checking it out!
