4 Jupiter mass planets, among the most exotic ones to be known, have been seen in more detail than ever before. Project 1640 picked out these planets using the Hale telescope. These planets orbit a star called HR 8799 which is 128 ly away. Light from planets is hard to make out as the stars [...]
Planet Formation Theory Threatened by Hubble Find
A new planet may be being built, not by aliens (well who knows really?), But in a cloud of gas and dust around TW Hydrae about 176 light-years away. This dust and gas cloud is in the constellation Hydra and was spotted by the Hubble space telescope. A Gap has been detected and current theories [...]
Cassini Creates the First Topographical Map of Titan
Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, has been surveyed by Cassini. Cassini, which is a probe that has been looking at Saturn and its moons, has made a topographic map from the surveys. Titan is a lovely moon that is one of the most earthlike and interesting worlds in the solar system. It is Saturn’s largest [...]
Hawaiian Summit to Gain Giant Telescope
The construction of a large telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea which is opposed by the Hawaiians has permission now to go ahead. This has been opposed because the Hawaiians consider it sacred ground. The construction could start on the top of the 13,800 foot high mountain as early as April 2014. The mountain [...]
The Existing Climate Change Model Could Be Wrong
Climate models may be too conservative in forecasting tropical changes. This is indicated by a large amount of warm water that used to stretch out from Indonesia over to Africa and South America 4 million years ago. This large mass of water would have altered rainfall in the tropics perhaps even removing the monsoon. The [...]
Data That Was Called a Nuisance Leads to a Surprising Discovery about Star Birth
Bright objects appeared in maps in 2008 from data made with the South Pole telescope. These light sources interfered with the measurements that were being made of the cosmic microwave background radiation (the afterglow of the big bang). But this turned out to be a rare find in what was a large survey of the [...]
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Cassini Sees Massive Storm
Cassini continues to return original new stuff on its orbit around Saturn and its moons. The latest information is on a large thunder and lightning storm on Saturn. The storm got so large that it reached its own tail around the planet. This doesn’t even occur on Jupiter and is the first time it has [...]
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Pluto’s Moon Named After Star Treks Vulcan
One moon of Pluto has been named Vulcan. This was proposed, appropriately, by William Shatner from Star Trek. The votes were taken online allowing the public to vote. The two moons without a name were called boringly P4 and P5. As hopefully most of you know Vulcan was the home planet of the first officer [...]
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Air Force’s Secretive X-30 7B Space Plane Blasted off Again
After a delay of almost two months caused by a technical glitch, the Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane blasted off again from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its secret, undisclosed mission. The launch is the third mission in three years launched by Boeing’s now-shuttered Building 31 in Huntington Beach, California, and is scheduled to spend [...]
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what is a solar minimum and solar maximum?
Every 11 years the sun goes through a cycle. It is noticeable by the increase and decrease of sunspots which are dark patches on the Sun’s surface. The sunspots are counted by the solar maximum and solar minimum in a solar cycle. A solar maximum is the greatest number of sunspots in any solar cycle [...]
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Climate Change May Produce Increased Collisions in Orbit
The carbon dioxide from climate change (global warming as it is called in the press) cools the atmosphere causing the thermosphere to contract? This would result in many more collisions and would be a major hazard for the ISS and other satellites. The thermosphere is the outermost layer of the atmosphere. This layer would contract [...]
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Is light made up of waves or particles?
Is light made up of waves or particles? This question has been around for ages. Photons which are particles of light are said to be both particles and waves by quantum theory. Physicists from the University of Bristol have backed up the quantum theory with a new demonstration using a new piece of equipment. This [...]
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Carnival of Space 273
Lots of varied articles this week including black holes, nuclear rockets, beam propulsion and quasars. One of the lowest mass black holes ever observed in the middle of a galaxy has been identified. By the Chandra Blog. Who would sign up for a 40-year journey, especially if it turned out to be a one-way trip? Thoughts [...]
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Best Images of Uranus yet
Pictures of Uranus have been just a blob due to its distance from Earth. Now some much better images have been acquired at the Keck Observatory. This is due to a new technique which brings a much sharper focus onto Uranus. These new techniques involved using an infrared detector. Smaller more widely distributed weather features [...]
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5 Innovations of the Space Program We Take for Granted
By Philip J Reed on behalf of Exede, a nationwide satellite Internet provider NASA is known for landing people on the moon and helping an entire generation dream of new horizons. However, many people don’t realize how the space program has impacted nearly every facet of our society. Over the years, NASA’s technological advances have [...]
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Our Signpost to Earth, Voyager 1
Voyager 1 has travelled the furthest any -made object has travelled in a straight line (well almost a straight line). We will probably and hopefully overtake it one day with future space technology but today it can bask in glory. It has taken 35 years but this spacecraft is on the brink of leaving the [...]
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Neil Armstrong’s Death to Motivate the Next Big Step?
As you may have noticed Neil Armstrong died a few days ago. This could turn out to be a good thing! It seems to have brought up the fact that our attempts to continue space exploration are just pathetic at the moment. Who would have believed when man walked on the moon that the walk [...]
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Mars Rover Curiosity Is Firing Its Laser
The Mars science lab (nicknamed curiosity) has a laser! It is not for self defence but for analysing rocks. It has fired nearly 500 shots so far and it has produced strong clear data about the Mars surface. When the laser fires it focuses the energy of 1 million lightbulbs onto an area that is [...]
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Plate Tectonics on Mars
When I did a course in Astrophysics the only place that plate tectonics existed was the earth. This it was said was one of the reasons life existed on Earth and if it was to exist elsewhere plate tectonics would be needed. A scientist has now found that plate tectonics exist on Mars. A tectonically [...]
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Something Is Happening before Curiosity Lands on Mars
Not long now and the new Mars science lab will hopefully be deposited on Mars. This will happen on August 5 but there is something else happening on the same day. Only a few hours before the Mars science lab spacecraft reaches the red planet Mars will form a “Martian triangle” With Saturn and Spica [...]
