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Space

SPACE: Cosmic Triple Treat Tomorrow Night

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comet - pixabay

Comet Turn your eyes to the sky this Friday night and prepare for a series of spectacular celestial sights. A penumbral lunar eclipse, a full moon and a comet will all be visible from across North America ― weather permitting. The full “Snow Moon,” so-called because February is usually the snowiest month in the U.S., is set to appear slightly darker than usual as it crosses through a peripheral part of the Earth’s shadow. By Lee Moran – Full Story at The Huffington Post

SPACE: New Image of Tethys, Saturn’s “Death Star”

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Tethys - Nasa

NASA says it resembles an eyeball. But it’s hard to look at Tethys, one of the moons of Saturn, and not see the Death Star, especially in the image just released by the space agency: That distinctive mark is the Odysseus crater and its surrounding peaks. NASA said: “Like any solar system moon, Tethys (660 miles or 1,062 kilometers across) has suffered many impacts. These impacts are a prime shaper of the appearance of a moon’s surface, especially when the moon has no active geological processes. In this case, a large impact not only created a crater known as Odysseus, … Read more

Science: We Might Get to See a Supernova!

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supernova - pixabay

It could be one of the biggest astronomical events in years ― a star explosion so intense it could literally change the night sky. Astronomers are predicting that binary star system KIC 9832227, located in the Cygnus constellation, will merge and explode in a “red nova” event in 2022. And if it happens as predicted, its brightness will increase by 10,000-fold, making it one of the brightest objects in the night sky and easily visible with the naked eye, according to a Calvin College news release. “It will be a very dramatic change in the sky, as anyone can see … Read more

Cassini Mission to End in Fiery Plunge Into Saturn

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Saturn/Titan

Of the 173 known moons orbiting the eight major planets of our solar system, only one ― Saturn’s Titan ― has an atmosphere, lakes and streams. And that’s not all. There’s also speculation that Titan ― half the size of Earth ― could harbor life forms or be a possible future home for Earthlings. The provocative moon was even featured in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1959 novel The Sirens of Titan, which tells the story of a millionaire on a quest for the ultimate meaning of existence. To study this remarkable moon, NASA launched its Cassini spacecraft in 1997. After maneuvering through … Read more

News: Are We Overdue for An Extinction Level Event?

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Earth

Humans are woefully unprepared for a surprise asteroid or comet, a Nasa scientist warned on Monday, at a presentation with nuclear scientists into how humans might deflect cosmic dangers hurtling toward Earth. “The biggest problem, basically, is there’s not a hell of a lot we can do about it at the moment,” said Dr Joseph Nuth, a researcher with Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Speaking at the annual meeting of American Geophysical Union, Nuth noted that large and potentially dangerous asteroids and comets are extremely rare, compared to the small objects that occasionally explode in Earth’s sky or strike its … Read more

President Obama: We’re Going to Mars

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President Barack Obama

One of my earliest memories is sitting on my grandfather’s shoulders, waving a flag as our astronauts returned to Hawaii. This was years before we’d set foot on the moon. Decades before we’d land a rover on Mars. A generation before photos from the International Space Station would show up in our social media feeds. I still have the same sense of wonder about our space program that I did as a child. It represents an essential part of our character — curiosity and exploration, innovation and ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and doing it before anybody else. … Read more

Are We Colonizing Mars?

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Mars - Space X

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has unveiled a video providing some tantalizing details of his plans for getting humans to Mars and beyond. Musk provided details of his plans during a speech on Monday at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico. As Mashable puts it, Musk “envisions a world in which people could pay about $200,000 for a ticket to ride on a spaceship that would deliver them to their new homes on Mars in about 90 days under good conditions.” He expects that around 1 million people would need to go to Mars in order to … Read more

New Discoveries Day!

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New Discoveries Day

Hey all, Welcome to New Discoveries Day – a day once a month (usually on the last day of the month) when we discuss recent discoveries that fascinate us and that could spawn plot bunnies (or plot squirrels or plot mongeese – your plot animal of choice). So chime in and let us know about any new discoveries you ran across in the last month – links are always appreciated. Thanks to Freddy MacKay for the great idea! –Scott Come Join the Chat!

Pride in Space!!!!

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Rainbow Flag in Space

Now there’s a new reason to seriously start investigating the possibility of civilian space travel: one of our favorite non-profit organizations just declared the universe LGBT-friendly. Planting Peace’s latest display of solidarity with the queer community involves a Pride flag, a high altitude balloon and a GoPro camera. The group, which regularly launches social activism campaigns to raise awareness about issues like LGBT rights and deworming children in developing countries, used the balloon to elevate a rainbow flag up through the Earth’s atmosphere. It eventually reached its peak altitude approximately 21.1 miles above the planet. The flag remained airborne, floating … Read more

Asteroid Named for Freddie Mercury

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Asteroid Freddy Mercury

Freddie Mercury will be leaping through the sky, as an asteroid named after the Queen singer on what would have been his 70th birthday. The gay superstar will have his name given to Asteroid17473, which was discovered in 1991, the year of his death. International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre gave the honor. By Joe Morgan – Full Story at Gay Star News