Astro-Science

Nasa’s Kepler Spacecraft Narrows The Search For Goldilocks Planet

March 30, 2012

Light reflected from a planet carries the 'fingerprint' of its atmospheric composition.

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is discovering a veritable avalanche of alien worlds. Recent finds include planets with double suns, massive “super-Earths” and “hot Jupiters,” and a miniature solar system. The variety of planets circling distant suns is as wonderful as it is surprising. As the numbers mount, it seems to be just a matter of time before Kepler finds what astronomers are really looking for: an Earth-like planet orbiting its star in the “Goldilocks zone”—that is, at just the right distance for liquid water and life. “I believe Kepler will find a ‘Goldilocks planet’ within the next two years,” says...

Is There Microbial Life On Saturns Moon Enceladus?

March 28, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Do underground oceans vent through the tiger stripes on Saturn's moon Enceladus? Long features dubbed tiger stripes are known to be spewing ice from the moon's icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and creating Saturn's mysterious E-ring.

In a series of tantalizingly close flybys to the moon, named “Enceladus,” NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has revealed watery jets erupting from what may be a vast underground sea. These jets, which spew through cracks in the moon’s icy shell, could lead back to a habitable zone that is uniquely accessible in all the solar system. “More than 90 jets of all sizes near Enceladus’s south pole are spraying water vapor, icy particles, and organic compounds all over the place,” says Carolyn Porco, an award-winning planetary scientist and leader of the Imaging Science team for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. “Cassini has...

NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Captures Aurora’s On Saturn

March 28, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Since the NASA / ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, astronomers and space scientists have been able to study the ringed planet and its moons in great detail. Now, for the first time, a team of planetary scientists have made simultaneous measurements of Saturn’s night side aurora, magnetic field, and associated charged particles. Together the fields and particle data provide information on the electric currents flowing that produce the emissions. Team leader Dr Emma Bunce of the University of Leicester will present the new work at the National Astronomy Meeting in Manchester on 27 March 2012. Generally,...

Sunspot AR1429 Sends Strong Solar Flare Hurtling Toward Earth

March 11, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Christopher Freemantle captured this image of the Northern Lights from Chena Hot Springs (just outside Fairbanks) in Alaska. The intensity grew until very bright, multicoloured and fast moving auroras were visible. This image was taken with a 4s exposure, Canon 600D, F2.8, ISO 800.

Sunspot AR1429 is still erupting this weekend. On Saturday, March 10th, it produced a powerful M8-class flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory. Space weather scientists use five categories — A, B, C, M and X — to rank solar flares based on their strength and severity. A-class flares are the weakest types of sun storms, while X-class eruptions are the most powerful. The eruption propelled yet another coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud will hit our planet’s magnetosphere on March 12th...

Another Solar Flare Heads Directly For Earth

March 10, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another strong flare, an M6-class eruption on March 9th at 0358 UT. The blast hurled a coronal mass ejection almost directly toward Earth. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will arrive on March 11th at 0649 UT (+/- 7 hr). Strong geomagnetic storms and Aurora, (Northern Lights), are possible when the cloud arrives. The same eruption that hurled the CME toward Earth also produced a monsterous tsunami of plasma on the sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the shadowy but powerful wave rippling away from the blast site: The tsumani...

Major Solar Flares May Cause Intense Northern Lights Tonight

March 8, 2012

By Michael Muracco

A massive X-class solar flare spewed from the sun on March 6, 2012. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed the eruption, which looks like a sparkling diamond in this picture. CREDIT: NASA/SDO

A massive solar storm may spark an intense northern lights display for skywatchers at high latitudes on Thursday (March 8th) as a wave of charged particles reach the Earth. Two huge solar flares erupted from the sun late Tuesday (March 6th), triggering one of the most powerful solar storms in more than five years. The solar flares are expected to intensify aurora displays on Earth, according to space weather scientist Joseph Kunches, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Auroras are probably the treat that we get when the sun erupts,” Kunches told reporters. One of the big...

Incredible Video Of Aurora Borealis – The Northern Lights

February 6, 2012

By Michael Muracco

This incredible video of the Aurora Borealis – The Northern Lights, was taken in Norway by photographer Christian Mülhauser. “Last week I was again in Norway, said Mülhauser, for shooting northern lights. This time I was very lucky, there was a lot of activity on the sky especially on the 24 January. The scenes are from Ravnastua, Skoganvarre and Lakselv. The first two days I had a lot of trouble with frozen Cameras. It was -25°C (-13°F) and after 1-2 hours of shooting the lens was frozen. I used a Canon 5D MarkII with ML, a 7D and a 550D...

NASA’s Mars Rover ‘Opportunity’ Continues Science Experiments As Martian Winter Approaches

February 1, 2012

By Michael Muracco

NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity is positioned on the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater with an approximate 15-degree northerly tilt for favorable solar energy production during the winter. Opportunity is conducting regular radio Doppler tracking measurements to support geo-dynamic investigations of the planet, in-situ (contact) science investigations of the target, “Amboy” including an extended Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic, and continued collection of the 13-filter, 360-degree “Greeley” panorama. Decreasing energy levels with the approach to the winter solstice has constrained Opportunity for conducting both a radio Doppler tracking pass and an afternoon Ultra High Frequency...

Our Future In Space

January 31, 2012

By Michael Muracco

This video, originally shot back in July at TAM 2011 Las Vegas, is of a panel featuring Bill Nye, astronomers Neil DeGrasse Tyson & Pamela Gay, and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss—and the entire discussion is moderated by Bad Astronomy‘s Phil Plait. The subjects raised are consequential, the discussions thought provoking, and the opinions of the panelists refreshingly diverse. Related posts:Apollo Astronauts Urge Congress To Bring Back The Space ShuttlesRussia's Phobos-Grunt Spacecraft Finally Calls HomeThe Library Telescope ProgramCause Of Russia's Phobos-Grunt Failure EmergesMajor Solar Flares May Cause Intense Northern Lights TonightUnited States & Russia Joint Mission To Mars Possible

The Library Telescope Program

January 26, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Left to right: Nia Shea Ashby, Zeth Ashby, and their mother Karson Ashby learn how to focus one of the NHAS’s loaner Orion StarBlast telescopes.

An astronomy club’s outreach program gets telescopes into peoples’ hands. “The strongest thing that’s given us to see with’s a telescope. Someone in every town seems to me owes it to the town to keep one.” The words of Robert Frost in The Star Splitter inspired the New Hampshire Astronomical Society (NHAS) to develop a novel public outreach eff ort. Frost’s “someone” could be the local librarian, and thus the Library Telescope Program was born. Society members decided to place telescopes in town libraries, where patrons can check them out just like books. Libraries were chosen instead of schools,...