Why does Saturn look like it’s been painted with a dark brush in this infrared image, but Dione looks untouched? To source
Tag Archives | space
Watch Galileo launch
Galileo 9 and 10 are due for launch atop a Soyuz rocket at 02:08 GMT on 11 September (04:08 CEST; 23:08 local time, 10 September). Streaming starts at 01:48 GMT (03:48 CEST). To source
'Cosmic Tsunami' Shocks Comatose 'Sausage' Galaxy Cluster Into Star Formation
This radio image shows a shock wave (the bright arc running from bottom left to top right) in the ‘Sausage’ merging cluster of galaxies as seen by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The shock wave was generated 1 billion years ago, when the two original clusters collided, and is moving at 5.6 million mph (9 […]
5-Million-Degree Plasma 'Tornado' Rages on the Sun (Video)
A giant, swirling plume of superheated plasma churned above the surface of the sun for 40 hours last week while a NASA spacecraft looked on. NASA’s sun-studying Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured dramatic time-lapse video of the solar tornado , which raged from Sept. 1 through Sept. 3. The mass of plasma “was stretched and […]
Ceres’ Bright Spots – What Are They? | Improved Video
Ice? Diamonds? Salt-lick for giant nocturnal astro-worms that follow the terminator around the dwarf planet so they’re always in darkness (never photographed by NASA’s Dawn probe). NASA wants your guess: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/dawn/world_ceres/ New Imagery of the bright spots of the dwarf planet’s Occator crater are the highest detailed to date with a resolution of 450 feet […]
Andreas in space
Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s first space experiment to purify water To source
Everything's Relative: The Discovery of Space-Time (Podcast)
Paul Sutter is a research fellow at the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste and visiting scholar at the Ohio State University’s Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP ). Sutter is also host of the podcasts Ask a Spaceman and RealSpace , and the YouTube series Space In Your Face . He contributed this article to Space.com’s […]
Moon, Venus and Mars Offer Triple Skywatching Treat Early Thursday
On Thursday, Sept. 10 the waning crescent moon, Venus and Mars will appear in an eye-catching arrangement in the early-morning sky.Credit: European Southern Observatory If you want to see an eye-catching celestial display involving a slender crescent moon and two bright planets, be sure to wake up an hour before sunrise on Thursday morning (Sept. […]
5-Million-Degree Tornado Churns Across Sun | Time-Lapse Video
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watched the Sun’s magnetic forces twist and turn enormous plumes of superheated plasma from Sept. 1-3, 2015. The particles observed by SDO – mostly iron – were measured at a blazing 5 million degrees. (2.8 million degrees C.) (Full Story) See Another Solar Tornado From 2012 Credit: NASA/SDO/mash mix: Space.com To […]
Dawn Takes a Closer Look at Occator
This image, made using images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots. To source
Winners selected
Congratulations to the very talented 12-year old artist, Tijana from Serbia, on her fantastic cosmic mosaic! To source
Partial Solar Eclipse to Darken Southern Africa's Skies Sunday
On Sunday morning, Sept. 13, there will be a partial eclipse of the sun visible in southern Africa, the Indian Ocean and parts of Antarctica. Here it is seen from Cape Town, South Africa, where it will be at its maximum.Credit: Starry Night Software The penguins are in luck, as are some skywatchers in the […]
US Air Force Eyes Blast Detection Satellite
The U.S. Air Force intends to use an Orbital ATK satellite platform for the STPSat-6 mission. Shown above is an artist’s concept of the GEOStar-1 platform Orbital ATK offers for national security missions in geostationary orbit.Credit: Orbital ATK WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force hopes to build an experimental satellite that would detect nuclear explosions […]