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Near Earth Objects - Don't Panic!astronaut said in the Astronomy Forum:
[QUOTE who="abhineet kumar"]I WOULD LIKE CONVEY A MESSAGE TO ALL THE ASTROLOGERS THAT..WHY THEY ARE MAKING A CHAOS OF ALL THIS BECAUSE IT SIMPLY CAUSES A CHAOS AMONG THE CITIZENS WHO ARE LIVING THRE LIFE FRUITFULLY MAY GET DISSAPOINTED..AND BUDDIES LIKE WHO OF AGE 10-20 MAY GET DISTRACTED AS WELL. SO MY OPINIONS TO ALL THE SCIENTISTS AROUND THIS WORK MUST KEEP THEM THIS INFORMATION WITH THEM ONLY.. YOURS SINCERELY ABHINEET KUMAR [/QUOTE] Yes, I fully agree: astrologers all talk a load of rubbish and the world would be a better place without them. Astronomers, on the other hand, are another matter. Dr Buzz Aldrin has pointed out that near Earth objects have, and will, strike the Earth and that one reason for space exploration is to counter this threat. However, there are those who cause alarm and public distress with their ill-informed and badly timed pronouncements of imminent doom - for example the foolish UK Member of Parliament Lembit Opik, who announced in Parliament that the Earth would be struck by Apophis and actually gave a date. People like him are an embarrassment to the scientific community - the only thing Lembit Opik is likely to be hit by is tv weather presenter Sian Lloyd, whom he jilted in favour of one of the Cheeky Girls, a rather unsavoury looking duo of Eurotrash pop singers. Yes, people who scare the public like that are a nuisance, but they are not proper astronomers.
Source : Topix.net | 06-Aug-2008 20:35
STS-125, Atlantis: Launch Pad Repairs Complete; JSC Reopens
Technicians working in special facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue preparing the instruments and flight equipment for the STS-125 mission, which will upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The effort is expected to keep Hubble operating for at least another five years. Crews completed repairs to the damaged flame trench at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Workers applied a fire-resistant concrete over exposed areas of the trench where bricks broke loose during the launch of Discovery on May 31. STS-125, Atlantis: Launch Pad Repairs Complete; JSC Reopens
Source : Topix.net | 06-Aug-2008 20:16
STS-125, Atlantis: External Tank Bolted to Booster Rockets
Out at Launch Complex 39A, where Atlantis will begin its mission, workers continue the last steps necessary to repair damage to the flame trench from the STS-124 launch in May. A swath exposed material in the flame trench is being covered with a protective layer of fire-resistant concrete. The repairs are to be completed on Wednesday. During the STS-125 mission, NASA astronauts will install new instruments on the telescope, including the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. A refurbished Fine Guidance Sensor will replace one unit of three now on board. Crew members will also install new gyroscopes, batteries and thermal blankets on the telescope enhancing the abilities of Hubble for several more years of service. STS-125, Atlantis: External Tank Bolted to Booster Rockets
Source : Topix.net | 06-Aug-2008 04:19
Rosetta Begins Visual Tracking of Asteroid Steins
Heading toward its first target-asteroid, (2867) Steins, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track the asteroid, and eventually determine its orbit with more accuracy. Rosetta started the optical navigation campaign on 4 August 2008, at a distance of about 24 million km from Steins; the campaign will continue until 4 September, when the spacecraft will be approximately 950000 km from the asteroid. Rosetta Begins Visual Tracking of Asteroid Steins
Source : Topix.net | 05-Aug-2008 13:34
Barred Spirals from Hubble
From Hubblesite : In a landmark study of more than 2,000 spiral galaxies from the largest galaxy census conducted by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers found that so-called barred spiral galaxies were ...
Source : Topix.net | 05-Aug-2008 12:56
Electrical Activity On Saturn's Moon Titan Confirmed By Spanish Scientists
The scientific community believe that the probability of organic molecules, precursors of life, being formed is higher on planets or moons which have an atmosphere with electrical storms.
Source : Topix.net | 05-Aug-2008 08:30
Rosetta Tracking Asteroid Steins
Heading toward its first target-asteroid, Steins, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track the asteroid and eventually determine its orbit with more accuracy.
Source : Topix.net | 05-Aug-2008 04:00
Columbus debunker sets sights on Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of machines are uncannily similar to Chinese originals and were undoubtedly derived from them, a British amateur historian says in a newly-published book.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 23:27
Tracking those pesky spy satellites
Next time you look up at the night sky, you may be looking at more than stars and planets.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 19:08
SF Exploratorium Makes China Eclipse Visible To All
Visitors to the Exploratorium in San Francisco will have a chance to witness a solar eclipse from halfway around the world early Friday morning.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 14:22
Youngsters get star-gazing lessons at Children's City
Children in various age groups have been enjoying astronomy lessons imparted to them at the Children's City on Thursdays by the Dubai Astronomy Group.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 09:54
Scientists Confirm Liquid Lake, Beach on Saturn's Moon Titan [News]
VACATION SPOT?: NASA's Cassini orbiter captured this view of Titan's Ontario Lacus from about 680 miles away in December 2007.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 05:18
Member Exchange: Ohio astronomers eye aging stars
Two University of Toledo astronomers have found their niche, despite their colleagues' rush away from Ohio-based telescopes.
Source : Topix.net | 04-Aug-2008 00:56
Thousands gaze at sky for a solar eclipse view
Excitement and curiosity filled the air as thousands, including children and adults, gazed at the sky to see the total solar eclipse.
Source : Topix.net | 03-Aug-2008 20:19
Partial solar eclipse visible in parts of country
New Delhi, August 1 : A partial solar eclipse was seen in parts of country as a large crowd gathered at a planetarium in New Delhi to see the eclipse on Friday.
Source : Topix.net | 03-Aug-2008 15:53
Total eclipse draws crowds to Siberia
A rare total solar eclipse will pass just west of Russia's third-largest city Friday, but crowds of tourists in Novosibirsk to witness the event may find their view of the event obscured by clouds and rain.
Source : Topix.net | 03-Aug-2008 11:22
New solar system guide: The latest lingo
The solar system seems to be getting more crowded by the day as its once nine-world population gives way to a realm of planets, dwarfs and the dim and distant plutoids.
Source : Topix.net | 03-Aug-2008 06:48
Cosmic 'Lake Ontario'
There's another Lake Ontario in the universe, the same size as the one in Canada, but a whole lot colder.
Source : Topix.net | 03-Aug-2008 02:13
Eclipse a stellar success as cloudy skies clear up
ECLIPSES have been blamed for the fall of Roman and Greek empires, while Lawrence of Arabia took advantage of one to capture a strategic port in 1917.
Source : Topix.net | 02-Aug-2008 21:04
Eclipse revives homemade telescopes
BARNAUL, Russia - From a garden bursting with roses, violets, burgeoning cabbages and broken furniture in the remote West Siberian town of Barnaul rises a rickety wooden tower capped with an ...
Source : Topix.net | 02-Aug-2008 16:25
Skygazers come out in force to watch UK partial solar eclipse
Sky-watchers were out in force today for the chance to glimpse a rare solar eclipse.
Source : Topix.net | 02-Aug-2008 12:08
Eclipse darkens NW China, a week before Olympics
By Lucy Hornby
JIAYUGUAN, China (Reuters) - Darkness fell over the last outpost of the Great Wall of China on Friday, where a rare total solar eclipse ended its journey across the earth, delighting skywatchers one week before the Olympics open in Beijing.
The stellar spectacle - when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth - began in Canada, tracked across Greenland and crept into Siberia, before ringing in the momentous month of August in China, when it will host the Games.
In northwest China, cheers went up from the Jiayuguan Fort as hordes of tourists welcomed the eclipse.
Source : Topix.net | 02-Aug-2008 07:33
Researchers may have found cosmic Rosetta stone
Star light, star bright. The first star grew fast, but began slight. The first cosmological object formed in the universe was a tiny protostar with a mass of about 1 percent of our sun, according to U.S. and ...
Source : Topix.net | 02-Aug-2008 03:10
Barred Spiral Galaxies Are Universal Newcomers, Says Study
A frequent sign of the maturity of a spiral galaxy is the formation of a ribbon of stars and gas that slices across the nucleus, like the slash across a "no smoking" sign.
Source : Topix.net | 01-Aug-2008 04:16
Cassini: Saturn's Moon Titan Has Liquid Lake
NASA scientists have concluded that at least one of the large lakes observed on Saturn's moon Titan contains liquid hydrocarbons, and have positively identified the presence of ethane. This makes Titan the only body in our solar system beyond Earth known to have liquid on its surface. Cassini: Saturn's Moon Titan Has Liquid Lake
Source : Topix.net | 01-Aug-2008 03:25
Phoenix Lander Confirms Water on Mars
Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample on Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission. Phoenix Lander Confirms Water on Mars
Source : Topix.net | 01-Aug-2008 02:11
Mars Express: Best Ever Images of Martian Moon Phobos
Mars Express closed in on the intriguing martian moon Phobos at 6:49 CEST on 23 July, flying past at 3 km/s, only 93 km from the moon. The ESA spacecraft's fly-bys of the moon have returned its most detailed full-disc images ever, also in 3-D, using the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board. Phobos is what scientists call a 'small irregular body'. Measuring 27 km x 22 km x 19 km, it is one of the least reflective objects in the Solar System, thought to be a capture-asteroid or a remnant of the material that formed the planets. Mars Express: Best Ever Images of Martian Moon Phobos
Source : Topix.net | 31-Jul-2008 14:04
Scientists decipher ancient Greek 'computer'
After a closer examination of the Antikythera Mechanism, a surviving marvel of ancient Greek technology, scientists have found that the device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized the calendar ...
Source : Topix.net | 31-Jul-2008 10:22
Watching A 'New Star' Make The Universe Dusty
This provides the astronomers with a new way to estimate the distance of this object and obtain invaluable information on the operating mode of stellar vampires, dense stars that suck material from a companion.
Source : Topix.net | 31-Jul-2008 05:00
'Sun-eating dragon' returns to China
PARIS: Earth, the Sun and the Moon will align in a celestial ballet on Friday, rewarding China, where the first record of an eclipse was made more than 4,000 years ago, with a dazzling show.
Source : Topix.net | 31-Jul-2008 00:34
Two Galaxies Walk Into a Bar...
Two galaxies walk into a bar. The young, regular spiral galaxy and the mature, barred spiral both order a drink.
Source : Topix.net | 30-Jul-2008 20:28
NASA Awards Lunar Surface Systems Concepts Contracts
NASA's Constellation Program has selected 11 companies and one university to independently develop concepts that contribute to how astronauts will live and work on the Moon. Each organization will conduct a 180-day study focused on a topic relevant to lunar surface systems. The recommendations from the studies will help determine packaging options, identify basic functions for lunar habitats, and conceptualize innovative avionics, computer software, energy storage ideas and equipment and techniques that could help preparation for the lunar outpost site. NASA Awards Lunar Surface Systems Concepts Contracts
Source : Topix.net | 29-Jul-2008 13:23
Hubble spies a large group of distant galaxies
Hubble has spotted six gorgeous, very distant galaxy clusters . The group acts as gravitational lenses, providing magnification that gives us a view of very distant galaxies.
Source : Topix.net | 29-Jul-2008 11:55
Incline family donates deep space telescope to UNR
Students and teachers in Northern Nevada will be able to observe objects in deep space thanks to a local family's donation of a 22-inch telescope to the University of Nevada, Reno Redfield Campus.
Source : Topix.net | 29-Jul-2008 07:16
Polarizing filter allows astronomers to see disks surrounding black holes
For the first time, a team of international researchers has found a way to view the accretion disks surrounding black holes and verify that their true electromagnetic spectra match what astronomers have long ...
Source : Topix.net | 29-Jul-2008 02:51
Seeing total solar eclipse difficult, expensive
A total solar eclipse will darken some of Earth's skies on Friday, but geography, weather, the economy and even the Olympics are combining to make it a hard and expensive for people to see it.
Source : Topix.net | 28-Jul-2008 22:28
STS-125: Launch Pad Repairs Underway; Preparations on Schedule
In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility, carrier panel installations were completed on Space Shuttle Atlantis on Tuesday. Closure of the vehicle's payload bay door is targeted for Saturday. Highly sensitive cleaning on the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope equipment continues through this week. Repair of Launch Pad 39A's flame trench is moving forward. The first pour of Fondu Fyre, a heat resistant concrete, has been completed. STS-125: Launch Pad Repairs Underway; Preparations on Schedule
Source : Topix.net | 27-Jul-2008 18:27
STS-125, Atlantis, Hubble Servicing Mission 4: Preparations Continue
Repair of Launch Pad 39A's flame trench is right on schedule. All materials needed for the refurbishment have arrived and fireproofing begin this week, with the application of Fondu Fyre, a heat resistant concrete developed during the Apollo space program. The STS-125 flight is the final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA astronauts will install new instruments, gyros, batteries and other components crucial to the telescope's continued success through the year 2013. STS-125, Atlantis, Hubble Servicing Mission 4: Preparations Continue
Source : Topix.net | 27-Jul-2008 18:25
Mars Express to Rendezvous with Martian Moon Phobos
Scientists and engineers are preparing ESA's Mars Express for several close fly-bys of the Martian moon Phobos. Passing within 100 km of the surface, Mars Express will conduct some of the most detailed investigations of the moon to date. The series of fly-bys will take place between 12 July and 3 August. During the second encounter, the spacecraft will fly within 273 km of the surface. Six days later, Mars Express will close to within just 97 km.Mars Express to Rendezvous with Martian Moon Phobos
Source : Topix.net | 27-Jul-2008 18:23
Echus Chasma, Mars: Canyons Originate from Groundwater Discharge
Echus Chasma is the water source region of Kasei Valles, which extends thousands of kilometres to the north, and its southern-most part. The images of the Echus Chasma plateau show valleys that are about 10 km long and 1000 m deep. The main valley, Kasei Valles, is about 4 km in depth. The smaller valleys, also called sapping canyons, originate from the discharge of groundwater. Echus Chasma, Mars: Canyons Originate from Groundwater Discharge
Source : Topix.net | 27-Jul-2008 18:21
Manoeuvres Bring Venus Express Closer to Its Host Planet
Spacecraft controllers have been executing a series of manoeuvres to gradually bring Venus Express closer to its host planet. In its modified orbit, the spacecraft will be able to observe unexplored regions and investigate phenomena that were not within its reach before. The operational manoeuvres to bring the spacecraft closer will be executed through the month of July, settling it into its new orbit by 4 August.Manoeuvres Bring Venus Express Closer to Its Host Planet
Source : Topix.net | 26-Jul-2008 17:39
Supernova? The Quiet Explosion
Instead, the star that exploded is now understood to have collapsed into a black hole, producing a weak jet, typical of much more violent events, the so-called gamma-ray bursts.
Source : Topix.net | 26-Jul-2008 15:47
Spitzer Reveals 'No Organics' Zone Around Pinwheel Galaxy
The Pinwheel galaxy is gussied up in infrared light in a new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Source : Topix.net | 26-Jul-2008 07:08
Corot Finds a Planet Orbiting a Star Like the Sun
A team of European scientists working with COROT have discovered an exoplanet orbiting a star slightly more massive than the Sun. After just 555 days in orbit, the mission has now observed more than 50 000 stars and is adding significantly to our knowledge of the fundamental workings of stars. The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found. Corot Finds a Planet Orbiting a Star Like the Sun
Source : Topix.net | 24-Jul-2008 23:31
Mars Express to Rendezvous with Martian Moon Phobos.
Scientists and engineers are preparing ESA's Mars Express for several close fly-bys of the Martian moon Phobos. Passing within 100 km of the surface, Mars Express will conduct some of the most detailed investigations of the moon to date. The series of fly-bys will take place between 12 July and 3 August. During the second encounter, the spacecraft will fly within 273 km of the surface. Six days later, Mars Express will close to within just 97 km. Mars Express to Rendezvous with Martian Moon Phobos.
Source : Topix.net | 24-Jul-2008 23:30
Astronomy Picture of the Day
High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars Credit: G. Neukum et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA Explanation: What created this great cliff on Mars? Did giant waterfalls once plummet through its grooves? With a ...
Source : Topix.net | 24-Jul-2008 03:40