Category Archives: astronomy

Cool factoids about New Horizons

Posted on 13 July 2015 by

You’ve probably heard a lot about the New Horizons probe lately, and there’s a good reason for that. Tomorrow, July 14, the probe will fulfill its destiny. After nine and a half years of travel, it will zip past Pluto, … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, event | 2 Comments

Jupiter, destroyer (and savior) of worlds

Posted on 26 March 2015 by

It has long been known that the advanced life on Earth may owe its existence to Jupiter, whose hulking presence and massive gravity well have probably saved our planet from many an asteroid collision. Not only has Jupiter attracted and … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy | 2 Comments

This ‘n’ that

Posted on 20 March 2015 by

While working hard on deadlines, I kept tossing interesting things into a folder and thinking I’d blog them later. That folder needs a good cleaning, so here’s a link dump to start off your weekend. *** In a classic example … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, biology, culture, Europe, life, science, video | 11 Comments

Those Scots are a different sort

Posted on 18 March 2015 by

Last Sunday, the owner of a Loch Ness tour company stepped outside to snap some photos of the “beautiful sky.” John Alasdair MacDonald (could there be a more Scottish name?) then captured a once-in-a-lifetime shot when a brilliant meteor flashed … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, culture, Europe | 3 Comments

SDO Year 5

Posted on 18 February 2015 by

What has collected over 200 million images and 2,600 terabytes of data, and just celebrated its fifth anniversary? The Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. And I have to admit that when I saw the part about “2,600 terabytes of data” … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, video | 4 Comments

A most amazing “failure”

Posted on 24 January 2015 by

Sometimes the mainstream press really does not know what’s going on when it comes to anything techy. Case in point: earlier this month, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule that was destined to dock with the … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, science, tech, USA | 11 Comments

Wanderers

Posted on 3 December 2014 by

Ooo. This is a gorgeous film, with imaginative and extremely detailed visions of what future Terrans might see if we ever get out of our gravity well and start living elsewhere in our solar system. The film alone is worth … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, travel, video | 2 Comments

Wallpaper Monday

Posted on 1 December 2014 by

What distant planet is covered with ice and vast liquid oceans, is active enough for the ice to be constantly renewed (thus erasing impact craters and creating a mostly smooth surface), yet has gigantic cracks and ridges that imply convection … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, wallpaper | 7 Comments

The ESA’s day in the sun

Posted on 13 November 2014 by

NASA/JPL usually gets all the press, but yesterday the European Space Agency had its moment. That’s because in March 2004 the ESA sent out a probe called Rosetta, which then traveled 6.4 billion kilometers over a period of ten years … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, event | 4 Comments

Gravitational waves, part II

Posted on 30 September 2014 by

Remember how, back in March, the science-heads were agog about new evidence of gravity waves from the Big Bang? I wrote a happily awed post about it, in which this sentence is particularly relevant: Of course, the results must be … Continue reading →

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