Mercury Looms

September 29, 2009

At 5:55 pm EDT today, the Mercury probe MESSENGER will make its closest approach to the planet, shooting over the surface at an altitude of a little under 142 miles. Above is the planet from MESSENGER's point of view on Sept. 28 when it was 337,000 miles from flyby.

From the MESSENGER mission website:

This NAC image of a sunlit crescent Mercury was taken 44 hours before the spacecraft's closest pass to the surface. Visit the interactive visualization tool to examine in detail the instrument observations planned for the flyby. Starting at 3:45 pm EDT today, the visualization tool can be run in real-time, showing the planned observations on the website at the same time that the MESSENGER spacecraft will be performing the actual observations. The images and other measurements collected by MESSENGER during the flyby will begin to be transmitted to Earth just before midnight tonight.

Keep an eye on the MESSENGER website, that will be the place to see the first new images of the Solar System's smallest planet...

Galaxies Crash, Dino-Killing Asteroid, Twin Space Shuttles (Video)

April 27, 2009

Up to bat for this week's Discovery Space Wrap Up: Four-way galaxy cluster crash spied by Hubble and Chandra telescopes, Asteroid collision predates dinosaur extinction by 300,000 years, The last time you'll see two space shuttles out at NASA launch pads -- ever:

Sunrise Behind the Space Station

April 10, 2009

Let's keep this post short and get right to the goods.

Here's a stunning image of the International Space Station (ISS) as seen by NASA's space shuttle Discovery after undocking late last month:

Until the above shot came along, this image here was my desktop background. We can safely say "goodbye" to that one.

Click here for a high-res version of the new photo, which shows the sun rising (setting?) behind the Earth as the ISS floats about 200 miles above it.

Photo: ESA/NASA

The Creepiest Space Photo You Will Ever See

April 08, 2009

I can't believe Phil Plait -- the Bad Astronomer himself and persistent plucker of pareidoliac photos -- hasn't posted about this gem from NASA's Image of the Day!

Take a look, and prepare to be frightened:

Aaaaaaaaagh!!

I dare you to tell me that this is not the creepiest (legitimate) space image you have ever laid eyes on...
...that's what I thought.

What does it all mean, you ask?

Mars 500, Hubble's Winning Image, Yuri's Night Craziness (Video)

April 06, 2009

In this week's Discovery Space Wrap Up:
Mars500 trial run begins (aka 6 guys stuck in a tube for 105 days), Hubble Space Telescope's winning image of Arp 274 taken, and last but not least some crazy fun Yuri's Night parties:

Map of Galaxies on the Move

April 03, 2009

Whoa. Get a load of this brand-new map of about 110,000 galaxies closest to Earth (click to enlarge this bad boy):

Based on the press release, it sounds like most of these galaxies are as seen from Earth's southern hemisphere. That's a bit puzzling to me, seeing as the telescope used -- the UK Schmidt Telescope -- is in England, aka the northern hemisphere.

Also curious why there's a big two-cone gap in the middle (perhaps the Earth is blocking the view?).

Anyway, what you can't see in this map is the speed and direction about 11,000 of these galaxies are moving! Astronomers now have that data under their belt, too. If you're curious what the nearby universe is going to look like millions and billions of years from now, that is some valuable intel.

Now I know some of you are thinking: "Galaxies move? Aren't they too big to move fast?"

Sorry to burst any bubbles here, but get this: Milky Way Galaxy is booking it at about 343 miles per second. That's a flight from New York to Los Angeles in 7 seconds. And it's on a collision course with the equally hefty Andromeda galaxy in about 3 billion years. *gulp*

Another striking detail is the number of voids with no galaxies, which is about 500 in this computer-rendered snapshot. As we've previously played up here on Discovery Space, that's likely mysterious dark energy in action, pushing the galaxies into a cosmic web of sorts as space continues to expand.

Big thanks to Nancy Atkinson at Universe Today for pointing this out (looks like she got wind of it via the Anglo-Australian Observatory's site).

Photo: AAO

Redoubt Volcano's Ash Cloud - From SPACE!

March 27, 2009

Never have I ever seen something like this... What you're looking at below is the Redoubt volcano's ash cloud edge-on -- from space!

 

See that blackish-gray poof in the center?

That's it.

That's the ash cloud.

The blue outline is the Alaskan border, seen from the extreme west by the MTSAT-1R (MTSAT = Multi-Functional Transport SAtellite) as it passed over Asia.

I'd love to tell you how high the plume reaches, but I'm not certain. This image of the ash cloud was taken yesterday (March 26, 2009). I know the cloud went at least 65,000 feet into the sky this week, but it may be shorter in this pic -- seeing as the volcano blew more than four days ago.

I'm going to call around for some more information, but if you know something please do leave a comment below!

Thanks to Larry O'Hanlon over at the Earth Pub for sharing. Oh, and Larry (Discovery Earth producer) has a HUGE package of goodies assembled on the volcano eruption, so don't miss it!

Photo: Alaska Volcano Observatory

Congrats, Saturn - It's a MOONLET!

March 03, 2009

The Cassini spacecraft continues to do a fine job zooming around Saturn, boldly spying where no man-made spacecraft has spied before.

Guess what it recently found? A new moonlet! (aka a tiny moon)

Here's the pic of this little bugger, circled in red, which hangs out in the G ring of Saturn:

 

The object, about 1/3 of a mile wide, is Saturn's 61st confirmed moo moon (thanks readers for the catch -- who knew planets could moo?). The short path it sweeps in the above image is roughly 10 minutes in orbit.

Astronomers now blame the moonlet -- still unnamed -- for creating the ring; by having a little gravitational powers, it brings in ice and dust to form it.

If you're in the mood to see more of Saturn's moons, don't miss our image-packed slide show!

Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; CICLOPS; Dave Mosher

Comet Lulin, as Superman Would See It

February 20, 2009

Comet Lulin near the Earth? Check.

X-ray, ultraviolet and optical vision? Check.

Superman-like photo? Check:

This middle of this gorgeous shot was snapped by NASA's Fermi Swift telescope. The starry background, taken by the the Digital Sky Survey, was merged into it to create this final product.

Red reveals the portion of the comet in X-ray, while purple/blue shows it off in ultraviolet and visible wavelengths.

Lulin certainly looks cool, perhaps even by Superman's standards, but what does this pic tell us?

What Planet Have I Been Living On?

February 19, 2009

How could I not know about the web comic Abtruse Goose, which has been kicking since May 2008?

Seriously, look at this strip:

Some of you XKCD lovers may shun me for expanding my nerdy web comic horizons... but I say bah humbug to you!

Big thanks to Alan Boyle of MSNBC's Cosmic Log blog for introducing this to me.

Photo: Abtruse Goose