Solar Eclipse, Control Hubble, One Hot Exoplanet, Lakes on Titan

February 02, 2009

Your space news wrap-up for the week waits below. And I don't care what you say, but I don't look like Shia LeBoeuf:

Note 1: Speaking of solar eclipses...

If you missed the audio slide shows from 2008 total solar eclipse trip (in a ginormous plane near the North Pole), click here for part one. Then click here for part two.

Note 2: Speaking of solar eclipses (again)...

Going to Asia or the South Pacific around, say, July 22 of this year? You're in for a treat! Click here to see why.

Total Solar Eclipse: The Vicarious Experience

August 05, 2008

Miss the total solar eclipse on August 1? If you did, no worries... I've got you covered!

For a vicarious (and quite nerdy) totality experience, do check out the two slideshows I put together for you: Part one is here, and part two is here.

Even if you watched the eclipse from the Internet, or from the ground, I think it's still worth checking out.

I experienced totality from an airplane about 36,000 feet in the thin air, flying just south of the North Pole. There were some fantastic viewing conditions in a remote part of the world, and I was surrounded by fascinating, funny, and inspiring people.

Anywho, hope you enjoy them -- and for more eclipse experiences/reflections/notes, here are few great posts from the past few days (if I missed yours, send it my way and I'll add it!):

• Alan Dyer's at What's Up? Astronomy
• Emily Lakdawalla's at The Planetary Society Blog
• Ian O'Neill's at Universe Today
• Daniel Fischer's (from China)

For verification purposes: BlogCatalog

Total Solar Eclipse: I'm Baaaaack!!

August 01, 2008

Wow! Holy crap! Are you serious?! No way! $%#@! Awesome!

Just a few of many exclamations I heard people spew out while we rode a big Airbus 330 into the dark-as-night shadow of the total solar eclipse this morning, just south of the North Pole.

I can't wait to show you guys the odyssey I've taken in pics and audio, but you'll have to wait a bit! Keep checking back to Discovery Space as I control my gushing excitement into a stream of words, pics, and sound for you all.

Oh, and here's a little teaser for you:

 

Wonder what happens next... ;)

If you need a quick fix, Alan Dyer over at the "What's Up?" blog has a great post up with a video from a prop plane in the Canadian arctic. Way to go Alan!

Photo: Dave Mosher, Discovery Space

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Solar Eclipse: Sleep Is for Wussies!

July 31, 2008

Or is it woosies? Or woosys? Or wussys? Or... Who knows.

As I write, the minutes are ticking down -- all 210 190 of them -- until I need to be ready to hop onto an Airbus 330 out of Dusseldorf to catch this year's total solar eclipse above Norway's Svalbard territory.

I'd love to tell you about all of the fascinating eclipse chasers I met today during a briefing on the impending trip via Polar Flug, but I'm simply too tired from a lack of decent sleep these past 48 hours.

So I suppose that makes me a wussie/wussy/woosie/woosy.

I'll try and squeeze in a quick recap from the airport tomorrow, but no promises!

Before I go, though, I will tell you this: After drinking some fine German beer on the Rhein (exhibit a, left), a severely drunk half Irish/half German man spilled his life story on me and some new friends while we were waiting for the train.

Like most people around the world, he had no idea there's going to be a total solar eclipse tomorrow. But you do, of course.

So give yourself a pat on the back.

P.S. If you can name both of the two people in the photograph to the right in the next 3 hours, I'll send you a special present :)

Catch more exclusive eclipse coverage at Alan Dyer's What's Up? blog as he journeys through the Canadian Arctic in search of totality.

Photos: Dave Mosher, Discovery Space

Editor's note: Polar Plug assisted Dave's coverage of the 2008 total solar eclipse with some complimentary travel.

 

Total Solar Eclipse: Jet Lag

There's nothing like having five six hours of your day magically lopped off, but to catch the 2008 total solar eclipse and chronicle the whole shebang for you guys?

I'll do anything.

I even ate this suspicious looking meal on my trans-Atlantic flight to Dusseldorf. Ok, it tasted pretty good. But somehow, every meal I was served en route ended up on my shirt.

Apparently it didn't occur to airlines that taking food containers sealed near sea level up to a low-pressure zone of 40,000 feet might turn them into mighty good splatter cannons.

One thing that didn't explode in my face, and was also complimentary, was this delicious can of Warsteiner -- "the king of all the beers." I think this is the first (and last) time I've drank on the job, but on those red-eye flights you need a good sedative.

Speaking of Germany, it's good to be back here after nearly seven years. I found out pretty quickly, however, that my once-acceptable Germanic speaking skills really hit rock bottom. You know you stink when you can't even correctly say "My German isn't very good."

So thank goodness I brought along a super-microscopic dictionary to read on the train.

By the way, "total solar eclipse" in German is "die Gesamtesolareklipse" "Totale Sonnenfinsternis." Now say that five times fast...

At any rate, tomorrow early in the morning -- late tonight for westerners -- I'll be boarding a big plane out of Dusseldorf International Airport called the Polar Flug. These guys normally charter fancy scenic flyovers of the Arctic, including the North Pole, but this flight is special.

During the 12-hour trip (*gulp*), a few scientists will be on board to guide the pilot directly into the shadow of the total solar eclipse as it passes over the Earth in the North Atlantic.

If all goes as planned, the sun's eerie corona will pop out from behind the moon, the stars will come out (yes, in the middle of the day), and I'll see my first-ever eclipse.

I'll be taking plenty of photos and audio during the flight, and will bring it to you as soon as I get back into Dusseldorf.

Until then, catch more exclusive eclipse coverage at Alan Dyer's What's Up? blog as he journeys through the Canadian Arctic in search of totality.

Photos: Dave Mosher, Discovery Space

Editor's note: Polar Plug assisted Dave's coverage of the 2008 total solar eclipse with some complimentary travel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Solar Eclipse: The Odyssey Begins (Shortly)

July 30, 2008

Well ladies and gentlemen, today is the day I climb aboard a big metallic bird, depart the beloved USA and ultimately catch the August 1st total solar eclipse from a flight above the Arctic.

In case you didn't catch my previous childhood-angst-filled post: This year's total solar eclipse will be the first eclipse that I'll ever see, so be sure to tune in as I chronicle the odyssey here.

I'm bringing some camera and audio equipment with me, so you can also expect me to post an audio-image gallery or two come Friday.

Alan Dyer, my fellow Discovery Space blogger, travels around the world to catch solar eclipses -- which makes him a bonifide "eclipse chaser." He's also covering this year's juicy astronomical event from Canada. Depending on the weather, Alan may also be in an airplane when it happens, but he'll be blogging his eclipse quest as well.

Whatever you're doing these next few days, be sure to subscribe to or bookmark our blogs as we bring the eclipse to you:

Space Disco - http://blogs.discovery.com/space_disco/total_solar_eclipse/

What's Up? - http://blogs.discovery.com/whats_up_astronomy/eclipses/

And, to drop a significantly dorky pun: You can expect some "totally" awesome coverage...