The Solar System

Birth of Baby Planets Spotted Around Distant Star

Updated: 2012-11-29 12:29:49

Dust particles are glomming together around the star UX Tauri A to form future planets.

Enormous Vortex On Saturn Snapped By Spacecraft | Video

Updated: 2012-11-28 23:58:02

NASA's Cassini mission beamed back stunning imagery of a swirling storm on the ringed planet on November 27th, 2012.

2012 Mayan Apocalypse Rumors Have Dark Side, NASA Warns

Updated: 2012-11-28 23:53:17

Children and impressionable youth are suffering, NASA scientist says.

'Born-Again' Nebula Foreshadows Death of Our Sun

Updated: 2012-11-28 22:22:23

New images of the "born-again" planetary nebula Abell 30 give a glimpse of what our sun might look like in 5 billion years.

Dazzling Jupiter Rises Over Himalayan Telescope (Photo)

Updated: 2012-11-28 22:08:36

Jupiter outshines two bright stars in this stunning photo by Ajay Talwar.

The R Coronae Australis Region

Updated: 2012-11-28 20:45:00

The nearby star-forming region around the star R Coronae Australis imaged by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Huge Saturn Vortex Swirls in Stunning NASA Photos

Updated: 2012-11-28 19:06:30

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured the spectacular vortex views on Saturn.

Stunning Photos of Saturn's Weird Vortex Storms

Updated: 2012-11-28 19:01:55

See amazing photos of the strange hexagon storm at Saturn's north pole.

Super-Giant Black Hole Discovered | Video

Updated: 2012-11-28 18:22:58

This animation depicts the orbit of a giant, super-massive black hole discovered in the compact galaxy NGC 1277. One second represents 22 million years of time in the simulation. Credit: NASA/ESA/Fabian/Remco C. E. van den Bosch of MPIA (animation)

Saturn Moon Titan's Atmosphere Shows Surprising Rise

Updated: 2012-11-28 18:14:10

NASA's Cassini spacecraft at Saturnd made the find as seasons change on Titan.

Space History Photo: Saturn V Stage at Michould Assembly Facility

Updated: 2012-11-28 14:38:18

One of the Saturn stages is seen at the Michould Facility. </img

How Should NASA Use Former Spy Satellite Telescopes?

Updated: 2012-11-28 12:41:38

The best ideas will be presented at a workshop this February in Alabama. </a

Sunspot's Death Throes Unleash Strong Flare | Video

Updated: 2012-11-27 21:28:05

Although decaying, the Sun's active region (AR1618) erupted with an M1.6 flare on November 27th. Captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. There is no threat of geomagnetic storms on Earth.

The Black Hole Inside NGC 300 X-1 (Artist’s Impression)

Updated: 2012-11-27 19:54:21

This artist’s impression depicts the newly discovered stellar-mass black hole in the spiral galaxy NGC 300.

How Big is Mercury?

Updated: 2012-11-27 19:07:15

Mercury is the smallest planet, but it is very dense.

How Far is Mercury From the Sun?

Updated: 2012-11-27 19:03:54

Mercury is the sun's closest planet, but it has a bizarre orbit.

How Hot is Mercury?

Updated: 2012-11-27 18:53:19

Despite being closest to the sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet. </p

Mercury's Atmosphere

Updated: 2012-11-27 18:48:06

The solar wind blasts the closest planet to the sun, leaving it with the thinnest atmosphere of all the planets.

What is Mercury Made Of?

Updated: 2012-11-27 18:42:05

Mercury is a terrestrial planet with a rocky surface and metallic core.

How Was Mercury Formed?

Updated: 2012-11-27 18:34:04

The smallest planet collected material from the solar nebula.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2012 Explained (Gallery)

Updated: 2012-11-27 15:54:11

See sky maps and guides for the minor penumbral lunar eclipse of Nov. 28, 2012. <br/

Space History Photo: Control Room - 10ft x 10ft Wind Tunnel

Updated: 2012-11-27 14:46:28

A control panel for a wind tunnel at Lewis Research Center.

Saturn's Second 'Pac-Man' Moon Revealed in NASA Photos

Updated: 2012-11-27 14:35:37

It's a view any retro-gamer would love: Two moons of Saturn with 'Pac-Man' heat tattoos. </img

Spacecraft Galileo: To Jupiter and Its Moons

Updated: 2012-11-26 22:42:14

Galileo was the first space probe to spend years observing the planet Jupiter and its moons

Earth from Space: Mediterranean Pearls

Updated: 2012-11-26 20:57:31

This Envisat image shows the island of Elba off Italy’s north western coast.

Slice of History: 1944 Map of JPL

Updated: 2012-11-02 00:03:07

By Julie Cooper Each month in “Slice of History” we feature a historical photo from the JPL Archives. See more historical photos and explore the JPL Archives at https://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/. 1944 Map of JPL — Photograph Number HC 3-1294 On October 31, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., celebrated its 76th anniversary. It began with a few [...]

Dawn Comes Closer to Go Farther

Updated: 2012-11-01 16:39:46

By Marc Rayman As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft makes its journey to its second target, the dwarf planet Ceres, Marc Rayman, Dawn’s chief engineer, shares a monthly update on the mission’s progress. Artist’s concept of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft at its next target, the protoplanet Ceres. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Dear Indawnspensable Readers, Dawn is making good progress on the second segment [...]

A week of planets

Updated: 2012-10-17 11:16:00

Astronomy Blog You are : in Astronomy Blog archive A week of planets An astronomy blog usually but not always based in the UK . Pondering questions such as What is in an exoplanet name A week of planets It has been a busy few days of planetary discoveries and this might be down to people saving announcements up for the AAS's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting dps12 Yesterday saw the announcement of PH-1 as the first confirmed planet discovery by users of the Planet Hunters website . The planet is very interesting because it is in a 4 star system It orbits a double star which is orbited by another pair of stars at 1000 AU distance . In our solar system that would put the second pair 20 times further away that the Kuiper Belt but not as far as the start of the the Oort Cloud . You can

Slice of History: Is It a JPL Magic Trick?

Updated: 2012-10-10 01:17:12

By Julie Cooper Each month in “Slice of History” we feature a historical photo from the JPL Archives. See more historical photos and explore the JPL Archives at https://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/. Is it a JPL magic trick? — Photograph 328-161Ac In 1960 through 1961, several different experiments were conducted at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in search of [...]

Dawn’s Stellar Anniversary

Updated: 2012-09-27 23:40:29

By Marc Rayman As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft makes its journey to its second target, the dwarf planet Ceres, Marc Rayman, Dawn’s chief engineer, shares a monthly update on the mission’s progress. Artist’s concept of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Dear Dawnniversaries, On the fifth anniversary of the beginning of its ambitious interplanetary adventure, Dawn can look back with [...]

A Lonely Planet

Updated: 2012-09-24 17:40:00

Astronomy Blog You are : in Astronomy Blog archive A Lonely Planet An astronomy blog usually but not always based in the UK . Pondering questions such as What is in an exoplanet name A Lonely Planet A few years ago I half-jokingly suggested that it would be great to have a Lonely Planet guidebook to Mars . Today I was reminded of that idea and even Lonely Planet joined in the conversation pointing out some others on their wish list So , I've mocked up how Lonely Planet Mars might . look A what if mock-up of a Lonely Planet guide for Mars click to embiggen Background : credit ESA DLR FU Berlin G . Neukum Tags : Mars Lonely Planet guidebook Posted in astro blog by Stuart on Monday 24th Sep 2012 17:40 BST Add a comment Permalink Comments : ADD A : COMMENT Don't provide an email URL unless

APOD 500,000

Updated: 2012-09-07 00:37:00

It was only a year ago that I mentioned that @apod had 250,000 followers on Twitter. Since then it has doubled to 500,000. This growth could be some kind of network effect caused by more re-tweets making more people aware of the account. It could be that Twitter still has @apod as an auto-follow for new account signups. Perhaps there are just more spam accounts randomly following people. Whatever the cause, I've put in no effort other than to try to keep the daily updates going despite Twitter's increasingly locked-down API. - taken from Astronomy Blog (www.strudel.org.uk/blog/astro/)

CoS 128

Updated: 2012-09-05 22:17:55

I've been busy catching up on my classes, so I haven't posted anything lately. But, you can catch up on lots of great space-related blog posts at the 128th Carnival of Space, being hosted this week at the AARTScope Blog. -Astroprof

Electrostatic Radiation Shielding

Updated: 2012-09-05 22:17:52

Clearly carrying heavy shielding to protect astronauts from radiation in space is expensive. If you havent' been reading my space radiation series as I've been posting, then you can look over the last several of my postings about space radiation to see some of the problems. So, some other strategy ...

Cosmic Rays

Updated: 2012-09-05 22:17:49

Part 3 of my series on space radiation is about the radiation itself. The term cosmic rays is generally used to describe this radiation. Unfortunately, as often happens, the term evolved before the nature of the phenomenon being studied was known, so it may not be the best term to ...

Dawn’s Split from Asteroid Vesta - Mission Insider Explains

Updated: 2012-09-05 19:27:59

By Marc Rayman As NASA’s Dawn spacecraft makes its journey to its second target, the dwarf planet Ceres, Marc Rayman, Dawn’s chief engineer, shares a monthly update on the mission’s progress. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft departed the giant asteroid Vesta on Sept. 04, 2012 PDT to begin its journey to a second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres, which [...]