This song mentioned in this first article has been "playing" in my head all day, and now I see it on this article. Interesting how things are like that.
Ana
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from universetoday.com
Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast - May 16-18, 2008
"Everybody dancing in the moonlight… Dancing in the moonlight…
Everybody feeling warm and bright… It's such a fine and natural sight… Everybody
dancing in the moonlight."
Oh! Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Pardon me while I celebrate the return of Spring and enjoy viewing the Moon. This weekend will be a terrific time for you to dance, too. Talk a waltz around the "Bay of Rainbows" as you view Sinus Iridum and enjoy the cool blues with Spica. You'll be seeing double before the weekend is out. Time to dust off the optics and turn and eye to the sky, because… Here's what's up!
Read the rest of Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast - May 16-18, 2008
Mars Is REALLY Cold
We knew Mars was cold, but new observations from the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter indicate that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder
than previously thought. And scientists say any liquid water that might exist
below the planet's surface, and any possible organisms living in that water,
would be found deeper than anyone suspected.
Read the rest of Mars Is REALLY Cold
Carnival of Space #54
We have another new host for the Carnival of Space. This week
we look to David S. F. Portree and his blog Altair VI.
Click here to read the Carnival of Space #54
And if you're interested in looking back, here's an archive to all the past carnivals of space. If you've got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community - and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, let me know if you can be a host, and I'll schedule you into the calendar.
Finally, if you run a space-related blog, please post a link to the Carnival of Space. Help us get the word out.
Mapquesting the Solar System
Map generators like Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps have bailed me
out quite a few times, helping me get where I needed to go. So imagine in the
future, navigating on other bodies in our solar system and having the ability to
find landmarks and destinations to point you in the right direction. This type
of technology is now under development and could create three-dimensional “super
roadmaps” of other planets and moons. In addition it could also provide robots,
astronauts and engineers details about atmospheric composition, biohazards, wind
speed and temperature, and could help land future spacecraft and more
effectively navigate roving cameras across a Martian or lunar terrain.
Read the rest of Mapquesting the Solar System
Elusive Molecule Found in Venus' Atmosphere
Hydroxyl, an important but difficult-to-detect molecule, has
been found in the upper atmosphere of Venus by the Venus Express spacecraft. This is
the first time this molecule has been detected on another planet, and even
though it is thought to be an "atmospheric cleanser," knowing that it is part of
Venus' thick, greenhouse-like atmosphere will help scientists better understand
the environment on our next-door planet. “Venus Express has already shown us
that Venus is much more Earth-like than once thought. The detection of hydroxyl
brings it a step closer,” said one of the Principal Investigators of the VIRTIS
experiment on the Venus Express, Giuseppe Piccioni.
Read the rest of Elusive Molecule Found in Venus' Atmosphere
"Fusionman" Soars the Skies (Gallery)
A Swiss adventurer who calls himself Fusionman tried out a
new jet powered carbon wing, and successfully flew for 5 minutes on May 15
before landing with a parachute. Yves Rossy, a 48-year-old former air force
pilot lit the jets on his wing and then jumped from a plane over Bex,
Switzerland. He is the world's first man to fly with jet powered wings.
Read the rest of "Fusionman"
Soars the Skies (Gallery)
How to Escape From a Black Hole
According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, black
holes are regions of space where gravity is so strong that not even light can
escape. And in the 1970's physicist Stephen Hawking asserted that any
information sucked inside a black hole would be permanently lost. But now,
researchers at Penn State have shown that information can be recovered from
black holes.
Read the rest of How to Escape From a Black Hole
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A Super Solar Flare NASA - May 6, 2008
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SOLAR VORTEX: "In spite of solar minimum, there seems to be plenty of action on the sun," reports amateur astronomer Peter Schlatter of Wohlen, Switzerland, who yesterday witnessed a spectacular vortex swirling on the sun's eastern horizon. Click on the image to launch a movie he made using his backyard telescope and a Coronado solar filter:
movie formats: Quicktime,
mp4, avi
Indeed, the limb of the sun is where the action is. "A huge prominence emerged today looking like a monster rising from a sea of fire," reports David Leong of Hong Kong: photo. None of this activity is explosive or threatening to cause geomagnetic storms on Earth--it's just a pretty show. If you have a solar telescope, take a look. www.spaceweather.com
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Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archives NASA Website
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080515-am-asteroid-impacts.html
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Space Rocks Could Reseed Life on Earth By Aaron Gronstal Astrobiology Magazine posted: 15 May 2008 06:41 am ET |
Asteroid and comet impacts on Earth can cause catastrophic extinction events. They can also bring life back, new research shows.
Many scientists believe that a massive rock from space came crashing down 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The resulting blast set forests ablaze. The skies of Earth were filled with ash that blocked out the sun, and the planet went cold. Vegetation died in the absence of sunlight. Shortly thereafter, the dinosaurs and many other life forms on Earth went extinct. Millions of years of evolution were wiped clean in an instant.
It's frightening that one instantaneous event could completely change the face of life on Earth. However, a new study supports longstanding suggestions that asteroid impacts could also help spread life throughout the universe.
Rocks that are ejected from the Earth — or any other life-bearing planet — by an asteroid impact might actually protect microbes living inside them while they float through space. These rocks could then fall to the surface of other planets, or even back to their planet of origin.
In this way, the microbes could return to their home planet and "re-colonize" the surface after the disastrous effects of the asteroid impact have worn off.
continues at link...
Smashing life
The researchers looked at previous studies of martian meteorites that provided information about the kinds of forces needed to eject rocks from a large planet. Using this data, the researchers developed a series of tests designed to simulate these pressures on the selected organisms.
By smashing the life-containing rocks between metal plates, the researchers were able to determine which organisms are capable of surviving different pressures caused by asteroid impacts and ejection into space. Ultimately, they discovered that a wide range of organisms would be capable of surviving impacts on Mars or Earth.
"Our results enlarge the number of potential organisms that might be able to reseed a planetary surface after early very large impact events, and suggest that such a re-seeding scenario on a planetary surface is possible with diverse organisms," the researchers report.
The research is detailed in the Spring 2008 issue of the journal Astrobiology.
3 comments on 5/16/08 Latest Space news...
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All so very interesting. I must say that I would love a MapQuest type of thing for navigating space/the solar system, even if I have to do it in front of my computer. The "Bay of Rainbows" caught my attention, too. But, I found myself most interested in the information about Venus because the fact that it the most earth-like is what fascinates me. Each time evidence is found that better compares it's likenesses, I find it interesting to read about it.
Glad to have added to what you are interested.
have an interesting weekend.
Thank you and, by the way, now I've got "Dancing In the Moonlight" stuck in MY head! (It's ok because it's a great song.)