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Saturn will be at its Biggest and Brightest Tonight
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 27, 2013 in Science
If you look outdoors tonight you’ll see Saturn in opposition, which means that it will be exactly opposite the sun as seen from Earth. To find saturn when the sun sets in the west, look for Saturn to rise in the east when the sun is farthest below the horizon then Saturn will reach its highest point above the horizon. Read more… Is Pluto a Binary Planet?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2012 in Science
A few years ago Pluto suffered the public humiliation of being demoted from being a planet, but perhaps things are looking up for the little guy: Last week a fourth moon was discovered to be orbiting around Pluto and Charon which is starting to make some folks feel that Pluto may in fact be a binary planet. Although there is still a larger debate on where to draw a line between double-planet and a planet–moon system, so poor Pluto may have to wait a bit longer… Time to Invent Warp Drive
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 7, 2011 in Science
Two years ago, NASA’s Kepler space telescope identified the planet designated Kepler 22B — a super-earth orbiting a yellow dwarf similar to our sun. Read more… Sega’s R2-D2 Home Star Planetarium
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 13, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
At this year’s Christmas Toy Fair, Sega’s toy division showed off their officially licensed Star Wars R2-D2 Homestar Planetarium – a R2-D2-shaped projector capable of displaying over 10,000 stars on the ceiling or wall of your choice. Despite that hefty number, the actual unit isn’t that big, only running on four AAA batteries. The projection only spans about five to seven and half feet depending, with a circumference of almost six feet around, perhaps making it more ideal for bedroom situations. Still, you have to admit the thought of having your own mini-R2 unit spitting the stars onto your ceiling would be sweet. It even includes the Death Star for good measure. The unit hit Japanese stores back in mid-September, but if you want to get your hands on one, you can always import it. It’ll cost ~$87 USD before tax, so it isn’t cheap, but importing toys rarely is. From a Statistical Point of View You Shouldn’t Be Reading This
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Science
In this wonderful short video clip science writer Bill Bryson talks about how amazing it is that over the course of just a few short billion years we’ve gone from a collection of atoms to living life forms. Bryson also points out that it’s interesting that there is nothing special about the atoms that make up each of us. Touching the StarsThis story touched my heart: One of the side benefits of NASA is the amazing images that that the Hubble Space Telescope has produced over the years — however many of these glimpses of the furthest corners of the universe are off limits to the blind. So according to this story reachers at NASA worked with braille experts to create a representation of the Carina Nebula. What I love about the project is that the embossed photo isn’t a literal representation but instead is filled with different symbols which give information on the formation of the nebula itself. Read more… Finding Earth-Like Planets in Far-Away Solar Systems
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 23, 2009 in Science
In this video Bethany Cobb does a great job of explaining how astronomers search for planets in orbit of stars. In the full video she further explores NASA’s Kepler Mission and its search for Earth-like planets in other solar systems. Here’s a previous video with Cobb talking about the expanding nature of the universe: Read more… NASA Scientist Predicts We’ll Meet E.T. by 2019
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 27, 2009 in Science
The good news is that Peter Smith who led NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission predicts that within ten years we’ll find life on other planets — but the bad news for us fanboys with hopes of hanging out with Vulcans and Klingons is that E.T. may be a clump of lowly microbes sitting underneath a rock on Mars. Smith made this prediction during his recent “Journey of the Phoenix” presentation at the University of Delaware which included images from the Phoenix which touched down on the Martian arctic last year. Read more… Habitable Planets: Upgraded from 40,000 to Billions!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 16, 2009 in Science
It was only less than a few weeks ago that we reported that Astrophysicist Duncan Forgan had boldly calculated that there are about 40,000 planets that would support intelligent life — well like a free nerd upgrade Dr. Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science now claims that our galaxy could have billions of earth-like planets! Boss’s thinking is that each Sun-like star has on average one “Earth-like” planet, although sadly he wouldn’t go on the record like Forgan and take his math to the next level to make predictions about intelligent life. In fact on the negative side (or positive?) Boss feels that many of these planets are in primitive states and are populated by less advanced life forms like bacteria. But up on the up side Dr. Boss thinks that NASA’s Kepler mission might begin to spot earth-like planets in just a few years. Our Galaxy: 37,964 Habitable Planets and 361 Advanced Civilizations
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 6, 2009 in Science
Our galaxy is big, really big — so the odds are in our favor that Earth is not a fluke. Of course this thinking is old news at this point, however what’s new is that astrophysicists are starting to crunch numbers on the subject based upon what we currently know from the field of astronomy. Once such fellow is Astrophysicist Duncan Forgan who has been crunching the numbers based on what we know about the currently discovered 330 known exoplanets. His estimate took into account factors like temperature, availability of water (so yes it’s “life as we know it”) and the size of the Milky Way. Read more… |
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