Universe Today

Elementally speaking, Universe Today is a science blog. Screenshot showing a part of David Bradley's Periodic Table of Sciece Bloggers. Can you find UT?

David Bradley is a first-class science writer from the UK, who writes with a chemistry slant at his blog Sciencebase. He's also an interesting guy to follow on Twitter, and coined the term "Scientwists." David also must be incredibly creative (or have more time on his hands than I could ever imagine) as he has created a Periodic Table of Science Bloggers. There you'll find over 100 different science blogs, covering topics from astrobiology to zoology. While the blogs aren't listed in topical groups similar to how the elements on the real periodic table are grouped, most are listed as an element whose abbreviation comes close to the blog or blogger's name. For example, Universe Today is listed as "Uut – Ununtrium." Check out this very cool periodic table to expand your horizons and bit and find some new blogs and new subjects to read about.
(...)
Read the rest of The Periodic Table of Science Bloggers (139 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Periodic Table of Science Bloggers

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

A wide angle view of Discovery and the payload canister on the rolled back Rotating Service Structure. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com) for Universe Today

Over the weekend, NASA engineers will conduct additional tests to determine if Discovery can launch "as is" or have to be rolled back for repairs — which would mean a three-month delay for the STS-131 mission. Helium regulator assemblies downstream from a failed isolation valve in the shuttle's right rear maneuvering engine pod must work perfectly to provide a system redundancy that would justify proceeding with the flight. If they don't, then the regulator assemblies and the valve would need to be repaired or replaced, and neither can be done at the launchpad – meaning Discovery would have to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, de-mated from the SRBs and external tank, and sent to the Orbiter Processing Facility for repairs. But if the regulators check out, and no other problems arise, mission managers could give the 'go' to launch Discovery as is on April 5, 2010.

Today on the launchpad, said NASA Payload Manager Joe Delai was optimistic about the tests. "It's looking good," he said. "They will do a test on Saturday to make sure the two valves farther down the line work, and if that looks good, we'll put the payload on board."
(...)
Read the rest of Will Discovery Be 'Go for Launch' or Forced to Roll Back? (365 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-131

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Annotated graphic of Lunokhod 2's travels from Phil Stooke's International Atlas of Lunar Exploration.

The saga of the Soviet Union's Lunokhod moon rovers keeps getting more interesting! If you missed the update on our article about finding the "missing" Russian landers and rovers among the newly released Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images, the Lunokhod 2 rover was not exactly where one researcher initially thought – so there's now an updated image, which you can see at this link. But among all the research and poring over images that has been done since NASA released six month's worth of LRO data to the public earlier this week, Emily Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society uncovered an interesting tidbit about the Lunokhods which she generously passed on to me. After a little research, I found out more about an "extracurricular activity" the two Lunokhod rovers were commanded to do along their traverses on the lunar surface. They each created "memorials" to women on the Moon.
(...)
Read the rest of Did You Know: Russian Lunokhod Rovers Created Memorials on the Moon Honoring Women (868 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: lunar landing, Lunokhod 1 & 2, Moon, Soviet Union

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! As one hemisphere warms, another cools… and so our passion for astronomy can sometimes wax and wane. Why not rekindle your viewing spirit by enjoying some lunar targets this weekend? If you don't think identifying lunar features with a small pair of binoculars is exciting – then think on this: Using the most simple form of optics, you are viewing details on a distant world that's a quarter of a million miles away! So what are you waiting for? Get out your binoculars and get ready to enjoy… and I'll see you in the backyard. (...)
Read the rest of Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: March 19-21, 2010 (1,313 words)

© tammy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Illustration of the X-37 Advanced Technology Demonstrator during flight. Credit: NASA

It's cute. It's little. It's also top secret. The X-37B orbital test vehicle is at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the word is that it will be launched on board an Atlas V rocket on Monday April 19, 2010 at around 10 pm EDT. Other than that, the Air Force isn't saying much about this mini-space shuttle look-alike. The reusable unmanned vehicle is capable of staying in orbit for 270 days, but the mission duration hasn't been announced. Additionally, the ship has a payload bay for experiments and deployable satellites, but no word if any payloads will be included on the inaugural flight of this mini space plane.
(...)
Read the rest of Secret Mini Space Shuttle Could Launch April 19 (248 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: X-37B

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Artist’s impression of Corot-9b. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Chalk up another exoplanet discovery for the CoRoT satellite. But this planet, while a gas giant, could have temperatures cool enough to host liquid water. Corot-9b orbits a sun-like star at a distance similar to Mercury – one of the largest orbits of any extrasolar planet yet found, and may have an interior that closely resembles Jupiter and Saturn. “This is a normal, temperate exoplanet just like dozens we already know, but this is the first whose properties we can study in depth,” said Claire Moutou, who is part of the international team of 60 astronomers that made the discovery. “It is bound to become a Rosetta stone in exoplanet research.”
(...)
Read the rest of Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet (320 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Corot, Extrasolar Planets

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Princeton University scientists (from left) Reinabelle Reyes, James Gunn and Rachel Mandelbaum led a team that analyzed more than 70,000 galaxies and demonstrated that the universe - at least up to a distance of 3.5 billion light years from Earth - plays by the rules set out by Einstein in his theory of general relativity. (Photo: Brian Wilson)

Published in 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) passed its first big test just a few years later, when the predicted gravitational deflection of light passing near the Sun was observed during the 1919 solar eclipse.

In 1960, GR passed its first big test in a lab, here on Earth; the Pound-Rebka experiment. And over the nine decades since its publication, GR has passed test after test after test, always with flying colors (check out this review for an excellent summary).

But the tests have always been within the solar system, or otherwise indirect.

Now a team led by Princeton University scientists has tested GR to see if it holds true at cosmic scales. And, after two years of analyzing astronomical data, the scientists have concluded that Einstein's theory works as well in vast distances as in more local regions of space.
(...)
Read the rest of This is Getting Boring: General Relativity Passes Yet another Big Test! (883 words)

© Jean Tate for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Einstein, General Relativity

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Researchers in Antarctica got a surprise visit from a creature in a borehole 185 meters (600 feet) below the Antarctic ice, where there is usually no light. A Lyssianasid amphipod, a shrimp-like creature can be seen swimming in this video. A NASA team had lowered a small video camera to get the first-ever photograph of the underside of an ice shelf when the curious little 7 cm (3- inch) shrimp stopped by to check out the equipment. Scientists say this could challenge the idea of where and how forms of life can survive. Anyone else thinking Europa?
(...)
Read the rest of Unexpected Life Found Under Antarctic Ice (Video) (61 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: antarctica, life

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 18, 2010. NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian Cosmonaut Maxim Suraev are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 21 and 22 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

In what was likely a softer –albeit colder — Soyuz landing than usual, ISS Expedition 22 astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonaut Max Suraev landed their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft on the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan Thursday, wrapping up a five-and-a-half-month stay aboard the International Space Station. The entire process of undocking and re-entry of the Soyuz was captured by the newest and hottest space photographer, Soichi Noguchi, (@Astro_Soichi) who has been sending down amazing Twitpics from space. See his very unique images below.
(...)
Read the rest of Snowy Soyuz Touchdown! (142 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ISS, landings, Soyuz

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Map of Soyuz TMA 16 Landing Site, set for Thursday, March 18 at 7:23 AM in the steppes of Kazakhstan

ISS Station Commander Jeff Williams, from NASA, handed over command of the massive orbiting outpost to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotev, in a formal ceremony early today (Wed, March 17) in preparation for the return to earth of two crew members early Thursday. The ISS population will be reduced to a crew of three until the scheduled April 4 arrival of the next three person station crew inside a Russian capsule. Both Williams and Kotev have previously served on the ISS for long duration missions.

This marks the end to Expedition 22 and the start of Expedition 23. The five person international crew of Expedition 22 comprised Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer. (...)
Read the rest of ISS Change of Command as Russian American Crew readies Earth return (751 words)

© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Look familiar? Crew poster for STS-134. Credit: NASA

I love the crew posters that NASA has been creating lately, and this one is especially cool. If you are a Star Trek fan, you likely will recognize the pose that Commander Mark Kelly and his crew are assuming. If not, take a look below.
(...)
Read the rest of STS-134 Does Star Trek with New Poster (126 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Space Shuttle, STS-134

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This artist's conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known (central black dot) at the core of a young, star-rich galaxy. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Spitzer Space Telescope has found what appear to be two of the earliest and most primitive supermassive black holes known. "We have found what are likely first-generation quasars, born in a dust-free medium and at the earliest stages of evolution," said Linhua Jiang of the University of Arizona, Tucson, lead author of a paper published this week in Nature.
(...)
Read the rest of Spitzer Spies Earliest Black Holes (472 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chandra, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Spitzer

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I've now posted the answer in the original post.

Check back next week for another Universe Puzzle!

© Jean Tate for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

It’s time once again for another Where In The Universe Challenge. Test your visual knowledge of the cosmos by naming where in the Universe this image was taken and give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft responsible for this picture. Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on later at this same post to find the answer. This week's WITU challenge was submitted by UT reader Brad Jones — thanks Brad! To make this challenge fun for everyone, please don’t include links or extensive explanations with your answer. Good luck!
(...)
Read the rest of Where In The Universe #96 (0 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Where In the Universe?

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This new image from Planck spans about 50° of the sky. Credits: ESA/HFI Consortium/IRAS

Dust has never looked so beautiful! This new image from the Planck spacecraft shows giant filaments of cold dust stretching through our galaxy. The image spans about 50 degrees of the sky, showing our local neighborhood within approximately 500 light-years of the Sun. “What makes these structures have these particular shapes is not well understood,” says Jan Tauber, ESA Project Scientist for Planck. Analyzing these structures could help to determine the forces that shape our galaxy and trigger star formation.
(...)
Read the rest of Planck Reveals Giant Dust Structures in our Local Neighborhood (218 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Planck Satellite

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

A new infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows a cosmic barbeque pit, full of PAHS. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE has been a busy spacecraft since its launch on Dec. 14, 2009. It has found asteroids and comets, and now has found a cosmic barbeque pit. Well, not really, but the green material in the cloud of gas and dust surrounding the Berkeley 59 cluster is from heated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, (PAHs) molecules that can be found on Earth in barbecue pits, exhaust pipes and other places where combustion has occurred. The "coals," or the glowing red is warm dust heated by hot young stars within the nebula.
(...)
Read the rest of Beautiful Cosmic Barbeque Pit (132 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: nebula, PAHs, WISE

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This image, taken by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's high-resolution camera, shows the final resting place of Lunokod 2, as well as the crater that caused its death. Credit: NASA / GSFC / Sergei Gerasimenko / Sasha Basilevsky, via the Planetary Society Blog

On Monday, NASA released the complete set of science data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera’s first six months of observations, consisting of more than 100,000 lunar images. Straight away, Phil Stooke from the University of Western Ontario began scanning the images to help find a "missing" Russian rover on the lunar surface, the Lunokhod 2. It didn't take him long to discover the tracks left by the lunar sampler 37 years ago after it made a 35-kilometer trek. "The tracks were visible at once," said Stooke.

UPDATE: It turns out the original image that showed what Dr. Stooke thought was the Lunokhod 2 rover's location was not quite correct. Emily Lakdawalla posted a story about it on The Planetary Society Blog, and so I checked with Stooke. He replied: "After I posted my "discovery" Sasha Basilevsky, a veteran Russian planetary scientist, sent me and Emily an image – the one she put on her blog – which shows the true situation. My dark spot is a dark marking the rover made as it turned in place before heading out on one last short drive. That took it out beyond the edge of my image. That new image shows the rover as a bright spot. Yes, I concur with their interpretation. My spot was made by the rover but it's not actually the rover itself."

So, I have updated the image above to show the actual final resting spot. The black arrow shows the spot that Stooke originally thought was the rover, where the white arrow shows the real rover. The smaller white arrows point out the rover's tracks. (end of update)

And now that the images are readily available for anyone to see, who knows what you can find on the Moon?
(...)
Read the rest of You Too Can Find Missing Russian Spacecraft (387 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: LRO, Luna, Lunokhod 2

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New thermal images from powerful ground-based telescopes show swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Image credit: NASA/JPL/ESO and NASA/ESA/GSFC

It's difficult enough to track the weather on Earth, but with new thermal images of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, scientists now have the first detailed interior weather map of a giant storm system on another planet. "This is our first detailed look inside the biggest storm of the solar system," said Glenn Orton, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We once thought the Great Red Spot was a plain old oval without much structure, but these new results show that it is, in fact, extremely complicated."
(...)
Read the rest of New Images Unlock Secrets of Jupiter's Red Spot (397 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Great Red Spot, Jupiter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Cassini art. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

I often ponder whether the Cassini spacecraft is a better scientist or artist. I found three recent images from Cassini that definitely give the nod to artist, but surely there's lots of great science here as well. In this image, Saturn casts its shadow on the rings, but it also shows how the rings reflect sunlight onto the dark side of the planet. Here Saturn appears dimly illuminated by this ringshine. This view looks toward the southern, unilluminated side of the rings from about 10 degrees below the ringplane, and was taken on Jan. 2, 2010 when Cassini was about 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Saturn. Below: beautiful moons.
(...)
Read the rest of Cassini the Artist: Shadows, Ringshine, Double Crescent Moons (140 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Saturn, Saturn's Moons, saturn's rings

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This Hubble Space Telescope picture shows three rings of glowing gas encircling the site of Supernova 1987A, a star which exploded in February 1987. Credit: Dr. Christopher Burrows, ESA/STScI and NASA

An ambitious new project using the Hubble Space Telescope will allow astronomers to peer deep into the universe in five directions to document the early history of star formation and galaxy evolution. Using an unprecedented amount of time of the famed space telescope, the Hubble Multi-Cycle Treasury Program will image more than 250,000 distant galaxies to provide the first comprehensive view of the structure and assembly of galaxies over the first third of cosmic time. "This is an effort to make the best use of Hubble while it is at the apex of its capabilities, providing major legacy data sets for the ages," said Sandra Faber, project leader from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
(...)
Read the rest of New Hubble Project Will Survey Beginnings of Cosmic Time (441 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh