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The Planetary Society Blog

Archive

Archived posts are listed in reverse chronological order.


  • Jan. 9, 2012 | 10:23 PST | 18:23 UTC
    Pretty picture: Saturn, a big moon, and a teeny one
    Here's a lovely recent view from Cassini of Saturn with its largest moon (Titan) and one of its teeny ringmoons (Prometheus, which is a little dot at the top of the rings on the right). The rings cast shadows on Saturn's southern hemisphere. The... More»
  • Jan. 2, 2012 | 13:07 PST | 21:07 UTC
    How Spacecraft Make Color Pictures--Emily's Slides From the December, 2011 Planetary Radio Live
    By Mat Kaplan Whether you heard the show or not, you'll be fascinated by Emily's great presentation. It also proves she is not part of the great conspiracy that is hiding evidence of alien bases on the moons of Saturn! Part 1 Part 2 ... More»
  • Dec. 30, 2011 | 15:06 PST | 23:06 UTC
    What is space exploration worth?
    In the hours after Curiosity launched last month, there were more than a few people questioning the worth of spending two and a half billion dollars to launch a spacecraft to Mars. This is absolutely a fair question to ask. It's important to place... More»
  • Dec. 29, 2011 | 16:57 PST | Dec. 30 00:57 UTC
    What's up in the solar system in January 2012, and the rest of the year
    There will be no planetary launches in 2012, but there is still plenty of deep-space activity to look forward to over the coming year. I count 24 spacecraft currently exploring or en route to points across the solar system. The year will start with... More»
  • Dec. 28, 2011 | 16:21 PST | Dec. 29 00:21 UTC
    Ringing in the New Year with two new arrivals to the Moon
    The twin GRAIL spacecraft are nearly at the end of their three-month cruises to the Moon. On New Year's Eve at 21:21 UTC, GRAIL-A will enter orbit, and GRAIL-B will follow on New Year's Day at 22:05. Each will fire its main engine for about 40... More»
  • Dec. 27, 2011 | 09:34 PST | 17:34 UTC
    Lovely Lovejoy pictures
    Catching up from a few days' vacation over Christmas, here's a quick post with just a few of the amazing photos of Comet Lovejoy that have been taken from the southern hemisphere over the last few days. Comet Lovejoy is the first Kreutz sungrazer... More»
  • Dec. 22, 2011 | 11:22 PST | 19:22 UTC
    Project for Awesome Video On Behalf of the Planetary Society
    By Mat Kaplan I was poking around YouTube a few days ago when I found this very entertaining little tribute video by WhirledSol. We've gotten a big kick out of it here at Society HQ, and I bet you will, too. He does a terrific job of capturing why... More»
  • Dec. 22, 2011 | 10:52 PST | 18:52 UTC
    Pretty pictures from Cassini's recent Dione flyby
    Cassini flew close by Dione on December 12 and, as usual, the close pass provided opportunities for lots of dramatic photos, not just of Dione, but of other moons wandering by in the background. I've been playing with them a little and thought it... More»
  • Dec. 22, 2011 | 06:52 PST | 14:52 UTC
    Guest Post: Jason Davis: A recap of Comet Lovejoy
    It's been an historic experience watching C/2011 W3, otherwise known as Comet Lovejoy, plunge through the Sun's multi-million degree corona. The comet defied expectations by not only surviving its encounter, but also by quickly re-growing a tail and... More»
  • Dec. 21, 2011 | 11:10 PST | 19:10 UTC
    More radar images of icy moons from Cassini: Iapetus, Enceladus, and Rhea
    When I posted about the really cool Cassini SAR images of Enceladus a few weeks ago, I initially wrote that this was the first-ever SAR image of an icy moon other than Titan. Several people (some readers and two members of the Cassini science... More»