Blog Archive
Working Together - Scientists & Historians, Professionals & Amateurs
Posted by Fran Bagenal on 2013/09/18 10:53 CDT
From October 6 to 11, two divisions of the American Astronomical Society - Planetary Science and History - are meeting together for a combined annual conference. There will be several opportunities for the public to participate: a free public talk, several webcast lectures, a special online event for the Juno flyby of Earth, and a pro-am workshop on how amateur astronomers can contribute to planetary science.
Asteroid Telescope First Light
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/08/16 03:04 CDT | 4 comments
Using a Shoemaker NEO Grant a new telescope is operating in Illinois to do asteroid tracking.
Return of the Pale Blue Dot
Join the Wave at Saturn (and Mercury)!
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2013/07/18 11:27 CDT | 4 comments
You can be part of a planetwide group photo as Cassini and MESSENGER turn their cameras Earthward on July 19.
Programmable Mars Watch for $50
Posted by Ara Kourchians on 2013/07/11 06:00 CDT
Time is kept differently on Mars. This is because Mars itself rotates a little slower than Earth. This proves to be a pain when it comes to timekeeping.
Posted by Alex Karl on 2013/05/23 01:52 CDT | 2 comments
Partnering with our friends from The Planetary Society, the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), whose members hail from all over the globe, is bringing you an update on our activities and something you can join in on—at least if you are a student or young professional aged 18–35.
Kuiper Belt Objects Submitted to Minor Planet Center
Posted by Alex Parker on 2013/01/25 03:30 CST | 2 comments
Recently, several of the Kuiper Belt Objects our team has discovered while searching for New Horizons post-Pluto flyby candidates have been submitted to the Minor Planet Center (the organization responsible for designating minor bodies in the solar system) and their orbital information is now in the public domain.
Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 24th, 2013 - Hunting Asteroids with Gary Hug
Thursday at noon PST/3pm EST/20:00 UT
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2013/01/24 12:00 CST
Gary Hug is an asteroid hunter. He scans the skies every night looking for new near-Earth objects and refining orbital measurements for existing ones. Join Casey Dreier and Dr. Bruce Betts as they interview Gary Hug about his work and his recent discovery of a new NEO on January 7th.
Posted by Ganna (Anya) Portyankina on 2013/01/23 11:51 CST | 2 comments
The Mars I study is really active; the surface constantly changes. We have collected a lot of image data about changing seasonal features near the south pole. There is so much that we can't analyze all of it on our own. We need your help, through a new Zooniverse project named PlanetFour.
Posted by Martin Still on 2013/01/07 12:35 CST | 1 comments
A change in the Kepler data delivery process provides both scientists and the public to get involved in planet discovery.
Crowdsourcing the Andromeda Galaxy
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/12/11 06:29 CST | 1 comments
Scientists would like your help starting at high-resolution images of the Andromeda Galaxy captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Citizen "Ice Hunters" help find a Neptune Trojan target for New Horizons
Posted by Alex Parker on 2012/10/09 12:15 CDT | 1 comments
2011 HM102 is an L5 Neptune Trojan, trailing Neptune by approximately 60 degrees. This object was discovered in the search for a New Horizons post-Pluto encounter object in the Kuiper Belt.
VIDEOS: Nye & Teens in Space as Curiosity Lands in Hi-Def!
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/09/19 12:06 CDT | 2 comments
Losing your enthusiasm for space exploration and science? Watch these new and terrific videos for an exhilarating shot of Vitamin S.
Thursday: Watch Bill Nye Host YouTube SpaceLab Webcast
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/09/11 04:55 CDT
The Planetary Society CEO goes to London to MC a live conversation with ISS astronaut Sunita Williams and the kids who've had their experiments conducted in orbit.
Spring arrives to Vesta's north pole, as Dawn departs, plus a request for citizen scientists
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/11 11:08 CDT | 3 comments
Dawn's last images of Vesta peek into previously shadowy north polar territory. As the spacecraft leaves Vesta behind, its science team requests help from the public.
NITARP seeks educators for NASA astronomy research
Posted by Luisa Rebull on 2012/08/27 08:00 CDT
NITARP seeks educators interested in teaming up with NASA astronomers to perform genuine astronomical research.
Posted by Alan Stern on 2012/08/21 04:29 CDT | 2 comments
A start-up company creating products that will fund space exploration, research, and education.
Celestron Video From USA Science & Engineering Festival
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/06/06 06:26 CDT | 1 comments
Telescope maker Celestron joined the Planetary Society at April's big festival in Washington. Their new video about the experience features our Emily Lakdawalla.
Moon Mappers citizen science project now public, and statistics show it works!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/29 02:04 CDT
Last week, Pamela Gay of CosmoQuest announced that their Moon Mappers citizen science project is out of its beta phase and ready for prime time. Moon Mappers enlists the help of the public to perform the gargantuan task of mapping the sizes and positions of craters photographed on the Moon by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Crater counting is the most powerful tool geologists have for figuring out how old planetary surfaces are. But when you have Terabytes of data, it's simply impossible for one scientist to count all the craters
Adventures in urban astrophotography
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/02/20 01:55 CST
Just because you live in an urban area with skyglow doesn't mean you can't have fun with astrophotography. How to capture the planets, constellations and the ISS.
What do we know about planetary rings? Quite a lot, actually!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/12/15 11:18 CST
A summary of a new article by Matt Tiscareno about planetary ring systems that reviews the known ring systems of the four giant planets and the prospects for ring systems yet to be discovered.
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