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Blog Archive
Camera now measuring even fainter Near-Earth Objects
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2015/01/30 07:03 CST
Camera purchased with the support of a 2009 Shoemaker NEO Grant is now on a new telescope providing follow-up measurements for even fainter near-Earth objects.
Sky survey grant helps lead to a space science career
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2015/01/16 01:15 CST
Quan-Zhi Ye was an 18 year-old college student and the principal investigator of the Lulin Sky Survey when he won a 2007 Shoemaker NEO grant. He's now a Ph.D. candidate and provides an update on his work in meteor studies.
2007 Shoemaker Grant Still Yielding Asteroid Science
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2015/01/06 05:15 CST
Telescope purchased in 2007 with the support of a Shoemaker grant is still in service and has worked on over 100 near-Earth asteroids over its 8 years of operation.
Three Major Volcanic Eruptions Observed On Io in the Span of Two Weeks
Posted by Jason Perry on 2014/08/12 09:40 CDT | 1 comments
Jason Perry brings us a report on recent ground-based observations that shed new light on the most powerful of Io’s volcanic eruptions.
I've been asteroided! (274860) Emilylakdawalla
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2014/07/16 07:22 CDT | 13 comments
What a great piece of news to receive upon returning home from vacation! There is now a small piece of the solar system named for me: asteroid 274860 has been formally named "Emilylakdawalla" by the International Astronomical Union. Here is everything I've been able to learn about my namesake asteroid.
Intro Astronomy 2014. Class 13: Galaxies, the Universe, Life
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2014/05/08 01:17 CDT
Discover the Universe including the Big Bang, dark matter, dark energy, galaxies, life and more in this video of class 13 of Bruce Betts' Introduction to Planetary Science and Astronomy class.
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2014/03/21 11:50 CDT
A 0.81m telescope in northern Italy is well on its way to being wide eyed and shiny thanks to a 2013 Planetary Society Shoemaker NEO Grant, which will enable it to make better near Earth object observations to help protect our planet from asteroid impact.
Mars Express team readies for Siding Spring
Posted by ESA Mars Express Team on 2014/02/26 01:31 CST | 3 comments
On Sunday, 19 October 2014, at around 18:30 UTC, comet C/2013 A1 – known widely as 'Siding Spring' after the Australian observatory where it was discovered in January 2013 – will make a close fly-by of Mars.
Intro Astronomy Class 3: Telescopes, the Moon
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2014/02/21 04:35 CST
Explore optical, radio, and space telescopes and the Moon in the video of class 3 of Bruce Betts' Introduction to Planetary Science and Astronomy class.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2014/01/22 11:31 CST | 8 comments
The astronomy world is all a-twitter this morning over the discovery of a new supernova in M82, a galaxy that's in our astronomical backyard, "only" 12 million light-years away. And early word is that it appears to be a Type Ia supernova, the kind that's used as a standard candle to measure the expansion of the universe.
Planetary Radio: The Gemini Planet Imager
Featuring GPI PI Bruce Macintosh and Astronomer Franck Marchis
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2014/01/14 11:06 CST | 1 comments
It's very nice to infer the existence of planets circling other stars. It's even better to see them. This new instrument has just become the most powerful exoplanet viewer yet created.
Posted by Jason Davis on 2014/01/14 09:24 CST | 1 comments
A short film on the Giant Magellan Telescope, which could revolutionize exoplanet research and shape the search for life in the Universe.
A case of the measles for Jupiter?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/11/26 03:09 CST | 1 comments
Amateur astronomer Christopher Go has found Jupiter to be putting on a fun show for observers: it's sprouting little red spots "like it has a measles attack!"
Neptune: The new amateur boundary?
Posted by Christophe Pellier on 2013/11/07 05:39 CST | 3 comments
Can features on Neptune be observed by amateur astronomers? For years, the Hubble Space Telescope and some professional terrestrial observatories have been revealing incomplete belts and spots on the surface of Neptune. Now, spots have been imaged by amateurs.
Posted by Matthew Knight on 2013/10/29 12:23 CDT
You may have noticed that Comet ISON appears to have a green halo in some recent images, but in other images acquired at about the same time, it doesn’t. Thanks to the beautiful new spectrum posted earlier today by Christian Buil, it’s relatively easy to understand why.
Posted by Geraint Jones on 2013/10/18 11:23 CDT | 3 comments
It’s been a long time since anyone paid Uranus a visit. The Uranus system is, however, fascinating, as evidenced by the wealth of topics covered by the diverse group of planetary scientists who gathered to discuss it last week at the Paris Observatory.
Our Improved Optical Search for ET
New hardware processes terabytes of data every second
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/10/08 11:15 CDT
The Planetary Society Optical SETI (OSETI) Telescope was successfully upgraded and fully tested, and is now fully operational looking for aliens. Here are some updates on the performance and progress. In summary, the upgraded telescope is performing just as hoped and is scanning the skies.
Making mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope
Posted by Jason Davis on 2013/09/02 06:00 CDT | 1 comments
A video on the Giant Magellan Telescope and its third mirror, which was cast on August 24, 2013 at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Lab in Tucson, Ariz.
Book review: Europe to the Stars, by Govert Schilling and Lars Lindberg Christensen
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/16 11:05 CDT
The world's great telescopes capture stunning photographs of stars, nebulae, and other sky phenomena. In Europe to the Stars, authors Govert Schilling and Lars Lindberg Christensen share many such photos. But the real stars of this book are the great telescopes of the European Southern Observatory.
Comet ISON lives on! (we think...)
Posted by Karl Battams on 2013/08/13 01:31 CDT | 1 comments
For several weeks now, ground-based observers have been blind to Comet ISON as our local star was sitting directly between us and the comet. I am delighted to share two pieces of good news: first, that ISON is still alive and well, and secondly that it has been recovered.
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