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Posted by Jason Rhodes on 2016/08/10 08:01 CDT | 3 comments
NASA’s next big “flagship” astronomy mission, following the ambitious James Webb Space Telescope due to be launched in 2018, is currently known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)—but it's had a slew of different names.
Three bright planets: Portraits from the Pyrenees
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2016/05/26 02:40 CDT | 1 comments
It's a great time to go outdoors and look at planets. I have three glorious planetary portraits to share today, sent to me by amateur astronomer Jean-Luc Dauvergne.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: The Eye of Sauron
Posted by Adam Block on 2016/05/18 12:46 CDT
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares his latest image, this time of a menacing spiral galaxy.
Posted by Joseph Masiero on 2016/01/26 02:04 CST
The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) telescope has discovered its first comet of 2016.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Shadow Play
Posted by Adam Block on 2016/01/18 07:02 CST | 2 comments
Adam Block brings us his first images processed in the new year, showcasing the beautiful interplay of light and dark.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Distant Galaxies
Posted by Adam Block on 2015/12/24 01:24 CST
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares stunning his images of far-away spiral galaxies.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Lesser-Known Beauty
Posted by Adam Block on 2015/11/13 05:24 CST
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares stunning images of a few rarely-imaged pieces of our universe.
Checking in on Uranus and Neptune, September 2015 edition
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2015/09/22 01:28 CDT | 5 comments
There are no spacecraft at Uranus or Neptune, and there haven't been for 30 and 25 years, respectively. So we depend on Earth-based astronomers to monitor them, including Damian Peach.
Jupiter's changing face, 2009-2015
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2015/07/24 08:46 CDT | 4 comments
Damian Peach's photo-documentation of Jupiter helps us monitor the giant planet's ever-changing patterns of belts, zones, storms, and barges, during a time when no orbiting missions are there to take pictures.
Revitalized 0.81m telescope studying properties of NEOs
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2015/03/31 11:04 CDT
Thanks to a new focal reducer and re-aluminized mirror from a Shoemaker NEO grant, a 0.81-meter telescope in Italy is performing astrometric follow-up observations and physical studies of asteroids.
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 | 1 comments
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 | 1 comments
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.
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