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Virtual Star Parties
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Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/28 12:02 CDT
Hang out with Fraser Cain and amateur astronomers all over the world in Cosmoquest's Virtual Star parties conducted over Google+. Here's how -- plus an inspiring video produced by Google to show just how cool this is.
How Curiosity Will Land on Mars, Part 1: Entry
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/22 07:19 CDT | 14 comments
When people first hear about how Curiosity will land on Mars, their first question always is: are they nuts? This is the first in a multi-part series describing how -- and why -- Curiosity will land this way, in excruciating detail.
Cosmoquest Science Hangout Wednesday June 20 2300 UTC: Ravi Prakash, Curiosity engineer
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/18 05:32 CDT | 1 comments
This Cosmoquest Science Hangout featured Ravi Prakash, Curiosity Entry, Descent, and Landing Systems Engineer. He explained how Curiosity will land on Mars, and why they've changed things since Spirit and Opportunity landed.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/14 12:13 CDT
This week's Cosmoquest Google+ Space Hangout, featured me, Fraser Cain, Amy Teitel, and Nicole Gigliucci. We talked about Curiosity's landing, exoplanets, the Fermi Paradox, and tropical lakes on Titan.
Planetary Radio is Back on iTunes!
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/06/14 10:38 CDT
With help from Apple, we've once again made Planetary Radio, our weekly podcast and public radio series, available from the most popular spot on the Net to find and subscribe to podcasts.
Watch the recording of my Google+ Science Hour with guest Dan Durda
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/06/07 01:55 CDT | 1 comments
On June 6 I hosted the Cosmoquest Weekly Science Hour. My guest was Dan Durda of the Southwest Research Institute. We talked asteroids, impact mitigation, searches for Vulcanoids, and suborbital experiments, and then he took us through how he creates his digital space art.
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.
Video: Saturn makes its own drama (with a little help)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/22 05:43 CDT | 5 comments
The apparently simple device of running Cassini images together like a flipbook makes for a dramatic movie, especially with the help of well-timed musical cues.
Cool video: Jupiter, its moons, a comet, and...the Sun?
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/16 11:45 CDT | 1 comments
Here's a neat video posted by SungrazerComets (the Twitter identity of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Sungrazing Comets website) this morning. It's an animation of images taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on May 13 and 14, when Jupiter was passing through solar conjunction
Space Hangout with Britney Schmidt
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/09 02:06 CDT | 3 comments
Watch a conversation I had with planetary astronomer Britney Schmidt about Europa and the current state of outer planets exploration! Also, bonus video of an earlier hangout with Robbie Herrick.
Posted by Andrew Chaikin on 2012/05/04 11:36 CDT | 2 comments
Planetary exploration is in trouble. Massive budget cuts threaten to starve NASA’s planetary program for years to come. If you are as angered and frightened by this situation as I am, I ask you to make your voice heard. Please share this video. And tell Washington, “We Must Explore.”
Titan, Dead or Alive? A Debate
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/05/02 10:32 CDT
A lively discussion and debate between planetary polymaths Ralph Lorenz and Jeffrey Moore about Titan, hosted by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, moderated by David Grinspoon.
Cartoon: Voyager's ongoing adventures
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/23 11:36 CDT | 2 comments
I'm not sure what to make of this Youtube cartoon about Voyager, except to say that it's simultaneously heart-wrenching, funny, and adorable.
Test Your Planetary Knowledge and Learn More
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/04/16 06:30 CDT | 3 comments
If you want to test your planetary knowledge, or just have a masochistic love of tests, I’ve posted the midterm I’ve given to my students in my online Introductory Astronomy and Planetary Science class at California State University Dominguez Hills.
Snapshots From Space Video: Revealing Jupiter's (Mostly) Unseen Treasures
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/18 01:46 CDT | 2 comments
Tens of thousands of Jupiter images were taken by the Voyager spacecraft, but relatively few have been processed to reveal their true beauty and wonder. The latest Snapshots video from Emily Lakdawalla explains why.
Online Astronomy Course Update
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/03/06 11:27 CST
All the archived lectures from my free Introduction to Astronomy and the Solar System course, as well as links to the syllabus and how to watch the lectures live, can be found online.
New "Snapshot From Space": Defending Our Planet
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/06 10:18 CST
A new installment of our "Snapshots" video series examines the threat posed by asteroids on collision courses with our home planet. Emily Lakdawalla explains why it's so important to find, understand and learn to deflect these potential civilization enders.
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/01 02:58 CST
Have you heard it? "America's Space Station, Powered With NASA" is how they describe themselves. It immediately became my favorite online music source when it premiered late last year.
Snapshots From Space: NASA's Treasure Trove of Unprocessed Images
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/02/27 10:22 CST
The second episode of Emily Lakdawalla's new video series reveals the gigantic library of solar system images captured by NASA spacecraft, and explains why we've seen so few of them. Emily says they're all online, waiting for space geeks to turn them into gold.
Emily's New Video Series: Snapshots From Space
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/02/20 04:29 CST
This is the first episode of editor Emily Lakdawalla's new video series exploring the solar system.
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