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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
The Year in Pictures: 2010
I've just posted my annual roundup of significant images from planetary exploration in 2010.
Door 30 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the thirtieth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this ridged crater?
A unique look inside the SOFIA telescope and other cool stuff
Did you know that before Bill Nye was the Planetary Guy or even the Science Guy he was an aerospace engineer, designing components for the Boeing 747?
SOHO's 2000th comet
SOHO was launched more than 15 years ago to study the Sun, primarily; but a side benefit of its constant observation of the Sun has been its ability to notice
Door 28 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the twenty-eighth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this cratered and streaked surface?
365 Days of Astronomy Podcast: Small Worlds
Today the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast aired my contribution, Small Worlds, about the smaller denizens of the solar system visited in the past year, and due to be visited in the next.
Door 27 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the twenty-seventh door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this flat-floored depression?
1000 Akatsukis; "Faulty valve caused Akatsuki failure"
In a move that's kind of hard to understand in the wake of the immense public outreach success of the Hayabusa mission, JAXA is closing JAXA i, its public information center in Tokyo today (December 28 in Japan).
Door 25 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the twenty-fifth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these conjoined craters?
Door 24 in the 2010 advent calendar
Each day until the New Year, I'll be opening a door onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these squirrely spots?
Door 22 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the twenty-second door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these degraded craters?
Mimas wanders in to view
Cassini's busy downlinking photos from yesterday's close pass by Enceladus, including some neat shots of Dione and this one where Mimas skipped briefly in to the field of view.
Akatsuki update: more detail on first failure report
Ordinarily it's not my thing to do so many updates on a mission that failed to arrive in orbit, but I know that it's difficult for English-speaking readers to locate information on Asian missions so I'm keeping up the reporting on Akatsuki.
Door 20 in the 2010 advent calendar (special news update)
Time to open the twentieth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this diffuse blob and stripy sea?
Door 18 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the eighteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this brush-stroked surface?
Updates on Hayabusa and Akatsuki: second chamber opened, possible engine nozzle breakage
The Hayabusa update is brief: having opened the first Hayabusa sample return chamber (compartment A) last month, JAXA has now opened compartment B, and they found nothing inside.
Door 17 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the seventeenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these strange promontories?
Door 15 in the 2010 advent calendar
Time to open the fifteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this cratered world?
Opportunity drives within 20 meters of Santa Maria, spots alligator's tail
Today Opportunity has driven to within 20 meters of Santa Maria crater, and the blocks around it are really, really cool-looking. This one is a dead ringer for the severed tail of an alligator.
Door 14 in the 2010 advent calendar
Until the New Year, I'll be opening a door each day onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these red freckles?