Space

Kepler-19c? This 'Invisible' World Is Caught Pulling On Another Planet

Kepler-19b, which orbits the Sun-like star Kepler-19 650 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra, has been found to have an 'invisible' world tugging on it. How do astronomers know, since it's invisible?  Kepler-19b alternately runs ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2011 - 4:16pm

What Is The Universe Made Of? Active Galaxies And Mystery

Every three hours, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope scans the entire sky. Every year, the satellite's scientists reanalyze all of the data it has collected about the high energy universe. ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 9 2011 - 4:41pm

Plummeting Satellites

I've talked about how our Project Calliope picosatellite will burn up entirely upon reentry.  Larger stuff, not so easy.  UT reports in the cutely titled "Look Out Below!" that the 6-ton URAS is going to reenter, messily, this Fall. ...

Blog Post - Project Calliope - Sep 13 2011 - 12:00pm

2MASS 2139- Extreme Weather On An Alien World

Extreme brightness changes on a nearby brown dwarf dubbed 2MASS J21392676+0220226, or 2MASS 2139 for short, may indicate a storm grander than any seen yet on a planet. Because old brown dwarfs and giant planets have similar atmospheres, this finding could ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 12 2011 - 11:36am

Kepler-16b Double Sunset: First Planet Orbiting Two Stars Confirmed

A terrific scene in "Star Wars"- when "Star Wars" universe was still good(1)- was the double sunset on Tatooine.  It wasn't the first time it was done but the graphics in "Star Wars" were light years ahead of its competit ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 15 2011 - 4:15pm

Understanding Space Weather Response in 3 Panels (or less)

It took me several pages to examine what it will take for the US to address the pending space weather catastrophe, Brewster Rockit nails it in three panels: Until next week, Alex ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Sep 16 2011 - 9:32am

Doomsday Comet Elenin Goes Out With A Whimper

2012 is coming and, with it, kooky end-of-the-world fables.   If the Asgardian calendar and its earthquakes doesn't get us, maybe the Mayans will.  Some people even like to combine Doomsday prophecies- the LHC might bring the end of the world by openi ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Sep 18 2011 - 10:34am

The opposite of sonification

Sonification-- like our Project Calliope satellite will do-- is taking the measurements of something and converting it to sound so you can hear the patterns and rhythms in an intuitive manner, rather than trying to figure out those patterns as numbers or g ...

Blog Post - Project Calliope - Sep 20 2011 - 8:32pm

Sunspot 1302- Big, Bad And Today

In  Doomsday Comet Elenin Goes Out With A Whimper we dismissed concerns from prophets of doom that a tiny comet 22 million miles away would make any difference in our lives- but we never said anything at all about a sunspot and what it might due to your wi ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 26 2011 - 1:23pm

ISEGC: dull acronym, neat concept

14 space agencies walk into a bar... Okay, no joke.  The ISECG Initiative (I added 'Initiative' because it sounds more sci-fi) is an attempt to basically let individuals at different science institutes share information.  Given the strength of In ...

Blog Post - Project Calliope - Sep 27 2011 - 10:23pm