Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy (!) has assembled an interesting, as in spectacular, set of astronomy photos. He's also a funny guy ("I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way.") Reality, in the cases presented here, approaches the surreal (which is what I likes). [Link]
Tiny comet 17P Holmes, generally invisible to the naked eye, seems to be exploding. [Link]
... the outburst has left experts scratching their heads. How could a tiny comet, whose nucleus is no more than two miles across, grow so bright so fast? Perhaps a crack opened in the comet’s surface, exposing fresh ice to the sun and causing an explosive eruption of dust and gas. No one knows for sure.
Sputnik
Busy Jon L. was remiss in failing to blog the 50th anniversary of Sputnik yesterday. The Sputnik launch in 1957 kicked off the space race and left sci-fi spaceniks like me dewy-eyed with visions of space stations, moon landings, interplanetary travel, etc. - all in the name of science. We were too innocent to realize it was all about military strategy. Still is: the Russians want to establish a presence on the moon; watch for renewed vigor within the U.S. space program. Meanwhile I have nostalgia for an era in which we knew so little about space, had never seen the earth from afar, had no experience of the challenges of space travel. That all changed, of course, after Sputnik. [Link]
Charles in spacePesco's posted his interview with Charles Simonyi, a former Microsoft exec who spent two weeks aboard the International Space Station. "You can almost feel your skin holding you together.... when I came down after 14 days I was so sad, because I had learned skills, like flying, and I wouldn't be able to use those skills again." Simonyi has a web site about his experience.
What's the matter?Astronomers, still struggling to understand the origin and structure of the universe, have managed to create a three-dimensional map of "dark matter" using data from the Hubble and various ground-based telescopes. [Link]
The map stretches half way back to the beginning of the universe and shows that dark matter has formed into "clumps" as it collapsed under gravity. Other matter then grouped around these clumps to form the visible stars, galaxies and planets....Scientists said the new images were equivalent to seeing a city, its suburbs and country roads in daylight for the first time. Major arteries and intersections become evident and a variety of neighbourhoods are revealed.
Now that we know where it is, the scientists say, the next step is to figure out what it is.
Space debrisYou probably heard about the space debrish that hit the atmosphere over Colorado. The Denver Fox affiliate has video.
Blue Origin wants engineersJeff Bezos' private space company, Blue Origin, has revised its web site with pictures and videos from a test launch of its New Shepard Program's Goddard spacecraft, "a vertical take-off, vertical-landing vehicle designed to take a small number of astronauts on a sub-orbital journey into space." The home page of the site also has a call for "hard working, technically gifted, team-oriented, experienced" aerospace engineers. There's a backgrounder about Blue Origin at MSNBC's Cosmic Log:
Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, with the aim of developing a new type of vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing rocket ship capable of taking passengers to the edge of space. At altitudes in excess of 62 miles (100 kilometers), customers should be able to scan Earth's curving expanse beneath a black sky, experience a few minutes of weightlessness and justifiably brag afterward that they've been to outer space. Blue Origin's current development schedule calls for commercial trips to start in 2010.Google Universe!
Nasa is going to share data with Google. [Link]
“This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars,” NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a statement.Blue Origin's first launch
Blue Origin's private spaceport in West Texas launched a test on November 14. "The exact nature of the 6:30 a.m. launch or the type of spacecraft was not immediately known." (The Houston Chronicle notes that the company is "secretive." After all, the Virgin Galactic's just across the border, in New Mexico. [Link]
Pluto demoted
Asronomers demoted Pluto today from planet to "dwarf planet."
The decision at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries was a dramatic shift from just a week ago, when the group's leaders floated a proposal that would have reaffirmed Pluto's planetary status and made planets of its largest moon and two other objects.
That plan proved highly unpopular, splitting astronomers into factions and triggering days of sometimes combative debate that led to Pluto's undoing.