Phil Plait, aka the Bad Astronomer, is coming to the Discovery Channel with a TV show that combines his books Bad Astronomy and Death From The Skies. Pay TV still doesn’t strike me as worthwhile, but it’s looking better. Phil Plait’s Bad Universe should appear on the Discovery Channel soon.
Posts Tagged ‘Astronomy’
Bad Universe
July 23rd, 2010Photo from Cassini
May 25th, 2010
Rhea and Epimetheus
The Cassini space probe is orbiting Saturn and sending back some spectacular images. This one shows two moons, Rhea and Epimethius (I hadn’t heard of that one) set against the backdrop of Saturn and its rings. When this photo was taken, Cassini was 1.2 million kilometers from Rhea (size 1535.2 × 1525 × 1526.4 km). The smaller moon, Epimetheus, was 400,000km further away, but perspective makes them look much closer to each other. Epimetheus is a small moon which measures 135 × 108 × 105 km.
Click the image if you want a much bigger version.
Via Bad Astronomy.
http://www.ciclops.org/view_media/31979/Big_and_Small_Before_RingsEpimetheus (
The shuttle approaches
February 14th, 2010Here’s a nice shot of the space shuttle as it approaches the International Space Station. There are three more shuttle missions after the current one and then the program is being shut down.
Click the image to enlarge
Via Bad Astronomy
Phil Plait’s top ten astronomy pictures of 2009
December 17th, 2009The Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, has posted what he regards as the best ten astronomy photos of the year. There are some lovely images, with my favourite being the Butterfly Nebula:
NGC6302 - The Butterfly Nebula
Phil’s choice for #1 is a great photo, but I thought the above pipped it for wow factor. This one would look better in a frame on a wall. The #1 photo, however, would be appealing too.
The surface of Mars
November 9th, 2009
Scalloped sand dunes in the southern hemisphere of Mars
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting Mars since 2006 sending images of the planets surface back to Earth. Boston.com is currently hosting a nice set of these Martian landscape images. My idea of Mars has always been predominantly formed by the images from the Viking landers, but these images show a highly variable world. Check out NASA’s MRO mission page for more images.
Jupiter impact
July 22nd, 2009
Photo from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Infrared Telescope Facility
From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark “scar” had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.
…
“It could be the impact of a comet, but we don’t know for sure yet,” said Orton. “It’s been a whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries is amazing.”
Having a sense of proportion
June 14th, 2009Viewing the below video, I can’t help but think of the Total Perspective Vortex in Douglas Adams’s books.
Via Bad Astronomy
Astronomers declare February no longer a month
March 9th, 2009Emboldened by their success in declaring Pluto not a planet, the International Astronomical Union determined this week by a close vote that February is too short to be considered a true month. It has, however, been granted the newly created status of “dwarf month.” It shares this dubious distinction with several other calendar time spans, including Labor Day Weekend, Christmas Vacation, and the Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You Actually Did.
“It only seems fair,” said IAU President Ron Eckers. “February reaches a peak size of 29 days, averaging only 28 days for 75 percent of the time. Recent research has shown that other periods, such as the Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You Actually Did, often exceed this meager time frame. In fact, this erratic behavior only strengthens our case that February does not belong in the same classification as the eleven ‘true’ months.”
Eckers also warned that the crop of 30-day “so-called” months should be careful to maintain their number of days. “They’re already cutting it pretty close in my book.”
By Michael Haber, via Bad Astronomy
2012, Niburu and bovine excreta
February 16th, 2009via Dr Joan Bushwell’s Chimpanzee Refuge
Neil de Grasse Tyson is probably the leading populariser of astronomy at the moment. Some suggest he’s the next Carl Sagan, though I’m sure he’s happy just being the first Neil de Grasse Tyson. I used to read his essays in Natural History magazine regularly, and recently read his book Death by Black Hole. It was a collection of his essays from over the years, and is well worth a read.
In the below video, de Grasse Tyson responds to a question about Niburu, the supposed Planet X that is going to cause our destruction in 2012.
Things that may or may not be of interest…
October 29th, 2008So, what has caught my eye online today?
- Science Daily reports on a study of cleaner wrasse behaviour which looked at cooperation between cleaner wrasse pairs in servicing larger fish. At one point I was thinking about getting a cleaner wrasse for the tank which hold by moon wrasse, two maroon anemonefish, a bicolor angel and three humbug dascylluses, but apparently the cleaner wrasse is rather persistent in seeking food and will harass tank mates too much in a small tank. They also tend not to get enough to eat and often die early. I’m now holding off on cleaner wrasse until I have a really big tank with some big fish.
- Another Science Daily story discusses cooperation between spinner dolphins while hunting. “To match their 3,200-calorie-per-day diet, they need to eat at least 650 fish each night – plus enough extra to fuel the energy they burn during the hunt, perhaps another 200 to 300 fish.”
- Cairns’s Trinity Wharf, an old and rather dilapidated building on the south side of the City centre, is finally going to be upgraded to provide a decent arrival point for cruise ships. The existing facility really is awful. The upgrade is long overdue.
- Wired Science reports on a solar system 10.5 light years away that may have Earth-like planets. We still don’t have a means of observing Earth-sized planets at these distances, but future equipment should be able to do so. No reality TV broadcasts have yet been detected coming from the system, so intelligent life may be a possibility.
- At Scientific Blogging, Massimo Pigliucci has an interesting post up about the platypus genome and what it tells us about evolution.
