Astro Blog

https://www.mercury-messenger.org/history-culture/galileo-telescope By Shanil Virani, Astronomical Society of the Pacific - Mercury online Excerpt: Between January 7 and January 13, 1610, a series of observations was made that would forever change how we would view the cosmos. The observer detailed in this log book a discovery made using a relatively new invention at that time. The observer had discovered four small, point sources of light very close to the (giant) planet Jupiter. On January 10, one of them disappeared for a short period. The observer attributed the disappearance of the object as being hidden behind Jupiter. Given his extensive observations, he was now forced to conclude that these four points of light were orbiting Jupiter and not Earth. The observer, Galileo Galilei, and his two small pieces of glass would usher in a scientific revolution that reverberates to this day. Until this discovery, and for some 1,500 years prior to Galileo, our ancestors accepted the m...

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/how-ancient-cataclysm-may-have-jump-started-life-earth Source:   By Robert F. Service, Science Magazine Excerpt: ATLANTA—A cataclysm may have jump-started life on Earth. A new scenario suggests that some 4.47 billion years ago—a mere 60 million years after Earth took shape and 40 million years after the moon formed—a moon-size object sideswiped Earth and exploded into an orbiting cloud of molten iron and other debris. The metallic hailstorm that ensued likely lasted years, if not centuries, ripping oxygen atoms from water molecules and leaving hydrogen behind. The oxygens were then free to link with iron, creating vast rust-colored deposits of iron oxide across our planet's surface. The hydrogen formed a dense atmosphere that likely lasted 200 million years as it ever so slowly dissipated into space. After things cooled down, simple organic molecules began to form under the blanket of hydrogen. Those molecules, some scientists think, even...

https://eos.org/articles/four-planetary-landscapes-that-scientists-cant-explain Source:   By JoAnna Wendel, AGU/Eos Excerpt: These are just a handful of the hundreds of mysterious features across our solar neighborhood that beg to be studied closer. [see photos & info about:] "Brainy Mars", "Willy Wonka and the Taffy Factory" [on Mars], "Carolina Bays" [Earth], "Bright Streaks" [on Saturn's moon Dione]... 

Source:   NASA Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite Excerpt: A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory [DSCOVR] satellite has returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away...taken by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope. [This...is the first complete picture of our planet since 1972 (those in the interim have actually been composites). ...DSCOVR [is] a joint mission between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Air Force.... http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/nasa-captures-epic-earth-image

Source:    Amy Shira Teitel, Universe Today Excerpt:  …Since 2006, astronomers have been tracking smaller secondary moons that our own Earth-Moon system captures; these metre-wide moons stay for a few months then leave. But what if the Earth actually had a second permanent moon today? How different would life be?   ... For his two-mooned Earth thought experiment, Comins proposes that our Earth-Moon system formed as it did — he needs the same early conditions that allowed life to form — before capturing a third body. This moon, which I will call Luna, sits halfway between the Earth and the Moon.  …Eventually, the Moon and Luna would collide; like the Moon is now, both moons would be receding from Earth.... www.universetoday.com/92148/what-if-the-earth-had-two-moons/

Source:  Marcus Hirm, NASA Excerpt: I for one am very pleased that the astronauts on the ISS (heroes in my humble opinion) keep sharing images of our beautiful planet with the rest of us. The privilege of viewing earth from space is only granted to a very select few. However, thanks to these images, it is almost like we get to go up there ourselves.... triggerpit.com/2011/04/21/beautiful-planet-oh-i-so-want-to-go-to-the-iss/

Source:   Larry O'Hanlon, MSNBC Discovery News Excerpt: A miniature magnetic field has been imaged on the surface of the moon, making it a rare, minimally protective lunar refuge from some aspects of the harsh solar wind.... "You can think of it as kind of a mini umbrella," said Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. "It will be effective for certain kinds of (space) weather."... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36806530/ns/technology_and_science-discoverycom/

Source:   NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) A spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite- based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. These images are freely available to educators, scientists, museums, and the public. This record includes preview images and links to full resolution versions up to 21,600 pixels across.” GSFC has also uploaded an animation of these images, as well as almost 1,400 other images and videos. www.flickr.com/photos/ gsfc/4392965590/

Source:   Compiled by Web Designer Depot, USGS National Center for the EROS and NASA Landsat Project Science Office www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/08/60-stunning-satellite-photos-of-earth/