An extra post this week because I just can’t pass up the chance to point out the images coming in from Cassini right now. As you have probably heard in the news, as the Cassini mission comes to an end because of a lack of fuel, its orbit has been radically altered such that the… Read More Saturnian Wonder
Last time out I wrote about the incredible scientific goals of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), due to launch towards the end of next year. The earliest light in the universe is its main goal along with analysing the birth of new solar systems and the spectra of exoplanets. Today I am going to… Read More James Webb Space Telescope Part 2: The Engineering
More astronomy today. This week it occurred to me that we’re approaching one year to go until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST is very big news for anyone interested in learning about the early universe and also for anyone who has enjoyed the cornucopia of stunning imagery that the… Read More James Webb Space Telescope Part 1: The Science
Two astronomical updates for you today; one good, one bad. Let’s start with the bad news. Two faulty helium valves on the Juno spacecraft mean that it is unlikely that it will be able to make the super close orbits that had been intended. The plan was that Juno’s elliptical orbit would be ever curtailed… Read More Jupiter Update: Good News and Bad News
The first time I saw the image below I was quickly flicking through my Twitter feed without paying too much attention. I assumed it was an artists impression of some new exoplanet or some such; beautiful but not real and so I moved on. It was a few days later when I saw the image… Read More Jupiter: As You Have Never Seen Her Before
Every day as I trawl through the science news I see something that makes me say, “Huh, cool.” But every now and then I see something that completely blows me away. The video below is one such item. What we have here is direct imaging of exoplanets orbiting a distant star – that has never… Read More Exoplanets Directly Observed For The First Time
Last week the Juno spacecraft made its first close pass of Jupiter. Passing within just 2500 miles of the surface the craft was able to take unprecedented pictures of the gas giant. In the image below you can see the north pole of Jupiter. The thing that most stands out for me is that it… Read More Juno Reveals Jupiter
Two days ago I blogged about the exciting discovery of a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. One point that I had intended to make but forgot to mention was what impact it may have on the Drake equation. The Drake equation is a thought experiment created by Frank Drake, an astronomer from the US. He has… Read More The Drake Equation
Like all other space nerds recently I’ve been excited by the discovery of an ‘earth-like’ planet around Proxima Centauri. It has been described as the most important exoplanet discovery there will ever be given that it is the nearest possible one; allowing for the exception of any rogue planets that might be out there. But… Read More Earth-like Proxima Centauri Exoplanet Not So Earth-like
Back in February I wrote an update to the fascinating story of Tabby’s Star. Tabby’s Star is the informal name of a most unusual phenomenon. During observations of the star by the Kepler space telescope it was noticed that as much as 20% of the star’s light was temporarily blocked on two occasions in quick succession just two… Read More Tabby’s Star: It Just Keeps Getting Stranger
The Skeptilogicon 