Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's 'astronomy' clips

19th century Mars - The Mars maps of Giovanni Schiaparelli

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:55:38 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Schiaparelli was born on March 14, 1835, in the town of Savigliano, in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, not far from the French border

as an infant," Schiaparelli later wrote, "I came to know the Pleiades, the Little Wagon, the Great Wagon. . . . Also I saw the trail of a falling star; and another; and another. When I asked what they were, my father answered that this was something the Creator alone knew. Thus arose a secret and confused feeling of immense and awesome things. Already then, as later, my imagination was strongly stirred by thoughts of the vastness of space and time."¹⁵ Young Schiaparelli's interest was further stimulated by the total eclipse of the Sun of July 8, 1842

The fame of his meteor work and the growing national pride of the recently organized Kingdom of Italy brought Schiaparelli a more powerful telescope, an 8.6-inch (22-cm) refractor

Clip Source: www.uapress.arizona.edu

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

Tags: astronomy, mars, planets, history

The Bodleian Library Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:55:21 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com

The Medieval News blog printed a press release in relation to Oxford University's Bodleian Library and the institutional subscription site, ARTstor (announcement), whereby some 24,000 manuscript images are being made available to subscribers.

Additionally, a proportion of these images is accessible by the general public. While I was actively looking through this very impressive collection, the number of images available actually increased from 7,500 to over 8000.

I have so far only scanned through about 2000 of these

selection is a fair cross section of the types of material available. Perhaps 15% of the images concentrate on initials and margin motifs. There are Book of Hours, bestiaries, alphabet forms and calligraphy, astronomy and astrology, medical anatomy/botany, building drawings, miniatures and the very occasional binding

this is a new (and very significant) release,

"Huge" announcement due about potential for life on Mars - White House has been briefed

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:56:57 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the "potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge…

So why is there all this secrecy?

the next big discovery will need to be mulled over for a while before it is announced to the world

Scientists are keen to point out however, that this secretive news will in no way indicate the existence of life (past or present) on Mars

Tags: astronomy, life on mars

Mars: Stairs, Polygons, Dunes and Troughs

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:54:17 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

Meridiani Planum on Mars, where the Mars Rover Opportunity has been traversing the past four plus years, is not just covered with flat, endless plains. Of course, Opportunity has been entering and studying a few of the craters in the region. Here's a crater in Meridiani that's a whopper

This crater is so large that the HiRISE image is entirely within it, and the crater rim is not visible. The most prominent feature is layered sedimentary rocks that look like a grand stairway. These rocks have been eroded, most likely by wind, or possibly flowing water.

Click here for a full resolution picture of this area.

HiRISE also has taken some great images of the polygon features found in the high northern latitudes, that form from the ground seasonally freezing and thawing

polygons and a few dunes

This image is from an area

known as Elysium Planitia

just north of Mars’ equator

interesting geologic history

catastrophic floods of water

For more spectacular images, see the HiRISE website.

Tags: astronomy, hirise, mars, planets, solar system

Electrical Activity on Titan Confirmed: The Spark for Life?

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:03:34 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

Titan not only has an atmosphere it has hydrocarbon lakes, oceans, sand dunes and now research has just been published proving Saturn's moon is sparkling with electrical activity. Scientists are in general agreement that organic molecules, the precursors to life on Earth, are a consequence of lightning in the atmosphere

using data from the Huygens probe

scientists have "unequivocally" proven that Titan has electrical storms

causing much excitement as this could mean that organic compounds may be found in abundance

The fruits from the Cassini-Huygens mission are coming thick and fast. Only yesterday, Nancy reviewed the discovery of liquid hydrocarbon lakes

Now Titan has all the necessary components for life; it has an atmosphere with electrical activity, increasing the opportunity for prebiotic organic compounds to form, thus increasing the possibility for life to evolve

Titan is already considered a "unique world in the solar system"

Tags: astronomy, titan, life, solar system, saturn

Jupiter’s Red Spot chews up and spits out a storm

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:20:27 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

Hubble took this sequence of amazing pictures, showing the Great Red Spot — a storm far larger than our entire planet — chewing up and spitting out a smaller, though still ginormous, storm.

In the first panel you can see the smaller storm on the left (this is the same storm we saw in May, when Jupiter suddenly got acne). In the middle panel, taken about six weeks later, it just contacts the Spot. Over the next few days it swept around and below the Spot, and got tossed out the other side, seen in the last panel. Storms on Jupiter do this all the time; sometimes the smaller ones survive and sometimes they merge into the bigger storms. I can’t imagine what this might look like from a distance of, say, 1000 km above the cloud tops. Holy cow.

pictures are pretty close to true color, so this represents more or less what you’d see if you were there

the wind speeds

are about 620 kph (390 mph), more than twice the speeds in Earth’s most terrible hurricanes

a ferocious and terrifying place

Tags: jupiter, astronomy, science, solar system, planets

Japanese camera catches image of Apollo 15 landing site.

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:22:28 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

The Japanese lunar mission SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer), also known as "Kaguya" has imaged the "halo" left behind in the lunar surface from Apollo 15's lunar module engine exhaust plume. This is the first time a mission after the Apollo Program has detected such a feature.

SELENE's Terrain Camera (TC) is continuing to reconstruct a 3D view of the region in unprecedented high-resolution

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

The NASA astronauts took before and after shots of the landing zone where a lightening of the surface is evident. This halo had not been observed since Apollo 15, until the high resolution Terrain Camera on board SELENE imaged the region

The image

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

appears to show a bright patch in the exact location of the Apollo 15 lunar module landing zone at the foot of the Apennine Mountains

The TC instrument has been instrumental in creating 3D visualizations of the lunar surface. In the example

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

the TC reconstruction and an actual Apollo 15 photograph are compared

Tags: astronomy, apollo, moon

Scientists 'Astonished' to Find Water in Mercury's Thin Atmosphere

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:48:36 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.planetary.org

As MESSENGER flew past the night side of Mercury in January, its Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) scooped up ions from an atmosphere so tenuous that it's usually called an "exosphere." FIPS measured the expected amounts of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium that had previously been detected in Mercury's exosphere, but to the science team's great surprise there was also water present, and in large amounts. "Nobody expected that. I don't know a single person that did. We were astonished, just astonished," said MESSENGER science team member Thomas Zurbuchen.

Click to enlarge >

How could there be water on Mercury?

Firstly, it has long been theorized

that there may be reservoirs of water ice in small areas of Mercury's poles where local topography creates permanently shadowed spots

Second, the water could come from comets. Third, the process of chemical sputtering could create water where none existed before from the ingredients of solar wind and Mercury rock

Tags: messenger, science, mercury, planets, solar system, astronomy

100 Greatest Discoveries

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:58:38 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: science.discovery.com

Scientists have transformed the way we think and live throughout the centuries. What are the most important scientific discoveries of all time? In no particular order, we present the top 100 in eight different categories.

Astronomy
Explore the universe.

Chemistry
Explore the world under a microscopic.

Earth Science
Explore the Earth under your feet.

Physics
Explore how stuff works.

Medicine
Explore developments in health.

Evolution
Explore the past.

Genetics
Explore what makes you, you.

Biology
Explore the world around you.

Clip Source: science.discovery.com

Physics

1. The Law of Falling Bodies (1604)
Galileo Galilei overturns nearly 2,000 years of Aristotelian belief that heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones by proving that all bodies fall at the same rate.

2. Universal Gravitation (1666)

3. Laws of Motion (1687)

4. The Second Law of Thermodynamics (1824 – 1850)

5. Electromagnetism (1807 – 1873)

6. Special Relativity (1905)

7. E = mc^2 (1905)

8. The Quantum Leap (1900 – 1935)

Tags: 100 greatest discoveries, science

Hidden Beauty of Mars

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:43:29 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: funnbee.info

Apart from the full moon or some shots of our planet we already got used to, we rarely get to see the beauty of other planets. This time, here’s a chance to see the red planet in all its splendour, here’s Mars unveiled:

Tags: astronomy, images, mars

Phoenix - Mars weather and images direct to your desktop

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:28:21 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

Get the latest weather on Mars sent directly to your desktop. (Mac OSX 10.4.3+ or Windows Vista Required)

Mac Weather Widget (Mac OSX 10.4.3 or Higher)
Vista Weather Gadget (Windows Vista Required)
Add Phoenix Weather Widget to iGoogle

Screen Savers The Phoenix Mars Lander Screen Saver automatically downloads the latest available image updates throughout the duration of the mission directly from the NASA Photojournal.

Note: Every time your screen saver is activated, the latest updates will be brought automatically to your computer.

Mac Screen Saver
Windows Screen Saver

Clip Source: phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

Vista users

If you have trouble installing the screen saver, quit the installation program and launch it again by right clicking on the executable and selecting "Run as administrator" instead of double clicking as usual

Tags: phoenix, mars, nasa, planets, astronomy, science, solar system

Astronomy Radio from the BBC

Sat, 31 May 2008 00:25:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: A selection

Clip Source: www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4

Cosmic Quest

Listen - Omnibus

Cosmic Quest

Sat, 31 May 2008 00:10:07 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.firstscience.com

There have been three great revolutions which have shaped our view of the heavens and our place in the Cosmos – and we are currently living through the turmoil of the third period of astronomical breakthrough.

Revolution Number One: The Greek Geeks

the Greeks analysed what they saw in the sky. These philosopher-mathematicians were the first true scientists

Eratosthenes managed to measure the circumference of the Earth, while Hipparchus charted the positions of nearly 1000 stars

Clip Source: firstscience.ds5701.dedicated.turbodns.co.uk

Revolution Number Two: Dethroning the Earth

Copernicus

realised that things would be much better if it was assumed that the Earth travelled around the Sun, rather then vice-versa

The scene was now set for astronomy to change forever.

Clip Source: firstscience.ds5701.dedicated.turbodns.co.uk

Revolution Number Three: The Violent Universe

our Universe, far from being a calm haven, is a seething cauldron of unimagined energy and destruction

Stanley Hey deserves to be called the father of radio astronomy.

Clip Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Listen to the latest edition

Listen again to episodes broadcast

last week

Phoenix on Mars - first images

Mon, 26 May 2008 05:54:49 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A Nasa spacecraft has sent back the first historic pictures of an unexplored region of Mars.

The Mars Phoenix lander touched down in the far north of the Red Planet

The probe is equipped with a robotic arm to dig for water-ice thought to be buried beneath the surface

It will begin examining the site for evidence of the building blocks of life in the next few days

A signal confirming the lander had reached the surface was received at 2353 GMT on 25 May

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The probe had to survive a fiery plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere, slowing from a speed of nearly 21,000km/h

Nasa found out more about the landing when pictures from the probe reached the Earth.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The first images showed the "Arctic plain" where Phoenix came to rest - a region of Mars that has never been seen up close before.

Other shots confirmed that the probe's solar arrays had unfurled successfully, and that it had landed safely on its legs.

Landing on Mars is a notoriously tricky business. There has been about a 50% failure rate

Tags: nasa, phoenix, mars, astronomy, solar system, planets

Jupiter’s got acne!

Thu, 22 May 2008 18:46:46 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.badastronomy.com

Poor Jupiter. It’s breaking out^*.

The Great Red Spot is a vast, planet-sized hurricane that’s been blowing on Jupiter for hundreds of years. In 2006 it was joined by a smaller storm — though still thousands of miles across — called Oval BA (no relation).

And now a third red spot has popped up!

The third storm (the smaller one in the middle left on the Hubble picture above) was a more normal whitish oval up until recently, when it suddenly turned red. It’s unclear why

colors of the storms indicate their chemical composition, and red usually means complex organic compounds

dredged up from deep beneath Jupiter’s cloud tops, or maybe the storm gained altitude, high enough that incoming solar ultraviolet light was able to reassemble the molecules into new ones

That means that if you could see this from the side, it would look like a bump, or a welt, or, well, a pimple

if transported to Earth, even that small spot would cover most of a hemisphere

Tags: jupiter, solar system, planets, astronomy