Tom's Astronomy Blog
Blog URL http://tomsastroblog.com
Located Salisbury, Vermont USA
Tags astronomy, telescope, spacecraft, observing
Notes, News and Observations of the night sky.
Latest Blog Posts
- Enceladus Fly-by on Nov 24, 2009 in Cassini
Here’s a new image from the November 21st Enceladus flyby by the Cassini spacecraft. The unprocessed image shows the southern polar region and the jets of water vapor and other particles coming from the fissures on the surface. There is anothe...
- On The Look-Out for Extrasolar Planets on Nov 23, 2009 in General
We’re so used to thinking about other planets… around other stars… in other galaxies… that it’s difficult to believe the existence of extrasolar planets (”exoplanets”) was unconfirmed until 1992. The first...
- Getting WISE on Nov 22, 2009 in Video WISE
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE is getting set to launch. The launch is scheduled to happen not earlier than December 9, 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7925.
- Your Saturday Challenge on Nov 21, 2009 in General
UPDATE: SOLVED!! Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star. How I wonder what you are! Have you been up for a while? Had your coffee? Got those brain cells fired up and ready to rumble? You won’t need many of those cells today, because today’...
- Water… Water Everywhere… on Nov 20, 2009 in LCROSS NASA
Most of us watched with interest as the LCROSS slammed into the moon October 9, 2009. Most of us saw… not much, admittedly. But NASA has been working at high speed to analyze data from the impact, and they have discovered water. Yes, water.
- Ticking Time Bomb on Nov 19, 2009 in ESO
Here is a great example of the process leading up to a type 1A supernova. Most of the time when we think of a supernova we think of a massive star collapsing in on itself because it has exhausted all of its fuel and gravity overcomes the force of th...
- Now, For a Really Close Look at an Old Friend… on Nov 18, 2009 in General
Meteors are fascinating, aren’t they? Whether we’re talking about the ones we pick up off the ice in Antarctica, or the ones that go blazing by overhead at terminal velocity. Scientists have made some important discoveries from examin...
