A WISE view of the heavens

Here are the first batch of processed images returned by NASA's WISE satellite, which over the next few months will image the entire sky in the mid-infrared. Pretty, isn't it? And so much science in there too....

Why won't Spring hurry up?

Because it can't, as illustrated by this FoxTrot comic. Of course, in the Southern hemisphere, they are waiting for Fall not Spring.

The furthest black hole...

.. so far. And stellar mass black hole (the ones produced during the death of the most massive stars), not the supermassive black holes believed to be at the center of practically every massive galaxy (in which case, the most distant one is just the most distant galaxy). Go here to learn how it was discovered...

California's Climate Educator Conference

NASA and JPL will be hosting a Climate Educator Conference May 1-2, 2010, not surprisingly, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. In this conference, JPL and local scientists, geographers and planners will address the current climate, the historical record, long range trends and future forecasts in context. Special attention will be paid to the California science standards, especially key areas like fourth grade where California is a year-long theme. This is intended for all educators (including museum staff) and students (high school and above) interested in earth and space science and exploration. The objective of the conference is to tell the exciting tale of real-life exploration and new discovery in a way that will excite and inspire students. Students under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a registered adult. The bulk of the conference is presentations, not workshop-type activities, but instructional materials and resources will be shared.

Pre-registration is required. Walk-up registration will not be possible for this conference. To register for this conference please send a check postmarked by April 26, 2010, for $45.00 payable to "Jet Propulsion Laboratory" to:

California Educator Conference
Attn: Mary Kay Kuehn
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M/S 180-109
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109

Please provide the following information:

Name_______________________________
Title________________________________
Organization/School_______________________________________
Address________________________________ State___ Zip______
Citizenship_________________________ (Please bring a photo ID)
Grade(s) Taught__________________________________________
Subject(s) Taught_________________________________________
Contact info for confirmation & last minute changes:
E-mail: _____________________________
Phone: _____________________________

Please register by Monday, April 26, 2010. The $45 registration fee includes continental breakfast and breaks both days and a box lunch on Saturday. For registration questions please call the JPL Education Office at 818-393-0561. For other questions please call the JPL Educator Resource Center at 909-397-4420.

... but Spirit persists

now as a rover, but a stationary lab. I know I'm more than a little late reporting this (there is a reason why I'm an astronomer and not a journalist), go here and here for more details.

WISE's first discovery is...

... a near-Earth asteroid. It's good to discovery these things in time, don't you agree? Go here to read more how it was identified, and how many more WISE is expected to see.

Herschel update

The newest ESA satellite, Herschel is slowly but surely turning on its main scientific instruments. Go here to learn more.

Measuring the atmosphere of another planet...

... is easy using current technology - if the planet is in our Solar System. Around another star, well, that is something else entirely. Go here to read how this was recently accomplished for a planet orbiting a nearby star. Impressive.

Rotating Saturn's Moon

Moons, like planets, rotate. And Cassini has taken this wonderful view of Enceladus, the peculiar moon of Saturn producing those weird ice and dust jets. Enjoy!

The Amazing Flying Telescope

NASA is currently working on a telescope called SOFIA designed to operate inside a flying Boeing 747. Why? To get above as much of the atmosphere as possible to detect mid-infrared light, which is absorbed by water. How? With great difficulty, as you can read about here.

NASA's next satellite

NuStar is (hopefully) going to do something no satellite has ever done before - focus very high-energy photons. By doing so, it might be able to shed important light (pun quasi-intended) on how massive stars explode. Read this article for more information. Enjoy!

WISE beyond its years

I (somewhat) apologize for the bad pun, but here is the first-light image from WISE telescope, recently launched to survey the sky in the mid-infrared for the first time in 20 years. Definitely a promising start to an important mission.

Picture Book of Galaxy Evolution

Go here to see the result of a deep, multi-wavelength survey of one patch of sky designed to study how galaxies evolve with time. It is more than just a very pretty picture, honest.

Galactic Building Blocks

Go here to read how, thanks to its new instruments, Hubble is now able to image the building blocks of galaxies like our own Milky Way. Enjoy!

Galactic GPS?

The Global Positioning System, GPS, works by comparing the delay in signals received from clocks located in different places - specifically on satellites orbiting the Earth. The most accurate clocks in the universe are these, but millisecond pulsars - notable for the regular pulses of radio emission ~1 ms apart and their gamma-ray emission. Using data from the Fermi telescope, astronomer identified some possible milli-second pulsars which were then confirmed using radio observations. Now, they are being monitored not to determine the location of Earth in the Milky Way, but to see if they are correlated changes in the arrival time of their radio pulsars which might indicate the passage of a gravitational wave passing between us and them. Go here for more information. Enjoy!

Astronomy at the Winter Olympics

Go here to read how artwork inspired by the Spitzer Space Telescope is making its Olympics debut in Vancouver. Enjoy!

Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud

One of the largest galaxies which orbit the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud is a great place - in many ways better than the Milky Way - to study how stars form and die inside galaxies. Go here to read about some recent results courtesy of data from the Spitzer space telescope.

NASA's new Solar Satellite

The Solar Dynamics Observatory, was successfully launched last week (Feb. 11). Go here to read all about it.

The Curious Case of the Fading Star

I never knew this, but apparently one of the brighter stars in the sky, Epsilon Aurigae, had a peculiar habit of fading for a short period of time every 27 years. While changes in a star's brightness are normal, regular 27 year variations are peculiar. Go here to read how, using Spitzer observations, astronomers might have just been able to figure out what is going on. Enjoy!

A Valentine's Day present for the Astronomer in your life

Well, at least according to Dennis Overbye. Go here for details. Enjoy!

New exoplanets from Kepler

I definitely plan to have a future show on this (yes, I still plan on doing those. One day. Hopefully soon. When I get a chance. Sorry) but, until then, read this article about five!! new extra-solar planets discovered already by Kepler. These are not the Earth-sized planets in Earth-like orbits that Kepler was designed to discover (those, by definition, orbit their star once a year so Kepler hasn't been in space long enough to detect those - yet) but still very interesting. Enjoy!

Slow and steady...

but ALMA, the new sub-mm radio interferometer currently being constructed in the Atacama Desert in Chile, is coming online. Go here to read about a major milestone. Enjoy!

Spirit Fades

This is probably old-ish news by now, but all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately the NASA Mars rover Spirit is one of them. Go here for more details, and here for a moving send-off.

New Radio Astronomy Website

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the NSF-funded organization responsible for running some of the largest radio telescopes in the World (e.g. the Very Large Array, Very Long Baseline Array, the Green Bank Telescope, and the upcoming Atacama Large Millimeter Array) has a new snazzy-looking website. Enjoy!

The Sun is mass of incandescent gas

but there is much more to it then that. Go here to read more about NASA next Sun-studying satellite, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, scheduled to launch today!

Astronomy Desktop Wallpaper

Courtesy of JPL, the NASA facility responsible operating many of its astronomy spacecraft (especially the ones which study the Solar System), here is a collection of gorgeous astronomy pictures suitable for computer desktops. Enjoy!

NASA and Human Spaceflight

Here is an interesting, yet old, Op-Ed in the NY Times on how NASA can improve its human spaceflight plans. Assuming they continue (more later on that...). Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Rashid Sunyaev is truly this awesome

I strongly encourage you to read this article about maybe the best living Astronomer you never (but should have) heard of, Rashid Sunyaev. In addition to being REALLY smart, he is also REALLY friendly. Okay, I know this is a little fanboy-ish of me, but it is true.

Colliding aurorae

That's right. Colliding aurorae. As in, stream of charged particles trapped in the Earth's atmosphere colliding together. And people caught it on video. Watch here! I personally think that is really awesome.

Yet another Hubble discovery

This time of the smallest yet known object in the Kuiper Belt, the area full of comet-like objects just beyond Neptune's orbit. Go here for more details.

First image release from Herschel

Herschel, ESA's new mid-infrared mission (similar wavelengths as Spitzer but more sensitive) has made its first images. Go here to check out its view of the famous Eagle Nebula. Enjoy!

Want more school work?

Check out this NASA website. Seriously, that is how they are pitching it. Enjoy!

Follow the progress of JWST

NASA is currently working on the James Webb Space Telescope, the "successor" to the Hubble Space Telescope (I use the quotes because JWST will NOT be able to reproduce everything that Hubble can do now). To follow their progress, go here. Enjoy!

Deeper, Faster, Better!

Go here to read a recent NY Times on what incredible science Hubble can now do thanks to its recent instrument upgrades. Enjoy, and yay Hubble!

Poor Spirit

Abandoned on Mars by its cruel NASA creators... (courtesy of xkcd):

Belated Happy Birthday to the Hugyen's Probe

Just over 5 years ago, the Cassini spacecraft
deposited the Huygens probe in the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which transmitted precious data as it fell through Titan's atmosphere and landed on the surface. Go here to read more about what astronomers are learning from this data more than 5 years after it was recorded. Enjoy!