Oct 17
There’s no shortage of great images from the International Space Station, but this time-lapse from the ISS, created by “stacking” sequences of images, is absolutely mesmeric. More »
Oct 17
Visualized: Space shuttle Endeavour goes on a crosstown journey through LA streets
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The space shuttle Endeavour finally bid adieu to its fans in Southern California last weekend, not in the air, but on city streets. The L.A. Times captured this remarkable feat in a time-lapse video, and it’s quite a sight to see the orbiter sailing past suburban houses and fast food drive-thrus. Along its 12-mile crosstown trip from LAX to the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the shuttle atop a special transporter had to maneuver past trees, utility poles and of course hundreds of enthralled residents. This came weeks after it made its farewell tour over the California coast perched on a Boeing 747. Take a peek at the Endeavour’s final fascinating journey at the source.
Filed under: Transportation
Visualized: Space shuttle Endeavour goes on a crosstown journey through LA streets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 16
Earlier today, astronomers announced the discovery of an exoplanet called 51 Pegasi b orbiting Centauri B, part of a system that is one of our solar system’s closest neighbors. The star is the lowest-mass planet discovered to date, with a mass almost identical to Earth. Although close to Earth and similar in mass, it’s also close to its star, meaning it’s very hot and very uninhabitable.
The Alpha Centauri system is located a tad more than four light years from Earth, and is home to two stars, Centauri A and Centauri B, in addition to the red dwarf Proxima Centauri. Centauri B, which the exoplanet orbits, has a “Sun-like mass.” Most exoplanets orbit distant stars, making this one a memorable find.
51 Pegasi b was found when researchers, using the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher spectrograph, were monitoring the ten brightest and nearest stars from the Sourthern Hemisphere. When a planet orbits its host, the resulting gravitational pull results in a motion that looks like a “wobble” when observed. It took four years of observing these effects to determine that the data indicated a planet.
According to the astronomers, these types of small planets often form in groups, with about 70% being discovered in multiple-planet systems. This gives hope that additional planets may be discovered in the vicinity. Presently, the team responsible for the discovery estimates they could spot a Super Earth in Centauri B’s habitable zone.
[via Nature]
Earth-sized exoplanet discovered in Alpha Centauri is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 16
An Earth-Sized Planet Has Been Discovered in Alpha Centauri, the Star System Closest to Us [Space]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Holy sci-fi awesome space balls. European astronomers have discovered an alien planet in Alpha Centauri, the star system that’s pretty much our neighbor. The planet, which is Earth-sized, is only 4.3 light years away. More »
Oct 16
Every Time I Watch This I’m Sure the Space Shuttle Will Lose a Wing [Endeavour]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Check out this animated GIF. It’s the toughest moment of the space shuttle Endeavour’s drive across Los Angeles, en route to its permanent retirement place, at the Science Center. More »
Oct 16
Sunday morning you’ll be able to see the Orionid meteor shower spawned from Halley’s Comet a few hours before dawn. And it should be absolutely stunning. More »
Oct 16
Water on the moon is nothing particularly revelatory. But a new study suggests that H20 on the surface of the Earth’s nearest neighbor comes from a most unlikely place: the Sun. More »
Oct 16
I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of the Jovian Trojans before. It sounds like some sort of high school football team, but the name actually refers to asteroids that circle the sun in the same orbit as Jupiter. Scientists have been studying these asteroids using data generated by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer or WISE. NASA says that the Jovian Trojans travel in packs with one group of asteroids ahead of Jupiter and the other group behind Jupiter.
The observations made using WISE are the first that have offered a detailed look at the color of the Trojans in the leading and trailing packs. The data determined that the Jovian Trojans are made up predominantly of dark, reddish rocks with a matte, non-reflective surface. The observations also allowed astronomers to confirm previous suspicions that the leading pack of Jovian Trojans was larger than the trailing pack.
The scientists are trying to determine more than simply what the asteroids look like, they want to know where the asteroids came from. WISE data shows that the asteroids are strikingly similar with no interlopers from other parts of the solar system. The Jovian Trojans also don’t resemble asteroids from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The scientists say that the Jovian Trojans don’t resemble asteroids from the Kuiper belt family of objects near Pluto either. The first Jovian Trojan was discovered in February 22, 1906 by German astronomer named Max Wolf. This particular Trojan was called Achilles and is roughly 220 miles wide. The scientists are still unsure exactly how many asteroids are included in the two packs of Jovian Trojans, but they believe there are as many objects in the two packs as there are in the entirety of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The scientists have proposed future space mission to study the Jovian Trojans and gather data needed to determine how old they are and where the asteroids came from.
NASA Wide-field Infrared Explorer reveals the color of Jovian Trojans is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 16
A group of astronomers, including some volunteers has made a very interesting discovery of a new planet in a unique system. The new planet that was discovered is a gas giant about six times the size of the Earth. The planet itself isn’t as interesting as the fact that it orbits a unique star system.
The gas giant orbits a binary star system, and that binary star system has a second stellar pair of stars orbiting around them. That means the planet has four suns. The planet and its unique star system were discovered by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website and confirmed by a team of astronomers from the UK and the US. The planet and its four different stars were also observed using the Keck Observatory.
The planet is slightly less than 5000 light years away from the Earth and has been named PH1. The PH1 name is a hat tip to the Planethunters website. Astronomers say that binary stars aren’t uncommon in themselves. However, there are only a handful of known exoplanets orbiting binary pairs. To make this particular star system even rarer, none of the other known exoplanets have another pair of stars orbiting them.
Despite the fact that the gas giant has gravity from four different starts pulling on it, it remains a stable orbit. The volunteer astronomers who discovered the planet using Planethunters.org are Kian Jek of San Francisco and Robert Gagliano from Cottonwood, Arizona. The pair spotted changes in light caused by the planet passing in front of the parent stars. Once the volunteers discovered the dip in light using the website, the professional astronomers confirm the discovery using the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.
[via BBC]
Astronomers discover planet with four suns is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 15
Felix Baumgarter breaks YouTube record as 8 million viewers watch his space jump (video)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Felix Baumgartner might not have broken Joe Kittinger’s world record for the longest time spent in freefall, but he did smash a fourth milestone during his dive. In addition to records for the highest ever jump, longest distance fall and fastest downward speed, the stunt was watched by eight million YouTubers at the same time. While the site hasn’t divulged exact stats, that figure is apparently higher than those who watched President Obama’s inauguration. That said, if you weren’t one of the eight million, you can head on past the break to watch the highlights reel — unless you’re already bored of watching a man fall, unaided, you know, from space.
Filed under: Misc, Transportation, Internet
Felix Baumgarter breaks YouTube record as 8 million viewers watch his space jump (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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