Thursday, November 1, 2012

What Happens When the Winds of Giant Stars Collide?

What Happens When the Winds of Giant Stars Collide?:
Across The Universe
XMM-Newton observation of the core of the very massive cluster Cyg OB2 located in the constellation of Cygnus, 4700 light-years from Earth. Credit: ESA/G. Rauw
From an ESA press release:

Two massive stars racing in orbit around each other have had their colliding stellar winds X-rayed for the first time, thanks to the combined efforts of ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Swift space telescopes. Stellar winds, pushed away from a massive star’s surface by its intense light, can have a profound influence on their environment. In some locations, they may trigger the collapse of surrounding clouds of gas and dust to form new stars. In others, they may blast the clouds away before they have the chance to get started.
Now, XMM-Newton and Swift have found a ‘Rosetta stone’ for such winds in a binary system known as Cyg OB2 #9, located in the Cygnus star-forming region, where the winds from two massive stars orbiting around each other collide at high speeds.
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Frost, Fire and Northern Lights in Iceland

Frost, Fire and Northern Lights in Iceland:
Across The Universe
Northern lights over the Jökulsárlón glacial lake in Iceland on September 19, 2012. Credit: Jean-Luc Dauvergne
Iceland is a land of stark beauty and extremes in both weather and landscape. But its also a place to see some of the most spectacular views of northern lights. Jean-Luc Dauvergne a journalist from Ciel Et Espace, a French astronomy magazine, recently traveled to Iceland and said in an email to Universe Today, “I think that this incredible place may be one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world to do photography with northern lights.” After seeing a view like this one at the Jökulsárlón Lagoon, on September 19, 2012 at the height of auroral activity, Dauvergne will likely return to Iceland again. “The weather was nearly perfect. And I saw northern lights every night What luck!”
He sent us another image of northern lights taken beside a US Navy DC3 “Dakota” that crashed in Icelandic South Coast in bad weather in 1973, which is located in the Solheimasondur area at the foot of the famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano that erupted in 2010, along with a video he created from his travels to Iceland.
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Thierry Legault: Moonbow and Meteor over Australia’s Wallaman Falls

Thierry Legault: Moonbow and Meteor over Australia’s Wallaman Falls:
Across The Universe
Night vision under a full Moon at Wallaman Falls in Queensland, Australia. Credit and copyright: Thierry Legault. Used by permission.
Astrophotographer extraordinaire Thierry Legault traveled to Australia for the Transit of Venus this past June, but he didn’t stop with just taking incredible images of the Transit and then head home to France. He’s just published an wonderful collection of night sky images he took from his time in Australia, including this beautifully stunning image of a ‘Moonbow’ over Wallaman Falls, located in between Townsville and Cairns in north Queensland. If you’ve not seen a Moonbow before, you’re probably not alone. Many times, they are only visible in long exposure photographs, as the Moonlight effect is usually too faint for human eyes to discern. But the Moonlight on the water mist from the falls creates a Moonbow.
“The gibbous Moon makes a Moonbow over the falls while a bright meteor crosses the Milky Way,” Thierry wrote to Universe Today, sharing his new images. “Other visitors were sleeping in the camping area, but not me!”
See his entire collection of his Australian Nights images from June 2012 — they’re simply wonderful, and confirms the beauty of the night sky from down under!

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Baumgartner’s Record-Breaking Jump: Images and Video

Baumgartner’s Record-Breaking Jump: Images and Video:
Across The Universe
Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria jumps out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on October 14, 2012. Credit: Red Bull Stratos.
Daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier today during a skydive from the stratosphere, from approximately 38.5 km (128,000 ft, 24.24 miles) above the Earth’s surface. Baumgartner reached Mach 1.24 or 1,342 km/h (833.9 miles per hour), going faster than the speed of sound. Here is a gallery of official images and video from Red Bull Stratos. You can find out more in our full article which provides all the details.
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Weekend Aurora Gives Time for ‘Reflection’

Weekend Aurora Gives Time for ‘Reflection’:
Across The Universe
The Northern Lights over Kilmany, Scotland reflect in a body of water. Credit: Corinne Mills
Wow, what a gorgeous view of the aurora in Scotland over the weekend, taken by astrophotographer Corine Mills! This image garnered dozens of rave reviews on Flickr, and rightly so. A solar wind stream struck Earth’s magnetic field over the weekend, igniting a G1-class geomagnetic storm that lasted more than 15 hours, according to SpaceWeather.com. Auroras with rare pulsations and vibrant colors were sighted in the northern latitudes. Below is an almost psychedelic “purple haze” aurora as seen over Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Citizen Planet Hunters Find a Planet in a Four-Star System

Citizen Planet Hunters Find a Planet in a Four-Star System:
Across The Universe
A family portrait of the PH1 planetary system: The newly discovered planet is depicted in this artist’s rendition transiting the larger of the two eclipsing stars it orbits. Off in the distance, well beyond the planet orbit, resides a second pair of stars bound to the planetary system. Image Credit: Haven Giguere/Yale.
A planet has been discovered orbiting in a four-star system — and no, that doesn’t mean the accommodations and conditions are excellent. It literally means four stars, where a planet is orbiting a binary star system that in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars. This is the first system like this that has ever been found, and its discovery demonstrates the power of citizen scientists, as it was found by a joint effort of amateurs participating on the Planet Hunters website under the guidance of professional astronomers.
This is might be an extremely rare planetary setup, astronomer Meg Schwamb from Yale says, as only six planets are currently known to orbit two stars, and none of these are orbited by other stellar companions. Astronomers are calling the newly found world a ‘circumbinary’ planet.
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Extreme Solar Systems: Why Aren’t We Finding Other Planetary Systems Like Our Own?

Extreme Solar Systems: Why Aren’t We Finding Other Planetary Systems Like Our Own?:
Across The Universe
Artist concept of a previous multi-planet solar system found by the Kepler spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Tim Pyle
Most planetary systems found by astronomers so far are quite different than our own. Many have giant planets whizzing around in a compact configuration, very close to their star. An extreme case in point is a newly found solar system that was announced on October 15, 2012 which packs five — count ‘em — five planets into a region less than one-twelve the size of Earth’s orbit!
“This is an extreme example of a compact solar system,” said researcher Darin Ragozzine from the University of Florida, speaking at a press conference at the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences meeting. “If we can understand this one, hopefully we can understand how these types of systems form and why most known planetary systems appear different from our own solar system.”
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Timeline: 15 Years of Cassini

Timeline: 15 Years of Cassini:
Across The Universe
The Cassini spacecraft takes an angled view toward Saturn, showing the southern reaches of the planet with the rings on a dramatic diagonal. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
The Cassini mission has been a source of awe-inspiring images, surprising science and incredible longevity. Since launching on Oct. 15, 1997, the Cassini spacecraft has logged more than 6.1 billion kilometers (3.8 billion miles)of exploration – enough to circle Earth more than 152,000 times. After flying by Venus twice, Earth, and then Jupiter on its way to Saturn, Cassini pulled into orbit around the ringed planet in 2004 and has been spending its last eight years weaving around Saturn, its glittering rings and intriguing moons.
The spacecraft has sent back some 444 gigabytes of scientific data so far, including more than 300,000 images. More than 2,500 reports have been published in scientific journals based on Cassini data, describing the discovery of the plume of water ice and organic particles spewing from the moon Enceladus; the first views of the hydrocarbon-filled lakes of Saturn’s largest moon Titan; the atmospheric upheaval from a rare, monstrous storm on Saturn and many other curious phenomena.
The folks from the Cassini mission have put together a great infographic that provides a timeline of Cassini’s mission and some of its “greatest hits” — major events and discoveries. See below:
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Hubble Studies Dark Matter Filament in 3-D

Hubble Studies Dark Matter Filament in 3-D:
Across The Universe
Hubble’s view of massive galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745. The large field of view is a combination of 18 separate Hubble images. Credit:
NASA, ESA, Harald Ebeling (University of Hawaii at Manoa) & Jean-Paul Kneib (LAM)
Earlier this year, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope were able to identify a slim filament of dark matter that appeared to be binding a pair of distant galaxies together. Now, another filament has been found, and scientists a have been able to produce a 3-D view of the filament, the first time ever that the difficult-to-detect dark matter has been able to be measured in such detail. Their results suggest the filament has a high mass and, the researchers say, that if these measurements are representative of the rest of the Universe, then these structures may contain more than half of all the mass in the Universe.
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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 15-21, 2012

Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 15-21, 2012:
Across The Universe Cassiopeia A in Visible Light Courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Whoops! (she blushes) I got so lost this weekend in researching Comet ISON that I almost forgot to post the forecast! Ah, well… As they say, better late than never, eh? If you do nothing else this week, be sure to catch the close apparition of Mercury and the “Earthshine Moon” on Wednesday and stay up late Saturday night to watch the Orionid Meteor Shower! In case I forget, just meet me in the back yard… (...)
Read the rest of Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 15-21, 2012 (2,068 words)

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Next Door Neighbors? Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in Nearest Star System to Us

Next Door Neighbors? Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in Nearest Star System to Us:
Across The Universe
Artist’s impression of the planet around Alpha Centauri B. Credit: ESO
Astronomers have discovered an enticing new planet that could be considered our next-door neighbor. The planet is orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system — the closest system to our own, just 4.3 light years away — and the planet has a mass about the same as Earth. It is also the lightest exoplanet ever discovered around a sun-like star. While this planet is likely too hot to contain life as we know it, the star system could possibly host other worlds that could be habitable, researchers from the European Southern Observatory at La Silla say.
“This result represents a major step towards the detection of Earth twins in the immediate vicinity of the Sun.” the team wrote in their paper.
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Hurricane Sandy Barreling to Eastern Seaboard Menacing Millions

Hurricane Sandy Barreling to Eastern Seaboard Menacing Millions:
Hurricane Sandy Barreling to Eastern Seaboard Menacing Millions
Hurricane Sandy Barreling to Eastern Seaboard Menacing Millions
Image Caption: NOAA Satellite image of Hurricane Sandy threatening millions of people living along US Eastern Seaboard. See NASA satellite imagery below. Credit: NOAA
Hurricane Sandy, a powerfully monstrous and unprecedented late season storm, is barreling mightily towards the US Eastern Seaboard, menacing tens of millions of residents living in the path of her sustained destructive winds, rains and life threatening storm surges.
Mandatory mass evacuations involving hundreds of thousands of people are already in progress in anticipation of a devastating storm strike on Monday (Oct 29).
First effects from Sandy are expected on Sunday night (Oct 28) in the New York/ New Jersey/Connecticut/Pennsylvania metropolitan area. Wind gusts are already exceeding 40 MPH as of Sunday afternoon, here in New Jersey – and steadily worsening.
Coastal Wave heights of 6 to 11 feet are predicted – possibly breaking records.
Public transit systems in New York City/New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. have been ordered to shut down later today – Sunday – by the Governors’ of the affected states. Most schools and government offices will also be closed on Monday.
Amtrak has just announced it will shutdown trains in the Northeast Corridor.(...)
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Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 29 – November 4, 2012

Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 29 – November 4, 2012:
Across The Universe
The Andromeda Galaxy Courtesy of Bob Kocar
Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for some spooky targets this week? Then follow along as we take a look at the “Little Eyes”, the “Skull Nebula” and a star that’s as red as a drop of blood! If the weather permits, we’ll also be enjoying the Taruid Meteor Shower! Time to dust off those optics and meet me in the backyard… (...)
Read the rest of Weekly SkyWatcher’s Forecast: October 29 – November 4, 2012 (2,186 words)

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Astrophoto: Just in Time for Halloween: Orion’s Bloody Massacre

Astrophoto: Just in Time for Halloween: Orion’s Bloody Massacre:
Across The Universe
The Orion Nebula, or M42 in a hybrid image of old DSLR data with new CCD images. Credit: Astrochuck on Flickr.
This view of the Orion Nebula makes it appear as a bloody mess! Astrochuck on Flickr said he’s been socked in with clouds and rain lately so took this opportunity to combine some older DSLR data with new CCD observations to create this stunning view of M42. Here are the specs:
QHY9M & Orion ED102CF refractor 10/21/2012 & 10/22/2012
L- 7×600
R-3×600
G-3×600
B-3×600
(5×2 seconds for the core area)
3/22/12
Canon T3 w/Astronomik Ha filter & ST-80T refractor 5×120,10×300,5×600 @iso 1600
6×60 w/crosshairs for diffraction spikes
Images acquired,aligned and stacked with Nebulosity V2.0, Guiding with Orion 50mm mini guider,SSAG and Phd. Combined & post processed with PS6 and StarTools.
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

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Astronomers Uncover a Crime of Galactic Proportions

Astronomers Uncover a Crime of Galactic Proportions:
Across The Universe
As the Milky Way rises over the horizon at the European Southern Observatory, its companion galaxies also come into view. Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
A previously undetected heist of stars was uncovered by astronomers who were actually looking for why an unexpected amount of microlensing events were being seen around the outskirts of the Milky Way. Instead, they found the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) had been stealing stars from its neighbor, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), leaving behind a trail of stars. Although the crime was likely committed hundreds of milllions of years ago during a collision between the two galaxies, the new information is helping astronomers to understand the history of these two galaxies that are in our neighborhood.
“You could say we discovered a crime of galactic proportions,” said Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The Large Magellanic Cloud almost got away with it, if it wasn’t for those meddling astronomers….
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Virtual Star Party – Oct. 28, 2012: Hurricane Sandy Edition

Virtual Star Party – Oct. 28, 2012: Hurricane Sandy Edition:

Another West Coast centric edition of the Virtual Star Party. Not because of a lack of volunteers, but because while we were broadcasting, Hurricane Sandy was tearing up the East Coast of the United States. And as you can probably guess, hurricanes don’t make for great stargazing.
Still, we had a wonderful night, with views of the full Moon, California Nebula, Veil Nebula, Crescent Nebula, Ring Nebula, Albiero, Double Cluster, M33, Cave Nebula, Wizard Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and many more objects.
Click here to see all the pictures from last night’s event.
Astronomers: Mike Chasin, Stuart Forman, Gary Gonella, and Roy Salisbury.
Commentators: Dr. Thad Szabo, Dr. Phil Plait, Scott Lewis.
Host: Fraser Cain
We hold our Virtual Star Party every Sunday night when it gets dark on the West Coast, and broadcast live on Google+. Circle the Virtual Star Party page on G+ to get a notification of the event.

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Astrophoto: Spooky Fingers Reach Out into Space

Astrophoto: Spooky Fingers Reach Out into Space:
Across The Universe
Dark shadows and dust in VdB 4. Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona
It’s the Case of the Phantom Phalanges! Spooky fingers reach up from the dark realms of space in this new image from Adam Block of the Mount Lemmon Sky Center. The image shows a ghostly view of VdB 4, which is a reflection nebula associated with a young open star cluster NGC 225, often called the Sailboat Cluster. Click here to see the entire field of view — which includes a dark area that looks like a spooky Halloween spider. This image was taken in October, 2012 with the 32-inch Schulman Telescope (RCOS) at Mount Lemmon, using a SBIG STX16803 CCD Camera. Thanks to Adam Block for sharing this eerie image!
Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

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From Eternity to Here: The Amazing Origin of our Species (in 90 Seconds)

From Eternity to Here: The Amazing Origin of our Species (in 90 Seconds):

From the initial expansion of the Big Bang to the birth of the Moon, from the timid scampering of the first mammals to the rise — and fall — of countless civilizations, this fascinating new video by melodysheep (aka John D. Boswell) takes us on a breathless 90-second tour through human history — starting from the literal beginnings of space and time itself. It’s as imaginative and powerful as the most gripping Hollywood trailer… and it’s even inspired by a true story: ours.
Enjoy!
(Video by melodysheep, creator of the Symphony of Science series.)

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Curiosity Rover Makes First X-Ray Analysis of Martian Soil

Curiosity Rover Makes First X-Ray Analysis of Martian Soil:
Across The Universe
This graphic shows results of the first analysis of Martian soil by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiment on NASA’s Curiosity rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames
Soil scooped up by the Curiosity rover has been analyzed by instruments on board similar to what would be used by geologists on Earth in a laboratory, and the results show the mineralogy of Martian soil is fairly Earth-like, with evidence of past interaction with water. The minerals were identified in the first sample of Martian soil put inside the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin), which were zapped with X-Rays to provide accurate identification of minerals.
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Beautiful Star Cluster Looks Surprisingly Youthful

Beautiful Star Cluster Looks Surprisingly Youthful:
Across The Universe
This view of the globular cluster NGC 6362 was captured by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
Past observations of globular star clusters have revealed that they are some of the oldest objects in the Universe, with most of the stars originating around the same time — some are more than 10 billion years old. And this new image of NGC 6362, a ball of stars found in the constellation of Ara, definitely shows its age, with many yellowish stars in the cluster that have already run through much of their lives and become red giant stars. But astronomers are seeing some curious stellar activities in this cluster that appears to indicate younger, bluer stars are part of the mix, too.
So how can this be, since all the stars in a cluster formed at the same time from the same cloud of gas?
(...)
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Across The Universe - Minute Physics: Why E=mc² is Incomplete

Minute Physics: Why E=mc² is Incomplete:

Here’s another great video from the folks at Minute Physics. One of the most famous equations from one of the world’s most famous scientists is a bit more complicated than many people realize. E=mc² only describes objects with mass that aren’t moving. But what about massless particles – like light – that are moving? Check out the video for a quick explanation!

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Across The Universe : Keeping an Earthly Eye on Io’s Insane Volcanic Activity

Keeping an Earthly Eye on Io’s Insane Volcanic Activity:
Across The Universe
Although space missions Voyager and Galileo observed evidence of volcanic activity on Io, it was a faint blue plume at the edge of Io’s limb in a highly-enhanced image from Voyager that first offered evidence of the moon’s turbulent nature.
You fancy yourself an armchair astronomer? A group of California researchers have stepped it up a notch by monitoring the intense volcanic eruptions on Jupiter’s strangest moon Io from the comfort of their home.
Io, the innermost of the four largest moons around Jupiter, or the Galilean moons, is the most volcanically active object in the Solar System with more than 400 active volcanoes spitting out plumes of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. Scientists think a gravitational tug-of-war with Jupiter is one cause of Io’s intense vulcanism. Researchers point out that most of the processes are not well understood. While Io’s eruptions can’t be seen directly from Earth, a team led by Frank Marchis, a researcher at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute have come up with an unique combination of Earth-based telescope arrays and archival imagery from the Voyager and Galileo probes, according to a press release. The team announced their findings at the 2012 Division of Planetary Sciences meeting today in Reno, Nevada.


Across The Universe : Isotopic Evidence of the Moon’s Violent Origins

Isotopic Evidence of the Moon’s Violent Origins:
Across The Universe
Artist’s impression of an impact of two planet-sized worlds (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Scientists have uncovered a history of violence hidden within lunar rocks, further evidence that our large, lovely Moon was born of a cataclysmic collision between worlds billions of years ago.


Across The Universe : Integral: Ten Years Tracking Extreme Radiation Across the Universe

Integral: Ten Years Tracking Extreme Radiation Across the Universe:
Across The Universe
Caption: Artist’s impression of ESA’s orbiting gamma-ray observatory Integral. Image credit: ESA
Integral, ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory launched ten years ago this week. This is a good time to look back at some of the highlights of the mission’s first decade and forward to its future, to study at the details of the most sensitive, accurate, and advanced gamma-ray observatory ever launched. But the mission has also had some recent exciting research of a supernova remnant. (...)


Across The Universe : Our Gorgeous, Graceful, Gradient Sun

Our Gorgeous, Graceful, Gradient Sun:

Here’s a mesmerizing video from the folks over at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s visualization studio showing the Sun in a whole new light… well, a reprocessed light anyway.
Using what’s called a gradient filter, images of the Sun can be adjusted to highlight the intricate details of its dynamic atmosphere. Magnetic activity that’s invisible to human vision can be brought into view, showing the powerful forces in play within the Sun’s corona and helping researchers better understand how it affects space weather. (Plus they sure are pretty!)
Compiled into a video, these images reveal the hidden beauty — and power — of our home star in action.
Video courtesy NASA/GSFC



Across The Universe : 2012 Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend

2012 Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend:
Across The Universe
A composite image of every meteor captured in a viewing session for the 2011 Orionid Meteor shower at Middle Falls, near Mount Shasta in California. Credit: Brad Goldpaint/Goldpaint Photography. Used by permission.
The Earth will soon be traveling through the stream of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, providing the annual sky show called the Orionid Meteor Shower. This usually reliable meteor shower is expected to peak this coming weekend, October 20-21, 2012, and should produce about 25 meteors per hour, according to the McDonald Observatory at The University of Texas in Austin.
How can you see the show?


Across The Universe : Surprise! Galaxies Still Evolving in Present Universe

Surprise! Galaxies Still Evolving in Present Universe:
Across The Universe
A giant spiral of gas dust and stars, Messier 101 spans 170,000 light-years and contains more than a trillion stars. Astronomers have uncovered a surprising trend in galaxy evolution where galaxies like M101 and the Milky Way Galaxy continued to develop into settled disk galaxies long after previously thought. Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble
Graceful in their turnings, spiral galaxies were thought to have reached their current state billions of years ago. A study of hundreds of galaxies, however, upsets that notion revealing that spiral galaxies, like the Andromeda Galaxy and our own Milky Way, have continued to change.
“Astronomers thought disk galaxies in the nearby universe had settled into their present form by about 8 billion years ago, with little additional development since,” said Susan Kassin, an astronomer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the study’s lead researcher in a press release. “The trend we’ve observed instead shows the opposite, that galaxies were steadily changing over this time period.”


Across The Universe : How Have the 2012 Doomsday Myths Become Part of our Accepted Lexicon?

How Have the 2012 Doomsday Myths Become Part of our Accepted Lexicon?:
Across The Universe
The whole “December 21st, 2012 Doomsday” hype had pretty much fallen off my radar. I hadn’t received an email from a concerned or fearful person for months and no one had alerted me to any new breathlessly hyped end-of-the-word videos for quite some time. Optimistically, I began to think that the Mayan-Prophecy-Pole-Shift-Nibiru (et. al) nonsense was just a passing fad.
But, somehow it seems, doomsday hype has made it into the public’s psyche. I recently saw a local newscast that mentioned the world would be ending soon, albeit jokingly, and sometimes even well-meaning publications give the Mayan prophesies undue credence with unfortunate headlines. But a couple of recent polls say that 10-12% of people have doubts they will survive past Dec. 21st of this year. And a few conversations I’ve had with those who have been on the front lines of debunking the 2012 doomsday predictions reveal that an upcoming “end of the world” is somehow very real for a measurable segment of the population.
How has something that is steeped in nonsense with no scientific accuracy whatsoever managed to capture such attention?

Across The Universe : Soyuz Launches New Crew to Space Station

Soyuz Launches New Crew to Space Station:
Across The Universe
The Soyuz rocket with three Expedition 33/34 crew members launched to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Three new crew members — and a stuffed hippo — are on their way to the International Space Station. Expedition 33/34 NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft at 10:51 UTC (6:51 a.m. EDT, 5:51 p.m. Baikonur time) Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The trio is now safely in orbit, and on Thursday they will hook up with the ISS and join their Expedition 33 crewmates — Commander Suni Williams, ISS veteran Yuri Malenchenko, and Akihiko Hoshide — onboard the Space Station.
It was a beautiful daytime launch from the Site 31 launchpad, a different pad than usual. The pad that is normally used for human launches is undergoing renovations.
The stuffed hippo was given to the crew by Novitskiy’s daughter. Soyuz crews have had a history of having a mascot hanging in view of the cameras and when it starts floating is the visual confirmation of when the crew reaches orbit. The hippo isn’t the only animal on board. 32 medaka fish are stowed along for the ride, as they will be part of a new aquarium on the ISS called the Aquatic Habitat that will study how the fish adapt to microgravity.
Watch the video of the launch, below: