Scientists find "ribbon" surrounding solar system

A very interesting story about the outer edges of our solar system.

In a discovery that took astronomers by surprise, the first full-sky map of the solar system's edge—more than 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) away—has revealed a bright "ribbon" of atoms called ENAs.

The solar system is surrounded by a protective "bubble" called the heliosphere.

Scientists have no idea why this is there -- it took them completely by surprise.

I have to say, astronomy is a very interesting science. If I was a lot smarter, maybe I would have went into it.

Perseid meteor shower video

Cool stuff. Via Bad Astronomy:

Ten facts that prove the moon landings were a hoax

Funny stuff from John Moltz:

4. This so-called “moon” that supposedly orbits our planet cannot be real because the teachings of Septon the Inquisitor tell us that life is an illusion and the real waking state does not come until we die and arrive, ironically, on the moon which is where people go when they die. I know it sounds confusing, but it makes a lot more sense after you watch the informational video and relinquish all your wordly possessions.

Tip of the had to Bad Astronomy.

Pictures of the moon landing site

NASA has released their first pictures of the Apollo Landing Sites from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.



That's the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, left behind when the first people to land on the moon came back to Earth.

Can't see much? Don't worry, NASA announced, "Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution."

Also more images at that last link from NASA.

This is 40 years and a day after man first set foot on the moon.

The Big Picture: Apollo 11

The first manned moon exploration, in pictures. Wow.

Forty years ago.

Close up pictures of the moon

Via Bad Astronomy -- close up photos of the moon from the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter.



Wow.

Time lapse video of volcanic explosion from space

No introduction necessary.

Picture of volcanic explosion caught from space

NASA recently caught one of the coolest pictures you'll ever see. It's of the Sarychev Peak Eruption, Kuril Islands, and it was the photo of the day yesterday.

This detailed astronaut photograph is exciting to volcanologists because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption. The main column is one of a series of plumes that rose above Matua Island on June 12. The plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance; the surrounding atmosphere has been shoved up by the shock wave of the eruption. The smooth white cloud on top may be water condensation that resulted from rapid rising and cooling of the air mass above the ash column. This cloud is probably a transient feature: the eruption plume is starting to punch through. The structure also indicates that little to no shearing wind was present at the time to disrupt the plume. (Satellite images acquired 2-3 days after the start of activity illustrate the effect of shearing winds on the spread of the ash plumes across the Pacific Ocean).

Click on the picture for a larger image. It's worth it.

The end of Hubble

When the space shuttle Atlantis touched down in California two days ago, it ended a mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope. Such missions have happened before, and they are always news, but this was especially big news since it was the last mission to repair the world's most famous telescope.

And so when another piece on the Hubble breaks down -- as it inevitably will -- the Hubble will be no more. The telescope that brought us so many incredible images will just be another piece of space junk.

In fact, Discover Magazine (the link above) wrote, "It is likely to be the last time in our lives that human beings go to space to 'fix' an orbiting scientific instrument."

To see some of the great photos taken by the Hubble head over to the Hubble website and search through the amazing pictures taken by the telescope. They are public domain and you can use them as you want -- as long as you credit NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Miles O'Brien took a look at Hubble from the perspective of someone who "cut [his] teeth on the space beat covering the legendary STS-61 mission in December 1993"

So will there ever be another Hubble? As he unfailingly does, Ed Weiler cut to the chase: “Probably not, because there won’t be a shuttle.”

Indeed, Hubble and Shuttle are inextricably linked - both conceived and gestated with each other in mind in the seventies.

“They are like two kids growing up in the same family,” says Weiler. “They impacted each other’s designs.”

In fact, Hubble’s mirror is 2.4 meters in diameter so that it could fit in the Shuttle cargo bay – and it flies in Shuttle striking distance (low earth orbit) even though that is by no means the ideal place to park a space telescope (half the time, Mother Earth proves to Hubble she would be a better door than a window).

With some luck, the Hubble space telescope will continue sending pictures of distant galaxies back to Earth for another decade or so.

And we can keep using their photos (they are public domain as long as you credit NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute) to get tiny glimpses into the universe.