Credit: NASA/Tod Strohmeyer (GSFC)/Dana Berry (Chandra X-ray Observatory)

Talk about cheek to cheek. These two ancient stars are both burned-out relics of suns once about the size of our own. And they've spiraled in so close that they orbit each other every 5.4 minutes and occupy a space only about 100,000 kilometers wide - about a quarter the distance between Earth and the Moon. Astronomers report this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that the pair, called HM Cancri and located about 16,000 light-years away, represents the smallest and closest-orbiting binary system ever found. The team also suspects that HM Cancri might help them confirm the existence of gravity waves, an elusive phenomenon that Einstein theorized can happen when rapidly spinning massive objects generate ripples through space-time.

Our moon may not be made of green cheese - as 16th century English writer John Heywood had speculated - but Mars's largest moon comes close. Phobos is full of holes, according to the latest data collected by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter during a close (67 kilometers) flyby yesterday. Scientists think the moon formed out of a cloud of dust sometime after its parent planet was born. Its gravity is so weak that it can't pull itself completely together. In fact, orbital analysis shows that Phobos is gradually being pulled in by Mars?and millions of years from now that gravity will rip the moon apart.

Credit: NASA-JPL/Space Science Institute

In its latest flyby of Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft has captured a veritable array of fountains spraying ice crystals and water above the moon's southern pole - a phenomenon unique in the solar system. Tidal forces created by gravity from the giant ringed planet and its other moons open fissures called "tiger stripes" in the deeply frozen surface of Enceladus. The gravity also warps the moon's ice and creates enough heat to force the ice and water out of the fissures and into space. This image, taken 21 November, will be the last of the geysers for a long time. Soon that region will be shaded from the sun for 15 years, hiding the fountains from Cassini's cameras.

There's a new movie about Simon's Cat:

New images have revealed something on Saturn never seen on any other member of the solar system. In this still photo and a video, taken early last year by the Hubble Space Telescope and released 11 February, both of Saturn's poles are showing auroral displays. Though the auroras are simultaneous, they aren't identical, and scientists say the differences will help uncover new information about the strength and behavior of Saturn's magnetic field. (Photo: NASA/ESA/Jonathan Nichols-University of Leicester)

NASA's Opportunity rover has delivered yet another surprise. This rock, named Marquette Island, is unlike any other the six-wheeled robot has found. Its coarse-grained composition shows it originated not on the planet's surface but within its interior. Sometime in the past a massive object--probably a small asteroid--slammed through the Martian surface, ejecting rocks from inside the crust. After being flung high into the sky, the basketball-sized rock landed on Meridiani Planum, conveniently where Opportunity has been exploring for the past 6 years. "It is from deep in the crust and someplace far away on Mars," says chief mission scientist Steve Squyres. "Though exactly how deep and how far we can't yet estimate." (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell)

As my sister was staying in Ireland for about half a year, my brother and I visited her around New Year's Eve. She is doing an internship at the University Cork College but came to Dublin to join us for a small trip to Cork.
We arrived at Dublin airport after a normal flight from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam at 28 December. We started with almost completely clear skies but landed with a dense fog where we could only see the tops of some buildings. Must have been a landing on instruments only, but nonetheless a fine landing.
We took off to the car hire section and got one of the ugliest cars there are: a Nissan Micra. But hey, it would probably do its job fine.
As we are used to drive on the right side of the road we had to adjust driving on the left and shifting with our left hand, but we managed.
Next to the train station we picked up our sister and headed for our first accommodation in Dublin. Later that day we went to the city center by bus and walked around, sightseeing Dublin in the dark. It was pretty cold but dry so we weren't bothered by it that much.

For the very first time, the martian moons Phobos and Deimos have been caught on camera together. ESA's Mars Express orbiter took these pioneering images last month. Apart from their 'wow' factor, these unique images will help the HRSC team validate and refine existing orbit models of the two moons.

Read more at ESA

By Wulffmorgenthaler.com

• Archief

• Midget Stars Dance Close
  2010-03-10 08:53:23 - 4 views - 0 reacties
  Credit: NASA/Tod Strohmeyer (GSFC)/Dana Berry (Chandra X-ray...
• Phobos Has a Cheesy Interior
  2010-03-06 11:59:41 - 19 views - 0 reacties
  Our moon may not be made of green cheese - as 16th century...
• Versailles, Saturn Style
  2010-02-24 08:41:40 - 35 views - 0 reacties
  Credit: NASA-JPL/Space Science Institute In its latest flyby...
• Life before Google
  2010-02-21 12:49:59 - 39 views - 0 reacties
  
• Simon's Cat 'Snow Business' (Part 1 & 2)
  2010-02-15 17:34:12 - 166 views - 0 reacties
  There's a new movie about Simon's Cat:

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