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04 Nov 2010 20:03

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World: NASA all high-fives today after comet makes close encounter

That sound you hear is NASA collectively melting into puddles of joy after successfully getting within 500 miles of Comet Hartley 2. Look, you can see its nucleus. source

30 Sep 2010 15:55

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Tech, World: Fun facts about Gliese 581g, aka “The New Earth”

  • everyone, meet gliese 581g! Despite the ugly name, it’s actually a friendly, Earth-like planet in the Libra constellation. “Glee-G,” as we like to call it, is 20 light years away, so we won’t be visiting any time soon; however, the “conditions on the ground” (heh, military humor) are perfect for sustaining water. Here are a few more tidbits about our newest planetary sibling. source
  • No night and day One side of the planet is always facing it’s “sun,” while the other is permanently looking into the abyss of space. So, if it’s freezing and you can’t wait for summer, just cross on over to the other side!
  • 3X bigger than earth So you probably won’t be able to cross on over to the other side. However, despite its size, it has similar gravitational and atmospheric conditions to our beloved blue orb.
  • aliens exist!“The chances for life on this planet are 100 percent,” says Steven Vogt, an astronomer at the University of California. You’d think this sort of thing would have made the news rounds a bit more heavily, no? source

12 Aug 2010 10:40

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Tech: Apparently, you’ll be able to see a freaking meteor shower tonight

  • It’s August, so it must mean meteor showers! At least that’s what NASA says, which is why they’re hosting a chat later on today to discuss the Perseid meteor shower peaks, which will be hitting today and tomorrow., leading to awesome images like this one. We like space. It’s kind of a big place. source

25 Apr 2010 10:36

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World: The Hubble Telescope is celebrating another birthday all alone

  • The Hubble telescope turns 20, but like most of its effective life, it’s stuck in space today, all by itself. It needs friends. Endless photography is a good hobby, but not a normal lifestyle. Anyone got any ideas on how to make this massive telescope’s life a little less, you know, empty? source

21 Apr 2009 20:31

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Tech, World: Astronomers all tingly about an Earth-like planet on Earth Day

It’s nearly the size of Earth, it’s not in our solar system and it’s close. We can move there after screwing up Earth! source

25 Mar 2009 23:06

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Tech: This international space station photo shouldn’t be as good as it looks

It was taken with the astronomy equivalent of a cell phone camera: A video camera attached to a telescope. Not bad. source