Archives for February 2007
Comet McNaught Update
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 3:22 pm.
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Filed under comets.
It’s been a while since my last postings on Comet McNaught (here and here). And, a reader asked a question on another post about where the comet is heading. I thought that others might be interested, so I looked up some information to share with everyone.
Comet C/2006 P1 (Comet McNaught) is now about […]
Mars isn’t the only planet with dust storms!
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 1:45 pm.
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Filed under Earth, Mars, space exploration.
Saturday, I was at a convention in Dallas. That afternoon, I came out of a session and looked out the window. During the day, the wind had been increasing. Well, by the afternoon, there were whitecaps in the hotel swimming pool! But, more disturbing was the fact that the Sun was […]
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New Horizons at Jupiter
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 5:24 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under NASA, space exploration.
The New Horizons spacecraft, launched only a year ago, is now passing Jupiter (Just hours from this posting it will be at its closest distance to that planet). The spacecraft was sent directly to Jupiter from Earth, arriving in record time. This was done in order to let Jupiter hurl the spacecraft onward […]
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Inflatable Moonbase
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 4:41 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under NASA, moon, space exploration.
NASA is testing an inflatable ground station for consideration of future lunar and planetary missions. The structure, called the “Planetary Surface Habitat and Airlock Unit” is supposed to be a simple structure,easy to set up, and (relatively) roomy inside. The idea is that carrying metallic structures to the Moon or Mars is difficult, […]
Yet more space debris
Published on 25 Feb 2007 at 3:51 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under space debris.
Several months ago, I posted about the increasing problem of space debris. Well, it just keeps increasing. Already this year, the number of pieces of space debris has increased by nearly 20% over what it was at the end of last year! Worse, most of that came as a result of two […]
Lunar Eclipse Next Week
Published on 24 Feb 2007 at 8:02 am.
12 Comments.
Filed under eclipses, skywatching.
Next Saturday, March 3, the Full Moon will pass through Earth’s shadow. This is a lunar eclipse. The Moon shines by reflected sunlight, so you’d suspect that it might not be visible if the Sun isn’t shining on it, but there’d you be wrong. Earth has an atmosphere, and it is Earth […]
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SN 1987A, 20 years later
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 1:32 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under stars, supernova.
20 years ago today, I was in graduate school. Though I didn’t hear about it for a couple of days, Ian Shelton had discovered a supernova. Then, I heard that the first supernova of the year, SN 1987A (the second, if another were found, would be called SN 1987B, the third SN 1987C, […]
