New estimate for alien Earths: 2 billion in our galaxy alone Roughly one out of every 37 to one out of every 70 sunlike stars in the sky might harbor an alien Earth, a new study reveals. These findings hint that billions of Earthlike planets might exist in our galaxy, researchers added. These new calculations are based in data from the Kepler space telescope, which in February wowed the globe by revealing more than 1,200 possible alien worlds, including 68 potentially Earth-size planets. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., focused on roughly Earth-size planets within the habitable zones of their stars — that is, orbits where liquid water can exist on the surfaces of those worlds. After the researchers analyzed the four months of data in this initial batch of readings from Kepler, they determined that 1.4 to 2.7 percent of all sunlike stars are expected to have Earthlike planets — ones that are between 0.8 and two times Earth's diameter and within the habitable zones of their stars. Related at SPACE.com:
Ensign Software - ESPL: Dances of the Planets The planets in the heavens move in exquisite orbital patterns, dancing to the Music of the Cosmos. There is more mathematical and geometric harmony than we realize. The idea for this article is from a book Larry Pesavento shared with me. The book, 'A Little Book of Coincidence' by John Martineau, illustrates the orbital patterns and several of their geometrical relationships. . Take the orbits of any two planets and draw a line between the two planet positions every few days. Earth: 8 years * 365.256 days/year = 2,922.05 days Venus: 13 years * 224.701 days/year = 2,921.11 days (ie. 99.9%) Watching the Earth-Venus dance for eight years creates this beautiful five-petal flower with the Sun at the center. (5 is another Fibonacci number.) Another intriguing fact is the ratio between the Earth's outer orbit and Venus's inner orbit is given by a square. In the following dance patterns, the planet pairing is given and the number of orbits of the outer planet. Article by Howard Arrington
Explore Nature» Air Resources Division-Natural Lightscapes The darker the sky, the more stars can be seen. The following simulated images depict how the constellation Orion appears under various sky conditions. Images are courtesy of GLOBE at Night. How good is your sky at home? Limiting Magnitude=2. Limiting Magnitude=4. Limiting Magnitude=6. Limiting Magnitude=7.
Your Age on Other Worlds Want to melt those years away? Travel to an outer planet! <div class="js-required"><hr> This Page requires a Javascript capable browser <hr></div> Fill in your birthdate below in the space indicated. The Days (And Years) Of Our Lives Looking at the numbers above, you'll immediately notice that you are different ages on the different planets. The earth is in motion. The top-like rotation of the earth on its axis is how we define the day. The revolution of the earth around the sun is how we define the year. We all learn in grade school that the planets move at differing rates around the sun. Why the huge differences in periods? Johannes Kepler Tycho Brahe Kepler briefly worked with the great Danish observational astronomer, Tycho Brahe. Here you see a planet in a very elliptical orbit. Kepler's third law is the one that interests us the most. Let's just solve for the period by taking the square root of both sides: The Gravity Of The Situation Isaac Newton ©2000 Ron Hipschman
Space Adventures Radio telescopes capture best-ever snapshot of black hole jets An international team, including NASA-funded researchers, using radio telescopes located throughout the Southern Hemisphere has produced the most detailed image of particle jets erupting from a supermassive black hole in a nearby galaxy. "These jets arise as infalling matter approaches the black hole, but we don't yet know the details of how they form and maintain themselves," said Cornelia Mueller, the study's lead author and a doctoral student at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. The new image shows a region less than 4.2 light-years across -- less than the distance between our sun and the nearest star. Radio-emitting features as small as 15 light-days can be seen, making this the highest-resolution view of galactic jets ever made. The study will appear in the June issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is available online. Mueller and her team targeted Centaurus A (Cen A), a nearby galaxy with a supermassive black hole weighing 55 million times the sun's mass.
LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE AND SPACE SHUTTLE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS Daylight Hours Explorer Shows the hours of daylight received during the year for an observer at a given latitude. This is an important factor contributing to the seasons. Running this animation on your computer... right-click to download daylighthoursexplorer.swf and daylighthoursexplorer.html to the same directory open the html file in a browser to run the animation Linking to this animation... copy and paste the code below into your webpage or blog: Putting this animation on your website... upload daylighthoursexplorer.swf to the same directory as your webpage copy and paste the following code into your webpage: Physics 20b: Introduction to Cosmology - Spring 2010 - Download free content from UC Irvine
Astronomy | Video Courses on Academic Earth Astronomers use tools like telescopes, cameras and spectrographs to study interactions between materials and energy within the universe. These scientists learn about galaxies, solar systems, planets and stars through careful observation and measurement recording. Astronomers also refer to natural sciences and mathematics to form and test theories. An integral part of a student’s astronomy experience is the quality of equipment and facilities they have access to. Astronomy departments at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Harvard University and the University of Tokyo give students access to some of the best observatories in the world. Sample Courses Astronomy majors at the undergraduate level will gain an introduction to this field by taking a survey course that covers the Milky Way Galaxy, the orbital behaviors of planets, telescope basics, star identification and cosmology. Possible Specializations Degree Types Bachelor’s Master’s Ph.D. Ideal Candidates for Astronomy Career Pathways
Lunar Eclipses for Beginners 2004 Lunar Eclipse SequenceThe total lunar eclipse of 2004 Oct 28 was widely visible from the USA.This sequence of images captures the eclipse from start (right) to finish (left). (click to see more images) (c) Copyright 2007 by Fred Espenak Introduction What is an eclipse of the Moon? The Moon is a cold, rocky body about 2,160 miles (3,476 km) in diameter. New Moon > New Crescent > First Quarter > Waxing Gibbous> Full Moon > Waning Gibbous > Last Quarter > Old Crescent > New Moon (again) Phases of the Moon. The phase known as New Moon can not actually be seen because the illuminated side of the Moon is then pointed away from Earth. To many of us, Full Moon is the phase of love and romance.When the Moon is Full, it rises at sunset and is visible all night long. Geometry of the Sun, Earth and Moon During an Eclipse of the MoonEarth's two shadows are the penumbra and the umbra. Types of Lunar Eclipses Astronomers recognize three basic types of lunar eclipses: 1. 2. 3. Observing Lunar Eclipses