A S T R O L A B O . com | Yatoutskifo pour l'astro NASA has slyly, or inadvertantly, let out a handful of clues that a planned news conference will reveal details of an important new finding regarding life on other planets. There have been a number of moments in the history of astrobiology where an important find has gotten us all very excited, including the discovery of isotopic profiles on a Mars rock (a meteorite) indicating a biological pathway, parallel findings on Mars, various discoveries related to water on Mars, and analysis of places like Europa and Titan, and so on. The word on the street is that this is going to be one such moment. The press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2. Speculation based on who will be present at the press conference has suggested that this is a about Mars, or Titan, or Photosynthesis, or something. Specifically, NASA has said that they will discuss: “an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”
Detailed age map shows how Milky Way came together -- ScienceDaily Using colors to identify the approximate ages of more than 130,000 stars in the Milky Way's halo, Notre Dame astronomers have produced the clearest picture yet of how the galaxy formed more than 13.5 billion years ago. Astrophysicist Daniela Carollo, research assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Notre Dame, and Timothy Beers, Notre Dame Chair of Astrophysics, along with research assistant professor Vinicius Placco and their colleagues published their findings in Nature Physics, including a chronographic (age) map that supports a hierarchical model of galaxy formation. That model, developed by theoreticians over the past few decades, suggests that the Milky Way formed by merging and accretion of small mini-halos containing stars and gas, and that the oldest of the Milky Way's stars are at the center of the galaxy and younger stars and galaxies merged with the Milky Way, drawn in by gravity over billions of years.
7 Space Simulators That Let You Explore the Universe Why should Mars rovers have all the fun? If you're tired of standing by while Curiosity rolls around up there, it's time to head out on the open exosphere and explore the universe for yourself — digitally, of course. SEE ALSO: 10 Must-Follow Tumblrs for Science Lovers A handful of excellent space simulators use real astronomical data to re-create the known universe in three dimensions. Fly through the galaxy at ludicrous speeds, map out humanity's best hope for extrasolar colonization, or mess with physics to create your own cosmic recipes. Some of these simulations stick to our own solar system, while others push the boundaries of our cosmological projections, procedurally generating star systems far beyond our galactic neighborhood. If you take any of these for a spin, let us know in the comments where you traveled.
Seedbomb Plant Capsules by Hwang Jin wook, Jeon You ho, Han Kuk il & Kim Ji myung Yanko Design Bomberman Explodes Plants This title maybe misleading but the intention is pretty peaceful! Legend has it that after the World War II got over, American pilot Gale Halvorson airdropped candies in the name of hope, for the Berlin children. War equals devastation, so dropping candies instead of bombs was probably personal retribution. Inspired by this incident, designer Hwang Jin wook and pals have come up with a plan to combat deforestation and desertification of land in a similar fashion. Housed in biodegradable plastic, the artificial soil provides nourishment and moisture to the seed; till it grows out to be a strong enough plant to sustain itself. Sounds like Mission (im)Possible to me, however the logistics of desert environment and the kind of seeds to be dispersed will require a lot research and expertise from the botanists. Designers: Hwang Jin wook, Jeon You ho, Han Kuk il & Kim Ji myung
Exploriments: Weight, Mass and Force of Gravity - Effect of Altitude and Comparison across Multiple Planets on the App Store No One Wants to Live in My 'Elysium'-Style Simulation Orbital Space Colony They will also be a pain in the ass to run. And I speak from experience on this because I briefly governed my own orbital colony. My time in command did not end well. Joe Strout gave me the opportunity to fail. Strout, who describes himself as “space nut,” was a childhood member of the L5 Society, an organization dedicated to advancing technology essential for building and launching orbital space colonies in the L5 orbit. Strout wasn’’t cool with that so he started programming. Part 1: Building your colony You start out by choosing whether or not to create something in low Earth orbit (which is better protected from radiation damage) or high Earth orbit (from which materials can be important from the moon for cheap). Deciding between LEO and HEO. This last part is important — because it can potentially throw your entire design into disarray. Gravity can be incredibly difficult to recreate in space. Oh — and all this also affects your budget. And that’s just the exterior. What a kingdom
Educational Resources « Astronomical Society A Sampling of Hands-On Astronomy Activities from the ASP Jump into hands-on astronomy with these classroom tested activities from a variety of ASP programs Surfing the Solar System Surf the web to find the answers to a fun solar system puzzle for the whole family K-12 Online Astronomy Activities Navigate the tangled web of activities on the internet with this annotated list, organized by subject Night Sky Network Astronomy Activities & Resources The Universe in the Classroom, a newsletter for teachers. Articles on Education from Mercury Magazine Hunt down some good ideas and resources in these archived articles from the “Education Newswire” and “Black Holes to Blackboards” departments of our membership magazine, Mercury. Other Articles on Education Selected Resource Guides Gather some great background reading from these annotated astronomical resource guides: Selected “Astronomy Beat” Columns Available to the Public Astronomy Education Review Looking for research in astronomy education?
Alternance jour-nuit et ensoleillement de la Terre L'animation permet de comprendre le phénomène des saisons. L'axe de rotation de la Terre n'étant pas perpendiculaire au plan de l'écliptique, selon la période de l'année, les rayons du Soleil n'arrivent pas de la même manière à la surface de la Terre : c'est le phénomène des saisons. Aux équinoxes, les rayons du Soleil sont parallèles au plan de l'équateur ; entre les équinoxes, ils sont au-dessus (printemps, été) ou en-dessous (automne, hiver), avec un angle maximum aux solstices : le soleil se positionne alors au-dessus d'un des tropiques (tropique du Cancer au solstice d'été, tropique du Capricorne au solstice d'hiver. La déclinaison solaire correspond à l'angle que font les rayons solaires avec le plan de l'équateur. La limite de l'ombre (un grand cercle de la Terre) oscille donc de part et d'autre de la position à l'équinoxe. Le petit soleil montre l'endroit de la Terre où le Soleil est au zénith à cet instant. Mode d'emploi Cliquer-glisser sur la sphère pour changer l'angle de vue.
New analysis adds support for a subsurface ocean on Pluto: Findings suggest other large objects in the Kuiper belt may also have liquid oceans beneath frozen shells -- ScienceDaily A liquid ocean lying deep beneath Pluto's frozen surface is the best explanation for features revealed by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, according to a new analysis. The idea that Pluto has a subsurface ocean is not new, but the study provides the most detailed investigation yet of its likely role in the evolution of key features such as the vast, low-lying plain known as Sputnik Planitia (formerly Sputnik Planum). Sputnik Planitia, which forms one side of the famous heart-shaped feature seen in the first New Horizons images, is suspiciously well aligned with Pluto's tidal axis. "It's a big, elliptical hole in the ground, so the extra weight must be hiding somewhere beneath the surface. Impact basin Like other large basins in the solar system, Sputnik Planitia was most likely created by the impact of a giant meteorite, which would have blasted away a huge amount of Pluto's icy crust. "At that point, there is no extra mass at Sputnik Planitia," Nimmo explained. Moon anomalies
Espace Elèves Bienvenue sur le site "Calendiers, miroirs du ciel et des cultures" Les animations multimédias ci-dessous vont te permettre de mieux comprendre certains phénomènes astronomiques, comme les saisons, les phases de la Lune ... Tu verras même, à travers l'histoire des calendriers, que l'astronomie est présente dans notre vie de tous les jours. Note : Si les animations ne se chargent pas, il faut installer un plugin flash sur ta machine. La course du Soleil Les saisons Les années bissextiles Les phases de la Lune Les 3 cycles : jour, mois, année L'histoire des calendriers Crédits Conception éditoriale et pédagogique et conseil scientifique : David Wilgenbus, La main à la pâte Roland Lehoucq : astrophysicien au CEA Gilles Cappe : professeur des écoles Hélène Gaillard : professeur des écoles Nathan Desdouits : polytechnicien Scénarisation de l’animation « L’histoire des calendriers » : Stéphanie Quitté Voix de l’animation « L’histoire des calendriers » : Odile Graumer Réalisation et programmation Flash :
Comments Ken Ledoux Not terrifying; awesome. What's terrifying is what we've done to earth. 32 · 4 hours ago Richard Clear Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Space is big. 2 · 2 hours ago Karen Magon Amazing more like and this is not including the speed of which everything is traveling and also does not include the time scales... Graham Sharman That photograph of Earth from 4 billion miles away doesn't mean Earth is insignificant, A man lives there that built the camera that took the photo. 1 · 1 hour ago Scott MacKenzie Just curious--early in the video, there is an image of "earth" from four billion miles away. Ali McGregor No...it's factual? Salah Eddine Mh So you can say we're just like on the head of a single sperm in a Maersk container loaded with cum?? 1 · 3 hours ago Marilyn Lewis If I may, Ken, I'd like to quote your first statement on my page...you nailed it!!!!! Dale Tousignant Why Yes, Yes it is terrifying... that somebody would even think that it is!
fr:start [Virtual Moon Atlas] Déjà téléchargé plus de 700 000 fois dans le monde entier. Utilisé dans plusieurs ouvrages, observatoires étrangers, sites Web, émissions de télévision, revues astronomiques et pour préparer la mission lunaire Chandraayan 1. Recommandé par l'Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA) et le Ministère de l'Education nationale français. Programme gratuit d'étude et d'observation de la Lune Pour Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Seven/8/Windows Mobile/MacOS/Linux © AVEC : NOUVEAU "CENTRE DE COMMANDES AVL" NOUVEAU MODULE WEBLUN (c) SUR LES SITES WEB LUNAIRES VISUALISATION DU CHAMP DES CAMERAS CCD OMBRES DYNAMIQUES AU TERMINATEUR AMELIOREES ORIENTATION DU GLOBE POUR LES DOBSONS 2 NOUVELLES TEXTURES VHR : LRO & CHANG'E 2 4 NOUVELLES TEXTURES "HISTORIQUES" : LANGRENUS... 5 NOUVELLES COUCHES SCIENTIFIQUES BASES DE DONNEES REACTUALISEES AVEC LA NOMENCLATURE UAI CREATION DU "LUNAR UNIVERSAL NUMBER / L.U.N." Le nouveau “Centre de commandes” de l'AVL et L'interface du module WEBLUN © Les nouveautés Programmation
Which Came First on Earth--Habitability or Life? The hunt for life on other planets is due for a makeover. Although it is often confined to planets orbiting in the so-called habitable zone where proximity to their host stars makes temperatures just right for liquid water, many astronomers are beginning to think outside the “Goldilocks” box. Some wonder if previously overlooked mechanisms—including life itself—could broaden the habitable zone well beyond its current definition. Colin Goldblatt, a planetary scientist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, even argues that life’s ability to alter a planet’s climate poses a new paradox: A planet’s habitability could depend on whether life has already made itself at home there, a situation that would place habitability and life in a baffling chicken-or-egg scenario. Goldblatt has been looking beyond Earth-like atmospheres to see how different concentrations of nitrogen and carbon dioxide might tweak a planet’s habitability.