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The Nine Planets Solar System Tour STEREO 2012 March 12 - The Scale of the Universe Interactive Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2012 March 12 The Scale of the Universe - Interactive Flash Animation Credit & Copyright: Cary & Michael Huang Explanation: What does the universe look like on small scales? Tomorrow's picture: dust before galaxies Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD at NASA / GSFC& Michigan Tech.

Solar System, Solar System Information Our Cosmic Neighborhood From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities—Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky. Since the invention of the telescope, three more planets have been discovered in our solar system: Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846), and, now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto (1930). The four planets closest to the sun—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are called the terrestrial planets because they have solid rocky surfaces. Nearly every planet—and some of the moons—has an atmosphere. Moons, Rings, and Magnetospheres

SORCE NASA's SORCE Satellite Marks a Decade in the Sun › View larger TSI data from the SORCE mission, which marked 10 years of data acquisition on March 6, 2013, demonstrates the daily and cyclic variability of the Sun. Credit: NASA/LASP NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite has been providing data on the sun's irradiance for 10 years. SORCE was launched on January 25, 2003 and began normal operations on March 6, 2003. SORCE was launched during a solar maximum period; as the mission progressed, the sun moved into a solar minimum period that was considerably longer than predicted. Basically, SORCE data has provided scientists a unique understanding of how the sun varies both slowly and rapidly, affecting Earth’s weather and climate systems and ultimately all the life on Earth that depends on the sun's flow of energy. One of the primary results of the SORCE mission is the daily record of Total Solar Irradiance (TSI), above the atmosphere of the Earth.

The Universe Magnified This is one of the most beautiful infographics we've ever seen: a high resolution view of different levels of the universe. Our favorite parts are the jaw-dropping nebulae and then the point where you see the size of Pluto compared to Texas. Puts things into perspective. Try it out in full-screen mode: Copyright 2012. Embed this infographic on your site! <iframe width="600" height="388" scrolling="no" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Copyright 2012. To get started with the infographic, click on one of the nine entry point images. The slider at the bottom of the screen lets you move around from bigger to smaller and smaller to bigger. And in between you see every day objects like animals and buildings and planets and stars. Have fun with this!

Windows to the Universe PICARD PICARD est une expérience de mesure simultanée de l'irradiance solaire absolue totale et spectrale, du diamètre et de la forme du soleil, et de sondage de son intérieur par la méthode de l'héliosismologie. Ces mesures obtenues au cours de la mission permettront de connaître la variabilité des paramètres précédents en fonction de l'activité solaire. Son objectif est d'apporter des mesures spécifiques pour approfondir notre connaissance : du fonctionnement de notre étoile grâce à de nouvelles observations,de l'influence de l'activité solaire sur le climat de la Terre. La mission PICARD a été ainsi nommée en hommage à l'astronome français Jean Picard (1620-1682) qui fit les premières mesures de précision du diamètre solaire au XVIIe siècle. Ces mesures ont d'autant plus d'importance qu'elles furent effectuées pendant une période d'activité solaire très réduite caractérisée par un soleil presque dépourvu de taches entre 1645 et 1710. La charge utile PICARD comporte les instruments suivants :

How to Process Your Own Colour Images from Hubble Data The Hubble Space Telescope uses a number of different filters when taking images of objects. The best wideband filters for the production of colour images are F435W, F439W, F450W, F555W, F606W, F675W, F702W, F791W, and F814W. Narrowband filters used include F437N, F502N, F656N, F658N, and F673N. The numerical value designates the central passband of the filter measured in nanometres (F435W for example is a 435 nm wideband filter.) 1Locate the fourth image in the result for the search of NGC 604 above and you will find the file name "hst_05237_02_wfpc2_f814w_wf" below it. The second last item in the name (f814) is the filter used to take the image. For this guide, download hst_05237_02_wfpc2_f814w_wf, hst_05237_02_wfpc2_f555w_wf, and hst_05237_02_wfpc2_f336w_wf.

EMU Sherzer Observatory News and Events Physics and Astronomy is looking for graduate students! If you are interested in pursing a masters degree in physics, consider applying to EMU. SPS Meetings The EMU chapter of the Society of Physics Students meets on Friday at 12:00 in Strong 339. More news and events Welcome to EMU Physics and Astronomy The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers majors in physics, physics research, engineering physics and physics teaching and minors in astronomy, general science, physics and physics teaching. Physics Tutoring Physics tutoring is provided regularly and free of charge by graduate students as well as members of the Society of Physics Students 5 days a week. Physics Honor Society The department’s honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma, is the official honor society of the physics profession.

THIS IS PROOF THAT WE ARE COMPLETELY INSIGNIFICANT. OR... ARE WE JUST THAT SPECIAL? | Guys The Road During your day-to-day life, you can get pretty wrapped up in yourself. You can forget to feed your cats or neglect to call your mother on her birthday. We think our lives are just about us. Well when you read through the images below... you'll either think you're totally insignificant, or it'll reaffirm your belief that our existence is really that special. Well, I suddenly feel very very tiny. How about you? Source: mogul.ws Welcome to Explorations in Science with Dr. Michio Kaku