Multiple-Intelligences Neural Interfacing Optimization Node
I'm a geek. No. Really. Really geeky. And I write poetry. And I read poetry. I'm an English teacher to-be.
(via APOD: 2013 April 30 - Humanity Explores the Solar System)
Nice image. Note the crowding on Mars?
That’s why the Titan mission might have been a better choice than MSL2…just a thought.
(via APOD: 2013 May 14 - Galaxy Collisions: Simulation vs Observations)
Images Credit: NASA, ESA; Visualization: Frank Summers (STScI); Simulation: Chris Mihos (CWRU) & Lars Hernquist (Harvard).
Intersperse computer simulation of a galaxy collision with actual Hubble images of galaxies mid-collision and you get the feeling we know, pretty well, what happens when galaxies collide.
This is important because it means we’ve got a good handle on the larger-structure evolution of the universe at the galaxy level. We need to be sure of this if we’re going to do thought experiments, make theories, and test with observations into the ancient universe what it should look like in the past.
(via Probing Extreme Matter Through Observations Of Neutron Stars)
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton, and NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE - an x-ray burst finding telescope, as opposed to Chandra which does specific directed observations) were all used to watch the effects of neutron stars in low-mass binaries, or, in the case of RXTE, to find x-ray bursts from neutron stars (probably from matter absorptions, but the article doesn’t say), in order to determine radius and size measurements. More precise measurements allow for physicists to check theoretical models for neutron stars, and the new results provide useful limits. They indicate that the phenomena seen match theoretical models, including those that have free quarks moving about in the center of neutron stars.
Read SpaceDaily on the subject.
DOI link to The Astrophysical Journals Letters for the original article.
(via Chandra :: Photo Album :: DEM L50 :: January 28, 2013)
Chandra gives us a sample of the old philosophical question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? (Assuming the immovable object won’t simply break apart under the forces.)
This is what happens when the expanding shockwave from a dying star runs into gas and dust thrown off by the star itself or into other interstellar matter (such as may be present in a molecular cloud), a superbubble.
(via NASA - What Lies Beneath - NASA Antarctic Sub Goes Subglacial)
Wow!
Called the Micro-Submersible Lake Exploration Device, the instrument was a small robotic sub about the size and shape of a baseball bat. Designed to expand the range of extreme environments accessible by humans while minimally disturbing the environment, the sub was equipped with hydrological chemical sensors and a high-resolution imaging system. The instruments and cameras characterize the geology, hydrology and chemical characteristics of the sub’s surroundings. Behar supervised a team of students from Arizona State University, Tempe, in designing, developing, testing and operating the first-of-its-kind sub.
“This is the first instrument ever to explore a subglacial lake outside of a borehole,” Behar said. “It’s able to take us places that are inaccessible by any other instruments in existence.”
(via Lunar Double Rainbow! | NASA Lunar Science Institute)
Dale Cruikshank took this 20 second exposure at F4 with a 28 mm lens from Kaanapali, Maui at ~9:30 PM on Feb. 26, 2013. Nothing inspires like a LUNAR DOUBLE rainbow!
Be sure to also check out the video compilation of 162 photos of the 2012 annular eclipse taken by Dr. Dale Cruikshank at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Dr. Cruikshank is one of the premier astronomers and planetary scientists in the Astrophysics Branch at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Posted by: Soderman/NLSI Staff
Source: NASA/Dale Cruikshank
(via Chandra :: Photo Album :: SGR 0418 5729 :: 14 October 10)
Observations with NASA’s Chandra, Swift, and Rossi X-ray observatories, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and ESA’s XMM-Newton have revealed that a slowly rotating neutron star with an ordinary surface magnetic field is giving off bursts of X-rays and gamma rays. This discovery may indicate the presence of an internal magnetic field much more intense than the surface magnetic field, with implications for how the most powerful magnets in the cosmos evolve.
The neutron star, SGR 0418+5729, was discovered on June 5, 2009 when the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected bursts of gamma-rays from this object. Follow-up observations four days later with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) showed that, in addition to sporadic X-ray bursts, the neutron star exhibits persistent X-ray emission with regular pulsations that indicate that the star has a rotational period of 9.1 seconds. RXTE was able to monitor this activity for about 100 days. This behavior is similar to a class of neutron stars called magnetars, which have strong to extreme magnetic fields 20 to 1000 times above the average of the galactic radio pulsars.
- See more at: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/sgr0418/
(via Nexus One launched into space on CubeSat, becomes first PhoneSat in orbit (video))
Look at it! It’s a PhoneSat sitting in a CubeSat!
Off-the shelf components, in a hardened case (with a space-specific antenna, yes, I know), launched and transmitting. Ask it to take a picture for you! Click through for the full details.
(via APOD: 2013 February 20)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute (Cassini spacecraft)
Nobody’s really sure why Saturn’s north pole has this very stable hexagonal structure in the clouds.
Add to that beautiful mystery the image of the shadow cast across the ring structure in the background.
And, to top it all off (rimshot!), the polar clouds, the small circular bit right at the center of of everything, have this crazy look:
Click the image or here to see the full size of the vortex: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121204.html
That hexagon has been there since Voyager flew by, and Cassini was capturing images of it in infrared before the Sun rose on the pole.
Amazing!
Russian Meteor Vapor Trail Seen from Space by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Feb 15, 2013
This is an image from the SEVIRI instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Meteosat-10 geostationary satellite. The vapour trail left by the meteor that was seen near Chelyabinsk in Russia on February 15, 2013 is visible in the centre of the image.
This image uses data from the High Resolution Visible (HRV) channel of SEVIRI that can produce images with both high spatial and temporal resolution.
You can view near real-time imagery from the HRV channel here: oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/RGB/EVIEW/
Original data Copyright EUMETSAT 2013
Credit: ESA/EUMETSAT (www.flickr.com/photos/eumetsat/)
NASA image use policy.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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The Russian meteor trail from space! w00t!
