30
Oct 10

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Takes Pulse of Distant Stars

Credit: NASA


Credit: KASC Scientific Webpage

An international cadre of scientists that used data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft announced Tuesday the detection of stellar oscillations, or "starquakes,” that yield new insights about the size, age and evolution of stars.(read more)

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30
Oct 10

Earth Orbiting Satellites Maneuvered to Now Study the Moon

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28
Oct 10

Scientists Watch for a "Hartley-id" Meteor Shower

Credit: NASA


Comet 103P/Hartley 2. Credit: Mike Broussard

A pair of unusual fireballs over Canada and the southeastern USA have experts wondering if Comet Hartley 2 might produce a meteor shower in early November.(read more)

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28
Oct 10

Spiral Galaxies Stripped Bare

Credit: ESO Photo Release eso1042


Credit: ESO/P. Grosbøl

Six spectacular spiral galaxies are seen in a clear new light in images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The pictures were taken in infrared light, using the impressive power of the HAWK-I camera, and will help astronomers understand how the remarkable spiral patterns in galaxies form and evolve. (read more)

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20
Oct 10

Solar System Outreach St Cronan's Boys NS, Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland

90 Boys from Sixth class at St Conan's Boys National School Bray attended Deirdre's talk. Image by David McGovern

An interactive  PowerPoint presentation during which I asked the children questions that sought to engage and explore their knowledge of Art, Music, Science, and Geography.

The presentation showed the latest images from the many robotic explorers  out there in our solar system.

We took a  really close look at all the planets and detailed images of some exciting moons.

This talk also gave the  children a view of Earth from space with an  explaination of  just how special our home in space is.

We figured out where Jupiter is in the night sky so all could  find it later when they went  home.

Part of this presentation included information on the International Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay Contest .

The teachers and boys showed  great interest in participating in this years contest.

The Cassini Mission was the center piece of the presentation , supporting outreach material was made available to the teachers from all three classes.

As this school had  an interactive white board complete with sound system I took the opportunity to show What's Up for October 2010 to further enhance their knowledge of space missions and the night sky.  What' s Up for October 2010 from Jane Houston Jones

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17
Oct 10

NASA Spacecraft Hurtles Toward Active Comet Hartley 2

Credit:NASA Science

NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is hurtling toward Comet Hartley 2 for a breathtaking flyby on Nov. 4th. Mission scientists say all systems are go for a close encounter with one of the most active comets they've seen. (read more)

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8
Oct 10

Venus Express probes the planet's atmosphere by flying through it

Credit: ESA/Venus Express


Illustration of Venus Express. Credit: ESA

ESA's Venus Express is exploring the density of the Venusian upper atmosphere by measuring how much the planet's atmosphere itself slows down or twists the pointing of the spacecraft. New density measurements, centred on the Northern Pole and obtained during these atmospheric drag experiments, show an unexpected inhomogeneous pattern in the atmosphere of our neighbouring planet.(read more)

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