SPACE, Astronomy News, Dec 17, 2011

A tough comet survives a close encounter with the Sun Astronomy Magazine Discovering a comet before it moves into view of space-based telescopes gives astronomers the opportunity to prepare their telescopes for the best possible observations. Using the jointNASA/European Space Agency Solar Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) ... See all stories on this topic »

Look Up in the Sky: Astronomy Discoveries in 2011 BU Quad Image courtesy of NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech. The Kepler Program is possibly one of the most exciting programs in recent history. NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, launched in March 2009, is on a mission to find Earth-like planets in the habitable area,... See all stories on this topic » BU Quad

Becker: Telescopes, space rings and other ideas for stargazers Daily Camera I recommend that you hook up with a local astronomy group (check out the Boulder Astronomy andSpace Society or the Longmont Astronomical Society) so that you can try out some scopes for yourself before you swipe that credit card. ... See all stories on this topic »

Tycho's star lives on Astronomy Now Online Using the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, astronomers have found that the shattered remains of the 1572 supernova event known as 'Tycho's supernova' live on in high-energy gamma rays, providing vital insight into the generation of cosmic rays. ... See all stories on this topic » Astronomy Now Online

Fermi Shows That Tycho's Star Shines In Gamma Rays RedOrbit It's often called “Tycho's supernova” after the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who gained renown for his extensive study of the object. Now, years of data collected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope reveal that the shattered star's ... See all stories on this topic » RedOrbit

Meteor Shower Tonight: 10 Tips for Watching 2011 Geminid "Shooting Stars" International Business Times If you think NASA's Meteor Counter app might prove too distracting, there's another option: listening to the Geminid meteor shower instead. Space Weather Radio has a new function that allows listeners to hear a ghostly "ping" sound every time a meteor ... See all stories on this topic » International Business Times

Northrop Grumman Space Park Facility Designated Historic Aerospace Site MarketWatch (press release) Current programs either on-orbit or still undergoing integration and test include: -- The Aura and Aqua Earth Observing System satellites that are helping scientists understand the causes and effects of global climate change; -- NASA astronomy ... See all stories on this topic »

NASA Marshall Center's Frank Six Receives Wernher Von Braun Aerospace Educator ... NASA Dr. Frank Six, assistant manager of the Academic Affairs Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., recently was honored with the Dr. Wernher von Braun Aerospace Educator Award for his outstanding contribution to Alabama ... See all stories on this topic »

Australia in space: looking out and looking in The Conversation So while intimately related, “space science” does not equal “astronomy”. 2) Space activity is all about NASA and astronauts. Actually, no. As exciting as rocket launches, the Hubble telescope, and sending humans to the moon are, the vast majority of ... See all stories on this topic »

Super-Earths give theorists a super headache Nature.com By now, it's not surprising that NASA's Kepler space telescope is turning up extrasolar planets by the bushel. Last week, at the first Kepler science conference at NASA'sAmes Research Center in Moffett Field, California, mission scientists announced ... See all stories on this topic » Nature.com

AIP FYI Number 146: Administration to Announce Decision on Mars Missions in ... Space Ref (press release) Appearing before the subcommittee were James Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and Steven Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University and Chair of the Committee on the Planetary Science ... See all stories on this topic » Space Ref (press release)

Revolutionary Air-Launched Commercial Rocket to Orbit Announced by Microsoft ... Universe Today Allen is a billionaire and philanthropist who has funded a host of projects to advance science, “Our national aspirations for space exploration have been receding,” Allen lamented at the start of the briefing. “This year saw the end of NASA's space ... See all stories on this topic » Universe Today

Building the Roadmap for SLS – Con Ops lays out the LEO/Lunar Options NASASpaceflight.com Other mission profiles that can be supported by the SLS include science-based missions for deep space astronomy and solar system exploration. “The SLS payload capability will enable a new generation of planetary (such as a Europa fly-by to collect ... See all stories on this topic » NASASpaceflight.com

Hunting for meteorites and their clues to Earth's origins CBC.ca "We had Carl Allen from the Johnson Space Centre and NASA here about a month ago, [and] he said it was by far the most comprehensive display of meteorites he's seen in the world." What is the biggest meteorite found to date? Meteorites differ in size ... See all stories on this topic » CBC.ca

Irish astronomer defends decision to downgrade Pluto Irish Times The decision in particular angered Americans, who have a special attachment to Pluto given it was discovered by an American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh, in 1930. It also came too late for theNasa probe New Horizons which was already on its way to Pluto ... See all stories on this topic »

Vanderbilt researchers illustrate hunt for alien planets InsideVandy After graduating college with a degree in astronomy in 1961, Gary went on to spend much of his career working with radio astronomy in the earth and space sciences. After retiring in 1998, Gary resumed his passion for the search for extraterrestrial ... See all stories on this topic »

Earth-Like Planet Found Suffolk Voice On March 7th or 2009 NASA developed the Kepler space telescope, whose primary purpose as a tool, was to search and discover Earth-like planets orbiting stars in Space. And on December 5th 2011 the Kepler space telescope made an astonishing new ... See all stories on this topic »

Solving a supernova mystery EurekAlert (press release) ... the Sylvia & Jim Katzman Foundation, NASA's Einstein Fellowship, Hilary Lipsitz, and the American Museum of Natural History. The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope is operated by ASTRON (Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy) with support ... See all stories on this topic »

Whole Earth Telescope brings international cooperation to cosmic proportions University of Delaware A native of Woodstown, NJ, Dalessio is midway through his doctoral program in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UD. His work on the WET project is supported by the NASA-funded Delaware Space Grant Consortium. “Just today, I have communicated ... See all stories on this topic »

Local names blast to Mars with NASA! Bay Post/Moruya Examiner Mr Versteeg said Mark has loved all things space-related since he was a kid, and recalled buying him telescopes. “Even when he comes down to visit now, he brings his smallest telescope down. “Astronomy is his hobby – but you could almost say it's his ... See all stories on this topic »

Australia in space: letting others watch us … but at what cost? The Conversation NASA So what does our mediated access mean in practice? Well, during the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria for example, the movement of bushfires was tracked using data from China's National Space Administration, and all our weather satellite data ... See all stories on this topic »

Search the calendar using the following criteria: West End Word The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium, is open to the public free of charge. Cosmology – the study of the origin, nature, and evolution of the vast universe that lies beyond our own sun and its planets – used to be reserved ... See all stories on this topic »

A lifetime of scientific discovery has reinforced man's faith in God Milwaukee Journal Sentinel He remained out east working on X-ray astronomy and then on telescope projects at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He went to work for NASA in 1988 at the Ames Research Center in California. It was there he met William Borucki, ... See all stories on this topic »

Australia in space: what's our policy? The Conversation Rod Lamberts owns shares in a science facilitation start up and has been commissioned to co-author pieces for the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the ANU. He receives funding from the ARC Linkage Grant program. ... See all stories on this topic »

Water On Mars Could Mean The Planet Is Habitable RedOrbit The Planetary Science Institute at ANU is a joint initiative of the Research School ofAstronomy and Astrophysics and the Research School of Earth Sciences. Image Caption: The tenuous atmosphere of Mars, visible on the horizon in this low-orbit photo.... See all stories on this topic » RedOrbit

Opportunity finds mineral 'vein' deposited by water R & D Magazine "This tells a slam-dunk story that water flowed through underground fractures in the rock," said Steve Squyres, Cornell's Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy and principal scientific investigator for Opportunity. "This stuff is a fairly pure chemical ... See all stories on this topic »

Appalachian professors are part of the search for early life Appalachian State University Bräuer's and Carmichael's work is supported by NC Space Grant, which is funded byNASA. Gray's NSF award will purchase a six-inch robotic telescope and dome that will be installed at the Department of Physics and Astronomy's Dark Sky Observatory ... See all stories on this topic » Appalachian State University

Ask Dr. Alan Stern Universe Today He was the principal investigator of the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System, which flew on two space shuttle missions, STS-85 in 1997 and STS-93 in 1999. He has been a guest observer on numerous NASA satellite observatories, including the ... See all stories on this topic » Universe Today

Bulgarian team finds new asteroid Sofia Echo A new asteroid has been discovered by students at the Varna Astronomy Club in the Bulgarian Black Sea city. The discovery was made while the team was working on a project that is supported by Nasa, Bulgarian National Television said. ... See all stories on this topic » Sofia Echo

2011's notable scientific events, health breakthroughs Inquirer.net The discovery was announced months after Kepler, an orbiting Nasa (National Aeronautics andSpace Administration) space telescope, discovered a new system of planets in February 2011. After months of intense observation, scientists have finally ... See all stories on this topic »

Michael Mann on Climate: “There's Still Time to Make the Right Choices” Universe Today She also is the project manager for the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast, works withAstronomy Cast and is host of the NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. I read the review articles in Science and other ... See all stories on this topic » Universe Today

In The Dragonfish's Mouth – The Next Generation Of “SuperStars” Universe Today Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/GLIMPSE Team/Mubdi Rahman At the University of Toronto, a trio of astronomers have been fishing – fishing for a copious catch of young, supermassive stars. What they caught was unprecedented… Hundreds of thousands of stars with ... See all stories on this topic » Universe Today

Moon plays hide and seek Khaleej Times His love for science and astronomy has already taken him to NASA, but this was his first live sighting of a total lunar eclipse. “I am happy to have come in here with my parents to experience this wonder of nature, this is a rare occasion and I enjoyed ... See all stories on this topic »

Nasa To Harpoon Comets | David Reneke | Space and Astronomy ... By Dave David Reneke | Space and Astronomy News · Was The Xmas Star Real? ... Nasa To Harpoon Comets. Nasa is developing a harpoon capable of taking samples from comets. The space agency has already built a prototype capable of launching test harpoon tips across a distance of a mile (1.6km). The engineers believe it would be safer to collect comet material using the equipment rather than trying to land on the celestial bodies. Nasa said that the samples could reveal the origins of ... David Reneke | Space and Astronomy News

Astronomy news: NASA Mars Rover Finds Mineral Vein Deposited ... Portal astronomiczny i sklep z teleskopami - Astronomia - Astronomy portal and on-line store.Astronomy news: NASA Mars Rover Finds Mineral Vein Deposited by Water. Wiadomości astronomiczne teleskopy.net

NASA's RXTE detects 'heartbeat' of smallest black hole candidate An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a. Labspaces.net Latest News RSS News Feed

Nasa Loses Moonrocks | David Reneke | Space and Astronomy News After last year's case of a missing moon sample loaned to a Delaware astronomical observatory – which the astronomers there claimed they returned to NASA ... www.davidreneke.com/nasa-loses-moonrocks/

NASA developing comet harpoon for sample return | Astronomy ... Written by Administrator. Posted in News - Astronomy News. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Researchers want to send a spacecraft to rendezvous with a ... www.telescopesastronomy.com/.../nasa-developing-comet-har...

NASA - NASA's Fermi Shows That Tycho's Star Shines in Gamma ... NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration ... It's often called " Tycho's supernova" after the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who gained ... www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/tycho-star.html

NASA Scientists Build Harpoon to Shoot Comets - Yahoo! News News: Captain Ahab may have wanted to harpoon a giant white whale, but NASA has ... Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are designing a small .... Bill the astronomer looked up and noticed the 6 foot harpoon heading his way ... news.yahoo.com/nasa-scientists-build-harpoon-shoot-comets-1...

Space and Earth Sciences News :: NASA's RXTE detect 'heartbeat ... (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing ... news-about-space.org/astronomy-news/cluster12622506/

NASA Mars rover finds mineral vein deposited by ... - News Astronomy Space / Astronomy News and Articles. Blog ... 7, 2011) — NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, ... www.newsastronomy.com/.../13816-nasa-mars-rover-finds-mi...

NASA's Dawn Spirals Down To Lowest Orbit MessageToEagle.com - NASA's Dawn spacecraft successfully maneuvered into ... Home Space Astronomy News NASA's Dawn Spirals Down To Lowest Orbit ... www.messagetoeagle.com/.../789-nasas-dawn-spirals-down-to-...

Today's NASA Breaking News :ScienceLine NASA TAKES NEXT STEP IN DEVELOPING COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM Competitive Agreements Will Keep U.S. Commercial Space Program on Track ... www.scienceline.eu/...space/todays-nasa-breaking-news-188/

How long would it take NASA? - Astronomy Forums | Telescope Forums ... I'm writing a science fiction story, wondering how long would it take NASA to ... Join the AstronomyNewsletter FREE Articles, Event Updates, Astronomy News & More! ... Given it's lack of spaceshuttles, would it be easier to share with a country ... www.astronomyforum.net/.../124632-how-long-would-take-n...

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