Solar Eclipse opportunities for 2010

Will you be near one? unlikely for the total solar ecclipse opportunity unless you happen to have a Yacht in the South Pacific Ocean on December 21st 2010

Read more: http://bit.ly/6B39TT

Russia wants to build Asteroid Deflector Craft to protect Planet Earth

Apophis is a Near Earth Object (NEO) or in other words a potential planet wrecker worse than many Hiroshimas or Chenobyls, which apparently no space agency is currently tasked with preventing from hitting our planet.

NASA hasn't even been allocated a ring fenced budget for discovering and monitoring NEOs and instead the administration is left to figure out on its own how to fund the search and still maintain all of the other scientific and exploration programs it is mandated to carry out.

So the Russian Space Agency appears to be making the first bold move to propose a NEO mission to learn how to deflect the orbit of these menancing objects and stave off mass destruction, which may or may not come from Apophis.

Read more: http://bit.ly/6FqBuE

Venus Plunger or NEO/Lunar Polar Fetcher?

NASA has whittled down its next mission to another Solar System body to three potential candidates:

1) The Surface and Atmosphere Geochemical Explorer or SAGE

2) The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer spacecraft or Osiris-Rex

3) Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission, or Moonrise

Each proposed mission development team will recieve $3.3M to flesh out their proposals and one will be selected in 2011 for the budgeted $650M space mission scheduled to launch no later than 2018.

Personally I would like to see a new mission to Venus, since Moon and NEO are likely to receive scientific funding via the human spaceflight program if Augustine's Flexible Path set of missions is implemented by the Obama administration as an alternative to the current severely under funded Moon then Mars Constellation program.

Read more: http://bit.ly/4ySwTu

Flat bottomed valleys of the Uranus moon Ariel

In 1986 Voyager 2 took images of this Uranus satellite and it was found to exhibits flat profiled valleys which are characteristics of expanding surface crust when compared to similar geological features on Earth.

Due to it being the southern hemispheres summer during the Voyager 2 flyby only the bottom of Ariel could be imaged. However, later on it was discovered that due to sunlight reflected from Uranus's surface, some features of the northern hemisphere could be discerned with more analysis of the Voyager 2 data.

Read more: http://bit.ly/7h0oQ9

A change in opinion on the origins of Galactic Cosmic Rays

Galactic Cosmic Rays are defined as ones which have energies below 1x10^18 eV and they are made up of ions and electrons travelling close to the speed of light. In the past it was believed that Supernova remnants were the likely source of Galactic Cosmic Rays.

But now some scientists are doubting whether there is sufficient occurrences of Supernova within our own Milky Way Galaxy to account for the relentless bombardment from all directions and are turning to extragalactic regions which contain clusters of stars with the potential to go Supernova.

Read more: http://bit.ly/8a3voO

Partially Eclipsed Blue Moon for New Year's Eve

A Blue Moon in astronomical terms is where a Full Moon occurs twice within the same month.

On News Year Eve this Blue Moon will also appear slightly red in Eastern Longitudes due to a partial Eclipse, which means the Earth will come between the Sun and Moon blocking off some of the sunlight getting to the Moon, making it appear dimmer and slightly red.

Read more: http://bit.ly/7KgJwv

From Earth to the Edge of Space and Time and Back Again

From Earth to the Edge of Space and Time and Back Again http://j.mp/6dPeEs

Download the WISE Space mission 2 page PDF fact sheet

Mission overview for the Wide Angle Infrared Survey Explorer http://j.mp/8OuxEO

Watch WISE launch live via Spacevidcast or Spaceflight Now

The Wide-Angle Infrared Survey Explorer is scheduled to launch from the Vanderberg Air force Base in Pasadena, California today between 14:09hrs and 14:23hrs GMT/UTC.  WISE will look for dim objects that have yet to be discovered and map their location for further investigation by more analytical space missions in the future. http://j.mp/PUdak

Hard to imagine that there is a man-made object orbiting that oval speck to the right of the Moon

Image of the Moon up close alongside a distinct but distant Saturn and it's Rings which currently has the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around it. http://bit.ly/4oL6X2

Simulated Explanation for Norwegian Spiral Light Show

Animated simulation of the expected fuel/exhaust plume from a spiralling rocket http://bit.ly/73Ae5P

Red Dwarf Star found in the Great Bear

Ursa Major, the Great Bear, the Big Dipper, the Saucepan or whatever you would like to call it, just got a new star allocated to it, its invisible to our eyes so they will not have to change any constellation maps for which is one of the most recognisable objects in the night sky http://bit.ly/8XMzWt

Press bowled over by Virgin Galactic SS2 launch......almost literally!

Mojavewood Virgin Galactic SS2 event tent demolished by storm minutes after evacuation http://bit.ly/7RVLuS

Saturn's Flying Saucer shaped Moon Atlas

Dust deposits originating from Saturn's rings which have built up around Atlas' equatorial region gives it a distinct UFO appearance http://bit.ly/6n5qBm

Caught between a Neutron Star and a Black Hole

A new class of star has been predicted by Astrophysicists called an Electroweak Star http://bit.ly/7jMnJr

Mystery of Spiral in the Sky over Norway resolved

A combination of halos generated by the early morning sun rise and a failed missile launch from a Russian submarine appear to be the cause of the mysterious UFO over Norwegian skies http://bit.ly/4ptmeS

Strange Spiralling Light observed by many in Norway

Was it a tiny Black Hole, Worm Hole or a UFO? http://bit.ly/7vEOtL

Insight into the Man behind Virgin Galactic

Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to launching major new enterprises and Virgin Galactic is arguably the boldest of them all, which may turn out to be the one he is most remembered for http://bit.ly/82pcKu

Prospects for Mars Rover Spirit Escape are looking Bleak

Attempts to free Spirit will now be hampered further since another drive wheel appears to have failed.  This addition problem which reduces the available traction already compromised by a previous wheel failure earlier in the mission, will make it even more difficult to extricate the rover from its sand trap. http://bit.ly/52Drm2

Discovery Space News interviews Meteorwatch Organiser

Dr Ian O'Neil of Discovery Space News interviews Adrian West of the Newbury Astronomical Society about the upcoming Geminids Meteorwatch and his use of twitter to promote awareness of the event around the world http://bit.ly/6c6wHy

Change to Endeavour STS130 move date from Orbiter Processing Facility to the VAB

Due to an approaching storm, the move of Space Shuttle Endeavour from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) has been brought forward one day.  Endeavour's STS130 mission is currently scheduled to launch on the 4th February 2010 http://bit.ly/7SyOKz

Cassini spots Saturn hexagon cloud formation

Cassini spots Saturn hexagon cloud formation, not seen since the Voyager missions, only just revealed due to the commencement of northern springtime http://bit.ly/5i3LyF

What Drugs Are Our Astronauts On?

Certainly not the recreational ones it would appear http://bit.ly/6LPAqc

A much cooler Extrasolar Planet has been photographed

Positively tropical at a cool 326 degC and at a distance equivalent to Neptune's distance from the Sun, this Exoplanet is in its formation stage and the heat is generated from the gravitational crushing. http://bit.ly/7oxQZd

What would it look like to view Saturn like Rings here on Earth?

Fascinating imagining of what Rings would look like from various latitudes on the Earth's surface during night and day.

Similar to when the Moon is visible, such a large dominant Ring System omnipresent in the night sky (unless you're at the North or South Pole) would create a lot of light pollution due to Sun's illumination, so the trade off would be very poor star-gazing for astronomers. http://bit.ly/6kiHHv

Image Of Saturn System Moon Dione

Cassini discovered that the bright lines on Dione were fresh surface fractures rather than fresh volcanic flows which was suggested by the Voyager science team http://bit.ly/58QTR6

What is inside Asteroid Mathilde?

The internal structure of Mathilde has a density slightly greater than that of water, so what is making this asteroid so lightweight, is it large empty voids, porous rock or something else that is creating such a low overall density. http://bit.ly/7aIwB2

Making the case to go back to Europa

How the surface of Europa formed still remains a mystery despite it being a focus on the relativley recent Galileo mission to Jupiter. http://bit.ly/6DNqAb

New Zealander's Commercial Rocket makes it into Space!

No luck yet with finding the 2nd stage with the payload, but the 1st stage was retrieved and they have a bunch of telemetry data to analyse http://bit.ly/6yQOh4

Riddick on Earth looking for Planetary Locations for his next Chronicle

Vin is off to New Zealand to scout for new locations for the third installment of Riddick, I wonder if Hobbiton is on the list http://bit.ly/5RAToR

Are these the Ten Worst SciFi Movies of the Last Ten Years

Should, The Chronicles of Riddick, Mission to Mars, Red Planet and Star Wars - Attack of the Clones, really be on this list?  Not perfect I would have to admit but what SciFi is. http://bit.ly/5hgo82

Star Trek's Forgotten Pilot from the Original Roddenberry Series

This recently found lost pilot of the original Star Trek series is said to be the version that convinced TV executives to go ahead with the series following their rejection of the first pilot The Cage which was considered too heavy going and casted a woman in a senior role.  There was also issues with Spock's satanic looking pointy ears.  This alternative pilot features different theme music, is broken down into Acts and has longer action sequences http://j.mp/4zoOmp

Join The Planetary Society today and receive latest edition of The Planetary Report featuring new LightSail project

Started by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman, the Planetary Society was formed in 1980 to engage more of the public in Solar System exploration.  Now a major influencer within the space exploration community, the society utilises part of its membership funds to undertake citizen funded programs such as the search for Exoplanets or the development of new technologies for future space missions. http://j.mp/7WGhTe

Mars Rover Spirit makes another atempt to free itself

Another carefully planned maneuver was executed on the 28th Nov 09 to extricate Spirit, but it ended with another wheel stall. This JPL post shows a brief animation of the wheelspin. Since starting the extrication process, Spirit has progressed a total of 16mm in the forward direction http://bit.ly/8TkIQ6

Naked Quasars and their Galaxy forming Ray Guns

The long debate over what forms first; a Black Hole or a Galaxy, maybe closer to being resolved following observations of a Quasar that has no host Galaxy.  Jets emanating from the Quasar can be seen firing out to a neighbouring Galaxy suggesting they are stimulating stellar formation. http://j.mp/7ZIAxk

Memorials in Space

For those of you interested in finding out more about whats behind the New Zealand rocket memorial messages, Celestis are one of the collaborators http://j.mp/8tv4ML

Launch into Space with messages for the deceased

New Zealand based company Rocket Lab successfully launched their first rocket from Great Mercury island into Space carrying a payload of 23,000 messages to deceased family relations. http://bit.ly/8zY6ED

The greatest apocalyptic robot movie you will see all day

Apparently this 5 minute short cost $500 to make and the director Fede Alvarez has been offered the opportunity to direct a movie based on it http://bit.ly/7F9GZh