BBC has a description of how the new space telescope sees so far back in time, plus a comparison with Hubble. Remarkable increase in sharpness. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62122859
The hunt for a potential ‘Planet 9’ by Shannon Stirone over on Longreads is a fascinating story of dogged, patient detective work. Learning from each failure and persisting is the theme of this story set in the other worldly landscape on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy, located at Hale […]
This is a cool project to do when the kids are a bit older: The resolution of a telescope’s images depends both on the wavelength at which it operates and on the diameter of its dish. The longer the wavelength, the worse the resolution; and the larger the diameter, the better the resolution. Radio waves […]
Wow: Astronomers think that 16 Psyche is the exposed core of a full planet that didn’t make it all the way, and we’re itching to know more about it. NASA will be sending a probe to check it out in the next few years, and in the meantime, scientists are working to glean what they […]
Amazing detail in this tour of asteroid Bennu courtesy of NASA and the OSIRIX-REX probe:
RTE reports that Nokia have been selected to build the first mobile network on the Moon. Not sure if your roaming package covers that one yet. The lunar network will be part of the US space agency’s efforts to return humans to the moon by 2024 and build long-term settlements there under its Artemis programme. […]
The kids will love this, really hope it gets launched: The aim of the Gateway programme is to open up the moon to scientific scrutiny in the same way that Antarctica was opened up in the second half of the last century. “The moon is like an eighth continent,” Parker said. “It’s an astronomical museum […]
Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to have been recently active – and probably still are today – painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world as long thought. The research focused on ring-like structures called coronae, caused by an upwelling of hot rock from deep […]
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/29/apollo-13-how-teamwork-and-tenacity-turned-disaster-into-triumph In approaching this crisis, their delegation of authority and deference to expertise is almost total. In the face of high-stakes scenarios, it is tempting to wrest control from more junior colleagues. But in 1970 the approach of mission control was quite different. They empowered their most junior team members, giving them total ownership of […]
