Category Archives: News and Updates

News about Astronomy and Space Science. Find every news item and update here, in blog format. You can get these updates sent straight to your mailbox by subscribing here, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the link.

7 June Solar Eruption

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At about 7:00 this morning (UT), solar observers saw an awe-inspiring prominence eruption that beggars belief.  Before I say anything, watch the video footage below: Just… wow, just look at the scale of that thing!  Consider that, if the Earth were placed against the surface of the Sun in this footage, It would be small enough to get lost amongst the detail.  Consider that even though the material blasted up is thinner and less substantial than the vacuum inside a … Continue reading →

A new arrival

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I have a personal announcement to make:  Saturday night, at about half past ten in the evening, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.  Young Victor came home last night, and has managed to completely destroy the family routine simply by existing!  This is normal, of course, as any parent can attest, and none of the adults in the house are surprised by the lack of sleep, or chaotic behaviour from the two older girls.  But it has … Continue reading →

A Farewell to Spirit

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It is official:  The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is dead.  After ten months of attempting to make contact with the rover, NASA Engineers sent a final signal two days ago on 24 May, giving it one final chance to respond.  Spirit, which was designed to last for only three months, landed on Mars on 3 January 2004 and went on to astonish its operators by providing six full years of successful operation, returning reams of useful scientific data.   Spirits … Continue reading →

Youngest astronomer

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Last night my three year old daughter pulled her usual bedtime delaying tactic:  Ask daddy to show her some pictures of the Moon.  One quick google images search later, I have a screen full of Moon and Moon-related images.  She points to an image of an Apollo Lunar Module, preparing to descend to the lunar surface from orbit and says “Look Daddy!  There’s a man walking on the Moon!”  Which is pretty impressive for somebody who can’t yet read.  We … Continue reading →

Wandering Worlds – updated

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A few days ago I wrote about some interesting work which suggests that there are more free planets — planets which simply drift through space — than there are planets orbiting stars.  I neglected to make any comment on the scientists themselves, as I have only now learned their names and seen a copy of the paper.  From arXiv.org, here is the list of authors, a link to their paper, and the abstract: T. Sumi, K. Kamiya, A. Udalski, D.P. … Continue reading →