McDonald Observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, has posted this excellent video on light pollution. They have more information posted at http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/darkskies/, or you can read Urban Astronomer’s earlier post here: The Astronomer’s Enemy
Continue reading →Indian scientists analysing data from the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter have identified geological features on the moon which may provide a perfect location for a future moon base. Any manned base on the Moon is exposed to very harsh conditions: Extreme variations of temperature, high levels of radiation from the Sun, cosmic rays and gamma radiation from distant high-energy astronomical objects, and the constant bombardment of micrometeorites present considerable health and safety challenges. The simplest solution is to build the entire … Continue reading →
After seven years, Hayabusa has returned to earth, burning up in a fiery re-entry over Australia yesterday. While there was some doubt that final leg of Hayabusa’s epic journey would be successful, the sample capsule separated from the main spacecraft as planned, and has been found in the Australian outback (pictured left). Hayabusa suffered many failures of important navigational systems, leading to the homeward trip taking an extra three years. It was feared that the additional exposure to the harsh … Continue reading →
New work by Dr Harold Levinson and partners shows that many of the most famous comets may have originally been captured from other solar systems billions of years ago when the Sun was still escaping the nursery. Conventional theory states that most comets come from the Oort cloud, a huge spherical mass of debris left over from the formation of the solar system located out past the orbit of Neptune. A passing star’s gravity can nudge a body in the … Continue reading →
The Satellite Applications Centre (SAC), part of the CSIR, announced that South Africa’s Sumbandila microsatellite (SumbandilaSat) has been fully commissioned and is returning useful data from orbit. The satellite was launched last September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has suffered many difficulties between then and today’s announcement. Sumbandila, meaning “Lead the Way” in the Venda language, is part of the South African space programme and will serve as a research tool to investigate the viability of affordable space … Continue reading →
