Following up on this posting, how about an atlas of the universe?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.

Via Baen Books...Get writing!

Announcing the 2nd annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest!

Since its early days, science fiction has played a unique role in human civilization. It removes the limits of what "is" and shows us a boundless vista of what "might be." Its fearless heroes, spectacular technologies and wondrous futures have inspired many people to make science, technology and space flight a real part of their lives and in doing so, have often transformed these fictions into reality. The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 577 words, total size 4 kb.

Astronomers have detected a galaxy with arms that "wind" in the direction opposite of most galaxies. How...inconvenient!

Paging Halton Arp! Paging Halton Arp! Paging Halton Arp! Halton Arp to the white courtesy phone, please. It appears the universe is getting strange again. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 66 words, total size 1 kb.

Launched 1,255 days ago, the MESSENGER probe to Mercury has beamed back its first images of the iron planet. This is MESSENGER's first encounter with Mercury, a flyby only, but it should yield significant information.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 39 words, total size 1 kb.

Here's a pretty nifty graphic. A visual catalog of all (known!) objects in our solar system that are 200 miles or larger in size.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

A pretty nifty short CGI film that shows 2001: A Space Odyssey's Discovery. As the film progresses, you see the EVA pods, the flight deck and other interior details.

In other news...will Russian and the ESA be the first to explore Europa's surface?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 47 words, total size 1 kb.

Way back at the dawn of time (1977), Spider and Jeanne Robinson co-wrote (first) a award-winning novella and (then) a series of novels about life in space. The tales centered around a ballet dancer.

We've gotten a little bit closer to making that a reality!

Main site here. Samples of the books here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 12:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 57 words, total size 1 kb.

Amateur astronomer Sean Walker has produced an animated globe built up of images he has taken during the current close approach of the planet Mars. It is amazing what "amateur" astronomers are producing these days. This could rival shots from Hubble!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 47 words, total size 1 kb.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a montage of pictures taken during the recent encounter between Jupiter and the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft. Are we seeing a 2001 moment or what?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 38 words, total size 1 kb.

Via the recently-launched io9 site, tips for organizing your living space...in space!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 18 words, total size 1 kb.

A contemporary look on the discovery of the planet (yes, planet) Pluto. One of my favorite books as a kid was a biography of Clyde Tombaugh that Scholastic Books had published. My first "science hero"!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 45 words, total size 1 kb.