Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Video: Weekly Space Hangout with Special Guest Alan Stern

If you missed it live, here’s the replay of this week’s Space Hangout. And don’t forget, on Friday, Feb. 17 at 18:00 UTC (1 pm EST, 10 am PST) I’ll be interviewing astronomer and Pluto killer (@Plutokiller) Mike Brown. To watch the Hangout on Air, circle Fraser on Google+ and watch his feed for the link to the Hangout. There you can join in on the conversation and post your questions for Mike by posting comments on the feed.

If you aren’t on Google+, you can also watch it live on the CosmoQuest Hangouts page, where there is also a place to post comments and questions. And we’ll also try to have a live feed on Universe Today. Just look for a video player in the upper right hand corner of the site and click the ‘play’ button. If you can’t watch live, we’ll post a recording of the Hangout later on UT, just like the one above.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Behind the Scenes at the Keck Telescope

Who knew there were so many moving parts to operate a telescope? This is a great behind the scenes video of what really takes place up at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. About 125 people work full-time at the Keck Observatory to operate the two ten-meter telescopes. The intricate fine-tuning and elaborate attention to detail is amazing. “Keeping those telescopes on-sky every night is the summit crew of the Operations Department. This video is dedicated to the guys of the Keck daycrew who make it possible,” wrote Keck engineer Andrew Cooper, who compiled this unique and must-watch video. He details the techniques he used at his Vimeo page for this video.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Live Hangout Interview with Rover Driver Scott Maxwell

It was history in the making: Our first live interview via a Google+ Hangout On Air! We talked with Mars rover driver Scott Maxwell, and he told us about the plans for the Opportunity rover’s upcoming winter, we took a look back at the 8 years of the MER on Mars, and looked ahead to the Curiosity (MSL) rover mission, set to land in August this year. Thanks again to Scott for being a wonderful first live interviewee!

To watch these interviews live, circle Fraser and watch his feed for updates. If you’re not on Google+, you can still watch these episodes live. Today, we were able to have a live feed on the main page of Universe Today while the interview was taking place (it was on the upper right hand corner). But you can also visit the Cosmoquest Hangouts page and you’ll see them when they happen.

And I’ve got great news: Next Friday, February 17, we’ll have our second live interview with astronomer Mike Brown from Caltech. The interview will take place at 18:00 UT (1 pm EST, 12 noon CST, 10 am PST).

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Freaky Dancing Plasma on the Sun

Normally plasma from the Sun either shoots off into space or loops back on the Sun’s surface. But the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured some plasma that couldn’t make up its mind. Here, darker, cooler plasma slid and shifted back and forth above the Sun’s surface for 30 hours on February 7-8, 2012. The view is shown in extreme ultraviolet light. As a backdrop, an active region just rotating into view shows bright plasma gyrating into streams — normally how the plasma behaves. SDO scientists say the darker particles are being pulled back and forth by competing magnetic forces, tracking along strands of magnetic field lines.

And by the way, tomorrow is SDO’s 2nd anniversary! It launched two years ago on February 11, 2010. Happy anniversary, SDO and thanks for all the great videos and data so far! We wish you many more!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Newsreel Footage of Explorer 1

Here’s a blast from the past: 54 years ago on January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 was the first satellite sent into space by the United States. The U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was directed to launch a satellite following the Soviet Union’s successful Sputnik 1 launch on October 4, 1957. The 13-kg (30-pound) Explorerer satellite was launched by 3-stage Redstone missile. This newsreel footage also includes a famous scene where Werner von Braun and scientist James Van Allen lift a model of the satellite triumphantly above their heads.
Continue reading “Newsreel Footage of Explorer 1”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Solar Storm Sparks Stunning Aurora

The Earth-directed solar storm we alerted readers to this week has hit, with reports of auroral activity in Russia, Denmark, Scotland, England, and Norway. Helge Mortensen from Tromvik, Norway captured this stunning video. According to Spaceweather.com, the coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field at 0617 UT on Jan. 22nd.

There’s also a live aurora webcam you can watch via this link

Check out the likelihood of seeing aurorae where you live at the NOAA Auroral Activity webpage, which includes maps for both northern and southern hemispheres.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

5 Hours of Beautiful Comet Lovejoy in 30 Seconds

Colin Legg from Esperance, Australia has been documenting Comet Lovejoy’s holiday gift to the southern hemisphere, and this is his latest — and possibly last — timelapse, as the comet has started to fade. This one covers almost 5 hours of Legg’s Comet Lovejoy views as seen during the early morning hours of December 27, 2011. “I used a tracking device to track in azimuth only to maximize coverage,” Legg said. “If you look closely at the head in the 2nd half you can see it moving against the stars.”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Soyuz Rocket’s Comet-like Re-Entry Captured on Video

Part of the Soyuz rocket that brought the latest trio of crew members to the International Space Station fell back to Earth on Dec. 24, and its fiery re-entry was captured by several skywatchers in Europe. This footage taken from Germany is the best view of it, and there’s another good view below. Some people mistakenly thought it was a comet; and since this lightshow occurred on Christmas Eve, there were a few who suggested it might be Santa flying across the fly. That would have been bad news, however, to see debris breaking off the sleigh…

Additionally, there are reports that debris from the failed Soyuz rocket that was supposed to send a communications satellite into orbit fell and hit a house in Siberia. An animation of that event is also posted below. Continue reading “Soyuz Rocket’s Comet-like Re-Entry Captured on Video”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

New Symphony of Science Video: Onward to the Edge

The latest auto-tuned musical celebration of science is out in the “Symphony of Science” series. This one features Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, and Carolyn Porco and touches on the importance and inspirational qualities of space exploration (human and robotic), as well as a look at some of the amazing worlds in our solar system. This new video is the 12th installment in the series. See them all at SymphonyofScience.com

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Close-up Look at Jupiter in Opposition — and a Transiting Great Red Spot

Jupiter has been putting on quite a show in the night sky lately as it officially reached opposition on October 28, 2011, making it a target of many astrophotographers as the gas giant shows itself off big and bright in the night sky. This animation from amateur astronomer Leonard E. Mercer from Malta shows Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot moving across the surface of the mighty planet. Mercer captured a series of 12 images on the 27th and 28th (10pm – 2.00am. CET). Mercer used a C11 telescope and DMK 21 mono camera with RGB filters. “Conditions were very good!” he said.

Opposition means an the planet is directly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth, which also put it at its closest point to Earth in the two planets’ orbits around the Sun.