It's a Big Universe

Today's post is a little bit of a cope out. I saw this video on another blog that I follow and just had to share it, if you haven't seen it already. It's the Known Universe, as mapped so far. Amazing, props to Leviuqse.

In some sadder news, the Space Shuttle Discovery's last flight is scheduled to take place on February 24 at 16:50 (4:50PM) Eastern time. It's been plagued with delays because of external tank problems. We don't need the tank blowing up on lift off. Hopefully all will go smoothly with this somber occasion and NASA can continue to look forward with new technology and new missions.

Now for the lighter side, CATURDAY!

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Posted in Caturday,Discovery,Universe 38 comments

A 'Family Portrait'

NASA's MESSENGER probe is on a mission to study Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun. A month from now, on March 17th, it will enter orbit around Mercury. This will be the first mission to orbit Mercury, and will be the first time that we get some Hi-Res maps of the entire globe. We will be learning about a brand new planetary surface. MESSENGER has already done a few fly-bys of Mercury, with some stunning and revealing results.

On its long and epic journey their though, MESSENGER would look back out into space, taking images. What it came up with was a family portrait of our solar system.

Click to Enlarge. Credit: NASA

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Posted in Carl Sagan,MESSENGER,Solar System 32 comments

Friday Gizmo 2/18/11

So last week I mentioned the NoteSlate as being a totally awesome object that one day I hope to own. I also said I would try to find an awesome gizmo every Friday, if I can, and just bring attention to it. Mostly just noting stuff that I want.

This week, we have the U-Socket. Another awesome piece of technology that I am wondering what took so long to develop. Look at this thing, it is an outlet WITH USB SOCKETS! Talk about fricken convenience. I know everyone has wall outlets, and not enough USB ports on their computers. No longer are you constrained to a computer to charge your phones, cameras, and MP3 players and whatever other gadget. One day I hope to have at least one of these outlets in every room of my house.

Another use is for all those wacky USB toys that exist, like the ones from ThinkGeek.com. You can put silly Christmas USB things near your tree rather then on your desk, and whatever else fills your fancy. And I guess its compatible with USB 3.0, so it won't go out of style anytime soon. Downside, I guess it's still patent pending, which doesn't mean much, but its still waiting on the final safety approval. I'll probably wait until I'm sure its safe to buy any. And you have to install it yourself, or get someone to do it. Not hard, just a pain, at least it comes with a manual for installation.

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Posted in Gadgets,Gizmos 6 comments

The Swedish Model

Sweden_Solar_System. That is just plain awesome. I wish the U.S. would do something like this. It would almost be worthy of an epic road trip.

In other news, today is a pretty nice day. I've been enjoying it, since we will be hit by coronal mass ejection (CME) late today (the 17th). A geomagnetic bomb that will destroy everything in a blast of subatomic particles... or not really. It should make for some awesome aurora for the northern brothers though. And probably people near the south pole too, the researchers in Antarctica. More on it at SpaceWeather.com and Bad Astronomy.

And actually, consulting the NOAA Auroral Activity site, auroras could be visible just on the northern horizon from my location. I'll have to go take a look. I suggest looking at the site to see where you are in relation to the activity.

*UPDATE* It was cloudy when I went out tonight, so no aurora here. I would love to hear if anyone does get to see it. I have never seen them myself that I can remember. But I did get an award and a pin from the astronomical society and the Night Sky Network for all my outreach help, recognition is always good. Since the NSN is a part of NASA, its like a thank you from NASA.

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Posted in Aurora,Solar System 27 comments

So You Want To Buy A Telescope.

Maybe you have been reading astronomy blogs and visiting various astronomy sites and checking out the latest Hubble pictures and have thought to yourself, 'Man, astronomy is awesome, space is awesome! I want a telescope, I want to see and learn more about the Universe I live in.' Great, and congratulations, the Universe is a very wonderful and beautiful place. A telescope is a wonderful tool for looking at the wonders of space.

That said, the best initial advice is: Do NOT Buy A Telescope!

Not yet at least. First, like all good purchases, you need to do some homework. You shouldn't just walk into your local department store and throw down less then $100 on a crappy refractor. You can, but it will probably just break after a couple uses and have poor visual quality and ultimately leave you with a disappointed experience. You probably want to get the best experience that you can out of your telescope, so you have to determine what you are going to use it for and learn a bit about the night sky. (More after my first attempt at using a jump break.)

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Posted in Astronomy,Telescopes 22 comments