Artist Conception – NerdBeach

2011 Favorite Space Photos – Saturn Storm

Saturn Storm Image Captured by Cassini Spacecraft credit NASA/JPL

It was in late 2010 that an amateur astronomer happened to notice something on Saturn that did not seem to fit – an odd white spot that was growing in size. Through more monitoring and research, it was determined to be a storm that was soon larger than the Earth. In February 2011 the Cassini spacecraft circling Saturn was able to snap a picture of the disturbance, which by then had encircled the planet. The length at that time was estimated to be 180,000 miles (300,000 km) – or in other words, 3/4 the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

False Color image of Saturn Storm credit NASA/JPL

The image above shows the storm in false coloring for details. Comprised of 84 separate images, the color scheme is as follows: red is the deepest, yellow/green is the middle, and blue/white is the highest.

Artist Conception of Cassini Spacecraft in Orbit credit NASA/JPL

Since that time, the Saturn storm has died down, but at its peak the storm's surface area was over 8 times that of the Earth (We have a video of the storm on NerdBeach). It's enough to make you question travel plans to Saturn anytime soon. But one of the cool things about the storm – it was spotted by an amateur astronomer first, which goes to show that practically anyone can contribute to the ongoing exploration of our galaxy. It is also the subject of one of our favorite space photos for 2011.

Cassini–Huygens

Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI spacecraft mission studying the planet Saturn and its many natural satellites since 2004. Launched in 1997 after nearly two decades of gestation, it includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan, although it has also returned data on a wide variety of other things including the Heliosphere, Jupiter, and relativity tests. The Titan probe, Huygens, entered and landed on Titan in 2005. The current end of mission plan is a 2017 Saturn impact.

source:wikipedia

Ultraviolet View of a Solar Flare

Greg Chaffins

Ultraviolet View of Solar Flare credit NASA

The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory caught a solar flare in August, 2011, and the image is almost beautiful when viewed in Ultraviolet. It's easy to see how active and dynamic our Sun is when viewed this way. Swirls of energy give way to flares that throw off subatomic particles, wrecking havoc with our own magnetic field.

Artist Conception of the NASA Solar Dynamics Obversity credit NASA

While usually the impact from solar flares are minimal, they did knock out the power grid in Quebec in March 1989. When you consider the impact they can have on objects not protected by our atmosphere, such as GPS and communications satellites, it becomes clear why we should monitor the sun and brace for any extreme flares that we can predict. Our technological lives may depend on it.

Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission which will observe the Sun for over five years.[3] Launched on February 11, 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star (LWS) program.[4] The goal of the LWS program is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun–Earth system that directly affect life and society.

source:wikipedia

Has NASA Found Irrefutable Proof of Water on Mars?

Greg Chaffins

Artist Conception of NASA Rover on Mars

We have looked for proof of water on Mars before, but now NASA claims to have discovered "bullet proof evidence". The proof was discovered by the Opportunity Rover, and it comes in the form of a small mineral vein.

Only 18 inches long, the vein could be proof of water on Mars credit NASA

The vein was named "Homestake", and it was really an amazing find. Measuring only 18 inches long and about an inch wide, composition reports put it as consisting of calcium and sulfur, otherwise known as gypsum. According to Steve Squyres, Mars Exploration principal investigator at Cornell University,

There was a fracture in the rock, water flowed through it, gypsum was precipitated from the water. End of story. There's no ambiguity about this, and this is what makes it so cool

The find is not only exciting because of its physical formation (gypsum had previously been detected on Mars from space), but that gypsum could have also formed in less acidic conditions than those currently found on Mars. Less acidity increases the chances for finding life.

If there is anything to take away from this, it is that the Red Planet still has a lot of secrets to be discovered. While it's doubtful that it will be of the "Martian" variety, such discoveries may be even more earth shaking over the long term.

Opportunity Rover

Opportunity, MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B), is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Launched from Earth on 7 July 2003, it landed on the Martian Meridiani Planum on 25 January 2004 at 05:05 Ground UTC (about 13:15 local time), three weeks after its twin Spirit (MER-A) touched down on the other side of the planet

source:wikipedia