The “Air” Up There
- By Maggie Masetti
- November 7, 2014
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When NASA Goddard scientists Martin Cordiner and Conor Nixon took a look at the chemical make-up of the atmosphere of Titan using a millimeter wave telescope, what they found was surprising. Cordiner led an international team in a study of Saturn’s moon using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a … Continue Reading →
Anatomy of an Exosolar System
- By Jillian Brown
- August 3, 2012
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A good chunk of the exoplanets that we’ve detected so far are huge, Jupiter-sized and larger. A lot of them are orbiting their stars at very short distances – it might seem strange to think that planets bigger than Jupiter are orbiting their stars closer than Mercury orbits the Sun, … Continue Reading →
Awesomeness Round-Up – 7/27/2012
- By Alexe Helmke
- July 27, 2012
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Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Hubble captured this wonderful image that looks very much like an outer space firework explosion. Herbig-Haro 110 is a geyser of hot gas being blown away from a newborn star that ricochets off the dense core of a cloud of molecular … Continue Reading →
Observing the Sun to Learn About the Planets
- By Alexe Helmke
- July 2, 2012
- 1 Comment
We have had three rare celestial events in succession – an annular solar eclipse on May 20 (May 21 in the Eastern Hemisphere), a partial lunar eclipse on June 4, and a Transit of Venus on June 5/6. Credit: Shannon Hall Credit: Craig Markwardt The first image here is a … Continue Reading →
Awesomeness Round-Up – 1/4/12
- By Maggie Masetti
- January 4, 2012
- 2 Comments
There are gorgeous new images out from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Here, Saturn’s third-largest moon, Dione, can be seen through the haze of the planet’s largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings. There are more on the Cassini website. Credit: NASA
Awesomeness Round-Up – 8/8/2011
- By Faith Tucker
- August 9, 2011
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NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed new images that show some Martian slopes that change over the course of the Martian seasons. The scientists involved in the project think that best explanation for these seasonal changes would be the flow of salty water, much like our oceans. I wonder what … Continue Reading →
Awesomeness Round-up – 7/26/11
- By Maggie Masetti
- July 26, 2011
- 3 Comments
The James Webb Space Telescope has had a lot of recent milestones. All the primary mirror segments have been polished – and the secondary mirror has just been completed. You can read a NASA web feature all about what Webb’s secondary mirror does and why it’s important. (It’s quite large … Continue Reading →
Awesomeness Round-up – 4/19/11
- By Maggie Masetti
- April 19, 2011
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This stunning new image was taken of the first six James Webb Space Telescope flight mirrors were being prepped for cryo testing at Marshall Space Flight Center. You can read more about this mirror milestone in the NASA.com feature. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham
Awesomeness Round-up – 3/15/11
- By Maggie Masetti
- March 15, 2011
- 2 Comments
We’ll soon have some excitement when the ISIM (the structure that will hold the James Webb Space Telescope’s instruments) gets put on the giant centrifuge here at NASA Goddard! Read the release to find out more about why they going to spin the ISIM on a centrifuge! Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn … Continue Reading →
Podcast: Dust in the Interstellar Wind
- By Sara Mitchell
- November 17, 2009
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Click to listen! (5.2MB MP3, right-click to save) Transcript (Text, PDF) The makings of new planets lie in dusty, debris-filled disks rotating around stars, held in place and shaped by the influence of their host stars. But the dust, ice, and small bodies in these planet-forming disks also feel the … Continue Reading →