Wow! Today Curiosity has been on Mars for 1000 Sols!
I hope there is cake.
I hope there is cake.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Total eclipse 2015 - live from Svarlbard!
Svarlbard! Svarlbard! Svarlbard!
The total eclipse of 2015 was predicted to be a good one, with totality lasting longer than many due to the Moon being at perihelion at the time. However it was only making landfall on the Faroe Islands and Svarlbard. So you could travel to Svarlbard like Tim did, or you could watch the webcast in the warm comfort of your own home and play cards - like we did.
The Faroe Islands were clouded out, but fortunately the skies over Svarlbard were clear and the was a great stream coming from the local news station. We panicked a couple of times as the feed seemed to get overloaded and lag, but it cleared up in time and we got to see it all.
Not quite like being there, but pretty awesome anyway.
The total eclipse of 2015 was predicted to be a good one, with totality lasting longer than many due to the Moon being at perihelion at the time. However it was only making landfall on the Faroe Islands and Svarlbard. So you could travel to Svarlbard like Tim did, or you could watch the webcast in the warm comfort of your own home and play cards - like we did.
The Faroe Islands were clouded out, but fortunately the skies over Svarlbard were clear and the was a great stream coming from the local news station. We panicked a couple of times as the feed seemed to get overloaded and lag, but it cleared up in time and we got to see it all.
St Patricks Day Aurora Australis
I've always wanted to see an Aurora, and I still do.
Ón St. Patrick's day, 17 March 2015, a fairly big CME hit and caused awesome Aurora in the Northern Hemisphere - that much I was aware of - but then I discovered that we had unusually large effects down here in the Southern Hemisphere as well! Amazingly, there were sightings of the Aurora even in Goulburn - here's a link to a YouTube video taken early on the morning of the 18th.
I'm not sure how good the Aurora looked in Melbourne, because - of course - we had total cloud cover that night.
Typical...
Ón St. Patrick's day, 17 March 2015, a fairly big CME hit and caused awesome Aurora in the Northern Hemisphere - that much I was aware of - but then I discovered that we had unusually large effects down here in the Southern Hemisphere as well! Amazingly, there were sightings of the Aurora even in Goulburn - here's a link to a YouTube video taken early on the morning of the 18th.
I'm not sure how good the Aurora looked in Melbourne, because - of course - we had total cloud cover that night.
Typical...
Saturday, January 10, 2015
More comet joy...
So, another comet swings by...
Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 is putting on a show this weekend. Approaching a magnitude where it is nearly visible to the unaided eye not far from Aldebaran and Orion.
Or so I'm told. Melbourne is covered in cloud this entire week.
Typical.
Thpptt!
Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 is putting on a show this weekend. Approaching a magnitude where it is nearly visible to the unaided eye not far from Aldebaran and Orion.
Or so I'm told. Melbourne is covered in cloud this entire week.
Typical.
Thpptt!
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Busy space days
So, the Japanese launched Hayabusa 2 yesterday, NASA tried to launch Orion for its first unmanned flight today (but it was scrubbed for 24 hours due to a valve issue) and on Saturday the probe New Horizons is going to be woken out of hibernation as it closes in on former planet Pluto.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Catching a comet
They did it! Philae touched down (and then again, and then again) on 67P at a bit after 3am AEST Nov 12, '14.
Awesome... totally awesome.
So how big is 67P? Well, here it is delicately placed on central Los Angeles...
Philae landed somewhere in that crater on the right of the comet.
The ESA twitter accounts have included the following cartoons with their count-down to the big day. Adorable.
I'm loving the new wave in science communication. Using social media and making it fun and accessible. Showing these pictures made it so much easier and more interesting to share the excitement of the acheivement with the kids at home.
The landing wasn't quite as smooth as depicted. Reports now say that Philea landed, bounced a kilometer high, landed and bounced 20m high, and landed and bounced one last time. It seems to have ended up about 1km away from the intial landing point (which was hit squarely, impressive!), and is resting against a crater wall or a boulder or something with one leg up in the air. The harpoons didn't fire, the screws didn't dig in and the top jet was already faulty.
Little Philae ended up in the shadowy side of a crater, it looks like, and is only getting about 1.5 hours of sunlight on its panels per day - so it looks like it might slow down the experiments and readings it can take.
But, it is on the comet, it is doing science and it is returning data - so that counts as an incredible success for ESA. A very cool moment for science.
Final words go to the final panel in the XKCD 142 panel extravaganza that covered the preparation and landing phase...
Awesome... totally awesome.
So how big is 67P? Well, here it is delicately placed on central Los Angeles...
 |
| (Grabbed image off twitter, lost track of source. Sorry!) |
The ESA twitter accounts have included the following cartoons with their count-down to the big day. Adorable.
I'm loving the new wave in science communication. Using social media and making it fun and accessible. Showing these pictures made it so much easier and more interesting to share the excitement of the acheivement with the kids at home.
The landing wasn't quite as smooth as depicted. Reports now say that Philea landed, bounced a kilometer high, landed and bounced 20m high, and landed and bounced one last time. It seems to have ended up about 1km away from the intial landing point (which was hit squarely, impressive!), and is resting against a crater wall or a boulder or something with one leg up in the air. The harpoons didn't fire, the screws didn't dig in and the top jet was already faulty.
 |
| This didn't happen. |
But, it is on the comet, it is doing science and it is returning data - so that counts as an incredible success for ESA. A very cool moment for science.
Final words go to the final panel in the XKCD 142 panel extravaganza that covered the preparation and landing phase...
 |
| XKCD |
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
All go!
Philae has got the Go on all systems, although the small cold gas thruster is reporting trouble. So they're pinning hope on the harpoons to secure it down.
Philae had been released and is drifting down at a walking pace. Less than 2 hours until we know! Its about 1am here and I'm not able to make it to the live landing... I'll have to catch up tomorrow.
Good night, Philae! Safe journey!
Philae had been released and is drifting down at a walking pace. Less than 2 hours until we know! Its about 1am here and I'm not able to make it to the live landing... I'll have to catch up tomorrow.
Good night, Philae! Safe journey!
 |
| (Adorable cartoons from ESA twitter) |
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