DSCOVR Images The Far Side of the Moon As It Passes In Front Of The Earth
As discussed previously, NASA's DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) spacecraft has been observing the Sun and Earth from the Earth-Sun L1 point since early June. Orbiting the Sun at this special gravitational balancing point, the probe can stay directly between the Earth and Sun throughout Earth's orbit, giving it a constant view . . .
Pluto Is A More Diverse and Evolving World Than We Ever Imagined -- So What?
Over the course of several posts since New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto on 14 July, I've been trying to keep up with the avalanche of revelations about Pluto produced by the spacecraft's science team, based on just the initial trickle of data that's been returned to us. The overarching theme has been how complex and . . .
Towering Haze, Flowing Volatile Ices On Pluto
Now 20 days after New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto, the science team has been treating us to one tantalizing revelation after another, and Friday's press conference was no different. With only 5% of the fly-by's data down from the spacecraft, Alan Stern and his co-investigators reported that the activity on Pluto's . . .
Meet Kepler 452b
A Potentially Habitable Earth-like World
On a teleconference Thursday, members of the Kepler space observatory team announced the discovery of Kepler 452b, an Earth-like planet that orbits a Sun-like star in its habitable zone, some 1,400 light years away in the constellation Cygnus.
Artist's concept of Kepler 452b, a new Earth-like exoplanet confirmed on . . .
Mapping Pluto
What We (Think We) Know So Far
Only a few high resolution frames have so far emerged from New Horizons' 14 July fly-by of Pluto, and they've already answered dozens of questions and raised hundreds more. A press conference featuring the science team is scheduled for 2 pm EDT on Friday, but until then I thought it'd be a good exercise to break down the terrain . . .
DSCOVR Returns First Full Image of Sunlit Earth
The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 back in February, the first SpaceX launch destined for somewhere beyond Earth orbit. To be precise, DSCOVR was bound for the Earth-Sun L1 point, one of a series of Lagrangian points. Every orbit has Lagrangian points, which are defined by special . . .
Charon Looks A Lot Like An Old Friend
Despite earlier indications that we'd have to wait until Friday for the tantalizing data coming down from New Horizons' close approach phase, the team did tease us with a new LORRI frame via Twitter. Like Wednesday's image, it brings out stunning details in a previously imaged region, but this time Charon is the target:
. . .Cover image credit: http://jleslie48.com/0206pr/saturn5allclean2.jpg
