Blogging silence August 12, 2008
Posted by sarah in: me . Add a commentI’m off on holiday tomorrow to Turkey for 10 days so no blogging activity dear peoples. I’ll be having lots of fun and reading some good books so hopefully much to talk about when I get back 
NASA update on Phoenix findings August 6, 2008
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a commentThe internet is the perfect platform for rumours and conspiracy theories. Mars Phoenix mission team last weekend discovered first-hand just how powerful the internet rumour mill really is, when the story of a significant discovery regarding the “potential for life” on Mars spread like wildfire. One significant story that sparked it, or at least threw some oil onto the flames, was this piece on Aviation Week.
A good overview of the sequence of events is reported by Emily Lakdawalla on the Planetary Society Blog, the ‘Phoenix flap’ (excellent name!).
APOD: Cats Eye Nebula August 4, 2008
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a commentThe Astronomy Picture of the Day is really awsome today. It’s a composite image of the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC6543), combining optical images from the Hubble Space Telescope with X-rays detected with the X-ray mission Chandra.
X-Rays from the Cat's Eye Nebula Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI
The well-known Hubble composite image is already very beautiful but the addition of the X-ray data makes it really stunning.
NGC6543 is a great example of a planetary nebula: the central star is in its final death throes, becomes gravitationally unstable as it runs out of fuel to sustain the nuclear fusion reactions that have powered it throughout its lifetime. The star has ejected its gassy envelope, which is receding from it at 4 million miles an hour. The beautiful filamentary structure seen in the image is caused by powerful blast waves colliding with other material in the star’s surroundings. The scorching hot core left at the centre will continue collapsing further to become a white dwarf.
Water on Mars August 1, 2008
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a comment
If you follow science news, you most likely heard the news that the MarsPhoenix lander found water ice on Mars. Yay! You can read the official press release here, with some links to background about the mission and images.
After some troubles with getting the soil samples into the oven for analysis, it’s great news that not only a sample managed to be successfully collected but water was also found. Being involved in a space mission myself (the Mid-Infrared Instrument MIRI for the James Webb Space Telescope), I’m still amazed that we can get such sophisticated instrument into space – and they work! [On that note, an engineering model for MIRI is being tested in the UK right now, and once the exciting performance testing starts in late August, I'll hopefully be able to blog updates from the lab.]
MarsPhoenix II: Cat on Mars? August 1, 2008
Posted by sarah in: random . Add a commentSo while I was browsing the MarsPhoenix webpages for my next post I was very intrigued by the link to the Steve the Cat pages. some items on the page include:
- pictures of Steve the Cat photoshopped inside a space suit
- pictures of Steve the Cat in Mission control
- Steve the Cat looking through the window on board MarsPhoenix, thinking of planting asparagus on Mars
A quote:
Steve the Cat is a normal cat in many respects – he loves to eat, sleep, and chase his toy mouse. But beneath his calm, cool exterior lurks the wild soul of a frisky feline determined to redefine the cat world with his out-of-this-world perspectives on life, the Universe, and our place in it. Steve may very well be the next evolutionary step in house cats – Felis Beyondus.
Is this what the success of I Can Haz Cheeseburger has done to us? As a bit of a cat-lover I find the site very entertaining. But is this what we’re doing to get people interested in science now?!
Ah what the heck, I give in… It’s a cat! In a spacesuit!
