This Week in History: August 2-8
AUGUST 3, 1963: U.S. Government sensors detect an airburst explosion near the Prince Edward Islands off the southern coast of South Africa. At first it was thought that this was caused by a clandestine nuclear device tested by that nation, but later study revealed that it was caused by an incoming small stony asteroid. Airburst …
Comet of the Week: 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko
Perihelion: 2015 August 13.08, q = 1.243 AU There have been a handful of occasions throughout recent history when someone has discovered a comet while looking for, or examining, another one. Such an incident happened in late 1969 in the former Soviet Union, when on September 11 Svetlana Gerasimenko with the Alma Ata Observatory (in …
Special Topic: Life in Martian Meteorites?
The question as to whether or not we are alone in the universe has fascinated humanity throughout most of its history. In addition to driving many of our mythologies and stories, it has also motivated many of us, myself included, to pursue sciences like astronomy in the first place. The unambiguous discovery that life has …
This Week in History: July 26-August 1
JULY 28, 2014: The Pan-STARRS program in Hawaii discovers the centaur designated as 2014 OG392; it has an orbital period of 42.8 years and will pass perihelion in November 2021 at a heliocentric distance of 10.0 AU. An observational analysis published earlier this year indicates sustained cometary activity, however, this report was published too late …
Comet of the Week: NEOWISE C/2020 F3
Perihelion: 2020 July 3.68, q = 0.295 AU For the second time during the course of “Ice and Stone 2020” I have found it appropriate to swap out my originally intended “Comet of the Week” for a comet currently appearing in our skies. For the past three weeks, Comet NEOWISE has been putting on a …
Special Topic: Terrestrial Impact Craters
The “Special Topics” presentation six weeks ago on “Lunar and Planetary Impacts” discussed how the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei noticed craters on the moon the first time he turned his recently-made primitive telescope towards that object. Indeed, almost any kind of optical aid, be this in the form of binoculars or a small telescope, will …
All About Mars
The planet Mars is probably the most studied planet, other than Earth, in our solar system. Like Earth, Mars is a terrestrial planet, as opposed to a gas planet like Jupiter for example. Mars is often referred to as the Red Planet, due to the brownish-red color of its surface caused by iron oxide in …
Gazing upon Mars
Throughout our exclusive Mars 2020 Exploration Mission Guide, we included a number of images of Mars captured by the plethora of orbiters, landers and rovers that the nations of Earth have sent to study the planet. Here we are including a large selection of those images. Many of the images are false-color or otherwise enhanced …
Mars 2020 Mission Overview
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is NASA’s next mission to Mars as well as being the most complex and scientifically advanced robotic mission sent to the Red Planet. The $2.4 Billion Mars Perseverance rover is a flagship mission dedicated to the search for signs of life beyond Earth, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, …
Building for Mars
The planning and construction of a new space mission is a multi-year process by both the space agency itself and a large number of other contractors working on the spacecraft’s hardware and software, to the rocket launching the interplanetary probe toward its target. Here we’ve assembled a gallery of the Mars 2020 rover and helicopter throughout …