What I learned today: apparently volcanoes can puff smoke rings
These were “puffed” by Mount Etna in 2000. Apparently, she recently did it again.
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Tag: planetary science
April 4, 2013
What if the moon was one of the other planets in the solar system? What would it look like?
Pretty freaking cool actually…
The moon
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
By Ron Miller, via My Modern Met.
January 10, 2013
This has to be the coolest memo pad I’ve ever seen: Topographically accurate too.
“A memo pad that looks as if it has been cut directly out of the earth’s crust. The earth’s surface seems to be whittled away as the pages of the pad are used, and the pattern of the geographical features and the coastal lines changes. A memo pad that lets you enjoy the same kind of sensation you get from diving down into the ocean.”
Available from geografia. Via Stacy Thinx.
December 4, 2012
Sciencegeek Advent Calendar Extravaganza! – Day 4
SANTA AND THE MOON
Peter Barthel, Communicating Astronomy to the Public, May 2012, (12) p13 – 15.
Link to journal | link to arxiv abstract | link to pdf
Rare example of Christmas media showing an astronomically correct moon.
“We have established that illustrators and designers draw moons ad libitum, according to their taste, but often physically incorrect. The most common mistake is the early morning waning moon shown in an evening scene. Our research focussed on Sinterklaas, Santa Claus, and Christmas scenes, with a short side trip to Sint Maarten and Halloween. The apparent lack of knowledge concerning the physics of the moon phases is most likely widespread and not just limited to the countries examined here. Further investigations are however outside the scope of the present research.”
(see more of Popperfont’s Sciencegeek Advent Calendar Extravanganza here)
November 28, 2012
Best Moon Related YouTube Comment Ever…
Hilarious.
Source Unknown.
November 25, 2012
This here: a solar system necklace
Solar System Necklace, Solar System Bracelet, Earth Necklace and Moon Phase Choker by nappyhappy in Swindon, UK (via Stacy Thinx)
October 2, 2012
When a Crocodile Hunter Becomes a Planet Hunter
By DAVID NG
Cor Crikey! And g’day mate! Right now we’re walking up to Hawaii’s Gemini Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea. It’s got a beaut of a telescope inside, and we’re hoping to find a new planet today.
(Whispering) Here we are at the front door. But we should first give it a bit of space. Patience is important when dealing with telescopes. And we’ve got to be careful with that door. It’s locked! Looks like the observatory doesn’t open for another 20 minutes.
(20 minutes later) Alright mate! Let’s go! (running) Quickly mate! We’re already inside, but we’ve got to move fast! If you look around, you might see that there are other humans around here that will also want to use the telescope, but if you get there first, you’re in there mate. You can use one hand for the controls, and the other to fend the others off.
(Reaching the console) We’re the first here! And it looks like we’ll get to have it to ourselves too. Ripper! Looks pretty complicated, but I’ve been around telescopes all my life and this is definitely an “on” button. But before I press it, let’s first camouflage ourselves behind this adjustable office chair, just in case! I’m going to turn it on now.
(Apparatus makes a noise). Watch out mate! We’ve got to stay extra alert now. Remember – never do this without the supervision of an expert like myself around.
It’s on. And don’t forget to be on the look-out for other humans. We can scare them off by making ourselves look as big as possible – spread your arms wide and look like you’re real pissed. That’s right, like that. Beauty mate! Alright, now let’s go find us some planets…
(7 hours) Did you see that?
(12 days) Did you see that?
(4 week) Did you see that?
(6 weeks) Did you see that?
(7 weeks) Crikey! Did you see that?
(3 months and 1 week) Did you see that?
(4 months) Did you see that?
(5 months and 3 weeks) Did you see that?
(6 months later and looking weary) Well mates, that’s all we have time for in this show. It’s a shame we didn’t find a new planet but that’s sometime how it is in these observatories. See you next time!
July 25, 2012
Why the Moon Hates the Beach
By Mark Heath at Nobrow Cartoons.
June 21, 2012
Brilliant exoplanet infographic
(Click on image to see larger version)
Some of the text reads:
“Most of them are huge because those are the kind we learned to detect first, but now we’re finding that small ones are actually more common. We know nothing about what’s on any of them. With better telescopes, that would change. This is an exciting time.”
From xkcd.
June 13, 2012
Indeed it is… A fun animated gif of the Venus Transit.
Admittedly, this makes me smile.
June 5, 2012
Enceladus passing Dione: Just another day in Saturn’s neighbourhood. #beautiful
More about Enceladus at Wired.com. Also wikipedia.
“Enceladus is one of only three outer Solar System bodies (along with Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton) where active eruptions have been observed. Analysis of the outgassing suggests that it originates from a body of sub-surface liquid water, which along with the unique chemistry found in the plume, has fueled speculations that Enceladus may be important in the study of astrobiology.”
May 28, 2012
Saturn pop up by Mengyu Chen. Cool animated gif.
I really want Mengyu to make one of these with the first law of thermodynamics…
By Mengyu Chen, via Colossal.
