FLYBY ALERT! Space shuttle Discovery launched on May 31st. Get your flyby alerts from Space Weather PHONE | | | NASA PLANS TO VISIT THE SUN: NASA has a daring new mission on the drawing board: Solar Probe Plus, a spacecraft tough enough to visit the sun itself. Get the full story from Science@NASA. SOLAR ACTIVITY: Even at the lowest ebb of the solar cycle, the sun puts on a grand show. Today is no exception. Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK, calls this picture, taken just hours ago, Maelstrom and Prominence: Deep in the heart of the maelstrom lies a dark, double-cored sunspot which Maxim Usatov of Prague reports "has just flared." Meanwhile, the gently-waving "delicate tendrils of the prominence" were an irresistible target for sketch artist Les Cowley of England. "The sun is never boring," says Lawrence. Indeed. Readers, if you have a solar telescope, point it at the sun today and enjoy the show. more images: from C. Miller, B. Atkins and J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from Stephen Ames of Hodgenville, Kentucky; from Joel Bavais of Anvaing, Belgium; MARSWORM: What digs and squiggles through the ground on Mars? It would have to be a Marsworm: Not really. It may look like a worm, but the segmented object at the foot of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is actually a metal spring. It sprung loose and fell to the ground when Phoenix's robotic arm unfurled shortly after landing. The spring is no longer an essential component; it was part of a mechanism holding the arm's biobarrier in place during the voyage from Earth to Mars. Now that the biobarrier has been unpeeled, allowing the sterile arm to move freely, the spring is no longer required and the ground is a fine place for it. Meanwhile, the only thing digging on Mars appears to be Phoenix itself: updates. 3D BONUS: Put on your 3D glasses and take a closer look at the masquerading spring. Pat Vantuyne of Belgium created the anaglyph by combining right- and left-eye images from Phoenix's stereo camera. more anaglyphs: Arctic Vista, Mars Yeti, One small step..., Vines, Scoop Two. May 2008 Aurora Gallery [Aurora Alerts] [Night-sky Cameras] |