AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE. | | | MARS IS ALIVE: A team of NASA and university scientists has discovered 'substantial plumes' of methane floating through the atmosphere of Mars. Their discovery indicates Mars is either biologically or geologically active. Get the full story from Science@NASA. SPACECRAFT FLYBY: Last night, NASA's Stardust-NeXT spacecraft flew past Earth only 5700 miles above the planet's surface. It was a gravity assist maneuver designed to fling the probe toward Comet Tempel 1 for a rendezvous on Valentine's Day 2011. In Utah, NASA Solar System Ambassador Patrick Wiggins photographed the flyby using his Celestron 14-inch telescope: Wiggins took 76 pictures which fellow astronomer Howard Jackman combined into the composite image shown above. "The data spans the time period 0514 to 0547 UT on Jan. 14th," says Jackman. Stardust-NeXT is now hurtling toward Comet Tempel 1. NASA has been there before. In 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft blasted a hole in the comet's nucleus, allowing astronomers to see inside a comet for the first time. Just one problem: they couldn't see a thing. The debris cloud kicked up by the impactor was surprisingly dense and hazy, and prevented photography of the underlying crater. No one knows what the impact revealed! Stardust-NeXT is going back for a second look now that the dust has settled: full story. more images: from Timur Kryachko of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Russia FANTASTIC ICE HALOS: Night falls. You grab your halogen lamp and step outside into the moonlight. A bitter arctic wind tries to push you back; ice crystals sting your eyes. But what you see overhead carries you forward into the night: "Jari Luomanen and Marko Riikonen braved the intense cold of the Finland night on January 9/10 to research halos and obtain this stunning shot showing halos from the Moon competing with those from a halogen lamp," explains atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Lamps plus crystals from snow-making machines are the latest way to study ice halos: details. Here the lamp is acting as the equivalent of a low sun to create a whole set of rare arcs such as the Hastings and helic previously seen only in Antactica." Luomanen has video-recorded the manmade halos shimmering and flashing in the night. Click here for a 6 MB snippet or visit his web site to view full-length 50+ MB reels. It's the next best thing to being there. EXTRA: Finnish photographer Mika Aho also witnessed the fantastic halo display of Jan. 9/10. He offers these movies and another account of the event. UPDATED: Comet Lulin Photo Gallery [sky map] [Comet Hunter Telescope] |