M81 Galaxy
Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Do you have pressing questions about astronomy or outer space? Then check out SkyGuy.com, where former software developer Tom Vilot will help find the answers. Vilot joined his two passions - astronomy and kids - and has created a website to tackle some of the questions kids have asked him as a volunteer at the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Colorado.
Tags : I recorded this live with internet broadcast, on 09th January 2010 during the Closing Ceremony of IYA2009 | International Year of Astronomy. You can hear how Vincenzo Giorgio of Thales Alenia Space, the Principal Sponsor of IYA2009, International Year of Astronomy is saying hinhis address @ the closing ceremony of IYA2009 live from Padua, Italy
1.http://iya2009sl.blogspot.com/2010/01/ watch-iya2009-closing-ceremony-live.html
2. http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/blog/8988-watch-iya2009-closing-ceremony-live-padua-italy-29020.html
3. http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/watch-iya2009-closing-ceremony-live-padua-italy
I believe that you all, the sciencebuzz community is aware that Last year 2009 was the in International Year of Astronomy, abbreviated as IYA2009 in alphanumerical characters.
IYA2009
Courtesy IYA2009
2009 was acclaimed by UNESCO and IAU and approved the International Year of Astronomy, as it completed 400 years for the discovery of Telescope by great Italian genius, Galileo Galilei, back in 1609.
Much things happened in 2009 in commemoration of this and it was a worldwide celebration, in general with the universal theme, "Universe, Yours to Discover"
That's enough talk,
I just made this post to discuss what would come next. As per the latest updates IYA2009 will officially be concluded on 09th January 2010, with the closing ceremony from Padua, Italy. What would be beyond 2009?
Will there be any IYA again whatsoever?
Let's discuss !!
I appreciate your valuable comments and as per what I believe your comments would be all what that will complete/ fulfill this blog post !!
I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin...
Courtesy ROOTS UPI don't need scientists to tell me there are hints of dark matter on Minnesota's Iron Range. Have you heard that Bob Dylan song, North Country Blues? If you believe Bob, the Iron Range can be a pretty depressing place. A dark place, full of dark matter. Are you following me here?
It turns out that Bob Dylan grew-up not far from a very deep hole in the ground known as the Soudan mine. It used to be an iron mine, but as he points out in that song I mentioned, "The shaft was soon shut, and more work was cut, and the fire in the air, it felt frozen." Hmmm...what did he mean by "fire in the air"?
He may not have been referring to the Soudan mine in particular, but it seems a little bit odd that around the time he released Down in the Groove, a terrible album, this half-mile deep mine was reopened by scientific researchers as a high-energy physics laboratory. Deep beneath the ground, shielded from outside particle interference by the surrounding geologic formations, researchers began studying things like neutrinos and proton decay, searching for WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) and conducting something called a Cryogenic Dark Matter Search.
So Bob Dylan and a bunch of scientists, all hanging out on the Iron Range, all thinking about the nature of the universe. I'm telling you, this is no coincidence. I don't mean to imply that Bob Dylan writes his songs inside a physics laboratory a half mile beneath the Iron Range, but wouldn't that just make so much sense?
Recently a team of scientists working in this very underground lab announced that they may have detected particles of dark matter, invisible material that could lead to huge breakthroughs in both physics and astronomy. HUGE BREAKTHROUGHS. I would explain more, but to be honest, I don't really understand physics. Perhaps one of you can chime in?
Bob Dylan also recently released a new album of Christmas songs. Are these events related? You tell me.
SERIOUSLY, LEARN MORE
This MinnPost article explains more about the recent scientific discovery. You can also look back at this Science Buzz post about dark matter, or follow-up on this conversation with physicist Prisca Cushman, who knows all about WIMPS and Dark Matter, and may even know Bob Dylan. On that note, this is pretty funny.
VY Canis Majoris v. our Sun: No contest.
Courtesy Public domainIf you’re like me, you’re fretting about what to buy your significant other this coming holiday season. Let it go. We have bigger problems. There’s a humongous star in the constellation Canis Major that’s in its final death throes and could go supernova at any time. VY Canis Majoris, as it is referenced, is the largest star known to science, and is so huge, if it were placed in the center of our Solar System, it would encompass all the space between our Sun and the orbit of the planet Saturn (see diagram). But don’t worry, the unstable red hypergiant is nearly 5000 light-years away, and is being monitored closely (in far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the light spectrum) by the European Space Agency's new space telescope Herschel. Read more here about what's actually going on.
Galileo Galilei
Courtesy Justus Sustermans c. 1636 This is a bizarre story. Two fingers of astronomer Galileo Galilei have resurfaced after missing for over a century. They were found in a jar, along with a tooth. You can read the strange details here. How could two of his fingers go missing? I don't know, maybe he gave them to the Vatican.
Artist conception of exoplanet
Courtesy NASA/JPL-CaltechThe European Southern Observatory just announced that its High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) has detected several new exoplanets orbiting distant star systems. Learn more here, and look for a rise in Name-Your-Own-Planet scams this coming holiday season.
Minnesota isn't generally considered a hot spot for astronomy, but a local professor at Macalester College has discovered a rare dwarf galaxy.
Birth of a planet in a binary star system: Could such a star system throw a planet into retrograde orbit?
Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech A newly detected planet about twice the size of Jupiter circling a distant star seems to be orbiting in the opposite direction the star is spinning. This is a first for astronomers, and goes against conventional wisdom since planets and stars are thought to form out of the same swirling nebulous gas. Scientists aren't sure why it's acting this way, but they speculate the planet could have been sent into retrograde orbit by an external force such as a near-miss with another undetected planet in the system or by a passing star. Kind of interesting whatever the case. The study has been submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, but you can read more about it here right now.
Planetary aberation: The goddess Venus helps point out the strange spot discovered on her namesake planet.
Courtesy ESA/MPS and edwin.11 via FlickrAn American amateur stargazer discovered an unusual bright spot in the atmosphere of the planet Venus recently. Frank Melillo of Holtsville, New York made his discovery last month on the same day another amateur astronomer in Australia reported finding a dark spot on the planet Jupiter.
While Jupiter’s bruise is attributed to a collision with an asteroid or comet, scientists aren’t yet sure what caused the atmospheric aberration on Venus. A similar collision with a meteor or comet isn’t completely out of the question, but a volcanic eruption on the planet’s surface or a solar discharge interacting with Venus’s upper atmosphere are more likely suspects.
Astronomers are waiting to study more images taken by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express which is currently in orbit around the planet.
LINKS
NewScientist story
BBC story
Subscribe
I want to learn about
Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.Copyright © Science Museum of Minnesota, 2004-2010, except where noted.
Add a new comment