Distant Earths

9:45 am April 20, 2013 Chompsky

(Pix (top to bottom): Kepler-22b, Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f and Kepler-69c)

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, has already discovered more than 100 planets outside our solar system in the first four years of its mission, including, last year, a possible ‘ocean world’ called Kepler-22b.

Lately, its deep space telescope has identified three exoplanets of similar size to Earth which appear to have the right temperatures to sustain life. Two of them (Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f) orbit the Kepler-62 star 1200 light years from Earth with estimated surface temperatures of -3°C and -65°C respectively (though the chilliness may be tempered by the blanketing effect of as-yet-unknown atmospheres.)

The third planet, Kepler-69c, orbiting a different star, has a balmy estimated surface temperature of 27°C. Scientists also speculate that it could be covered with liquid, but not necessarily water.

We want to believe.

Three New Exoplanets Might Have Right Temperature for Life (Wired)

How NASA Will Protect Us From Giant Asteroids

7:28 am February 27, 2013 Chompsky

In this clip from an interview with CNN, astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson explains the theoretical protection strategy that will be used should a giant asteroid threaten the extinction of humanity.

They won’t be nuking that sucker, either. It’ll be more ‘touchy-feely’ than that.

buzzfeed/cnn

Pale Blue Dot

1:29 pm December 14, 2012 Chompsky

Any visual that accompanies this legendary quote from the late Carl Sagan’s book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision Of The Human Future In Space are enhanced by the audio rather than vice versa.

Still.

This animation by London animation studio ORDER is another welcome excuse to hear Sagan’s muse on the appearance of the earth in a photograph taken by the distant Voyager 1 probe.

Previously: Eye Candy: The Pale Blue Dot (Halo visuals)

fathistorment

Black Marble

12:35 pm December 7, 2012 Chompsky

Almost 40 years to the day after the Apollo 17 crew snapped the famed “blue marble” image of Earth floating in space on December 7, 1972, Nasa has unveiled “black marble” views of the planet by night. The cloud-free pictures, taken with a high-resolution visible and infrared imager aboard a NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite, capture the night lights of Earth in unprecedented detail. (Pix: NASA/Rex Features)

Full size, zoomable, full-screenable version here. (Thanks, Conski)

Black marble: new high-resolution satellite images of the Earth at night (Telegraph)

(Hat tip: Aaron McAllorum)