2016 L3 Mission Call > Home
http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/2016-l3-mission-call

Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) has released the call for mission concepts for the third large (L3) mission.
This is the first step towards an actual space-based laser interferometer like the LISA mission, which will detect
gravitational waves from across the entire Universe.

Preferentially Earth-sized planets with lots of water -- ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161024104111.htm

Computer simulations by astrophysicists of the formation of planets orbiting in the habitable zone
of low mass stars such as Proxima Centauri show that these planets are most likely to be roughly
the size of the Earth and to contain large amounts of water.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20503/fluid-fantasy
This view is centered on clouds at 25 degrees north latitude on Saturn. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera
on July 20, 2016 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 728 nanometers.

The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.21 million kilometers from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle
of 6 degrees. Image scale is 72 kilometers per pixel.

THE CLOSEST POTENTIALLY HABITABLE PLANET HAS AN INTRIGUING INTERIOR
What's Inside Proxima Centauri B, Our Nearest Exoplanet Neighbor | Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/whats-inside-proxima-centauri-b

http://phys.org/news/2016-10-kepler-caught-hundreds-asteroids.html

Previously, the Kepler space telescope looked straight out from the solar system in a direction almost perpendicular to the ecliptic and the plane of the planets.
This way, it could observe the same spot all year long, as the sun, and most of the solar system, were out of its field of view. But since the start of K2 mission,
it has been observing parallel to that plane in order to better balance against the radiation pressure of the sun. This new strategy has two important consequences:
One is that Kepler has to change its field of view every three months to avoid the sun; the other is that our own solar system, unexpectedly, has become a target
for the exoplanet-hunting telescope.

Out Of This World: How Artists Imagine Planets Yet Unseen : NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/10/24/495072203/out-of-this-world-how-artists-imagine-planets-yet-unseen

How Two Artists Imagined Kepler 186f
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N0FY-fe_hA

Páteční WSH: historie astronomie
Weekly Space Hangout Oct 21, 2016 - Dr. Voula Saridakis of @histastro - Livestream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqtqNEi2TnQ&feature=youtu.be

Countdown To Mars
MARS | International Mars Science Foundation
http://www.makemarshome.com/landing

AP: "After six months of work at Site-B, we are now ready to start the Wow! Signal Experiment!!!"



Florida astrophysicist on mission to discover alien life from 39-year-old radio signal - The American Bazaar
https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/...-to-discover-alien-life-from-39-year-old-radio-signal418412/

Launching this year, the GOES-R weather satellite will be able to deliver a full globe
scan in only 5 minutes, compared to the current 25 minutes needed for the same task.

GOES-R-- Americas New Weather Satellite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttOHhnBwukU

VIRGO: má dobrý šaty :)

k těm orionidám přátelé, tady se v pátek kolem půlnoci "rozjasnilo" nicméně zůstal nějaký opar, byly vidět jen nejjasnější hvězdy a orionidu jsem nechytla ani jednu...

APOD: 2014 April 23 - Arp 81: 100 Million Years Later
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140423.html
From planet Earth, we see this strongly distorted pair of galaxies, cataloged as Arp 81, as they were only about 100 million years after their close encounter.
The havoc wreaked by their mutual gravitational interaction during the encounter is detailed in this color composite showing twisted streams of gas and dust,
a chaos of massive star formation, and a tidal tail stretching for 200 thousand light-years or so as it sweeps behind the cosmic wreckage. Also known as NGC 6622
(left) and NGC 6621, the galaxies are roughly equal in size but are destined to merge into one large galaxy in the distant future, making repeated approaches
until they finally coalesce. Located in the constellation Draco, the galaxies are 280 million light-years away. Even more distant background galaxies can be
spotted in the sharp, reprocessed, image from Hubble Legacy Archive data.

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: Will Asteroid 2012 TC4 Hit Earth in October 2017?
http://www.astrowatch.net/2015/04/will-asteroid-2012-tc4-hit-earth-in.html

The house-sized asteroid was discovered on Oct. 4, 2012 by the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii. Week later, it gave Earth a close shave when it passed
the planet at the distance of 0.247 LD (lunar distance), or 94,800 km. 2012 TC4 is an elongated and rapidly rotating object and has been known to make
many close approaches to Earth in the past. Now, the scientists try to determine the exact path of 2017 fly-by and the probability of a possible impact.

“It has a 0.00055% cumulative chance that it will hit later, between 2020 and 2026,” Györgyey-Ries said. “The fact that the MOID [minimum orbit
intersection distance] is only 0.079 LD flags it as a possible impactor. However it is just the smallest possible distance between the orbits,
it does not mean the bodies are at that location at the same time.”

Listening for Alien Civilizations at a Temporal "Waterhole"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB-y0fUk0EE