Public release date: 5-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kirsten Gottschalk kirsten.gottschalk@icrar.org 61-438-361-876 International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

Last week the top contributor to citizen science initiative theSkyNet travelled to the heart of the West Australian outback to visit the future site of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope.

Mr Kim Hawtin, top contributor to the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) project, was awarded this rare opportunity as part of theSkyNet's first anniversary celebrations in September.

ICRAR Outreach and Education Manager Pete Wheeler said that theSkyNet allowed members of the public to donate computing power to process astronomy observations of distant galaxies and enormous simulated data sets.

"The key to theSkyNet is having lots of computers connected, with each contributing only a little, but the sum of those computers achieving a lot," he said.

Mr Wheeler said that Mr Hawtin's contribution has been an important part of theSkyNet's overall processing capacity.

Mr Hawtin spent last Wednesday touring the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory on a whirlwind trip 800km North of Perth to Mid West WA. The remote and extremely radio-quiet site will one day host the low frequency portion of the SKA and is already home to two other world-class radio telescopes.

During his tour of the MRO Mr Hawtin was introduced to scientists and engineers working at the site and given a unique tour of the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope and CSIRO's Australian SKA Pathfinder which was launched early last month.

"It was a great trip," said Mr Hawtin, who is from South Australia. "I didn't get involved in theSkyNet for the rewards, but I have to admit this opportunity was amazing. I even got to climb inside one of the ASKAP telescope dishes and point it towards the sky."

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Once in a lifetime experience for theSkyNet citizen scientist

On Halloween 2012, when people were assembling their costumes and candy, the Mars Curiosity rover was assembling something truly spectacular: a jaw-dropping high-definition self-portrait that has to be seen to be believed:

[Click to enjohnny5enate. And yes, oh my yes, you want to.]

This incredible picture is a mosaic made up of 55 hi-res images taken by the MAHLI, the Mars Hand Lens Imager. Thats a camera designed to be able to take close-up shots of nearby rocks and other feature, but can also focus all the way out to infinity, allowing it to take pictures of distant geographical features as well.

Or, in this case, itself! Now get this: MAHLI is located at the end of the two-meter robotic arm. That was extended and then aimed back at the rover so it could take the pictures (think of every Facebook pic youve seen of party revelers holding a camera up and taking a snapshot of themselves). So why dont you see the arm in these shots? Its because it was edited out! The camera took several pictures which overlapped. So youd get two shots of, say, the main body of the rover, each with the arm blocking a different part of the rovers body. By combining the parts of each picture that dont show the arm, you can edit it out of the final product.

In the end, youre left with a pristine (if somewhat distorted) view of the rover as if you were standing there. And theres so much more than just the rover! The rocks and sand covering the ground, the wheel tread prints in the surface, the small plain the rover sits on. And you can see the layered hills in the distance; those rise up to become the central peak of Gale Crater, Curiositys home and also the rovers eventual destination. Remember, its a rover. It roves.

Pictures like this also let engineers assess the rovers status. They can look over the different parts and make sure everythings OK, and also use it as a baseline in case something goes wrong later. Its far more than just a pretty picture.

But oh my, its such a pretty picture!

You can get more info at Universe Today, and Emily Lakdawalla at The Planetary Society Blog points out some fun stuff to look for in the shot, too.

And, I suppose, the title of this post is somewhat misleading. It may look like Curiosity is sitting on a sandy beach somewhere, taking its own "Wish you were here!" picture. But in reality, its no vacation. Curiosity is there to work. And it has just two Earth years to unravel a few billion years of Martian history.

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The single greatest vacation picture ever taken | Bad Astronomy

So theres this comet named 168P/Hergenrother. Its one of a bazillion such iceballs orbiting the Sun, but this one turns out to be more interesting than most. For one thing, it has a short period, orbiting the Sun once every 6.8 years or so. Its orbit goes out to about that of Jupiters, and reaches down into the inner solar system about as far as Mars. It never gets closer than about 80 million kilometers (50 million miles) to us, so its usually relatively faint, and you need a big scope to observe it.

It was discovered in 1998, and made a second pass down our way in 2005. This year, 2012, it came by again, and folks around the world observed it as they do any comet. But then, in September, it gave us a surprise. A big one. Lots of observers were reporting that practically overnight the comet grew hugely in brightness, getting as much as 700 times brighter than expected! Not only that, but observations showed the shape of the comet had changed, going from fairly point-like to much fuzzier.

That could mean only one thing. The comet was breaking up.

The picture above is from the Faulkes Telescope North, located on the Hawaiian observatory on Haleakala. Its a composite of lots of separate exposures that were added together; you can see the stars are trailed (actually stippled; each exposure was short but then shifted to line up on the comet). The comet is the bright fuzzy blob in the upper right, and if you look just below the main part you can see a second fuzzy blob, much fainter.

Thats proof positive the comet calved, or had a big chunk break off. In fact, observations using the huge Gemini telescope show that the main body has broken up into at least four pieces! So what does this mean?

First, dont panic. Weve seen this happen to comets before, and this one is so far away from us were in no danger at all. It literally cannot get near us.

Second, its very interesting scientifically. Comets are basically big frozen snowballs peppered with rock. Imagine scooping up a handful of gravel and snow and then packing into a loose ball. Thats a comet, if your snowball is several kilometers across and the ice is actually frozen water and carbon dioxide. When they are far from the Sun comets stay frozen and are exceedingly dim. When they get closer, the ice goes directly to a gas (called sublimation), and escapes from the solid part (called the nucleus). It expands and can form a big fuzzy head around the solid nucleus that can be tens of thousands of kilometers across, bigger than planets! This is also what gets blown back by the solar wind (and the pressure of sunlight) to form the tail(s) of the comet.

This means that every time a comet gets closer to the Sun and starts to sublimate, it dies a little bit. Material leaves the comet and never comes back. But that ice is what holds the comet together! So sometimes enough ice turns into a gas and escapes that the comet gets substantially weaker, and big chunks of it can dislodge, falling away. Thats what appears to have happened to Hergenrother.

While weve seen this before with other comets, its not like it happens every day, so any chance to see this occur is fascinating. In 2006 we watched as comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 literally disintegrated. Even more amazing, in 2007 the run-of-the-mill comet 17P/Holmes suddenly erupted, getting hugely brighter, and a huge shell of dust was seen to be expanding around it. Now we think Holmes collided with a small asteroid, and the violence of the event blasted off the material. I saw Holmes with own eyes when this happened, and even though it was past the orbit of Mars, the shell of dust was easily visible to the naked eye. It was awesome.

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Breaking up is easy to do. If you’re a comet. | Bad Astronomy

BREAKING - MARTIAL LAW - EAST COAST - 11-02-2012 - CONFIRMED BY ABC
Thanks Coop:) - original video: http://www.youtube.com The Prophetic list is now up at hummingbird027.wordpress.com This list is INCOMPLETE and just a trial run until I can spend more time ironing out the little kinks in it for a truer timeline of prophecy, but in this stage it is a rough draft. Check back for updates over the next few weeks. Luvs cs-melchizedec.blogspot.com -- articles hummingbird027.wordpress.com -- back up channel All my links to my videos except the news vids, are located at the wordpress.com site Many of my articles can also be found at wordpress.com AND the list of all my extra video #39;s, now over 15. Please refer to hummingbird027 at YouTube for immediate updated and Breaking News. My posts to wordpress will be much slower. media.alwaysbeready.com philologos.org - The Remnant Bride http://www.youtube.com - Nibiru/Planet X Update and other Astronomy News http://www.youtube.com - Obama is a Decoy - The Falling Away has Started http://www.youtube.com - Pet Goat - Bush #39;s few minutes of Silence - Endtimes are here http://www.youtube.com -- Isaiah 17 Psalms 83 Countdown http://www.youtube.com - Truth behind the Black Stone, Muhammad Kaaba -- First Built by Asa #39;d Abu Karb http://www.youtube.com - Strait is the Gate and Narrow is the Way http://www.youtube.com - Can I Lose My Salvation? http://www.youtube.com - Sanctification is a Process http://www.youtube.com - Romans 14 vs 10 - The Bema Seat Judgment - Who is to Judge http://www.youtube.com - The Bema Judgment Seat of Christ http://www.youtube.com - Difference between the Laodicean ...From:hummingbird027Views:1537 53ratingsTime:02:08More inNews Politics

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Watch The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken
Watch Full Movie Here @free-hot-movies.com Hubble Deep Field size of the universe The hubble deep field ultra deep field space telescope Deep Telescope best photos telescopes Lightspeed cosmology astronomy Universe Images Serrie Stars 20 years universe Stunning Space Awesome artist: 2010 Like Dust Jonn nebula music: space field Earth video HD most important image deep NASA a... hubble the ofFrom:DouglassLumadueViews:0 0ratingsTime:09:41More inFilm Animation

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CAPER Team Colloquium - Dr. Julia Plummer, Penn State University, September 18, 2012
Using spatial reasoning as the dimension of progress for an astronomy learning progression, - a virtual colloquium talk [please excuse the poor sound quality of this recording, done by cell phone] presented at the CAPER Center for Astronomy Physics Education Research, http://www.caperteam.com, by Dr. Julia Plummer, Penn State University, September 18, 2012From:CAPERTeamTubeViews:0 0ratingsTime:55:53More inEducation

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Astrology - Wiki Article
Not to be confused with Astronomy. Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. In the West,... Astrology - Wiki Article - wikiplays.org Original @ http All Information Derived from Wikipedia using Creative Commons License: en.wikipedia.org Author: Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:Creative Commons ASA 3.0, This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Marcantonio Raimondi Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Image URL: en.wikipedia.org Licensed under:This image is ineligible for copyright and therefore is in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship., This work is in the Public Domain., This work is in the public domain in the United States. Author: Unknown Image URL: en.wikipedia.orgFrom:WikiPlaysViews:6 0ratingsTime:38:24More inEducation

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Robstronomy
A compilation of astronomy hand made gorgeous picturesFrom:sarahnutcrackerViews:0 0ratingsTime:02:51More inPeople Blogs

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Robstronomy - Video

Moonchildren love the sky
Nov 1 2012 taken with an iPhone 4 I love astronomy don #39;t claim to be a great photographer 🙂 It #39;s FALL you #39;ll hear leaves but my pitbull chaos isn #39;t barking. She #39;s strolling thru the leaves 🙂 TraceyFrom:just1misstraceyViews:0 0ratingsTime:02:40More inPets Animals

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Jay R- False Astronomy(Pro. Mister Lies)
All credit to Mister Lies he made the instrumental. Follow me on Twitter: @JayMuthafuckinR Instagram: @RealJayRFrom:JayRizzyMusicViews:2 0ratingsTime:03:35More inMusic

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Jay R- False Astronomy(Pro. Mister Lies) - Video

Encyclopedia Of The Solar System
ll4.me Encyclopedia Of The Solar System The Encyclopedia of the Solar System provides a series of comprehensive and authoritative articles written by more than 50 eminent planetary and space scientists. Each chapter is self-contained yet linked by cross-references to other related chapters. This beautifully designed book is a must for the library of professional astronomers and amateur star-gazers alike, in fact for anyone who wishes to understand the nature of our solar system.* Cross-referenced throughout for easy comprehension* Superbly illustrated with over 700 photos, drawings, and diagrams, including 36 color plates* Provides 40 thematically organized chapters by more than 50 eminent contributors* Convenient glossaries of technical terms introduce each chapter* Foreword written by astronaut Sally Ride* Special web site for the Encyclopedia at academicpress.com/solar includes author-recommended web resources for additional information, images, and research developments related to each chapter of this volume Publisher: Academic Press Illustration: N Language: ENG Title: Encyclopedia of the Solar System Pages: 00000 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 1998-09-11 SKU-13/ISBN: 9780122268052 Category: Science : Physics - Astrophysics Category: Science : Astronomy - General Category: Technology Engineering : Aeronautics Astronautics The Encyclopedia of the Solar System provides a series of comprehensive and authoritative articles written by more than 50 eminent planetary and ...From:nicholasatherton861Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:16More inPeople Blogs

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Heliophysics: Space Storms And Radiation: Causes And Effects
ll4.me Heliophysics: Space Storms And Radiation: Causes And Effects Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific discipline that integrates studies of the Sun #39;s variability, the surrounding heliosphere, and the environment and climate of planets. The Sun is a magnetically variable star and, for planets with intrinsic magnetic fields, planets with atmospheres, or planets like Earth with both, there are profound consequences. This volume, the second in a series of three heliophysics texts, integrates the many aspects of space storms and the energetic radiation associated with them - from causes on the Sun to effects in planetary environments. It reviews the physical processes in solar flares and coronal mass ejections, interplanetary shocks, and particle acceleration and transport, and considers many space weather responses in geospace. In addition to its utility as a textbook, it also constitutes a foundational reference for researchers in fields from heliophysics to climate science. Additional online resources, including lecture presentations and other teaching materials, are available at cambridge.org/9780521760515. Publisher: Cambridge University Press Illustration: N Language: ENG Title: Heliophysics: Space Storms and Radiation: Causes and Effects Pages: 00436 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 2006-05-30 SKU-13/ISBN: 9780521760515 Category: Science : Astronomy - General Category: Science : Earth Sciences - Meteorology Climatology Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific ...From:dorethaeverett367Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:11More inPeople Blogs

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Evolution (as explained by cartoon birds)
Good early morning, internet. You would have gotten this video several hours sooner, however YouTube #39;s uploading service went all buggery on me and disabled my ability to share my creativity and intelligence with the world. Oh, woe is me! So I rocked my Chemistry and Biology finals and I now have a long break until my Astronomy final, so I have some more time to make things for the internet as well as play Assassin #39;s Creed 3. I love that I get to play a Native American and get to kill White Americans. If only Ratonhnhak:ton (or Connor Kenway if you #39;re boring) existed in real life. He could maybe shave down the current American political climate by offing a few of the corrupt pollies on both sides. I suspect that Astronomy shouldn #39;t be too hard, given the lecture content mostly consisted of a old fat man #39;s rants about science in the media. Have you guys seen the new trailer to Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs? Bloody terrifying, that! The monster sounds like it scurries. If I come across a scurrying monster in an Amnesia game, I might just die in terror. Mind you, Oswald Mandus #39; voice actor does a swell job at making the character #39;s voice sound really, really sexy. I had heard that the name Oswald Mandus is a reference to the poem "Ozymandias" by the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, husband of my favourite author of all time Mary Shelley, who wrote one of my favourite books of all time "Frankenstein". I had read the poem already, but I checked back on it again. It seems that ...From:CloudCuckooCountryViews:0 0ratingsTime:04:43More inEducation

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Astronomy and the School Curriculum in South Africa
Presented by Anthony Lelliott at the ASSA Symposium, 2012 October 14, at SAAO in Cape Town. The presentation provides an analysis of the current South African school curriculum in terms of astronomy content. When the curriculum was revised in the 1990s and early 2000s, astronomy was moved from the geography curriculum into the natural sciences. At the primary and junior secondary school level, basic astronomy content is relatively well covered in terms of the solar system and #39;space science #39;, with relatively little reference to current issues that occupy astronomers and cosmologists. Further there is a paucity of astronomy in the FET level of schooling (grades 10-12) so that there is no sequence of conceptual development of astronomical topics from upper primary school to matric level. The presentation considers the issues raised by Adams and Slater (2000), Sadler (2001) and Pasachoff (2001, 2002) in the USA, regarding the sort of astronomy that should be taught at school and early tertiary level. In view of the positioning of South Africa as an astronomy #39;hub #39;, the consequences of the current status of astronomy in the school curriculum are discussed, and recommendations for its development are made. Visit the official symposium website for further details: symposium2012.assa.saao.ac.zaFrom:Auke SlotegraafViews:1 0ratingsTime:28:57More inScience Technology

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Gaya #39;s Astronomy ~ Volume 3
"Gaya #39;s Astronomy" is a science fanfiction by author Ankhesen Mi. A play on "Grey #39;s Anatomy" and set in the Star Trek universe, the story follows the lives of five young Ensigns as they begin their career in Starfleet. Mi intends for this free project to act as a playful indulgence, especially for readers of color who will be pleased with the diverse cast and their adventures, ranging from the fun and sexy to serious and dangerous. Volume 3 takes place six months after Volume 2. For more information: midnightsister.blogspot.com NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDEDFrom:ladyhellionViews:1 1ratingsTime:01:52More inEntertainment

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Orionid Meteors Jon Wood Field
This is a brighter version of a time-lapse taken on 10/21/12 from Jon Wood astronomy field, CEWMA, Mansfield, GA Larry Owens Larry@CEastronomy.orgFrom:clatu4225Views:1 0ratingsTime:04:55More inTravel Events

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Admirable Review About Meade ETX 60 Telescope
For More Product Details CLICK HERE : - telescopecritics.com In the field of astronomy there are several models of telescopes that are suitable for beginners and the Meade ETX 60 Telescope is one of the better optical enhancing instruments currently available to the star gazing public. Individuals that have an interest in searching the night skies for celestial bodies have different levels of interest associated with their observational endeavors. They all share a similar passion for peeking at the planets, stars and galaxies that earthlings have been fascinated with since they crawled from the cave. Each and every one of us has gazed at the night skies and wondered what it would be like to visit one of the bright objects we see circling above us. The majority of us continue to daydream about the possibility of walking on another planet, or playing the celestial soup that makes up the known universe. Be Fascinated With Meade ETX 60 Telescope While space travel and planet exploration is not available to but a select few humans, the opportunity to visit a place like Venus is made possible with an instrument such as the Meade ETX 60Telescope. The level of experience with gazing at these planets through an optical eyepiece really does not play into the purchasing decision as it pertains to beginners. For The Main CritiqueMag site CLICK HERE : - telescopecritics.comFrom:TelescopeCriticsViews:1 0ratingsTime:05:40More inScience Technology

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Admirable Review About Meade ETX 60 Telescope - Video

Pluto the Kids Planet
Pluto the Planet is a character in the upcoming children #39;s book "Pluto, the little planet that could." Although Pluto had to deal with the struggles of not fitting in with the solar system family at first, he eventually prevails and gets the support and respect that he deserves. If you want more info on the new Pluto children #39;s book then check out these links: http://www.indiegogo.com http://www.plutoforplanet.com The discovery made headlines across the globe. The Lowell Observatory, which had the right to name the new object, received over 1000 suggestions from all over the world, ranging from Atlas to Zymal.[34] Tombaugh urged Slipher to suggest a name for the new object quickly before someone else did.[34] Constance Lowell proposed Zeus, then Percival and finally Constance. These suggestions were disregarded.[35] The name Pluto was proposed by Venetia Burney (1918--2009), an eleven-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England.[36] Burney was interested in classical mythology as well as astronomy, and considered the name, a name for the god of the underworld, appropriate for such a presumably dark and cold world. She suggested it in a conversation with her grandfather Falconer Madan, a former librarian at the University of Oxford #39;s Bodleian Library. Madan passed the name to Professor Herbert Hall Turner, who then cabled it to colleagues in the United States.[37] The object was officially named on March 24, 1930.[38][39] Each member of the Lowell Observatory was allowed to vote on a short ...From:Pluto189Views:4 0ratingsTime:04:07More inEducation

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Big bang theory theme song
lyrics: Our whole universe was in a hot dense state, Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait... The Earth began to cool, The autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools, We built a wall (we built the pyramids), Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries, That all started with the big bang! "Since the dawn of man" is really not that long, As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song. A fraction of a second and the elements were made. The bipeds stood up straight, The dinosaurs all met their fate, They tried to leap but they were late And they all died (they froze their asses off) The oceans and Pangea See ya wouldn #39;t wanna be ya Set in motion by the same big bang! It all started with the big BANG! It #39;s expanding ever outward but one day It will pause and start to go the other way, Collapsing ever inward, we won #39;t be here, it won #39;t be heard Our best and brightest figure that it #39;ll make an even bigger bang! Australopithecus would really have been sick of us Debating how we #39;re here, they #39;re catching deer (we #39;re catching viruses) Religion or astronomy (Descartes or Deuteronomy) It all started with the big bang!From:hassan2491Views:0 0ratingsTime:01:31More inMusic

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Was the Moon Intelligently Deliberately Created ?
Authors Christopher Knight and Alan Butler (book link) shared their theory that the moon is artificial and that it was deliberately engineered to sustain life on Earth. The moon is precisely designed "like a Swiss Clock," and built to a "mathematical blueprint," said Butler. The material the moon is made out of came from the surface layers of the Earth, likely drawn from there using a series of small black holes that were placed in orbit around the planet, they explained. Butler Knight presented three possibilities as to who was behind this operation: God could have created the moon. But knowing that the Sun and Earth already existed first, why wouldn #39;t this superior being have created the moon at the same time? Alien beings, highly advanced in technology, could have spotted our planet as a likely place for seeding life, and left their calling card (an obviously artificial moon). Human time travelers created the moon at some stage in the future, realizing that this needed to be done to incubate humanity in the past. They believe that the time traveler explanation is the most valid. Humans would have the highest degree of interest in carrying out such a monumental task, said Butler, and time travel appears to be increasingly a real possibility, added Knight. Biography: Alan Butler has a special interest in ancient civilizations and history. His work has been geared towards uncovering mysteries from the past. An expert in astrology and astronomy, Alan has worked hard over ...From:DiscloseTruthTVViews:12 2ratingsTime:01:17:23More inEducation

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Was the Moon Intelligently