Via Ralph Ewig’s blog comes a pointer to the Space Engine, which is a
free space simulation software that lets you explore the universe in three dimensions, starting from planet Earth to the most distant galaxies. Areas of the known universe are represented using actual astronomical data, while regions uncharted by human astronomy are generated procedurally. Millions of galaxies, trillions of stars, countless planets!
Here is a video created by the Space Engine:
The Cassini probe orbiting Saturn continues to return amazing images of the ringed planet. Here are some views of Saturnine storm systems: The Stormscapes of Saturn – The Planetary Society.
These include the astonishing hexagon ring storm at the north pole –
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Cassini also just photographed Venus:
… in this image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Venus appears just off the edge of the planet, in the upper part of the image, directly above the white streak of Saturn’s G ring. Lower down, Saturn’s E ring makes an appearance, looking blue thanks to the scattering properties of the dust that comprises the ring. A bright spot near the E ring is a distant star.
The sun continues to fall below predicted sun spot production, even as the predictions are repeatedly lowered:
Comet PANSTARRS is now visible in the southern hemisphere: Get Your Camera: Spectacular Comet Views Lighting Up the Night Sky – Wired Science/Wired.com
Here’s an earlier NASA ScienceCasts report on the comet:
zero2infinity is hosting a Google+ hangout event on Tuesday, Mar 5th, 3:00 pm EST – 3:30 pm: The overview effect: an Astronaut panel with zero2infinity – Google+
Join our astronaut panel live on google+ hangout! Ron Garan, Michael Lopez-Alegria and Jean-Francois Clervoy will hang out and speak about the perspective they gained in orbit. Moderated by Annelie Schoenmaker from zero2infinity.