Space News by @milkywaykiwiOct 29, 20187:30 PM

News from the Solar System

In New Zealand, Space Starts with Sheep; a new season is about to open for exoplanets as scientists discover an efficient method to predict microlensing; Earth’s Moon to be used as a giant radio telescope; “Hello, Andromeda calling”, gravitational waves might be used to carry information; 1500 km long water cloud appears on Mars after the planet-wide storm from last month, while InSider probe has only one month left hurling through space, and will land on Mars in November; scientists narrow down the landing sites for Mars 2020 rover; change of plans, why not land among the clouds of Venus? Hubble and Chandra telescopes have been repaired, mostly by switching them on and off and stay tuned for the position of Uranus in the sky.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 23, 20188:14 PM

How to make a blackhole

A light hearted look at how you might make a blackhole if you happen to have a large star handy.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 22, 20186:44 PM

How do you make a star?

It’s not easy to make a star, you need a lot of cold space and a huge amount of hydrogen. But if you manage to do that then you can have your very own Sun sized star to keep you warm in winter.

Spaceflight by @space_samuelOct 18, 20187:58 PM

What’s Going to Mercury?

BepiColombo is due to launch on Saturday on an Ariane 5 rocket. The mission will get to Mercury in 2025 helping us learn a lot more about the planet that is the closest to the Sun.

Space News by @space_samuelOct 17, 201811:17 PM

International Observe the Moon Night

This Saturday night is International Observe the Moon Night so hopefully the weather will be great and we can all catch a glimpse of the Moon.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 15, 20189:26 PM

What is a Gamma Ray Burst?

Aside from the Big Bang, Gamma Ray Bursts are the most powerful releases of energy in the universe, sometimes releasing over 100 times the entire energy of the Sun over it’s 10 billion year lifespan.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 14, 20181:19 PM

Now Chandra has a glitch

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has developed a glitch and gone into safe mode. The 19 year old spacecraft is well past it’s design life but continues to produce incredible science so hopefully it’ll be back to full serviceability very soon.

Space News by @space_samuelOct 12, 20186:05 PM

Aborted launch to the ISS

The aborted launch of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with Expedition 57 to the International Space Station reminded the world that space flight can still be dangerous. Fortunately both Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin return safely to the surface of the Earth.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 11, 20187:04 PM

Interstellar, here we come!

The amount of interstellar particles being detected by Voyager 2 may indicate that the spacecraft is about to pass through the heliopause into interstellar space.

Space News by @milkywaykiwiOct 10, 20185:10 PM

News from the Solar System

Riding on Elon Musk’s muscle power earthlings are preparing to invade the Moon again. There they will find that some of its craters have been renamed to honour the Apollo 8 mission, the first to orbit our natural satellite 50 years ago. Venus is hailed by the Parker Solar probe that swings by it, Jupiter’s Moon Europa has 15 meters ice spikes on the surface and Saturn’s rings are not just water nor all the lost airline luggage. Mars has to resign to the idea that earthlings have figured out how to grow plants on it. Not even perchlorates can stop them. And last but not least, New Horizons is unstoppable going towards Ultima Thule.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 9, 20183:52 PM

Hubble having a bit of a glitch

The Hubble Space Telescope is currently in safe mode while technicians at NASA figure out what has gone wrong with a gyroscope that was found to be not performing properly. Hopefully it’s an easy fix and Hubble will be back to full operations soon.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelOct 3, 201811:28 PM

Quasars – The worst kind of light pollution

Quasars are the brightest objects in the universe and are amazingly powerful. They are caused by Super Massive Black Holes.

Thinking out loud by @milkywaykiwiSep 24, 201810:39 PM

My internship at NASA Ames – What is NASA

Last month, the New Zealand Government – The New Zealand Space Agency together with the US Embassy have announced four scholarships at NASA Ames, the same place I have been in 2014. There were media outlets in New Zealand that publicised this as an astronaut training opportunity, but this internship is no astronaut training school although it might lead to becoming one. This, and the knowledge that you don’t need to be an astronaut to work in the space industry, prompted me to want to share from my experience at NASA and give an overview of what to realistically expect from these internships.

Mars by @space_samuelSep 16, 201810:55 PM

Mars Week!

Last week was Mars Week at Oxford Area School in the South Island. It was a great week running Mars Missions and learning all about Mars.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelSep 5, 20187:13 PM

The stars that we can see (except one)

The night sky is full of stars and some of the very brightest we see have some very interesting characteristics. Next time you’re looking at Sirius or Canopus you’ll be able to appreciate just how big they are compared to our very own star – the Sun.

StarryTelling by @milkywaykiwiAug 25, 201810:22 AM

How were oceans made, how did the water come to be on Earth?

First of all, Earth has a lot of water. It has 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 l of water. Some of this is in the oceans, some in the rivers and some inside Earth’s rocks, and some very deep […]

Mars by @milkywaykiwiJul 28, 20185:16 PM

via Liquid water detected on Mars, can it hold life? – ASTROBIOLOGY.NZ The European Space Agency discovered a pocket of liquid water inside layers of ice on Mars. Professor Ian Hawes, from Waikato University explains why this discovery is important in our quest to understand life on Mars and other frozen places in the Solar System that contain water.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelJul 23, 201810:24 PM

The night sky, this week, 23-29 July 2018

It’s the Winter of the Planets and in the early evening this week you can see Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Then there is the Lunar Eclipse on Saturday morning as well.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelJul 22, 201810:41 PM

How far from the Earth to the Sun – the Astronomical Unit

Next year is the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s voyage to the Pacific Ocean. One the things he did was contribute to a more accurate calculation of the distance between the Earth and the Sun by observing the transit of Venus.

Deep Sky by @space_samuelJul 17, 201811:50 PM

The night sky this week – 17 to 22 Jul 18

The night sky this week is still all about the planets but if you’re quick, you can still spot some deep sky objects before the Moon gets too bright.

StarryTelling by @milkywaykiwiJul 11, 20185:57 PM

Life on and off Earth, from Rotorua

Ever wanted to work for NASA? Or learn about astrobiology from New Zealand? Join us to find out what’s an astrobiologist, why should one visit New Zealand, how the hot springs here in Rotorua are putting it on the astrobiology map, what are NASA plans for sending people on Mars and what you need to do to work there at NASA, jobs of the future, Twizel and artificial intelligence.