http://space.web2announcer.com/ Web 2.0 announcer top stories for space en Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:57:36 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2715414 unknown@Digg.com Almost everyone has had the frustrating experience of getting lost. To avoid this problem, the savvy traveler carries a map. Similarly, astronomers need maps of the sky to know where to look, allowing us to make the best use of precious time on large telescopes. A map of the entire sky also helps scientists find the most rare and unusual types of o Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:57:36 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2715414space http://web2announcer.com/go/2714097 unknown@Digg.com Aliens are real and have made contact with us several times, but it has been covered up for 60 years, according to Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:50:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2714097space http://web2announcer.com/go/2713294 unknown@Digg.com Astronomers were watching Polaris in the expectation that they would catch the star switching off its vibrations completely when they made the surprising observation of its revival. Scientists have no idea why this is happening! Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:11:53 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2713294space http://web2announcer.com/go/2712913 unknown@Digg.com A NASA spacecraft captured a unique view of the moon passing in front of the Earth as seen from 31 million miles away. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:00:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2712913space http://web2announcer.com/go/2712822 unknown@Digg.com When the Ares V rocket lands on the moon next decade, part of its payload will be a full-functioning, instant moon base that will be ready for a several-month long habitation. At least, if experimental architecture firm Architecture and Vision has anything to say about it. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:20:02 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2712822space http://web2announcer.com/go/2712778 unknown@Digg.com Awesome Images from the Hubble telescope show the end of a giant red storm on Jupiter which had been called the "Baby Red Spot." Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:50:02 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2712778space http://web2announcer.com/go/2712575 unknown@Digg.com What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur in practically every human society Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:10:02 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2712575space http://web2announcer.com/go/2710325 unknown@Digg.com A new theory that the Earth is in a "void" in space could dispel the need for theoretical dark matter to explain the unexplainable. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:30:04 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2710325space http://web2announcer.com/go/2709687 unknown@Digg.com In Australia, the team involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence - known as SETI - are about to ratchet up their capacity for analysing the data they collect with improved technology, while at the same time sharing the information with other institutions and the public. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:50:31 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2709687space http://web2announcer.com/go/2709498 unknown@Digg.com What will become of these galaxies? Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:30:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2709498space http://web2announcer.com/go/2709348 unknown@Digg.com Man to live on the moon - "We're going back, and this time we're going to stay,'' S. Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames, said in remarks opening the lunar science conference. "This is the first step in settling the solar system.'' Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:10:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2709348space http://web2announcer.com/go/2708619 unknown@Digg.com The Apollo 11 astronauts made history when the first man is landed on the moon by the United States and Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon leaving the first human footprints in its dusty soil. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:10:27 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2708619space http://web2announcer.com/go/2707701 unknown@Digg.com A team of astronomers announced they have discovered the smallest and potentially most Earth-like extrasolar planet yet. Five times as massive as Earth, it orbits a relatively cool star at a distance that would provide earthly temperatures as well, signaling the possibility of liquid water. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:30:04 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2707701space http://web2announcer.com/go/2706955 unknown@Digg.com Young star cluster M16 is surrounded by natal clouds of cosmic dust and glowing gas also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region includes fantastic shapes made famous in well-known Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:00:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2706955space http://web2announcer.com/go/2704295 unknown@Digg.com In late May, 2008, the EPOXI spacecraft, formerly Deep Impact, turned its cameras back to Earth and observed us over the course of a several hours. During this time, from EPOXI?s point of view, the Moon passed directly in front of the Earth! Here's the video Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:20:50 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2704295space http://web2announcer.com/go/2703722 unknown@Digg.com No description for this story Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:20:16 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2703722space http://web2announcer.com/go/2703686 unknown@Digg.com Hubble took this sequence of amazing pictures, showing the Great Red Spot ? a storm far larger than our entire planet ? chewing up and spitting out a smaller, though still ginormous, storm. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:42:21 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2703686space http://web2announcer.com/go/2703235 unknown@Digg.com How do you weigh the biggest black holes in the universe? One answer now comes from a completely new technique that astronomers have developed. By measuring a peak in the temperature of hot gas in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, scientists have determined the mass of the galaxy's supermassive black hole. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:50:13 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2703235space http://web2announcer.com/go/2702285 unknown@Digg.com New observations made by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), currently circling the planet, have revealed evidence that vast regions of the southern highlands of Mars were altered by water in a variety of environments billions of years ago. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:05:37 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2702285space http://web2announcer.com/go/2701425 unknown@Digg.com The red planet was once awash in water, say scientists -- not hot, boiling water, but benign seas that may have been suitable for life. "There was apparently pervasive water present during the first 600 to 700 million years," said Brown University geologist John Mustard, co-author of a paper scheduled to be published today in Nature. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:30:05 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2701425space http://web2announcer.com/go/2700091 unknown@Digg.com The Milky Way's current record holder, Eta Carinae, has some competition in the Peony nebula star Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:53:33 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2700091space http://web2announcer.com/go/2699515 unknown@Digg.com Voyager 2 has been in space for 30 years. It has sent back data that show exotic particles from outside the solar system dominate the outer edge of our solar system. That means it's much more complex out there than we thought. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:15:12 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2699515space http://web2announcer.com/go/2699438 unknown@Digg.com The ISS, you see, is already an interplanetary spacecraft -- at least potentially. It's missing a drive system and a steerage module, but those are technicalities. It could fairly easily be retrofitted for operations beyond low-Earth orbit. In principle, we could fly it almost anywhere within the inner solar system. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:10:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2699438space http://web2announcer.com/go/2698363 unknown@Digg.com By day, the engineers work on NASA's new Ares moon rockets. By night, some go undercover to work on a competing design. These dissenting scientists and their backers insist they have created an alternative rocket that would be safer, cheaper and easier to build than the two Ares spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:20:04 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2698363space http://web2announcer.com/go/2698206 unknown@Digg.com This beautiful cosmic cloud is a popular stop on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius. Eighteenth century cosmic toyurist Charles Messier cataloged the bright nebula as M8, while modern day astronomers recognize the Lagoon Nebula as an active stellar nursery about 5,000 light-years distant, in direction of the center of our Milky Way Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:30:22 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2698206space http://web2announcer.com/go/2697539 unknown@Digg.com A good-sized asteroid sailing past our planet right now turns out to be two giant rocks doing a celestial jig.Now seen as two objects orbiting each other, the pair will be closest to Earth on July 14, at about 1.4 million miles (2 million kilometers) away. That's nearly six times as far from us as the moon. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:52:15 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2697539space http://web2announcer.com/go/2696358 unknown@Digg.com An international team of scientists has put together detailed plans for a mission to bring back samples of rock, and possibly microscopic life, from the surface of Mars. To be successful the mission, which is proposed for launch between 2018 and 2023 could cost up to $8 billion Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:40:07 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2696358space http://web2announcer.com/go/2695524 unknown@Digg.com The US space agency needs to have better consideration for the sexual needs of their astronauts during long missions in space. Also, more research needs to be done to investigate human embryo development in zero-gravity or low-gravity environments, especially if NASA is serious about setting up a colony on Mars in the next 30 years. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:56:18 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2695524space http://web2announcer.com/go/2695265 unknown@Digg.com So I?m out on my bike and I see a UHaul van parked on the road. I like the artwork they put on the sides of the vans; it?s always about some attraction from a specific state. In this case, the state was Iowa, and I was pretty surprised to see this picture... Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:30:36 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2695265space http://web2announcer.com/go/2694455 unknown@Digg.com This eerie glow over Death Valley is in danger. Scrolling right will show a spectacular view from one of the darkest places left in the continental USA: Death Valley, California. The above 360-degree full-sky panorama is a composite of 30 images taken two years ago in Racetrack Playa. The image has been digitally processed and increasingly Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:30:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2694455space http://web2announcer.com/go/2693490 unknown@Digg.com incredable Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:00:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2693490space http://web2announcer.com/go/2692409 unknown@Digg.com As Jupiter reached opposition earlier this week, it put on a spectacular show of cannibalism for anyone viewing with modest telescopes. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:50:23 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2692409space http://web2announcer.com/go/2692410 unknown@Digg.com Will the Mars lander's next baking test of soil and ice be its last? Scientists worry that it could be, thanks to an electrical glitch that threatens the $420 million quest to find the chemical ingredients for life near the Martian north pole. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:50:22 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2692410space http://web2announcer.com/go/2691982 unknown@Digg.com Massive, rocky worlds called 'super-Earths' ? even those orbiting searingly close to their stars ? may provide the right conditions for life, new research suggests. At up to 15 times the mass of Earth, the rocky bodies are bigger and easier to spot than Earth-sized worlds, which have yet to be detected. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:33:34 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2691982space http://web2announcer.com/go/2691440 unknown@Digg.com During the next couple of weeks, North Americans and Europeans will have many opportunities to see the ISS flying over their homes, due chiefly to a seasonal circumstance. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:08:19 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2691440space http://web2announcer.com/go/2691444 unknown@Digg.com Things may be looking up for Pluto, which got stripped of its planetary status two years ago. Astronomers are going to name distant bodies of its size "plutoids". Pluto is finally getting its day in the sun, after being stripped of planetary status by astronomers two years ago. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:00:09 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2691444space http://web2announcer.com/go/2691172 unknown@Digg.com Astronomers have known for years that something seems to be pulling our Milky Way and tens of thousands of other galaxies toward itself at a breakneck 22 million kilometers (14 million miles) per hour. But they couldn?t pinpoint exactly what or where it is. A new theory has emerged. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:20:07 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2691172space http://web2announcer.com/go/2689672 unknown@Digg.com Astronomers have uncovered an extreme stellar machine -- a galaxy in the very remote universe pumping out stars at a surprising rate of up to 4,000 per year. In comparison, our own Milky Way galaxy turns out an average of just 10 stars per year. The discovery goes against the most common theory of galaxy formation. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:40:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2689672space http://web2announcer.com/go/2689674 unknown@Digg.com Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing the first discovery by T. Mothé-Diniz (Brazil) and D. Nesvorný (USA) of asteroids with a spectrum similar to that of ordinary chondrites, the meteoritic material that most resembles the composition of our Sun. Most of the meteorites that we collect on Earth come from the main belt of asteroids located between Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:20:16 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2689674space http://web2announcer.com/go/2689554 unknown@Digg.com most beautiful space image... Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:46:56 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2689554space http://web2announcer.com/go/2689102 unknown@Digg.com Signs of life on Mars may be hiding under its rocks, or perhaps hiding inside those rocks. A new study offers a simplified technique for detecting biological and pre-biotic molecules that become trapped inside minerals. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:58:15 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2689102space http://web2announcer.com/go/2686967 unknown@Digg.com Water has been found conclusively for the first time inside ancient moon samples brought back by Apollo astronauts. The discovery may force scientists to rethink the lunar past and future, although uncertainty remains about how much water exists and whether future explorers could extract it. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:40:04 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2686967space http://web2announcer.com/go/2685862 unknown@Digg.com US scientists have found evidence that water was held in the Moon's interior, challenging some elements of the theory of how Earth's satellite formed. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:40:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2685862space http://web2announcer.com/go/2684560 unknown@Digg.com The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is the closest cluster of galaxies to our Milky Way Galaxy. The Virgo Cluster is so close that it spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by a full Moon. With its heart lying about 70 million light years distant, the Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over 2,000 gala Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:20:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2684560space http://web2announcer.com/go/2683120 unknown@Digg.com Astronomers were recently shocked to find that Saturn's second-biggest moon, Rhea, is surrounded by a ring. So how did it get there? And what's keeping it there? Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2683120space http://web2announcer.com/go/2682545 unknown@Digg.com Apollo 11 astronaut and second man on the moon lands a sweet punch on someone who thinks the Moon Landings was faked. Well done Buzz! Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:30:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2682545space http://web2announcer.com/go/2682142 unknown@Digg.com Stunning satellite images of the Red Planet reveal avalanches, sand dunes and more. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:20:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2682142space http://web2announcer.com/go/2681645 unknown@Digg.com For all we know, sex in space has already taken place. But NASA officials aren't talking about that much. Beyond space tourism as a platform for steamy shenanigans, space missions are the perfect petri dishes for close encounters, and this year NASA certainly has a busy flight schedule, with five missions planned. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:30:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2681645space http://web2announcer.com/go/2681603 unknown@Digg.com Charles Thomas Bolton was THE first man to discover a black hole. His thanks for 37 years of research? Well he's just been kicked out his observatory by the University of Toronto who sold off the observatory he was was working in to greedy real estate interests: An act that ranks with the sacking of the library of Alexandria. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:20:03 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2681603space http://web2announcer.com/go/2681038 unknown@Digg.com Ever since the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet (does it even deserve a capital "P"???) in 2006, astronomers around the world have been at odds to describe just what they mean when they say the word "planet." Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:00:06 GMT http://web2announcer.com/go/2681038space