The Spring has been a bit slower than I would have liked in terms of astrophotography. I have seen a lot of fantastically clear evenings, but have been plagued by a lack of time and a few technical issues that have kept me from getting the many hours of practice needed to become competent. I did manage to purchase an inexpensive adapter to use my camera with my telescope, giving me a ton of new options for photography, as well as a ton of new challenges. The two main problems I had, and need to address in the future, are...
For years there has been talk of a subsurface ocean present within Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Many have simply assumed it to be fact, but the reality is, something so complex on a world so far away is very difficult to prove conclusively. But now, using data from over a decade of observations by the Cassini spacecraft, mission scientists have shown conclusively that Enceladus must have a global ocean beneath a surface of ice. Previous data analysis suggested that there was a lens-shaped liquid ocean beneath the south polar region of the planet, giving a source for the observed plumes...
It’s like a birthday to an astronomer when new science data comes in. I will always love seeing new photos from the Pluto system, and with terabytes of data left to download from new horizons, we’re going to have a lot of presents over the next few months. Our latest gift gives us some new images from the flyby, showing surface features and atmosphere. These are stunning. These incredible photos show the surprising complexity of surface features on Pluto. The gorgeous variation in the surface is reminiscent of Mars, amazing considering the lack of sunlight this distant world receives. The long...
