Deep Sky Blog 2.0

Hello world!

laxrick — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:37:45 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Mercury Messenger Flyby 1 Summary

laxrick — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:13:00 +0000

MESSENGER has returned quite a few high quality Mercury photographs. Check these out; the surface details are of the side of Mercury the Mariner 10 missions did not photograph!

The cratered surface of Mercury has not been visited in about 30 years. Only 45% of the surface of Mercury has been imaged by the Mariner 10. MESSENGER has a full suite of scientific instruments and will be able to tell us many things about the geological history, and hopefully about the highly reflective material (possibly water-ice in the perpetual shadows) of the north and south poles, of Mercury as well as image the remaining portion of the planet unseen by the previous Mariner mission.

The official MESSENGER website has a slew of great, entertaining, and interactive information pertaining to Mercury. Check it out for some fast facts, great animations, and even an interactive quiz or two to test your Mercurian knowledge.

MESSENGER Now At Closest Point To Mercury

laxrick — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:04:00 +0000

MESSENGER is now at its closest point (about 124 mi) from the surface of Mercury. Now… we wait for the pics!

Mercury Flyby Photo # 1

laxrick — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:16:00 +0000

Today’s Mercury photo from the continuing coverage of MESSENGER is posted! Check it out!

Today’s Mercury Photograph

laxrick — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Tomorrow, the first flyby of Mercury will occur. As you can see, we are quickly approaching the closest planet to the Sun.

MESSENGER Update: New Photograph Released!

laxrick — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:23:00 +0000

Yeah, so it looks like the old one but bigger; who cares! We’re closing in on the first rock from the Sun!

Great New Blog & Awesome Astrophotos

laxrick — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:25:00 +0000

I found a great new astroblog called the Orbiting Frog. Check it out; great content here as well!

Also, pointed out by the legendary Bad Astronomer, Travis Rector has a gallery of images available for public viewing. He has the fantastic job of processing the data from large telescopes around the world into the desktop-wallpaper-worthy photos we’ve all come to enjoy!

Identify Never-Before-Seen Galaxies

laxrick — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:01:00 +0000

GalaxyZoo is probably not new news, but it is to me. If you create account, you will make a significant scientific contribution by classifying new galaxies, many of which have never been seen before!

Trust me it’s as easy as it sounds. Turn in your name and you’ll even be credited! Try to determine spiral, elliptical, and merging galaxies from fuzzy original photos. The computer program can pick out the galaxies, but the human eye is the only thing that can classify them.

Easy as it sounds, labelling can be tricky. They are awfully fuzzy, and sometimes you have to identify photographs from a bad angle.

Got some down time? Let’s classify some galaxies!

P.S. The GalaxyZoo blog will be on the blogroll from now on too! Check it out!

MESSENGER Team Receives First Optical Navigation Images

laxrick — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Interplanetary space junkies will have a treat in the next upcoming days: Mercury will be imaged by the MESSENGER spacecraft. In fact, it already has, according to the site: here’s the first photo of Mercury by MESSENGER:

The first of eight navigational photos have been received. The spacecraft features two cameras: a wide-angle camera, or WAC, and a narrow-angle camera, or the NAC. To assist in navigation, the WAC takes photos of the starry background, and the NAC, which photographs the planet. Since the stars are so far away, they may as well be ‘fixed’ in space, and, in conjunction with the planet photograph, are used to determine exact position and if any adjustments need to be made. Stay tuned for more Mercury photographs as they become available!

Processed Mars Pic

laxrick — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Here’s my older pic of Mars…

And my newer pic. This one is 7 exposures stacked through Registax, and with adjusted Curves through Photoshop (with a custom diffraction spike brush as well).

Stay tuned in for how I made the improvements!