But none the less very cool.Anyone who has even a cursory interest in science, or astronomy specifically, or space heard about the “big announcement” of NASA had yesterday for a few days now. NASA was working hard to keep the whole thing hush-hush, so speculation abounded. My personal belief tended towards some discovery on Titan; not life per-se ( Read more... )

Final post in commemoration of Carl Sagan Day, this excerpt is the audio from the chapter The Gift of Apollo from the book Pale Blue Dot ( Read more... )

Yesterday would have been Carl Sagan's birthday and in celebration some use the opportunity presented by this fact to promote science and especially astronomy. So in that vein I post another video, this one is from the chapter titled Wanderers, (which is the intro to his Pale Blue Dot bookIn brief Wanderers talks about the human need to explore, ( Read more... )

Really started this yesterday so I don't have too much to add except today would have been Dr. Sagan's birthday. I know that doesn't mean much to most folks and that's fine. For me though, he ignited my love of science in general and astronomy in particular; not to mention the courage to always be skeptical, to be willing to ask the hard ( Read more... )

Everyone has their heroes, or people they admire; people who inspire you or me in some deep way. For me personally there are a small group of people from history and contemporary society who heartened me profoundly enough I guess I could call them "heroes" for lack of a better word. These people inspire me every time I study, read, or listen to ( Read more... )

It isn't a name that rolls off the tongue or is easy to remember, but Gliese 581 is quickly becoming one of the most important stars in astronomy circles. Located some 20.5 light years away, Gliese 581 itself isn't remarkable. M-class stars like Gliese 581 that are significantly smaller and cooler then our sun and far, far less luminous are very ( Read more... )