What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Check out this latest finding from the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn. Pretty cool..... CREDIT NASA/ESA Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Ever seen “Old Faithful” or other smaller geysers erupt at beautiful Yellowstone National Park   http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/exploreoldfaithful.htm     ? It is quite the sight. Located on a small, ice covered moon around the ringed planet Saturn there is a continuous eruption of huge Yellowstone-like geysers that an intrepid spacecraft will fly through at very close range to further discern their secrets. On Wednesday morning the Cassini spacecraft http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html     that has been exploring the Saturn system for over 11 years will perform its 21st flyby  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2015-328     of Enceladus, the amazing ice covered moon with a global sub-surface ocean. This daring flyby will be only 30 miles above the South Pole of Enceladus   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ1KowQXc3Y     and it will be the deepest penetration ever ...

Hey Space Placers! NASA's Cassini spacecraft has spent 11 years studying the ringed planet and its moons. In the past week Cassini started its final series of flybys of Enceladus. The returned pics have been amazing as can be seen in this close up of the moon's North pole . NASA JPL The closest pics are to be taken on October 28th as the spacecraft will zoom to within a mere 30 miles above the frozen and contorted surface of Enceladus. This will be Cassini's deepest penetration of the icy spray plumes that erupt out of cracks in the moon's frozen surface. Enceladus has a global ocean underneath its icy surface and is a desire future mission for NASA. The exploration of this ocean would give us our first look at such a feature beyond our own planet and who knows what we would find. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The solar system continues to amaze: NASA JPL Check out the RED colored arcs in the photo of Tethys, an icy moon of Saturn. The photo was obtained by the Cassini spacecraft that has been at Saturn for a decade. The photos were taken in April 2015. Mission scientists presently do not know what is causing the arcs but it is possible that they are chemical compounds or some kind of outgassing. It has been quite the year in solar system exploration and it is far from done. Stay tuned..... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! It is hard to believe that it was 10 years ago TODAY that humanity's Huygens probe launched from the Cassini spacecraft landed on Titan. What a world we found . And starting tomorrow, 1-15-15, we are going to explore another world, PLUTO, via the New Horizons spacecraft . New Horizons will be starting the 6 month voyage of exploration that will culminate in the flyby of Pluto July 14, 2015. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Surf's Up on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Check out the spewing spray as caught by the Cassini spacecraft: NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered the best evidence yet for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft's direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. NASA JPL From NASA's press release: "The salt-rich particles have an "ocean-like" composition and indicate that most, if not all, of the expelled ice and water vapor comes from the evaporation of liquid salt water. The findings appear in this week's issue of the journal Nature." "There currently is no plausible way to produce a steady outflow of salt-rich grains from solid ice across all the tiger stripes other than salt water under Enceladus's icy surface," said Frank Postberg, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Heidelbe...

Hey Space Placers! I will get back to Mercury tomorrow but I have to bring this exquisite and moving video of Saturn to your attention. It was made using real images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft that continues to explore the ringed planet: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/overview/ I watched it several times in a darkened and quiet room on a good monitor to get the full effect and it is almost as good as being there at Saturn: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110315.html This will be in my "favorites" for a long time as I think it will be in yours as well. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Did you get caught in the big east coast storm? Well, check out the big storm on Saturn! This storm is high in the outermost atmosphere of the ringed planet. It has been monitored by amateur astronomers and NASA's Cassini Mission recently captured this wonderful view. I don't think any snow came out of this storm ;-) Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Any Saturn lovers out there? Saturn is slowly making her way higher in the pre-dawn sky as the month progresses. Take a look at this link and enjoy the incredible views of the ringed planet courtesy of NASA's Cassini mission; http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/cassini_equinox/cassini_equinox_slideshow.html SkyGuyinVA