These Slides, Presented During The New Horizons’ Press Conference At The 47th Lunar And Planetary Science

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Festo’s Bionic Flying Fox, as an example of Bio-mimicry.

German automation company Festo has created a Flying Fox (Fruit Bat) made of a 580g foam body with a carbon fibre skeleton and a membrane like material for the wings.

This robot imitates the exact body and wing movements of an actual bad in order for it to fly. This idea of bio-mimicry is one that is paving the way for a host of natural moving, nature inspired machines. 

A Super-Black Coating by Surrey NanoSystems.

This product absorbs 99.7% of light at 600nm wavelength. Unlike the previous product, VantaBlack, this product is much more tolerant and can withstand handling - indicating more realistic worldwide applications. 

On October 8 a privileged few could see auroras in abnormally low latitudes, as the spectacular pictures above taken in Wales and Northern England.

Via TON: Northern Lights Put On Spectacular Show As Aurora Borealis Lit Skies Over Wales And Yorkshire.

This is a 392 year old shark that was recently discovered in the Arctic Ocean.

This guy was wandering the oceans back in 1627 🦈

MARTIAN STORMS - Seen in 1977 by the Viking 2 Orbiter

“Like its predecessor, the Viking 2 mission consisted of a lander and an orbiter designed to take high-resolution images, and study the Martian surface and atmosphere. Both the Viking 1 and 2 landers benefited greatly from their orbiting counterparts, which snapped images that helped mission controllers navigate the landers to safe landing sites.”

This particular image was taken by the Viking 2 Orbiter and shows a massive dust storm on the red planet. This spectacular storm can be seen on a global scale. The Viking 2 mission would end 3 years later on April 11, 1980.

Credit: NASA/JPL

I saw this a long time ago and finally got it to convert to GIF format on tumblr. It shows how it’s the Earth that’s moving, space is standing still. I love this perspective. 

An asteroid the size of a skyscraper should pass near the Earth on August 10th

Asteroid Watch logo. August 5, 2019

Near Earth Asteroid

An asteroid 570 meters in diameter is expected to approach 8 million kilometers from our planet on August 10. The situation is of no concern to NASA specialists, who stress the large number of similar celestial objects that are spotted each year near the Earth. The space agency says it fears more those who are not listed.

Artist’s impression of 2006 QQ23 asteroid

According to NASA, an asteroid the size of a skyscraper will pass near the Earth on Saturday, August 10. Called “2006 QQ23”, the celestial object is approximately 570 meters in diameter and its trajectory will place it at a distance of 8 million kilometers from our planet, closer to home, says CNN. A “more or less benign” situation for experts from the American Space Agency. This asteroid is of a “moderate size” Lindley Johnson of NASA’s Global Coordinating Office for Defense says the asteroid is “of moderate size” and explains that half a dozen similar-sized aerolites are approaching each year. Not to mention that the solar system includes nearly 900 of a volume greater than that which advances towards the Earth. The specialists are therefore reassuring.

2006 QQ23 orbit

They explain having already studied the movements of “2006 QQ23” since the year 1901 and until 2200. Because a possible impact between the Earth and a foreign body of this size would cause significant damage over a large area . Even if this scenario occurred, NASA would then be able to launch a space mission to deflect the celestial object. When it comes to asteroids, “it’s the ones we do not know about that worry us,” says Kelly Fast, also a member of the Coordination Office. Related article: Asteroid’s surprise close approach illustrates need for more eyes on the sky https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/08/asteroids-surprise-close-approach.html Additional information: Asteroid Watch: For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch and http://www.nasa.gov/asteroid . Updates about near-Earth objects are also available by following AsteroidWatch on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch . Near-Earth Object Program Office: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ Images, Text, Credits: AFP/NASA/ESA/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

The astro-fashion-loving Internet collectively gasped when ESA’s Hubble twitter account posted three gorgeous gowns, by Czech designer Jirina Tauchmanova with only credit “Photo: Vasek”, which google thinks is a Canadian tennis player. For four long days I couldn’t find anymore images, until, today! Which is why I’m sharing a belated #FashionFriday and #StarrySunday combo.

These gown were shown at Serbia Fashion Week back in December 2015 as Jirina Tauchmanova‘s Spring/Summer 2016 collection – I hope that means they will be available for purchase soon!

I think I recognize at least two of the images, NGC 602 & 30 Doradus, but I’m going to have to see these in person to be sure, yes, definitely, and probably try them on, too.

–Emily

Want to See the Oldest Surviving Video of a Total Solar Eclipse?

It was done in – wait for it – 1900! The first total solar eclipse to be filmed has recently been restored. The film was done by Nevil Maskelyne, an illusionist turned astronomic videographer for the British Royal Astronomical Society.

This 1900 film is actually Maskelyne’s second attempt at filming a total solar eclipse. His first attempt was in 1898, when he traveled all the way to India to be at the right place to view a predicted total eclipse. Maskelyne got there in time, but sadly, his film was stolen, and the crime remains unsolved and the film unrecovered.