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| 16 sunrises every day on the ISS |
It is now 21 years since the discovery of the first exoplanet , 51Pegasi B, in the constellation of Pegasus.
Following this find , the number of exoplanets has rocketed ( no pun intended) , and now stands at approximately 3500
Whilst many exoplanets are woefully unsuitable for Earth comparisons - 51Pegasi B is a 'hot Jupiter', a tidally locked world that orbits its sun every four days with an average surface temperature of 1200°c .
The figure of 3500 exoplanets gives only a tiny fraction of potentially Earth - like worlds - personally, I think we're wasting precious resources looking for our own reflections.
Are we a world of Narcissists ?
Actually...
NASA celebrates 16 years of the ISS in orbit with the release of an amazing selection of gifs charting the development of the little 'space colony '.
A recent touchdown of returning crew from the ISS in Kazakhastan generated some great photos courtesy of Bill Ingalls
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| Returning Soyuz capsule pic NASA/ Bill Ingalls |
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| Saturn pic Cassini NASA |
The mysterious hexagon , which is bigger than Earth at Saturn's north pole has changed color,
shifting from blue to gold...speculation abounds online that the planet is the solar systems mood-ring.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that Saturns moon Titan is littered with steep- walled canyons filled with liquid methane .
Stunning views and fine sailing for anyone brave enough...seriously though, when Cassini reaches the end of its tenure, there is a proposed submarine mission
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| Giovanni Cassini's journals. He discovered four of Saturn's moons between 1671-1684 |
Meanwhile on Mars...
The dauntless explorer Curiosity is still roving over the rugged martian landscape.
Its latest find is a meteorite ( known as egg-rock) composed of a nickel / iron mixture .
Whilst it's not exactly big news, I include it here as evidence that NASA are scanning images for even such small oddities - although they obviously missed the squirrel , witchy woman and alien -crab -thingy amongst other uncanny similes.
For those who wish to conduct a post -mortem , the wreckage of the ill- fated Schiaparelli has been imaged by the Mars Orbiter.
I hope that someday the wreckage can be displayed alongside Beagle II and remnants of the many other ill- fated expeditions to the ' Red Planet'.
No doubt the Curiosity rover will be first in line to mock its failed predecessors / rivals in an understated , robotic way
Following the revelation that there are huge amounts of galaxies ( at least two trillion ) in the observable universe, it's the brain- melting number -crunch time again.
Apparently dark matter ( the theoretical crazy-glue of the cosmos) is comprised of trillions of axion particles.
Trillions of axions in every cubic centimeter of the universe.
Ponder.
Feel incredibly small.
Then get annoyed at all the ' ifs' and ' possiblies' associated with what is undoubtedly impressive but almost totally conjectural work.
Personally, I was initially impressed, but increasingly angered by the vagueness of the piece ( see above link).
Perhaps.
MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH...
A mysterious 'ping' sound emanating from the seabed in the Arctic is being investigated by the Canadian military .
Early reports dismiss industrial exploration and international subterfuge .
Apparently this ping is pretty serious then , or we're involved in a publicity scam for a new X-files movie....
In the last post, I mentioned the discovery of a hybrid cattle / bison species depicted in cave paintings - now we hear of a discovery indicating that Australia was populated 10 000 years earlier than previously thought.
Evidence has emerged with the discovery of bone fragments, weapons and egg shells in the Australian outback.
The media spin tells us that a man made the discovery when he was caught short and decided to answer the call of nature in a rocky shelter .
Other ancient discoveries recently include what may or may not be a dinosaur brain.
Found some 50 miles from London , ( for the politically inclined, there are dinosaur brains in London , in the Palace of Westminster, which are still functioning in a rudimentary fashion) it is currently being studied as a rare anomaly (soft tissue tends to degenerate quickly , leaving no trace) by a Paleobiologist - blimey - first I knew of such a profession !
Finally , a tip of the hat to the tireless writers of Gizmodo , ( particularly the excellent work of Maddie Stone) , the Planetary org , NASA and also thanks to you for indulging this weird little micro -blog
Until next time
G Alias Me
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