The Sagan Sector

Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. 'The Old Astronomer' A blog of space and science fiction by Rory Kitrick

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The accounting errors in the department of defence on a single weapons system come to more than a decade’s exploration of the entire solar system.

Carl Sagan, on the cost of space exploration

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What your sub field says about you

Astrophysics: you're a huge fucking nerd

Biophysics: just the biggest dork ever

Solid State Chemistry: too nerdy to live

Geology: rock dork

Developmental Biology: such a fucking nerd

Quantum Physics: both a nerd and a dork at the same time

Plant Biology: the dorkiest

Physical Inorganic Chemistry: welcome to the dork parade

Organic Chemistry: have fun drawing hexagons, nerd

[spacetravelco]

The Solar System and Beyond is Awash in Water

Earth isn’t the only ocean world in our solar system. Oceans could exist in diverse forms on moons and dwarf planets, offering clues in the quest to discover life beyond our home planet. This illustration depicts the best known candidates in our search for life in the solar system.

[just--space]

The Carina Nebula.

js

[planned-planethood]

You’re looking at the first color image of Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft. In July it will become the first ever spacecraft to visit Pluto and virtually all the things we know forever after about Pluto will come from this visit.

There are exciting days ahead…

(Image credit: NASA, JHU-APL and SWRI)

[spacetravelco]

The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale measures the amount of light pollution at night in a given location, with 9 being heavily polluted and 1 being pristine.

Where does your night sky rank?

Find a truly dark sky near you on the International Dark-Sky Association’s website.

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I’m back, baby

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You are something that the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing… The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around; the real, deep down you is the whole universe. A lot of people are afraid that when they die, they’re going to be locked up in a dark room forever... [but] you can’t have an experience of nothing... In other words, we all know very well that after other people die, other people are born. And they’re all you, only you can only experience it one at a time. Everybody is I, you all know you’re you, and wheresoever beings exist throughout all galaxies, it doesn’t make any difference. You are all of them. And when they come into being, that’s you coming into being. You know that very well, only you don’t have to remember the past in the same way you don’t have to think about how you work your thyroid gland, or whatever else it is in your organism. You don’t have to know how to shine the sun. You just do it, like you breathe. Doesn’t it really astonish you that you are this fantastically complex thing, and that you’re doing all this and you never had any education in how to do it? Never learned, but you’re this miracle?

Alan Watts

[w0uldyoubemine]

I am an incurable romantic. I believe in hope, dreams and decency, love tenderness and kindness. I believe in mankind.

Leonard Nimoy (via l0kilee)

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samsaranmusing:

Orbital path of asteroid near miss in 2002. Yeah, that’s how close we came to nuclear winter and possible total destruction.

This is really interesting, but also it looks like that ‘asteroid’ is labelled as J002E3? Which is actually believed to be the S-IVB from one of the Apollo missions and would burn up if it hit the atmosphere.

[blackyjunkgallery]

you are not alone in space

[robinwdavey]

My latest one for Wired Italia, this time about the possibility of using wormholes for interstellar travel. As seen in the new Christopher Nolan film, er, Interstellar.

Space flight has had a bad couple of weeks but I still find the unabashed optimism of it’s goals inspiring somehow. Let’s get the hell off this rock.

[kny111]

NGC 7822

Processing: Francesco Antonucci; Data: WISE IRSA Archive

A young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus.

The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59.

The complex is believed to be some 800-1000 pc distant, with the younger components aged no more than a few million years.

[sagansector-blog]

State of the Rosetta Mission As a lot of you may already have heard, Philae experienced a few problems while landing on comet 67P on Wednesday. The downwards thruster and harpoon system failed, resulting in Philae bouncing before coming to a stop in the shadow of a cliff, rather than in the intended site. The problem with this is that Philae's battery is solar powered, and scientists immediately had a dreadful feeling that this new location might not provide enough sunlight.

Unfortunately, despite some attempts to capture more sunlight by moving the lander's body, the power has depleted and the signal has died- not, however, before the ESA received significant data from Philae's short time on the surface. Perhaps most significantly, the lander executed an operation to drill into the surface, and scientists are currently analyzing data to see whether it was successful.

At this point it seems unlikely that the ESA will be able to operate the lander again anytime in the near future, however it's not impossible that Philae may at some point receive enough sunlight to return from hibernation. In the meantime, Rosetta will continue to listen as it quietly orbits the comet.

Photo courtesy of the ESA

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More images of 67P from the Rosetta mission [x]

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Oh no oh no I was wrong about the comet landing time. In recompense here is a picture from <10 km above the surface of 67P!!

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Expedition 41 returns to Earth from the ISS