Okay, a quick glance through some exciting astronomy stories before I head into work today…
- Pinwheel Galaxy – First off, go check out this incredible image of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. It is the largest image ever taken of a spiral galaxy, and the detail is amazing. Guess what my new desktop wallpaper is?
- Mar Reconnaissance Orbiter – NASA’s latest Martian orbiter is set to for Mars orbit insertion on March 10. It will spend the next few months aero-braking to reduce its highly elliptical orbit to a tight 300 kilometer circular working orbit. The MRO carries the biggest and most powerful camera ever flown to another world, so expect some incredible high resolution images from this orbiter.
- Venus Express – Speaking of space probes, Venus Express will arrive at Venus on April 11 and begin its mission of the hothouse planet. Lots of exciting new missions about to begin.
- Titan Flyby – And of course current missions continue to bring home the bacon. Cassini zoomed past Titan for the 12th time on February 27, the first of four passes to determine the shape, strength and structure of Titan’s gravitational field. Cassini recently investigated a gigantic thunderstorm on the gas planet, with lightning flashes and winds that could scour the flesh from your bones.
Well, time to go make the doughnuts…