Our moon may not be made of green cheese - as 16th century English writer John Heywood had speculated - but Mars's largest moon comes close. Phobos is full of holes, according to the latest data collected by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter during a close (67 kilometers) flyby yesterday. Scientists think the moon formed out of a cloud of dust sometime after its parent planet was born. Its gravity is so weak that it can't pull itself completely together. In fact, orbital analysis shows that Phobos is gradually being pulled in by Mars?and millions of years from now that gravity will rip the moon apart.

Credit: NASA-JPL/Space Science Institute

In its latest flyby of Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft has captured a veritable array of fountains spraying ice crystals and water above the moon's southern pole - a phenomenon unique in the solar system. Tidal forces created by gravity from the giant ringed planet and its other moons open fissures called "tiger stripes" in the deeply frozen surface of Enceladus. The gravity also warps the moon's ice and creates enough heat to force the ice and water out of the fissures and into space. This image, taken 21 November, will be the last of the geysers for a long time. Soon that region will be shaded from the sun for 15 years, hiding the fountains from Cassini's cameras.

There's a new movie about Simon's Cat:

New images have revealed something on Saturn never seen on any other member of the solar system. In this still photo and a video, taken early last year by the Hubble Space Telescope and released 11 February, both of Saturn's poles are showing auroral displays. Though the auroras are simultaneous, they aren't identical, and scientists say the differences will help uncover new information about the strength and behavior of Saturn's magnetic field. (Photo: NASA/ESA/Jonathan Nichols-University of Leicester)

NASA's Opportunity rover has delivered yet another surprise. This rock, named Marquette Island, is unlike any other the six-wheeled robot has found. Its coarse-grained composition shows it originated not on the planet's surface but within its interior. Sometime in the past a massive object--probably a small asteroid--slammed through the Martian surface, ejecting rocks from inside the crust. After being flung high into the sky, the basketball-sized rock landed on Meridiani Planum, conveniently where Opportunity has been exploring for the past 6 years. "It is from deep in the crust and someplace far away on Mars," says chief mission scientist Steve Squyres. "Though exactly how deep and how far we can't yet estimate." (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell)

As my sister was staying in Ireland for about half a year, my brother and I visited her around New Year's Eve. She is doing an internship at the University Cork College but came to Dublin to join us for a small trip to Cork.
We arrived at Dublin airport after a normal flight from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam at 28 December. We started with almost completely clear skies but landed with a dense fog where we could only see the tops of some buildings. Must have been a landing on instruments only, but nonetheless a fine landing.
We took off to the car hire section and got one of the ugliest cars there are: a Nissan Micra. But hey, it would probably do its job fine.
As we are used to drive on the right side of the road we had to adjust driving on the left and shifting with our left hand, but we managed.
Next to the train station we picked up our sister and headed for our first accommodation in Dublin. Later that day we went to the city center by bus and walked around, sightseeing Dublin in the dark. It was pretty cold but dry so we weren't bothered by it that much.

For the very first time, the martian moons Phobos and Deimos have been caught on camera together. ESA's Mars Express orbiter took these pioneering images last month. Apart from their 'wow' factor, these unique images will help the HRSC team validate and refine existing orbit models of the two moons.

Read more at ESA

By Wulffmorgenthaler.com

Astronomers have fingered a prime suspect behind one of the most important phenomena in the universe: Type Ia supernovae. These violent explosions release their light so precisely that researchers can use them to gauge how fast the universe is expanding. But scientists still don't know what causes these blowouts. Enter V445, a white dwarf star--an older version of our sun--locked in orbit with another sun about 25,000 light-years away. Back in 2000, V445 sucked away enough matter from its partner to trigger an explosion called a nova. Analysis of the blast showed that it contained no hydrogen, an element also missing in Type Ia supernovae, astronomers report 20 November in The Astrophysical Journal. As such, astronomers plan to keep a close eye on "vampire stars" such as V445 from now on. (Image: ESO)

• Archive

• Phobos Has a Cheesy Interior
  2010-03-06 11:59:41 - 19 views - 0 reactions
  Our moon may not be made of green cheese - as 16th century...
• Versailles, Saturn Style
  2010-02-24 08:41:40 - 35 views - 0 reactions
  Credit: NASA-JPL/Space Science Institute In its latest flyby...
• Life before Google
  2010-02-21 12:49:59 - 39 views - 0 reactions
  
• Simon's Cat 'Snow Business' (Part 1 & 2)
  2010-02-15 17:34:12 - 164 views - 0 reactions
  There's a new movie about Simon's Cat:
• Double shot
  2010-02-12 10:05:47 - 51 views - 0 reactions
  New images have revealed something on Saturn never seen on any...

You should also check:
RuudVisser.com (my brother)
Suzanne (my sister)
PuurElementair.nl (a colleague)