Category: Space

See the Heavens in Your Own Home

Homestar Planetarium

I saw this on Gizmodo a few days ago. Sega Toys could be on to somthing if not only will it project thousands of stars sharply but also if it can display planetary motion. It goes on sale in July for about $200US, not sure when it will be in the states.

< Press release > Common 1 ten thousand numbers of stars and real for business it actualizes the projection picture. The starry sky projector ” foam/home star for home which can appreciate the starry sky of the whole sky at the home (the HOMESTAR)” new sale

Translated page: Homestar Planetarium

Japan, astronomy, space

Sea life ‘killed by exploding star’

Exploding star

I can only hoipe that this won’t happen again in the near future.

A huge blast of radiation from an exploding star might have been behind one of the Earth’s worst mass extinctions, some 450m years ago.

In the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists argue that a gamma ray burst, the most powerful explosion that occurs in the universe, was responsible for the Ordovican mass extinction in which 60% of all marine invertebrates died.

Gamma ray bursts are thought to be caused either when two neutron stars collide or when giant stars collapse into black holes at the end of their lives.

Sea life ‘killed by exploding star’

The Brains That Saved Apollo 13

People tend to forget that sometimes the true heros are the guys with the pocket protectors and slide rules.

A group of engineers was honored Tuesday for concocting a plan using plastic bags, cardboard and duct tape to save Apollo 13’s astronauts after their spacecraft was crippled by an explosion 35 years ago.

Apollo 13 Engineers Feted on Anniversary