Astronomy
Illuminating the Northern Lights
Northern California residents may not be able to see the northern lights like people in Alaska can, but Bay Area scientists are playing a key role in understanding them. Find out more about the spectacular light shows up north and what scientists at UC Berkeley are discovering about the earth's magnetic field. You may view [...]
Post on Jul 24, 2007 by Josh Rosen
Outward Bound: New Horizons
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is currently on its way to becoming the first spacecraft ever to reach Pluto–the object that, whatever you choose to call it, skitters along the frontier between the Outer Solar System and the more distant reaches of the Kuiper Belt. It may seem to be a bit early to start talking [...]
Post on Jul 20, 2007 by Ben Burress
Story Time with Young Science Authors
What do kids age 5-8 think about science? Young authors from the KQED Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest read their science-themed contest entries.
Video on Jul 17, 2007 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
Dark Secrets
A dark-sky spot amidst the urban light pollution of the Bay Area, taken from Chabot Space & Science Center. Credit: Carter Roberts. When I was growing up, I spent my summers at a camp in the Sierra’s near Colfax, where my mother worked as head cook. This gave me two months' worth of nights every [...]
Post on Jul 06, 2007 by Ben Burress
Supernovae in Aspen
Artist's impression of a Type Ia Supernova explosion. A white dwarf (left) steals the matter from the outer envelopeof a red giant companion (right) until it can no longer support the weight. The resulting explosion can be seen across the universe. Credit: David A. Hardy, www.astroart.org & PPARC I'm writing this from the plane on [...]
Post on Jul 02, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
Coffee and Pi: Bay Area Science Cafés – TV Story
It's a typical afternoon at a cafe– cappuccinos, conversation… and the science of black holes? Bay Area "science cafes" have exploded in popularity, putting scientists and everyday folks face to face for casual science roundtables.
Video on Jun 26, 2007 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Eye of the Beholder
The Viking Orbiter’s picture of a hill in the Cydonia region on Mars that sparked popular speculation of a monument-building Martian civilization. Credit: NASA/Viking When I heard the news flash that came out in early June about the alleged discovery of standing puddles of water on Mars, a part of me was immediately skeptical. Considering [...]
Post on Jun 19, 2007 by Ben Burress
Seeing the Invisible
Overlay of the profile of the Bullet Cluster measured using three different techniques. The light orange, round galaxies that make up the cluster are seen clearly in the image taken from optical telescopes. Overlaid is the distribution of gas measured from X-ray observations in red and the distribution of dark matter in blue. Composite Credit: [...]
Post on Jun 18, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
Titan: It's a Small World After All
A comparison of one of Titan's 'seas'(left) and Lake Superior. Credit: NASA/Cassini.Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has always held my imagination in a tight grip. Even back in my childhood (we're talking the 60's, before any interplanetary probe had even crossed the Asteroid Belt just beyond Mars), when we knew little more about Titan than its [...]
Post on Jun 08, 2007 by Ben Burress
What is Invisible?
Some forces, like the electromagnetic force, are very easy to detect using small children in the laboratory. Others aren't so easy. I finished off my last post with mention of some recent dark matter press coverage. I'm going to take this opportunity to delve into this subject with a little more detail. I realize I've [...]
Post on Jun 04, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
CSI Mars
Gertrude Weise — a deposit of silica uncovered by the wheel of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. Credit: NASA/Mars Exploration Rovers. Watching the unfolding story of the exploration of our solar system's fourth planet is like watching an episode of CSI: Mars. Robotic orbiters, like police helicopters, constantly circle the neighborhood while determined rovers doggedly [...]
Post on May 24, 2007 by Ben Burress
Astronomy in the News
An artists conception of a planet orbiting a red dwarf star Is it just me, or have we seen a ton of astronomy news coverage in the last month? Lately, it seems like every time I check my inbox, there is a new question from my parents about some great new discovery with a link [...]
Post on May 21, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
Solar flares: flashes with a twist
Sunspot 930 (dark area) and associated X-class solar flare of 12/13/06 (bright). Image Credit: Hinode, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).The Sun doesn't usually make the headlines–not even something like, "Flash! Nuclear explosion as powerful as a billion H-bombs sighted only 93 million miles from Earth!" Let's face it, things like that just don’t seem relevant [...]
Post on May 11, 2007 by Ben Burress
Gamma Rays and Monsters
Most of us are killed after receiving a large dose of gamma rays. For a select few, the exposure can unleash our inner demons. Image courtesy of http://www.hulkmovie.com/navigation/multimedia.htm. Continuing on the theme of Supernovae from my last posting, I’ll take this opportunity to address an earlier question that was asked by one of my loyal [...]
Post on May 07, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
Hinode means sunrise
A typical, Earth-sized sunspot as seen by Hinode. Credit: Hinode, National Astronomical Observtory of Japan (NAOJ)A new day has dawned– so to speak… Last September, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, launched a new solar observatory satellite, originally designated as "Solar-B." Upon its successful launch, the spacecraft was bestowed its nickname, Hinode (pronounced “heh NO day”), [...]
Post on Apr 27, 2007 by Ben Burress
Nobel Laureate George Smoot and the Origin of the Universe
QUEST TV talks with George Smoot, big bang researcher at UC Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Video on Apr 24, 2007 by Josh Rosen from QUEST Northern California
Nobel Laureate George Smoot and the origin of the Universe
QUEST TV talks with George Smoot, big bang researcher at UC Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics. You may watch the George Smoot TV story online. Sudden Oak Death and Science of Big Waves (episode #108), which also features this short story, airs tonight on QUEST at 7:30pm on KQED 9, [...]
Post on Apr 24, 2007 by Josh Rosen
Why does it … matter? Part II
Half hour exposure of star trails above the Keck Telescopes taken by yours trulyThe dark matter that I discussed in my last post is quite bizarre, but makes up only a small fraction of the universe. The dominant material in the universe actually appears to be some kind of "dark energy". Since no one has [...]
Post on Apr 23, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
Fly By Night, SOFIA
Artwork of SOFIA with backdrop of astronomical objects; Credit: NASA/USRA.Soon, the nighttime Bay Area skies may be graced with a new astronomical wonder– and I'm not talking about a celestial object or event. I'm talking about something that’s a bit of a cross between an astronomical observatory, a stealth aircraft, and a NASA spacecraft… I’m [...]
Post on Apr 13, 2007 by Ben Burress
Why does it … matter?
A work for SFMOMA?Standing on Earth and looking out into space, it’s easy to assume that you have it figured out. There are stars, gases, metals– all 'normal matter' that we can see, made up of electrons and protons. From this vantage point, there is no reason to believe that there is anything else out [...]
Post on Apr 09, 2007 by Kyle S. Dawson
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