Natural modern art on Mars 21 Aug 2013 | 09:57 pm

A piece of Mars: Abstract modern art? No, these are north polar dunes almost completely covered in winter frost (mostly CO2 ice). It’s early spring in this image, and the dark sand underneath the ice ...

Special delivery for the Gemini South telescope. GPI has arrived! 21 Aug 2013 | 10:12 am

Special delivery for the Gemini South Telescope: a 2-ton planet imager called GPI (credit: Stephen Goodsell and Gaston Gausachs) Stephen Goodsell, Gemini Instrumentation Manager, surprised most of th...

Packing a planet imager instrument for a trip to Chile 14 Aug 2013 | 06:15 am

It is happening! The Gemini Planet Imager has been being dismounted, wrapped, and packed for a long trip to Chile. After so many years working on this project, the entire team shared   the anxiety of ...

Different day, different sand 8 Aug 2013 | 11:31 pm

A piece of Mars: Creamy dunes (or maybe they’re very large ripples) wind their way northward between mesas. More recently darker, more mobile sand (bluish here) has piled up against the western slopes...

The International Space Orchestra is in space 4 Aug 2013 | 02:47 am

BONJOUR a tous! It is with a massive delight that I can announce that The International Space Orchestra (ISO) recordings from Skywalker ranch, George Lucas’ studio  have launched in space on 4th Augus...

GPI is ready for its new location in Chile 2 Aug 2013 | 10:53 pm

It is now official, The Gemini Planet Imager (“Gee-pi”) is ready for shipping to Chile. This decision was taken on July 19 after the positive pre-delivery acceptance review. From its current home at t...

Thanks, Anna! 1 Aug 2013 | 08:25 pm

Screaming winds 29 Jul 2013 | 10:43 pm

A piece of Mars: This image is way up high on the Tharsis Montes on Mars, at an elevation of 5900 m (19,350 ft). At night the wind comes screaming down from some of the tallest mountains in the Solar ...

Space is Cool 22 Jul 2013 | 09:55 pm

Raw image Earth and moon from Saturn NASA began posting the raw images of Earth as seen by the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn on July 20. On Friday, the Cassini spacecraft, Saturn and the sun were alig...

SETI Institute Waved at Saturn 20 Jul 2013 | 04:01 am

Like several thousand people, the SETI Institute waved at Saturn on Friday July 19 at 2:27pm for ~15 min. In full day light, it was impossible to see Saturn on the east close to the horizon but we tru...