Pioneer 11

I’m a couple days late, but this is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Pioneer 11. This was a low budget project in preparation of the Voyagers, but it still gathered important information and some nice pictures. Such as this one of Jupiter (Credit: NASA Ames):

and this one of Saturn (Credit: NASA Ames):

And here’s a completely different picture, the mountains of Alaska (Credit: NASA/Goddard/Christy Hansen):

Jupiter

Here’s a very nice picture of Jupiter and it was taken by an amateur astronomer (Credit:  NASA/Damian Peach):

Jupiter and a poem

Today there’s another picture of Jupiter. It’s a mosaic of pictures taken by Cassini back in December 2000 (Credit: NASA):

Hey, it’s Friday so here’s a poem (long for me):

What does it feel like to see the lights of dawn
Do you feel hated
Do you feel sad
Does it feel fated
You would feel bad
Why had you trusted
It was so real
Now you’re disgusted
Can’t really feel
You never knew
How to look forward
Never a clue
You’d feel so much dread
What does it feel like to see the lights of dawn
You’ll never know.

Planets, neutron stars, Scott Brown, and a poem

Ok, here are some pictures representing what has been happening the last few weeks.

First there’s the election of Scott Brown. This description of a neutron star flaring perfectly captures the press reaction to Brown’s election:

In December 2004, a neutron star flared up so brightly, it temporarily blinded all the x-ray satellites in space, and lit up the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This tremendous blast of energy was from a giant flare created by the neutron star’s twisting magnetic field. Objects like this are called magnetars, and they produce magnetic fields trillions of time more powerful than those here on Earth. These fields are so strong they can actually buckle the surface of the neutron star causing these powerful star quakes.

And here’s what it looks like (Credit: NASA–as always, click on the pictures to see a bigger version):

The second is a false color photo of Neptune, whose description:

The image reveals the presence of a ubiquitous haze that covers Neptune in a semitransparent layer. Near the center of the disk, sunlight passes through the haze and deeper into the atmosphere, where some wavelengths are absorbed by methane gas, causing the center of the image to appear less red. Near the edge of the planet, the haze scatters sunlight at higher altitude, above most of the methane, causing the bright red edge around the planet. By measuring haze brightness at several wavelengths, scientists are able to estimate the thickness of the haze and its ability to scatter sunlight.

The image is among the last full disk photos that Voyager 2 took before beginning its endless journey into interstellar space.

encapsulates the successful attempt by Repubicans to confuse the public about the national healthcare bill (death panels!!!!). I only hope the last sentence will soon describe their fate. Anyways, here’s the picture (Credit: NASA/JPL):

And finally a picture of Jupiter from its south pole which suggests … ok, I got nothing–I just like the picture (Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute):

Since it’s Friday, here’s a poem:

Look to my ear
What do you see
And where do you wish
To go?

Jupiter and a poem

Today I look at Jupiter. The first picture is in pastely colors because it was taken in near-infared light. The two colored dots are the moons Io and Ganymede, while the three dark dots are their shadows (Callisto is not seen in the picture, but its shadow is–Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)):

The second is a picture in ultra-violet of Jupiter after it was hit by fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy (that’s what the arrow are pointing to–Credit: Hubble Space Telescope Comet Team):

And finally a picture of Jupiter in true colors taken by the Hubble (Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)):

Oh, yeah and here’s a poem:

I saw a tree
And looked again
It was more
Than nevermore.

Jupiter and a poem

Hmm, I haven’t put up any pictures of the largest planet in our system. So here are a few:

first is a near-infrared picture of the full planet (Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, and Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona))

this next one was taken by the New Horizon’s spacecraft as it flew by in 2007 (Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SwRI/R.Gladstone et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage (AURA/STScI)):

and finally a picture of Jupiter with its moon Io in front (Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Goddard Space Flight Center):

And I also include a really short poem:

A bit of dust
In your eye
Means you need
To cry.