April 02, 2010

Death Star?

Wait a minute. I thought Luke Skywalker destroyed this thing long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. What is it doing in orbit around Saturn?


So, no, it is not that famed battle station. It is in fact Mimas, one of Saturn's 62 known moons. The photo above was taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter, currently tasked to study Saturn and its satellites. Cosmic Log has more.

Other interesting space-related articles:

Zombie Star absorbing other star families. Okay, in reality, this is about a collapsed star that went nova eons ago, but whose dusty remains are floating through other systems. The article shows a composite view created by combining images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. (h/t: John)

Mars. Needs. Women. No, this isn't about the late 60's sci-fi movie, nor is it that great Meat Beat Manifesto techno-beat hit from 1988. But six men are preparing to spend 1.5 years inside a new Mars Mission Simulator to research effects of long term confinement associated with a 520-day mission to Mars. Pretty cool stuff. But 1.5 years in tight confined space? Not this claustrophobic!

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