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Anything and everything about science, especially astronomy and the cosmos.

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Visit my web site at
TheSpaceWriter.com
for astronomy info, stargazing thoughts, and reviews and recommendations for astronomy-related goodies!




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All postings Copyright 2003-2008
C.C. Petersen

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ABOUT ME

I'm a science writer and editor. I work with clients in the observatory and planetarium community, as well as my own book, web, planetarium, and other projects.

Need a writer/editor? Visit my services page for my projects and availability.


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7.10.2007



The Seven Wonders
of the Universe

Earth



You'd think we'd know all about our home planet. After all, we live on it. And, we do know quite a bit, just from walking its surface, sailing its oceans, and flying in its atmosphere. But, as any traveller knows, distance lends perspective. It gives us new insights into familiar places, simply by virtue of the fact that we are far away and can perceive home as a place "back there." You see a bigger picture of your hometown when you're far away from it. And, so it's the same with our planet.




Earth, as seen by the Galileo spacecraft on December 11, 1990.

I've been working on a project focused on our planet's climate and so I keep returning to these pictures taken from well away from Earth's surface. The first thing you notice is the water. And then, the clouds. Which, in our case, also speak of water, but in droplet form suspended in our atmosphere. Here and there the continents and islands peek out, and if you're close enough, you can see the lush green of plant life. It's home, but it's also part of the larger universe. The same laws of physics and astrophysics that operate across the cosmos govern our solar system and home planet. What we observe here we can try to find elsewhere. And if we do find watery, lifebearing planets elsewhere, we may understand them better simply by virtue of studying our own world from a distance, too. And, in a sense, what we find at THOSE worlds, will also help us understand our own.




Voyager's view of Earth from the "edge" of the solar system.

Earth is an amazing find in a universe populated mostly with galaxies studded with stars and nebulae. There are other planets out there, and most likely many with water and life. We haven't found the life-bearing ones yet, but it's only a matter of time. Until we do, that pale blue dot in the middle of the ray of light on the right is a rarity. It's also one of my choices for one of the seven wonders of the universe.



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posted by CCP on 7/10/2007 12:01:00 PM | * |

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3.05.2007





Where Does Outer Space Start?
Can You Touch It?









The Layers of
our atmosphere
From NOAA via Wikipedia

People tend to think of "outer space" as "out there." Way far away. Light-years away maybe. But, it actually starts much closer to us than we think. The classical definition that describes the interface between our atmosphere and space where space starts is that "outer space" begins where our atmosphere is completely thinned out. That's at 100 kilometers (62 miles) overhead. If you happen to fly over that limit, then you're an astronaut. If you fly below it, you're a high-altitude flier (whether passenger or pilot).

So, once we get above that level, we're in outer space. Where does it end? Well, it stretches on throughout the cosmos, but when you land on another planet, you've left outer space and you're back into a planetary atmosphere. On Mars, for example, you'd be inside the atmosphere at 11 kilometers (about 7 miles).

Earth's atmosphere is pretty darned narrow when you look at it against the limb of our planet. All the life we know about, everybody we know or have known, or who has ever lived on this planet, did it inside a thin envelope of air that starts to thin out a few miles over our heads. The gravity of our planet holds the atmosphere pretty firmly in place, and radiation and particles from the Sun interact with the top of the atmosphere. It's a lively place, this interface between Earth and space.



"Top of the Atmosphere"
courtesy NASA.


I've been reading with some interest about the companies that want to start up space tourism. There's a company in Florida that flies people through our atmosphere in a commercial "Vomit Comet" so they can experience several minutes of weightlessness. But those still fly inside our atmosphere. SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan, made the first non-governmental human spaceflight on June 21, 2004. There will be others, and perhaps in my lifetime, regular people will be able to take off and experience "outer space" for themselves. I hope I can be one of them.

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posted by CCP on 3/05/2007 03:33:00 PM | * |

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Planetarium-related

Loch Ness Productions
Purveyors of fine planetarium shows, music, and services.

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Science

The sites below belong to space and astronomy enthusiasts. I make every effort to check them and make sure they are still appropriate. However, I am not responsible for their content, nor do I endorse any of it by simply linking to them. As with all Web surfing, please exercise caution.


Adot's Notblog
A fellow traveler blogger and astronomy enthusiast!

Astronomy Blog
An astronomy blog pondering the big questions

Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Podcasting from Pamela Gay

BadAstronomy.com
Bad astronomy discussed and debunked along with fun stuff about really good astronomy!

Chris Lintott's Universe
Musings from an Oxford Astronomer.

Cosmic Variance
Random Samplings from a Universe of Ideas.

Dave P's Astronomy blog
Observational Astronomy and other TidBits

European Southern Observatory
Fine Ground-based astronomy images.

Gemini Observatory
Fine astronomy in infrared and visible wavelengths.

Griffith Observatory's page.
I wrote their exhibits!

Observing The Sky
Nightly Observation Reports from dedicated skygazers.

The Official String Theory Web Site. Time to feed your mind!

Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal. Cast off your blinders and come on in!

Science Made Cool
A compendium of discoveries, inventions and commentary.

Slacker Astronomy
Astronomy with a Slacker Twist.

Space Telescope Science Institute
The best from Hubble Space Telescope

The Eternal Golden Braid
Astronomy, Space Science, and Science Fiction Commentary.

The Inoculated Mind
Bills Itself as a weekly science mindcast. Thought-provoking, honest.


Truth.

Unique

The Hairy Museum of Natural History
Defies description. Just go there (yes, it's safe for work).

Olduvai George
Absolutely fantastic natural history illustrations from a master.



News

The Agonist
News and Commentary

EurekAlert
Breaking Science News

National Public Radio
The Original Fair and Balanced

Slashdot.org
Like it says: News for Nerds


Shopping, Internet Stuff, and Web Guides

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The Truth Laid Bare Listings in the Blogosphere.


Links to My Site
Alternate Reality
An awful waste of space
Asa Dotzler - Firefox and more
A Song of November
Astroprof's Page
Astronomy Blog
Space/Astronomy
Bad Astronomy blog
BEEP! BEEP! IT'S ME
Bohemian Mama
boyruageek
Centauri Dreams
Colony Worlds
Cosmic Views
DaveP's astronomy
Dick's Rocket Dungeon
Electron Blue
Fly me to the Moon
From The Earth To The Moon
NYC Nova Hunter
Perspective and Soda
Robot guy
Salty Snack
Skymania's blogcast
Space Pragmatism
Solar Empire
Space Feeds
Space Law Probe
StarBaseOC
Sue Denham
Technology Integration
The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind
The Sublime Will
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TexasBestGrok
The Astronomy Blog
True Anomaly