moon

For the first time in history, scientists are witnessing the formation of a new moon in our solar system. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected a new moon forming in the edge of Saturn's rings. Astronomers around the world are amazed about this incredible find, which they have named Peggy.*

Researchers have found evidence of the world that crashed into the Earth billions of years ago to form the Moon.

Analysis of lunar rock brought back by Apollo astronauts shows traces of the "planet" called Theia.

The researchers claim that their discovery confirms the theory that the Moon was created by just such a cataclysmic collision.

The study has been published in the journal Science.

Via Laughing Squid:

Yummy Moon by artist Yona Lee uses 450 partially eaten Nilla Wafers to depict the different phases of the Moon. A photo on Lee's site shows the artist using a projector to map the image and match the shape of the cookies to various shapes needed to display the Moon's phases.

This movie, built with data collected during the European Space Agency's Huygens probe on Jan. 14, 2005, shows the operation of the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera during its descent and after touchdown. The almost four-hour-long operation of the camera is shown in less than five minutes. That's 40 times the actual speed up to landing and 100 times the actual speed thereafter.