space

Via NY Times:

"Stratospheric airships could give us spacelike conditions from a spacelike platform, but without the spacelike costs," said Sarah Miller, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine.

High-altitude airships are still in their relative infancy. None has ever flown at 65,000 feet for longer than eight hours. But a recent study from the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech suggests that a more capable airship may not be far-off...

Note to future filmmakers: If you're going to make a complex movie about space, make sure you run it by Neil deGrasse Tyson first.

The american astrophysicist, cosmologist, host of "Cosmos" took to Twitter on Sunday to share some thoughts on this year's big space movie from Christopher Nolan: "Interstellar." It wasn't intended as a review of the film, but rather - as he emphasises in a Tweet - to highlight the science you can find in the film.

Tyson wrote a similar critique in 2013 following the release of "Gravity," and a scene from Titanic was changed in an updated release of the film after he pointed out the inaccuracies of the stars to James Cameron.

And as you can see, there aren't a whole lot of complaints this time around.

Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "Interstellar" yet, but if you have seen it, whether it involved worm holes or plot holes, you probably left the theater with a lot of questions.

Here are a few of his thoughts, check his Twitter feed for more.

In #Interstellar: All leading characters, including McConaughey, Hathaway, Chastain, & Caine play a scientist or engineer.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

In #Interstellar: And in the real universe, strong gravitational fields measurably slow passage of time relative to others.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

Relativity. Gravity. Quantum. Electrodynamics. Evolution. Each of these theories is true, whether or not you believe in them.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

In #Interstellar: They reprise the matched-rotation docking maneuver from "2001: A Space Odyssey," but they spin 100x faster.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

In #Interstellar: On another planet, around another star, in another part of the galaxy, two guys get into a fist fight.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

In #Interstellar: They explore a planet near a Black Hole. Personally, I'd stay as far the hell away from BlackHoles as I can

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

Hanging out at the Space Tech Expo

Via Space.com

The morning sky will play host to a spectacular gathering of solar system objects grouped closely together tomorrow (Nov. 22), but it won't be easy for observers on Earth to see it.

The sun, moon, three planets and the dwarf planet Ceres will all appear within a 20-degree span of sky. (For reference, your clenched fist held up to the sky measures about 10 degrees across.) Mercury and Saturn will be just west of the sun and new moon, while Venus and Ceres will be to the east. Unfortunately, the bright sun will wash out the beautiful "conjunction," but interested observers can still use a planetarium software program like Starry Night to check out the stunning event.

What's happened in Hebes Chasma on Mars? Hebes Chasma is a depression just north of the enormous Valles Marineris canyon. Since the depression is unconnected to other surface features, it is unclear where the internal material went. Inside Hebes Chasma is Hebes Mensa, a 5 kilometer high mesa that appears to have undergone an unusual partial collapse -- a collapse that might be providing clues.