mars

Galaxies, moons, supernovae, planets, nebulae, dust... all of it. The Universe is saturated in beauty, and our technology is starting to catch up with it. We can capture the glowing glamor of the cosmos, and stare in awe and rapture.

Every year, more and more images become available of astronomical objects. And every year I try to pick my favorite ten to post here at the year's end (check out 2007 and 2006). This year, the ten I have chosen have a significant distance bias; they lean toward being very close. But don't fret: they range in distance literally from the closest to the farthest objects we can see.

This list is mine, and has my bias. I choose the pictures for beauty, for scientific interest, for both or for neither. Sometimes they're just cool, and sometimes they are a little frightening, but I hope they all will make you think, and move you in some way. Under most images is a link to embiggen them quite cromulently.

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Why did I pick this one? Because it is direct evidence of humans reaching out to another planet. Not only that, it's taken by another spacecraft we had sent there, a robotic emissary that was already in orbit taking high resolution images of the Red Planet. Showing incredible skill and foresight, the engineers here on Earth told HiRISE where to point, and at the right moment they snapped this proof that our grasp sometimes equals our reach.

I love this picture. It's simple enough, just a few pixels showing the fuzzy shape of the lander and its drogue. If you look carefully, you can see the shroud lines, too, and make out the shape of the parachute. I think that's why this image speaks to me so profoundly: it's not grand, it's not gloriously colored, it's not presupposing, yet the depth of its meaning is colossal.

"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

The chunks were left at the bottom of a trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" when Phoenix's Robotic Arm enlarged that trench on June 15, during the 20th Martian day, or sol, since landing. Several were gone when Phoenix looked at the trench early today, on Sol 24.

It could be something else, but ice sounds like a pretty good guess.

NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.

Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

Hooray!

Will humans ever really go to Mars? Let's face it, the obstacles are quite daunting. Not only are there numerous, difficult, technical issues to overcome, but the political will and perseverance of any one nation to undertake such an arduous task just can't be counted on. However, one former NASA engineer believes a human mission to Mars is quite doable, and such an event would unify the world as never before. But Jim McLane's proposal includes a couple of major caveats: the trip to Mars should be one-way, and have a crew of only one person.