The Supermoon Lunar Eclipse of September 27, 2015

After missing the first part of the eclipse due to cloudy skies, a break finally came minutes before the eclipse hit totality. While weather was not cooperative, I was still able to capture the latter part of the eclipse after doing some driving around. In a nutshell, the lunar eclipse was spectacular and being able to see the curvature of Earth's shadow on the lunar surface is quite phenomenal. For now, enjoy these few images that I took and check back soon for more.

 

Fisheye view of lunar eclipse during totality. Notice the Summer Triangle.

- SHH

Pluto - A Glimpse of the Underworld

Pluto - The best full image obtained
by New Horizons. Credit: NASA

"The three brothers battled the Titans for a claim of the cosmos. To Zeus (Jupiter) was the sky, to Poseidon (Neptune) was the sea, and to Hades (Pluto) was the underworld." - Apollodorus

After a nine year journey, we have arrived! New Horizons flew by Pluto and is collecting images and conducting science. We are lucky to be witnessing, in an age and time where information is instantaneously available for us, high resolution images of a mysterious planetary system that has been the subject of debate for decades.

Pluto and its moon Charon as New Horizons was approaching the flyby. Credit: NASA

Pluto's atmosphere captured as New Horizons passes it and looks behind. (False color)

A mountain range on the surface of Pluto. Icy planes and cratered surface surrounds the mountains.

High resolution global mosaic of Pluto.

A comparison between images of Pluto obtained by New Horizons 
and the Hubble Space Telescope. Notice the similarities. 
Credit: NASA; (Picture combined and labeled by S. Hariri)

Charon, Pluto's moon. Note the lack of
impact craters; indicating a young surface.
Credit: NASA

There will be a lot of information and discoveries made about Pluto and its moons. So far the size of Pluto has been measured with better accuracy, and that measurement makes Pluto the biggest object in the Kuiper Belt. It is also quite evident that Pluto had (or still has) a geologically active surface. In addition, Charon shows evidence of a young surface that may have had recent geological activity. There will be various abstruse surface features that will elude the experts, but one thing is certain and that is we already know more about Pluto today than we did a week ago, and we will continue to learn more about it as the data gets analyzed. 

This is yet another milestone in human achievement, and it stands to show what we are capable of doing if we focus our time and energy to expand our knowledge and explore the unknown. When we strive to reach for things that are greater than ourselves, we become humbled by our achievements. 

A range of icy mountains on the surface of Pluto.
Credit: NASA

After a nine year journey, New Horizons has finally entered the underworld. It was greeted by the guardian of this dark and arcane realm; Pluto. The mythology is somewhat fitting, as Pluto marks the borders of the Kuiper Belt, borders that New Horizons has now crossed in an effort to continue this long journey of exploration. I wonder what discoveries await... 

The Dawn of an Exciting Year for Planetary Science!

A series of images put together by the Dawn
Frame Camera Team of Ceres on approach.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / UCLA /
MPS / DLR / IDA / Emily Lakdawalla

In 2007, NASA launched a probe called Dawn into the asteroid belt to investigate two planetary bodies, Vesta and Ceres. Dawn reached Vesta in the summer of 2011 and after a year and a couple months of studying the asteroid, it was on its way to Ceres. We're in the winter of 2015 now, and Dawn is just starting to merge onto the orbital path of Ceres!

Dawn is expected to reach its orbital phase of the mission around Ceres in early May, and will most likely have high resolution images of this dwarf planet soon after that. As of this moment, the images presented are higher resolution images than what we have from the Hubble Space Telescope.

An image of Vesta taken by Dawn back in 2011.
Expect similar quality of Ceres in May 2015!
Image credit: NASA / JPL

A series of images showing Ceres as Dawn gets closer.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Emily Lakdawalla

It is an exciting time for astronomy and planetary science (and humanity in general). Once the summer comes about, we will have witnessed how two planetary bodies look like up close and personal for the first time ever! Ceres will be its own prize, but everyone's eyes will be eager to see the other planetary body this summer - Pluto. More to come!

- SHH