telescope
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Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope updated with better views of Mars, night sky
We haven't heard a ton about Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope project since it launched in beta form back in 2008, but the company has been busy working with NASA to improve it since then, and it's now finally showing off the results. That includes a new true-color map of Mars complete with 3D renderings of the planet's surface, and a new and improved spherical view of the night sky that virtually eliminates the seams between images -- it's also, incidentally, the world's largest map of its type, and Microsoft says it would take 50,000 HDTVs to view at full size. Of course, it's still pretty impressive viewed one tiny speck at a time -- hit up the link below to download the Windows application or check out the web-based viewer.
Telescopic eye implant approved by the FDA
We love eye implants, and we've seen our share of them, and this one is pretty sweet (although it isn't the creepiest by a long shot -- that prize would go to the one that uses a human tooth to hold its lens). In the works for well over a year, and approved by the FDA a couple days ago, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies' implantable miniature telescope is intended for patients over 75 years of age who are suffering from end-stage macular degeneration. As with any tricky new surgery, this one is not without risks, including the need for a corneal transplant due to the device's size. According to CBC News, in clinical testing seventy-five percent of over 200 patients "had their vision improve from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment," and there are two more studies on the way: one will follow up with existing patients, while the other will outfit 770 new patients with the device. The cost? $15,000.
Planck telescope maps the universe in search of primordial light
Yep, that innocuous-looking picture above is the whole freaking universe, as perceived by the Planck telescope -- a long-wave light detector that's been catapulted into space to search for Big Bang clues. The European Space Agency is using it in order to get the most precise information to date on Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (apparent in the image as the magenta and yellow mush in the, ahem, background), which could in turn enlighten us on the conditions that gave rise to all of us omnivores prowling a gravity-assisted, ozone-protected, floating rock. The first mapping run took just over six months to complete, but the plan is to produce four such images using the Planck's super-cold (nearly at absolute zero) sensors before retiring the thing. Results are expected no sooner than 2013, so please do slide back from the edge of your seat.
The hunt for killer asteroids is on with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope
The Pan-STARRS 1 telescope was unveiled on the Hawaiian island of Maui in 2007, and in early 2009, the telescope went fully online and began producing some amazing images. Now, the telescope has a nightly from dusk 'til dawn routine -- and it's looking for asteroids and comets which could threaten Earth. The PS-1, as it's known, boasts a 1,400 megapixel (that's 1.4 gigapixels!) sensor and can photograph an area about 36 times the size of the Moon in one exposure and is expected to map about one sixth of the sky per month. There's a sample shot of what the telescope's photographed below, but hit up the coverage link for many more.
Brando has the $100, VGA-res, interchangeble lens camcorder you're looking for
Sure, Sony's new series of camcorders with interchangeable lenses might look nice and have "good specs," but are they available right now for under $100? No, but this thing is. Running just $99 from everyone's favorite retailer of the cheap and bizarre, Brando, this Vivikai-branded camcorder boasts an impressive VGA resolution, 32MB of built-in memory, an SDHC card slot for expansion, and a single interchangeable "telescope" lens, which promises to add 8x the zoom and 8x the crazy. Hit up the link below to get your order in -- assuming you didn't already dash off to do so at the first sight of it.
Hope you got 'em while they were hot -- Carina Voyager and SkyGazer
Over the weekend, we posted information about Carina Software's software giveaway to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Today (July 20th) is the day, and for a limited time this morning you could get their two Mac applications (Voyager and SkyGazer) for one cent each. That's right - US$0.01 for each app. The iPhone / iPod touch versions are available for free downloads from the App Store, and my colleague Mel Martin is posting about those apps. The Mac downloads were stopped at 9 AM PDT at the request of Carina's web hosting provider, as the huge number of downloads were overwhelming their available bandwidth.Mel and I felt it would be a great idea to let TUAW readers get more information about these applications, so we're doing a pair of First Look posts to fill you in on the details. Even if you didn't get the low-cost downloads, you might be inspired by the Apollo anniversary to purchase one of these applications at the usual price. Be sure to read Mel's look at the iPhone apps here. The two applications have different target audiences. SkyGazer is aimed at the beginning or novice astronomer, and at educators who can use the program to demonstrate astronomical principles. Voyager, on the other hand, is a full-functioned astronomy package for the professional or serious amateur astronomer, and includes such important features as the ability to control computer-driven scopes. Read along for more information about these two guides to the night sky.
VisionCare's implantable telescope will make you bionic, hopefully won't cost six million dollars
The idea of a telescope fused directly into your eye may sound like a dream come true for impromptu stargazers, but the intent here is not for ocular astronomy. Rather it's to help those suffering from age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. This condition results in the deterioration of eyesight (much like the deterioration of cashflow in the other AMD), creating a large blind spot in the center of the field of vision. VisionCare's 4mm implantable telescope is intended to re-focus an image onto an undamaged part of the retina of one eye using either 2.2 or 3X magnification, giving patients the ability see directly ahead while leaving the other as it was to provide peripheral vision. It's a rather more simple solution than others we've seen, which is perhaps why it's already completed a Phase II/III clinical trial, and the FDA is recommending it be approved for use. We are too, if only so that we'll have more opportunities to use that Six Million Dollar Man soundboard we keep bookmarked -- that bionic jump never gets old.[Via Medgadget]
ENESS Humble Telescope brings space to you, your ego down a notch
Think the world is your oyster? Think you've got it all figured out? Think again, bub. ENESS' appropriately named Humble Telescope is an interactive installation that presents a 3D simulation of our entire known universe to anyone who dares peer in. Viewers simply point the "telescope" in any direction, and instantaneously they're presented with what exists in that specific area of space. The sheer magnitude of it coupled with the views from beyond seek to remind us of just how small we are in the grand scheme of things, and quite honestly, we're tearing up just thinking about it. Grab a tissue and head past the break for a life-changing video.[Via OhGizmo]
NASA's Kepler spacecraft ready to begin searching for other, cooler "earths"
NASA's just declared its Kepler spacecraft "ready to launch." In case you're not already in the know on this one, the Kepler's mission will be to jaunt out into space, then watch a massive patch of it for 3.5 years to see if there are any signs of habitable planets similar to Earth. The craft will be looking mostly for planets that revolve around stars similar to the Sun, and it will be able to watch about 100,000 of them continuously, unlike the beleaguered but awesome Hubble telescope. The Kepler has a 0.95-meter diameter telescope, and the project has been in the works for about 25 years. It will finally launch tonight, on a Delta 2 rocket. Check out a few images of the Kepler after the break, hit up NASA's Kepler site for the full details of the mission.[Thanks, Matthew]
WiFi-enabled Crestron touchpanel aids in stargazing
We've seen home automation touchpanels used for some -- shall we say, unorthodox -- activities, but this is taking things to another level galaxy. Franklin, NC-based Dan Quigley has whipped up a way for his WiFi-enabled Crestron TMPC8X to actually control a giant telescope. Rather than manually getting the 'scope into the right position, he simply touches a button and watches it automatically check to see "if and when that object is viewable." While he's at it, he can dim the lights around him and check the local weather, and once a celestial body is in view, he can snap a photograph or have the system channel the image to any computer / TV. Suddenly, astronomy has become entirely more attractive.[Thanks, Chuck]
Brando Telescope makes iPhone 3G photos 6x worse
We've seen these zoom lens add-ons before. Now Brando's slapped together this 6x "Telescope" for the iPhone 3G -- a phone not exactly revered for its image quality. Just snap the unit to the back of the iPhone 3G and get to work. How good is it? About as bad as the $19 worth of optics within. Seriously, 19 bucks and available now.
Save Arecibo: because aliens don't do voicemail
The folks at SETI@home have put out a desperate plea for the community to bust out those quill pens and start writing strongly-worded letters to congress persons. Apparently the Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest radio telescope and SETI@home's data source, is being threatened with some massive budget cuts. Given that a replacement for Arecibo won't be online until 2020 at best, folks are understandably upset. Turns out Arecibo is also one of the best shots we have at detecting an earth-threatening asteroid before it's too late and we have to sit through another Elijah Wood movie on the subject. You know what you have to do.[Thanks, Brian]
Imaging Source Astronomy Cameras for gazing at the heavens
Stellar photography seems like a wondrous thing: you and a loved one on a starry night taking beautiful images of the heavens -- before making out. Unfortunately, anyone who has tried it knows it's more often a frustrating exercise of fiddling with exposure and aperture settings on your SLR while it hangs precariously off the side of your telescope, held in place only by a flimsy adapter ring. The Imaging Source has a simpler option, a series of digital cameras designed for slotting into your scope like an eye piece, capturing the night sky at up to 60-minute exposures over USB or FireWire. The range starts at $390 for a monochromatic VGA model, going all the way up to $870 for color and 1280 x 960 resolution. Not cheap, but it's probably a lot less than you paid for the equatorial mount on your new reflector. [Via Picture Snob; thanks Jay]
Telectroscope lets Londoners and New Yorkers gaze at one another in real-time
Don't get too excited -- that image you see to the right isn't actually a transatlantic telescope. Rather, it's a transatlantic broadband network "rounded off on each end with HD cameras." Still, the 11.2- x 3.3-meter Telectroscope is a real marvel to look at, and it actually does enable viewers in New York and London to peer at each other in real-time. The creation will be on display and open to the public around the clock in both cities until June 15th, so if you've been meaning to ask for that dame's hand in marriage but couldn't afford the JFK - LHR ticket, why not set up a surprise meeting at the 'scope?
WorldWide Telescope: Works great on a Mac (if you have Windows)
You might have heard that Microsoft Research has released WorldWide Telescope (WWT), it's software to devour the universe whole provide a fun way to browse the planets and stars. The BBC mentioned that you can run WWT on your Mac ... so long as you have Windows on your Mac. Sigh. VMWare helpfully gave the system a try, though, and found it worked great (and even posted a video about it.) I fired up the ol' Boot Camp and saw it wasn't bad. It boasts high-resolution photography of many parts of the sky, and is reasonably easy to use (for a Microsoft product). There were some weird, annoying flicker problems, but I'll chalk that up to the fact that it's beta software on a MacBook with a pokey graphics card. As an amateur astronomer with his own 10-inch Dob (that's right, ladies), I tend to use astronomy software less as a casual browsing tool, but more to find interesting things in the sky on a particular night. And for that, WWT ain't great. You won't find any satellites (like Iridium flares) in WWT. Worst of all -- there's no horizon I could easily find. (Found it, thanks to commenter dh!) So good luck trying to find that fuzzy thing next to the blue thing when it's under your feet. The Mac, however, is blessed with a great variety of native astronomy tools, most of which are free. Stellarium is excellent, free planetarium software. It's worth noting that Google Earth has a spiffy sky tool built-in, too. Last but not least, Starry Night Pro is the king of all astronomy software (and my favorite), but is a little spendy at $150.
Gates and space-ace Simonyi gift $30m for giant telescope
The currently terrestrial Bill Gates and his former (and space-faring) Microsoft colleague, Charles Simonyi, have donated a cool $30m to a project that aims to build "the world's largest survey telescope" (cleverly) called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. On Thursday, the group said that Gates and Simonyi had donated $10m and $20m respectively to help develop the telescope, which Gates says "is truly an Internet telescope, which will put terabytes of data each night into the hands of anyone that wants to explore." The 8.4-meter telescope, which sports three large mirrors and three refractive lenses, will be built on a mountain in northern Chile and is scheduled to decimate the magic of your astronomy club in 2014.
Massive balloon takes solar telescope sky high
If you've been strangely itching to get a closer look at the Sun without totally ruining your eyesight, you can color yourself quite fortunate. The aptly-named Sunrise project is an international collaboration involving a number of institutions that have successfully sent a jumbo-jet sized balloon some 120,000 feet high with a solar telescope riding shotgun. The plan is to send the massive device on lengthy journeys beginning in 2009 "that will capture unprecedented details of the Sun's surface," and furthermore, it could enable scientists to launch instruments up for testing without having to strap them onto a rocket and consequently destroy their budget. Set to take flight in the summer of '09 from Kiruna, Sweden, the balloon is scheduled to "capture continuous images for a period of several days to as long as two weeks," and no, you can't buy a seat on this one.[Via Physorg]
Mammoth liquid mirror telescope could be constructed on the moon
Roger Angel's idea to launch a 100-meter liquid mirror telescope on the moon is far from the only mammoth-sized dream that could be headed into space, and if the feasibility study shows enough promise, it just might happen. The University of Arizona astronomer mentioned that the idea of putting an "enormous liquid-mirror telescope on the moon that could be hundreds of times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope" had been around awhile, but apparently it's finally getting the attention it deserves. If constructed, it would easily be the largest ever built, and would reportedly allow scientists to "study the oldest and most distant objects in the universe, including the very first stars." The project is being investigated on behalf of NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts, and while these type devices are "relatively cheap" to build, it should be noted that it's being compared (at least financially) to the $4.5 billion James Webb Space Telescope. Now, where's the signup sheet for freelance contractors to get in on the moon-based build process?[Via Wired]
NASA shows off James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble successor
With Hubble slowly winding down after years of service, NASA has now taken to talking up the telescope's successor, even going so far as to take a full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on the road. Currently on display outside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the model measures an impressive 80 feet long and 40 feet high, which you'll have to be content with until the actual telescope launches in June 2013 at a cost of $4.5 billion. Once deployed, the telescope will sit some 1.5 million kilometers (or 930,000 miles) from Earth, and be able to peer far deeper into space than Hubble is able to, thanks in large part to the JWST's ginormous foldable mirror (almost three times bigger than Hubble's). If you can't make it to the Smithsonian to check out the model, you can at least get a better look at it in the gallery of images below courtesy of NASA. %Gallery-3077%
Hubble's main camera could be calling it quits
That space telescope of space telescopes, NASA's Hubble, has suffered a serious setback this Saturday, and may never recover. The ACS (advanced camera for surveys), the main camera on the telescope, which was installed in 2002 and multiplied discovery capability by 10, has entered "safe mode," and NASA has little hope of a fix. A final shuttle-based repair mission is planned for 2008, but NASA already has a good bit on its to-do list, and since the ACS is such a complicated fix, it doesn't look like the Hubble will have use of its main camera for the rest of its duration in space. "In order to access the box cover and restore capability we would need to turn off the cooling system, and disconnect connections to the control module. It's a big job, the area is pretty limited; we are already challenged enough to do the other repairs and this spacewalk would be considerably more labor-intensive." Said Preston Burch, Hubble associate director at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Upgrades that will happen include new nickel hydrogen batteries, a couple of gyroscopes for locking on to targets, along with a new wide-field camera, "cosmic origins spectrograph," guidance sensor and outer protective layer. This should at least keep the Hubble running until 2013, and by then the Webb should be launched to replace the aging Hubble. Five back-to-back spacewalks will be required to fix the Hubble, but some say it's worth the risk to "save the Hubble," so perhaps NASA will figure out a way to squeeze it in by the 2008 flight.[Via MetaFilter]
