50 years ago on this day, we were waiting for data from the first flyby of Mars to appear. Now, we are waiting for data from Plutonian orbit.. NASA officials expect data to start streaming in come 00:53 UTC (so we got about an hour and ten minutes).Mariner 4's Picture of MarsNew Horizons' Picture of … Continue reading Another bit of History →

A false color image shows us how different the surface compositions of Charon and Pluto are. 

Taken earlier today.. 

This is it folks. We have now passed closest approach for the dwarf planet Pluto. It's a truly momentous day in all of astronomy. The tiny world, which was uptill this year just a tiny speck even in images from the most powerful telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, has now been passed so very close … Continue reading A Moment in History. →

Images of Charon are being taken.. 3 minutes left  

12 minutes left for closest approach.. 

In 2006, the IAU (International Astronomical Union) re-classified Pluto as a dwarf planet. This caused a lot of confusion at the time and is still confusing a lot of people. The IAU came up with three rules that an object in our solar system must follow for it to be considered a planet:The object in … Continue reading Reasons why Pluto isn’t a planet →

Astronomy is a humbling, and character-building experience. - Carl SaganJanuary 19, 2006. Cape Canaveral, Florida. An Atlas V rocket was perched on the launch pad, ready for launch. It was carrying with it a small probe, which was christened, New Horizons. It contained the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, one of the pioneers of Space Exploration. … Continue reading When it all began →

Even though the closest flyby of Pluto is in two hours time, it will still take about 15-16 more hours for a signal to be received from the spacecraft.