BuzzFeed
astronomy
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Link: Japan And Russia Reveal Plan To Build Permanent Moon Bases
http://www.tecca.com/news/2012/05/23/japan-russia-moon-base
![[link]](http://s3-ak.buzzfed.com/static/images/public/icons/external-link2.png)
Is the space race heating back up? The United States still has to choose between building a moon base and sending astronauts to asteroid.
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Link: Star Trek's Enterprise Ship Could Be Built Soon
http://www.tecca.com/news/2012/05/18/build-the-enterprise...
And it'd only take one trillion dollars. Whether you're a Trekkie or not, you have to admit that there's some sense of wonder to exploring the stars and trying to find life on distant planets.
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Leap Year Explained
Science Buzz Hey, who put an extra day in my February? Silly universe, why don't you adhere to the mathematics of man?
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A Red Aurora Australis In Australia
Culture Buzz Unlike the green and blue auroras, these are very rare. There were two of them on the south coast of Australia on January 16 and 22.
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The Earth-Sized Tornado Moving Across The Sun At 300,000 Miles Per Hour
Science Buzz And you thought “Twister” was bad! Last week, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captured these stunning images of magnetically captured plasma moving like a tornado across the sun's surface. But even more stunning than this video of the solar tornado are its statistics: it's estimated to be about as large as Earth itself, with wind gusts approaching 300,000 mph and a temperature of 15,000 degrees fahrenheit. Uh… wow.
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These Are Not Planets
Culture Buzz Can you guess of what these photos are? I couldn't. Check them out and then see below for the answer.
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Link: What's With Saturn's Hexagonal Jetstream?
http://gammasquad.uproxx.com/2012/01/whats-with-saturns-h...
It’s like the planet is crying out for us to STOP with all the “Put A Ring On It” jokes. Or it just hate physics.
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A Happy Thought
Science Buzz Following the shortest day of the year, at 12:03am this morning the Sun was at its greatest distance from the celestial equator marking the solstice and the beginning of winter. Although the days are short, there is good news!
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Link: Meet The New Possibly Earthlike Planet: Kepler-22b
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/12/meet-ne...
Now we just have to figure out how to get there
and subjugate the natives. It’s several times larger than Earth and 600 light years away, but it is also said to be 72 degrees.
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Link: Topographic Map Of The Moon
http://www.neatorama.com/2011/11/18/topographic-map-of-th...
The moon confirmed to not be made of cheese. The most detailed moon map yet has been constructed from images by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
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Dancing Cloud Phenomenon
Science Buzz This is some X-Files stuff, this is. Scientists are uncertain the exact cause, but the leading hypothesis is that ice-crystals in the Earth's atmosphere and electric discharges from thunderclouds create these strange jumping clouds.
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The Moon Looks Like A Pancake
Science Buzz Earth's atmosphere is really slimming this season. Snapped from the International Space Station in 2010, this photo shows the illusion of a “flat moon” as viewed through the thickest part of the atmosphere.
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15 Stunning Photographs Of Space
Science Buzz Herein, some of the best entries, runners-up, and winners in the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Who knew the moon had colors? You can see a full slideshow of the winners here.
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What If Planets Orbited Earth?
Science Buzz When Jupiter comes up on the horizon, I'll admit to feeling claustrophobic. This great visual experiment helps put planetary size into perspective.
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Video: Breathtaking Time Lapse Of Australian Night Sky
Suddenly all that money I spent on fireworks to scare the neighbor cat seems paltry in comparison. Living in a place where the stars are barely visible, seeing these many at once makes me feel kind of dizzy.
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Sexy Sagan
Culture Buzz The Tumblr Can't You Read has created a meme called Sexy Sagan, transforming Carl Sagan quotes into a cosmos of corny astronomical pick up lines. Girl, how about you and I make like Jodie Foster and engage in some Contact?
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Image: New Solar System Discovered
European astronomers on Tuesday said they had found a distant star orbited by at least five planets in the biggest discovery of so-called exoplanets since the first was logged 15 years ago. The star is similar to our sun and its planetary lineup has an intriguing parallel with own solar system, although no clue has so far been found to suggest it could be a home from home, they said.
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Comet Lulin
Science Buzz Check the east/southeast sky tonight around 9 to catch a glimpse of this wee, green comet. It's a mere 30 million miles from Earth, but you'll still need binoculars at the very least to see it.
