Saturday, April 19, 2014

Closeup: New Worlds

One of my favorite astronomy books was a volume co-written by Ben Bova Trudy Bell, featuring the artwork of Rick Sternbach that came out with the initial years of the so-called "Golden Age of Solar System Exploration" (a era we are still in...but which is in danger of being throttled by lack of initiative, leadership and budget).

We are now in the early phase of the Golden Age of Extra-Solar Exploration, something that will never end (unless said lack of initiative, leadership and budge continues and worsens). One of the most prolific of instruments leading the way is the Kepler Space Telescope, and the best-case (to date) analogue for another Earth was recently announced. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day gives us an artist depiction of Kepler-186f, not only Earth-sized, but within the "habitable zone" of its home system.

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