Friday Science Highlights – Sagittarius’ Blue Lagoon, Moon Robots, and the Desert Atlantis

Science Photo of the Week

This week’s photo is a new composite image of the heart of the Lagoon Nebula, found within the constellation Sagittarius. This picture is just another example of why star-birth is one of the most beautiful aspects of the universe. Where there is violence in space there is often amazing imagery, and thanks to the combination of optical and infrared data, we get to see it in stunning detail. The article attached to this photo goes on at length about how this picture does not represent the name of the nebula very aptly, but I think, with a little imagination, it fits quite well. If the entire nebula is called The Lagoon, then it would make sense that at the heart of the lagoon lives a sea serpent. What I see in this photograph is a giant celestial beast with a burning eye, shedding hot droplets of water as it rears out of the dust and gas of its ancient nursery.

This idea strays a little more into fantasy, but what if these images we were capturing really were of ancient, astronomically sized creatures? Perhaps the search for life has been completed already, and we’ve just been missing the forest for the trees.

The Telescope on the Dark Side of the Moon

Let’s get Asimovian! Robot technology keeps jumping forwards by leaps and bounds, and though we may never attempt Artificial Intelligence (I don’t think it’s possible for us not to) we’re getting more and more comfortable with complex machinery that functions without very much human intervention.

I can think of two stories off the top of my head where that very situation, combined with a level of intelligence, caused major problems for humanity.

And here we are, planning to set up a new telescope on the far side of the moon, assembled by a robot.

Of course, this robot will in turn be operated by humans in orbit (a-lleg-ed-ly!), but we’re not far from the type of situation that sent Dr. Frank Poole spinning into the void.

Nevertheless, a telescope on the dark side of the moon sounds pretty radical. And so long as they don’t name it anything cute, I won’t worry. Yet.

Fly-Over Tour of Mars’ Chaos Plains

Let’s just comment for a moment on the awesome name this area of land on Mars has been given: the Atlantis Chaos lowland plains! Especially apt, since scientists believe that the markings on the nearby canyon walls provide evidence for the existence of large bodies of water. So if Atlantis was drowned, and the water is now gone, where is the city?

You can look for it yourself in this new fly-over video, taken at such a high resolution you might feel like you yourself are gliding over the Martian surface. If only!