400 degrees Fahrenheit, that's how hot. But still, there are signs which indicate the planet has a gaseous atmosphere. GJ1214b itself is composed mostly of water and other ices, with one fourth of it being rock. As Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics' graduate Zachory Berta puts it: "Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld. It is much smaller, cooler, and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet."

The other good news is that it was discovered by an array of eight 16-inch optical telescopes using Apogee U42 CCDs, a kind of sensor which is used by amateur astronomers all over the world. The array is part of the MEarth Project, which monitors 2,000 red dwarves for signs of planetary activity.

The next step would be to direct Hubble to the planet—which orbits the star in only 38 hours—and analyze its atmosphere. After that, we will send Kevin Costner in a one-way spacecraft. [Eureka Alert]

Over the last five days, the Vatican invited 30 of the world's leading scientists to participate in a "study week" on astrobiology that focuses on questions regarding life's origins and the existence of extraterrestrial life. What conclusions they arrived at have not been made public, but there are plans in the works to publish the findings.

At any rate, this move is further evidence that the Vatican is taking a kinder, gentler, more active role in science and technological progress. After all, theology and science don't have to be mutually exclusive. [Physorg via PopSci]

The Astrum 2009, Astronomy and Instruments' exhibition is running from October 16 to January 16, 2010 and just seeing some of the pictures in io9's makes me want to book a trip to Vatican City and stroll through space history. [io9]

Image by AFP/Getty.

Apparently quite a few key observatories use lasers to adjust telescope optics for atmospheric turbulence. Those same lasers can damage Earth-observing satellites and so regulations on their usage have been getting stricter and stricter over the years. Now astronomers have had enough. They are happy to consult with the Air Force each time they point a laser at the sky to make sure that a satellite isn't in the path, but it seems that the turnaround time is too long. I don't see why they don't just change it to a "We'll have your analysis delivered in less than 30 minutes or you can point your lasers wherever you want" rule. [New Scientist]

The ring hasn't been discovered till now because it's so diffuse that it reflects very little sunlight. That makes it undetectable by optical telescopes. The particles in it, however, glow with heat radiation, which was captured by the Spitzer's infrared instruments.

This image is an artist representation of what Spitzer's discovered, showing us, once again, that we are still bloody clueless when it comes to almost everything around us. I can't wait to see the actual image. [NASA]

The Harvest Moon is the full moon after the fall equinox, which this year was the 22 of September. The Harvest Moon usually happens in September, but this year is a little late. You will be able to see it this weekend. But why is is so special about it?

Nothing happens to the Moon itself except that, during these days, it travels really close to the horizon. That triggers something called the Moon illusion. This optical phenomenon makes our home satellite look huge when it's close to the horizon and smaller when it's up in the sky, even while it's always at the same distance from Earth. That's why, during these days, the full moon will look huge for a longer time thanks to its path in the sky, and its position in relation with the Sun.

You probably have seen this Moon before. If you live in a city it will appear huge and possibly colored because of the air pollution, appearing yellow, orange, and even red and pink. In the past, there were often fires in agricultural and forest areas, so the moon would be wildly colored too. This appearance, together with the fascination and influence the Moon has over humans and animals, made the Harvest Moon the inspiration for all kinds of legends, poems, and songs.

Maybe not Nick Drake's Pink Moon, but it goes nicely with it. So while for some it may not be as cool and flashy as the Perseids, it's still one of my favorite events to watch.

Now, go grab a bottle of wine or champagne, get out with your lover, and enjoy together. Or drink the bottle, get out naked, and howl at it. Like I do. [Wikipedia]

Which is why they call it a supermassive black hole, like my first wife. The object is 12.8 billion light years from us, located in the center of a galaxy as big as the Milky Way. A place so old, no doubt, that it runs on NES consoles.

Astronomer Tomotsugu Goto—a name that actually sounds like it's out of a Nintendo game—used the 27-foot Subaru telescope at the Mauna Kea summit, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. He says that this has implications on understanding how the universe evolved, pointing out that "the galaxy and black hole must have formed very rapidly," popping up like a magic 'shroom when the universe was only one-sixteenth of its present age. [University of Hawaii via Bloomberg]

Dubbed Ridge A, this magical spot in Antarctica provides such a clear view of the heavens that a "modestly-sized telescope there would be as powerful as the largest telescopes anywhere else on earth." Scientists will be using the knowledge gained from the first Antarctic robotic viewing station, the PLATeau Observatory, to set up another 'bot operated observatory station in this dry and cold place:

The simple observatory is, in the words of University of Arizona astronomer Craig Kulesa, a steel shipping container that scientists "cut in half and insulated the crap out of."

Well, not everything has to be high tech, right? Hacked together or not, the robot-manned observatories are significant not only of the data they provide, but also because of the savings in comparison to a space mission for the same photos:

Getting a kilogram of anything into orbit costs thousands of dollars. The cost of getting a kilogram to Ridge A is about $10.

This means that the National Science Foundation is getting a heck of a lot of research done without the benefits of a NASA-sized budget. Not to mention that robots are far cooler than rockets anyway. [Wired]

The infrared detectors of the Spitzer Space Telescope spotted "signatures of the vaporized rock, along with pieces of refrozen lava," which imply that a planetary collision may have occurred. The remaining debris is very similar to that which formed Earth's moon after an object the size of Mars impacted with the planet and could result in another moon forming.

No word on which planet is at fault as they were both speeding at 22,400 miles per hour. [YouTube via SpaceRef]

This year, evening Earthgrazers on Aug. 11 could be the best part of the show, because the Moon and its interfering glare will be below the horizon in early evening. Dark skies = good meteor watching. Later, when Earth's "front windshield" rises, the Moon will rise with it, reducing the number of Perseids you'll be able to see before sunrise on Aug. 12.

So remember to go out early, between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. local time. If you live in a big city, the amazing show is well worth a quick travel to the countryside. [NASA via Róisín Murphy]

Here's a completely unrelated video, one of my favorites from Ms. Murphy. You know, just because her tweet reminded me about this must-see event, and her music kicks some serious buttocks.

Shot just after launch, the image shows the faraway scene as viewed through a Takahashi TOA-130 refractor telescope (focal length 2200mm) and a Baader solar prism, which gives the Sun its muted look. Strapped to the back of the telescope, the 5D was set to ISO 100 and a 1/8000 shutter speed, the camera's extreme low and high settings, respectively [Edit: woops, the Mk II actually does ISO 50]. Legault used the free online Celestial Observer tool to calculate the best time to shoot from his location. Meanwhile, that little silhouette is the scene of an incredibly complex and dangerous Hubble rescue mission, which will repair a number of the craft's instruments, install a new camera and ensure that NASA's flagship orbital telescope keeps sending us amazing images for years to come.

Check out the unbelievable uncropped photos at Legault's site. —Note: It should be obvious, but don't try anything like this unless you know exactly what you're doing. Your eyes, they will burn. [Thierry Legault via Daily Mail]

Once they've attained a GPS lock, users will be able to point their phones' cameras toward the night sky and have star data—probably pulled from the same sources as Google Earth's Sky—superimposed over the image.

The Times report doesn't mention which mobile OSes will get this app, and Google declined to comment about its very existence, but iPhone and Android handset are obvious choices—although their cameras don't seem terribly well suited to taking pictures of a near-black sky. The app's launch, so to speak, is rumored for this week.

UPDATE: Google has released the app and accompanying press release, and contrary to the Times' report, the camera is not utilized by the app. In other words, it's just a minor update to Sky Map. Full release below:
{The Times via Pocketlint]

Google Launches Sky Map Update

Today, Google is launching an update to Sky Map, an Android app that enables users to view a labeled map of the sky that adjusts to their locations and the movements of their mobile devices. The app uses GPS and Compass data, as well as the Date/Time, to determine what celestial objects the device is facing at a given moment. If it is pointed towards Venus, for example, users will see a labeled map of the sky with Venus and the objects surrounding it on their screens. As users move their phones, the map displayed on the screen adjusts accordingly, enabling them to point their phones at the sky and discover what they are seeing (or could be seeing), wherever they may be.

In addition to improvements in performance and a redesigned user-interface, Sky Map, now an official Google app, features a search tool that helps users discover where, relative to their current positions, planets and stars are located in the sky. Searching for 'Polaris' (the North Star) or 'Aquarius' will direct users to move their devices until they are facing these objects. The app guides users towards the star, planet, or constellation they are trying to find and alerts them when they have arrived at the proper location. Not only will users be able to learn more about the objects at which they are gazing, but they can also now search and find stars and planets, the locations of which they may not know.

For more information about Sky Map, have a look at our blog posts on the Google Lat Long Blog and the Google Mobile Blog

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This image is a composite of a wide region of the northern winter sky that was painstakingly put together to show just how much we're missing thanks to the limitation of our bodies.

In the shot, you see the Great Orion Nebula, the Rosette Nebula, the Seagull Nebula, the California Nebula, and Barnard's Loop. You may recognize the constellation of Orion just above the house as well.

So how about it? When do we get our ocular telescope implants? Because I really, really want them. [Astronomy Picture of the Day via Kottke]

The ISS will be visible to North American sky-watchers in mid- to late-March, and is so huge that it's as visible as Venus. These solar wings, priced at nearly $300 million, will just about double the ISS's capacity to perform scientific experiments (that is, if they're not too busy with their March Madness brackets), and give enough energy to allow for double the full-time crew members, from three to six. It takes about a full five minutes to slide across the night sky, which is plenty of time to get an amateur telescope all situated. If anyone has a capable setup, we'd love to hear how much detail can be seen. [Space Travel and Space.com]

Some quick facts about Comet Lulin: it was discovered in July 2007, and is frequently visible to the naked eye (though seeing it through binoculars during the aforementioned window will give you a much clearer look). It'll appear about 2 degrees south-southwest of Saturn before it disappears out into the dark abyss in mid-March. The above photo shows the comet's tail off and to the right, and the fading red and blue light comes from the X-ray and ultraviolet telescopes, respectively. [Wired]

Hit up io9 to check out the giant gallery. [io9]

There is a case to be made that dark, dormant comets are a significant but largely unseen hazard.

That's University of Cardiff's Professor Bill Napier talking to New Scientist magazine. Dark comets almost don't reflect any light from the sun because all the ice around them is gone, leaving only a dark organic ball of organic crap. There are a whooping 3,000 of them around, but only 25 have been detected.

Professor Napier's fellow Zarkov Dr David Asher at the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland agrees, so does Southwest Research Institute comet expert Clark Chapman. One example: In 1983 the comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock-with only 1 percent of its surface reflecting Sun's light-passed Earth at only five million kilometers, which is the closest encounter in 200 years.

So let's recapitulate here. We have Apophis, a doomsday unknown asteroid that like Pink Floyd, the Large Hadron Collider, Al Gore's overheating pants, Woz dancing with the stars,and now Dark Comets.

Thank you Mr. Scientists-not-named-Zarkov. You gave me yet another reason not to do my homework, get drunk, and have sex until I drop dead this weekend. [Daily Mail]