"...we are on the verge of finding evidence for other Earth-like planets in the neighborhood of our galaxy. That is really an incredibly profound advance in science."
- Alan Ball, Ph.D., Carnegie Institution
March 25, 2005 Washington, D. C - NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in August 2003, is the largest infrared telescope ever placed in space to orbit the sun. Now, for the first time, the Spitzer Space Telescope has captured the light and heat from two planets orbiting very distant stars, one 150 light years away and the other 500 light-years. The findings mark the beginning of a new age for planetary science, in which "extrasolar" planets can be directly measured and compared. In order for the Spitzer telescope to see the heat from such distant planets, the telescope must be cooled to near absolute zero (-459 degrees Fahrenheit or -273 degrees Celsius) so that it can observe infrared signals from space without interference from the telescope's own heat. Also, the telescope must be protected from our Sun's heat and the infrared radiation put out by the Earth. To do this, Spitzer carries a solar shield and was launched into a special orbit which places Spitzer far enough away from the Earth to allow the telescope to stay cold without having to carry large amounts of cryogen coolant.
February 17, 2005 Pasadena, California - The current NASA Cassini mission to Saturn has produced the clearest pictures human eyes have ever seen of Saturn's rings, which are made out of ice and dust and iron. In addition to the rings, Saturn has 33 moons, including Titan Saturn's biggest moon and second largest moon in the Solar System after Jupiter's Ganymede. Beyond the mysterious Titan where methane apparently rains down into dark lakes, Cassini has also taken the clearest images of two other moons which baffle scientists. Those moons are Iapetus (eye-AP-uh-tus) and Enceladus (en-SELL-uh-dus) from Greek mythology. The entire Saturnian system is named from the Greek dramas about gods and the universe. Saturn was the Titan who ruled over the Olympian Gods, including Iapetus. Iapetus was the father of Atlas, who carried the Earth on his shoulders, and father of Prometheus who was mankind's savior. Saturn ended up killing his father, Uranus, to become lord of the Universe. After the murder, revenging giants sprang from the father's blood. One of those giants was called Enceladus.
February 11, 2005 Huntsville, Alabama - On Saturday, January 15, the Sun erupted with three strong solar flares. The next day, the Sun erupted again. The Space Weather office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado, released warnings about intense radiation storms that could damage satellites and interrupt radio communications. By Monday, January 17th, the Sun erupted yet again with a strong solar flare and some of the brightest auroras in years were being photographed over the northern latitudes. The next day there was yet another strong solar flare, totaling six major eruptions in four days.'