Nov 11 Recap

Today's host was Alireza Rafiee.

1. NASA plans to launch Atlantis on November 16 for an 11-day flight to the International Space Station. Read the mission's details here.

2. Many observations have been planed this week around Rosetta's Earth swing-by. Read more here.

3. An unusual rapid supernova SN 2002bj, originally identified as a Type II supernova 7 years ago, has been rediscovered as a new type of exploding star. The explosion is believed to be caused by helium flows from one white dwarf onto another in a binary star system. Read here.

4. How many universes are there? String theory says 10 to the power of 500, quantum fluctuations produce 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 10 million. But does it really matter in a world ruled by quantum physics, where an observer's brain can only tell 10 to the power of 10 to the power 16 universes apart? Read more here.


5. 'SPACE ELEVATOR' the science fiction might become the reality in a very near future. Only last week, a laser-powered robotic climber has won $900,000 out of 2 million dollars prize from NASA, by climbing up the cable with an average speed around 3.7 m/s. The rest of the money left for whoever can reach the speed of 5 m/s. Read the story here.

6. 'Ultra-primitive' particles found in comet dust. They are believed to be formed inside stars that lived and died long before the birth of our Sun. Read more here.

7. Looking east on November 17  around 1:30 am EST till sunrise for the 2009 Leonid meteor shower.

8.Check out at Astronomy picture of the day for fascinating pictures. Such as Stickney Crater and the Ring Nebula.