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Current Issues of Interest (most recent first):
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Launch -- 
(February 11, 2010) NASA launched it's new Solar Dynamics Observatory with an Atlas V rocket on Feburary 11 at 10:23 EST. It has an incredible data capture rate. It will capture images of the Sun every 0.75 seconds resulting in a 1.5 terabyte data stream daily. It will explore activities on the Sun that cause power grid failures, disable satellites and disrupt communications. It will also take measurements that will allow for a better understanding of the Sun's role in the Earth's climate.
NASA - Sunlight Glints off Liquid Lake on Titan -- 
(December 17, 2009) A flash of sunlight reflecting off a hydrocarbon lake on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan has been spotted by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, confirming the presence of liquid on a part of the surface of the hazy satellite with many lake-shaped basins. The Cassini image processing team pinpointed the reflection at the southern shoreline of a lake called Kraken Mare. The sprawling Kraken Mare covers about 150,000 square miles (nearly 400,000 square km), an area larger than the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth.
The liquid, like that filling other lakes on Titan's surface, isn't water, as it is on Earth, but methane and ethane – molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms. For 20 years scientists have theorized that these liquids existed on Titan's surface, and it is the only other body in the solar system besides Earth that is known to have liquid on its surface. See the full article at www.space.com.
NASA Reveals the Saturn Moons played to the Dance of the Suger Plum Faires -- (December 25, 2009) To celebrate the holidays, the Cassini imaging team has created a video collection of "mutual events," which occur when one moon passes in front of another, as seen from the spacecraft. Imaging scientists use mutual event observations to refine their understanding of the dynamics of Saturn's moons. Digital image processing has enabled scientists to turn these routine observations into breathtaking displays of celestial motion. The original images were captured between Aug. 27 and Nov. 8, 2009. To see the NASA/JPL movie, click here.
