by Jeff Foust WASHINGTON — Bill Nelson is one step closer to being NASA’s next administrator after his former colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance his nomination. The committee, meeting in executive session April 28, favorably reported his nomination on a voice vote and without debate. The nomination was part of a session that included consideration of more than a dozen other unrelated bills and nominations. The committee’s approval was expected after Nelson breezed through a confirmation hearing one week earlier . At that hearing, members praised Nelson for his expertise on space issues. No members of the committee expressed any reservations about Nelson leading the space agency. “We were really excited that Bill Nelson was nominated for head of NASA,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who chaired the executive session, said in her opening remarks. “I think you all know Sen. Nelson and how much we respect him, and how excited he is. You could just feel it as ...
Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this. Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though, the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very evident. The featured exposure, taken from Florida, USA, covers a sky area several times the size of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven, depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the observer's eyesig...
