Astronomy

• 
  Astronomy.com blog

• Check out this fireball cloud

  Michael Bakich

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:24 am

  Matt Ayerst III photoI just got an e-mail from Canadian amateur astronomer Matt Ayerst III. On November 24, 2008, he used a Canon PowerShot A710 IS with a 35mm lens to photograph the debris cloud of a fireball (brilliant meteor) over Vancouver. Here is the text of his e-mail:Hello, my name is Matt Ayerst III. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have been subscribing to your magazine for 3 years now. Great stuff. I took this picture with my little handheld camera 2 years ago from the top of Burnaby Mountain at Simon Fraser University. In the background is Vancouver Island. The following…

• Off to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show 2010

  David Eicher

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:16 pm

  On Monday, my dad and I will fly to Tucson for the annual Gem and Mineral Show, the worldwide mecca for meteorite and mineral collectors. I’ll write two stories for the magazine from the show: a summary of the state of meteorite collecting and dealing for an upcoming issue, as well as an observing feature based on nights of viewing at Rancho Hidalgo, where Astronomy magazine has its observatory. I also will submit daily reports from the gem show, including videos shot with some of the leading meteorite dealers to show you some of their current stock. I’ll visit with Geoff Notkin and Steve…

• NASA unveils latest robot

  Bill Andrews

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:41 am

  NASA and GM extend their dexterous, robotic hands to the future! NASA photo Given that we have no flying cars, laser guns, or even time machines (1985-era technology!), it’s easy to forget sometimes that we’re living in the future. But, once again, NASA’s done its job and reminded us just what century we live in.On Thursday, NASA announced the next iteration of its brand of robots, built and designed with cooperation from GM. Their press release doesn’t focus merely on the fact that we now have reasonably sophisticated humanoid robots that can use their hands; it also emphasizes how…

• Orion introduces line of giant telescopes

  Michael Bakich

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:06 am

  Here at Astronomy magazine, several of us have been observers for decades. Needless to say, it takes pretty big news to surprise us on the amateur astronomy front. Well, today a spectacular announcement from Orion Telescopes & Binoculars stunned us: The company is introducing three new large Dobsonian-mounted reflectors.Did I say large? The smallest has a mirror 36 inches across! The mid-size model sports a 40-inch mirror, and the top-of-the-line version touts an aperture of 50 inches.The stats of the Orion 50 Monster Dobsonian are staggering. The crated mirror weighs some 500 pounds; the…

• To the Moon

  Dick McNally

  2 Feb 2010 | 1:51 pm

  I’m old enough to remember when, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would land an American on the Moon by the end of the decade. The 1960s were difficult years, with the assassinations of President Kennedy and his brother Robert as well as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The turmoil continued with race riots in many major cities and, of course, a seemingly endless war in Vietnam.Nonetheless, as President Kennedy had promised, we did manage to land astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon July 20, 1969, nearly 6 months before JFK’s…

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  Bad Astronomy

• Advisor to the planets^h^h^h stars

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:14 pm

  I was pleasantly surprised to see my old friend Kevin Grazier — planetary scientist with Cassini, and science advisor for Battlestar Galactica and Eureka — highlighted in a Eureka Unscripted blog post. It’s a two-parter, with the second one going up sometimes soon. At the same time, it was cool to see another friend, Jennifer Ouellette, talking about the science of Eureka as well! I like the show, and while the science is sometimes warped a bit (or a lot) for story-telling, I know for a fact the executive producer and writers try to get as much right as they can. The EP,…

• Earth Sky interviews me about NASA’s future

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  I was recently interviewed on EarthSky about Obama’s budget and future plans for NASA. I talked about some of the things I covered in my earlier blog post, but I also added some thoughts about where I see NASA going and what I see its role is. I’ll have more to say about this soon; I’ve been thinking about it more and I’m scratching my head over some of it. Anyway, EarthSky is a site filled with interviews from scientists, and has a lot of great content. They cut my interview into two versions; a short 90 second one, and a longer 8-minute on. Both are recorded and on…

• Looks like the Sun is in its teens again

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  I’ve been posting sporadically on how sunspots are starting to come back to the Sun, and I’m glad to see a new group sprouted up recently… and it’s a monster: These images are from SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The orange one is in visible light, and the sunspots are pretty obvious. The green one shows the Sun in the far ultraviolet, and you can see the sunspots are pretty intense, blasting out high-energy light. Sunspots are indicators of magnetic activity, and the intense magnetic field can accelerate plasma (ionized gas) to high energies. Just…

• Geeks love the whole world

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:31 am

  Of course I have like 20 minutes before I have to leave to catch a plane (yes, at 3:30 frakking in the a.m.) but I had to let y’all know about this: a video with a lot of famous and not-so-famous geeks singing the "Boom-de-yadda" song: And now I can honestly say I’ve worked with WHil WHeaton! WH00t! You can find out who’s in it and all that on Boing Boing. It was created by Elaine Doyle and Olga Nunes, and I thank them for letting me be in it!

• SDO launches on February 9

  Phil Plait

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:17 am

  The Solar Dynamics Observatory, due for launch on February 9 at 10:30 Eastern time (15:30 GMT), is a revolution in solar observing: equipped with state-of-the art detectors, it’ll stare at the Sun and teach us far more about our closest star than we’ve ever had a chance to before. It’s like SOHO on steroids. I was going to write up a lengthy post about it, but then I found out my friend Nicole Gravitationaliotta, aka The Noisy Astronomer, already put together a great post about it. That saves me time. Something I want to point out: SDO will have a continuous science data…

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  Science @ NASA Feature Stories Podcast

• Solar Dynamics Observatory: The 'Variable Sun' Mission

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), slated for liftoff on Feb. 9th, will make IMAX-quality movies of solar explosions, peer beneath the stellar surface to see the sun's inner dynamo, and--researchers hope--unravel the mysteries of solar variability. Please vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley! Get this podcast story.

• Hubble Sees Suspected Asteroid Collision

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  1 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed a mysterious X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that suggest a head-on collision between two asteroids. Please vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley! Get this podcast story.

• Firefly Mission to Study Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  28 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

  There's a mystery in the skies of Earth: Something is producing bright flashes of gamma radiation in the upper atmosphere of our own planet. A new NASA-NSF mission called Firefly is going to investigate. Please vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley! Get this podcast story.

• Close Encounter with Mars

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  25 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

  This week Earth and Mars are having a close encounter. On Jan. 27th, the Red Planet will be only 99 million kilometers away and look bigger through a telescope than at any time between 2008 and 2014. Please vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley! Get this podcast story.

• Spirit is Now a Stationary Science Platform

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  25 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

  NASA announced today that Mars rover Spirit cannot be freed from its Martian sandtrap. Now the rover will begin a second career as a stationary science platform. Please vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley! Get this podcast story.

• 
  Astronomy Today.com

• HST Sees Evidence of Colliding Asteroids

  BC

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:41 pm

  In late January, HST revealed an “X” pattern of debris that appeared like comet material. The difference was that the nucleus was not inside the debris, but ahead of it. What HST showed was what scientists believe is the remnants of a collision of two asteroids. P/2010 A2 is the name of the asteroid material and main nucleus. The material is being swept back, away from the nucleus, by the pressure of sunlight. The size of P/2010 A2 is a mere 460 feet in diameter, but it travels at 11,000 miles per hour. A collision of that intensity is extreme and spreads the debris out into the…

• Mars Closest Since 2008

  BC

  27 Jan 2010 | 5:47 am

  27 January 2010, marks the closest point that Mars will be to Earth between 2008 and 2014. Mars can be seen as soon as skies are dark, and it is visible all night. To find Mars this week, look to the eastern sky as soon as Sun sets. Mars will appear as an non-twinkly, orange object. The visible magnitude is -1.3 (Sirius is -1.4) and is 14 arc seconds in diameter. The brightness and apparent size make Mars an easy object to see and find. If you need more help finding Mars, use the chart. Mars appears to be in the constellation Cancer, and on 29 January 2010, a Full Moon will appear very close…

• Spirit Update

  BC

  27 Jan 2010 | 5:31 am

  Recently, reports told that the Mars Rover Spirit was stuck in the martian surface soil. Spirit has not been able to free itself and will now be used as a science platform instead of a rover. The stationary rover will still conduct research, even if it cannot travel. The first thing Spirit has to do is to prepare for the martian winter. Scientists want to level the rover for an optimal position. Then Spirit will study the soil, track the wobble of the planet in its orbit, and conduct some experiments to try to find out if the martian core is solid or liquid. The photo here show the last…

• Sri Lankan Astronomers Experience the ‘Ring of Fire’

  Marc

  22 Jan 2010 | 3:24 pm

  The recent Annular Solar Eclipse was visible from Northern Sri Lanka, where the Sri Lanka Astronomical Association ran an outreach workshop which was well attended by local students, keen to view the eclipse. They chronicle their adventure (with some great photos) here.

• Solar Activity Update

  BC

  21 Jan 2010 | 6:33 am

  The demise of another sungrazing comet has been captured on video of STEREO-A. The video can be seen at the Space Weather website. Recent solar activity has “sparked” the Northern Lights near the Arctic Circle. Current solar images and information on the activity can be seen at Space Weather. Photos of the recent aurora are also available for viewing.

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  Tom's Astronomy Blog

• “…the Northern Lights a-Runnin’ Wild in the Land of the Midnight Sun…”

  Marian

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:26 am

  Do you recognize that song quote?  It’s from North to Alaska, by Johnny Horton, in 1960.  For most people raised in the Southeastern or Southwestern United States, that’s about as far to the aurorae as you ever came.  Of course, we know the aurorae are over the north and south polar regions, but for some reason many people only know them as the “Northern Lights”.  Those over the northern hemisphere are the Aurora Borealis, and those over the southern are the Aurora Australis.  “Aurora” was the name of the Roman goddess of dawn, “boreas” is…

• Shuttle Launch

  Tom

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:49 am

  Click here to view the embedded video. Marian is coming right up, just wanted to share the shuttle launch. Source

• Super Bowl

  Tom

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:57 pm

  I gotta say, I got a kick out of that Budlight commercial with the astronomers – and I don’t drink beer.  You can find it HERE. and….The Who were EXCELLENT!

• Launch Scrubbed – Let’s try again

  Tom

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:04 am

  Current Status: GO Today’s Launch was scrubbed due to weather, they will try again tomorrow even earlier. I will update the status as information becomes available. Launch Date: Monday, 4:14 am ET Odds of Launch: 60 percent Shuttle: Endeavour (OV-105) Mission: STS-130 Mission Length: 13 days EVA’s: 3 (on flight days: 5, 7, 10) Commander: George Zamka Pilot: Terry Virts Mission Specialists: Robert Behnken and Kathryn Hire, Nicholas Patrick, Stephen Robinson Launch Pad 39A — Webcam Image courtesy: NASA/Kennedy Space Center NOAA’s Forecast: Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low…

• A Slightly Different Riddle

  Marian

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:05 am

  UPDATE:  SOLVED at 1:56 pm CDT, by Nick We have some smart people out there reading the blog, so  I decided to mix things up a little bit this week, and see if I could make you think.  The answer to today’s riddle will not be an object.  It will be an event.  We’re operating under the same rules:  This deals with astronomy; it’s something with which you are familiar;  it’s something you grew up knowing. I think I’ll make you work a little this week. Image shamelessly lifted from Space.Com This event occurred within recent history. It was known globally…

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  Universe Today

• Answer for Last Week's WITU Challenge

  Nancy Atkinson

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:26 pm

  I was late posting last week's Where In the Universe Challenge, and now am even later in posting the answer. But find it back on the original post. Hopefully I'll be able to have a new challenge for you in a couple of days! © nancy for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

• Caught in the Act! Merging Galaxies Create a Binary Quasar

  Jean Tate

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:14 pm

  SDSS J1254+0846 in x-rays (blue), and optical (yellow) (Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Green et al Optical: Carnegie Obs/Magellan/Baade Telescope/Mulchaey et al) Excellent teamwork by astronomers working in two different wavebands – x-ray and optical – has lead to the discovery of a binary quasar being created by a pair of merging galaxies. "This is really the first case in which you see two separate galaxies, both with quasars, that are clearly interacting," says Carnegie astronomer John Mulchaey who made observations crucial to understanding the galaxy merger. "The…

• Sky on Fire as Endeavour Blasts to Space

  Ken Kremer

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:58 pm

  STS 130 Crew of Endeavour poses for group portrait as they pause to smile and wave to well wishers prior to boarding Astrovan for transport to Launch Pad 39 A. They are dressed in their orange launch-and-entry suits, otherwise known as “pumpkin suits”. From left are Mission Specialists Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire; Pilot Terry Virts; and Commander George Zamka. Credit: Ken Kremer (Editor's Note: Ken Kremer is in Florida for Universe Today covering the launch of Endeavour.) Night literally turned to day as shuttle Endeavour roared off the pad…

• If the Earth is Rare, We May Not Hear from ET

  Jean Tate

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am

  Image Credit: NASA If civilization-forming intelligent life is rare in our Milky Way galaxy, chances are we won't hear from ET before the Sun goes red giant, in about five billion years' time; however, if we do hear from ET before then, we'll have lots of nice chats before the Earth is sterilized. That's the conclusion from a recent study of Ward and Brownlee's Rare Earth hypothesis by Duncan Forgan and Ken Rice, in which they made a toy galaxy, simulating the real one we live in, and ran it 30 times. In their toy galaxy, intelligent life formed on Earth-like planets…

• Awesome Shot! STA Over the Launchpad

  Nancy Atkinson

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:34 am

  Pre-launch image of the Shuttle Training Aircraft doing weather reconnaissance over launchpad 39A. Credit: Romeo Durscher During the early morning countdown for the launch of space shuttle Endeavour today, it was back and forth, yes and no, red and green, no and no-go. And all because of weather. As per standard procedure, an astronaut flies the Shuttle Training Aircraft to monitor weather conditions around the launchpad. Today it was especially important in helping make the decision if the weather was acceptable for launching the shuttle. Amazingly, photographer Romeo Durscher captured this…

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  Astroblog

• The Sky This Week - Thursday February 11 to Thursday February 18

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:30 am

  The New Moon is Sunday February 14. Jupiter disappears in the western twilight. Mars is now the brightest object in the late evening sky. Asteroid Vesta at its brightest. In the morning, Saturn is easily seen above the northern horizon near the bight stars Regulus and Spica. Mercury is low in the morning twilight and is near the crescent Moon Friday February 12.Morning sky looking South-east showing Mercury at 5:30 am local daylight saving time (4:30 am non-daylight saving) on Friday February 12. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Sunday February 14.Saturn is visible in the northern morning…

• To the Guys From Chess Club

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:10 am

  The Science Communicators meeting notice is below the Vesta article, scroll down or click this link.

• Vesta observed (6 and 7 February 2010)

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:16 pm

  Right: Sketch of Vesta near gamma Leonis on the 6th and 7th of February (Vesta indicated by a "v"), Left; Skymap Pro chart of same area.While Mars is hogging the limelight at the moment, asteroid Vesta is heading for opposition later this month. As Vesta is near Gamma and 40 Leonis, finding it in binoculars is very easy (and Vesta will pass between gamma and 40 Leonis later in the Month too, a very interesting sight). Since my webcam based imaging system isn't really up to faint stars, I've been sketching through binoculars. My sketches haven't turned out too badly, and the positions of stars…

• The Dilemmas of Science Reporting - SA Science Communicators Feb 15, 2010

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:53 am

  The South Australian Branch of the Australian Science communicators has another great event coming up. Given the controversy about reporting important scientific issues, (and the hash made of reporting climate change made by most Australian papers), this event is highly topical.The Dilemmas of Science Reporting: Complexity, risk, and the dissident voicePanellists: Clare Peddie, Rob Morrison, Susannah Elliot and Rod Irvine.MC- Richard Musgrove,Given the public (including policy makers) have the right to accurate information, how do scientists/science communicators break down and report complex…

• Spleen Guy - Chapter 2 - Page 3

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:09 am

  Spleen Guy Chapter 2 Page 3, click to embiggenSpleen Guy Rides again! This is the second chapter of MiddleOnes Web comic, it's the story of a spleen. This is the second page.It should be read right to left Manga style, except when it's left to right (like this starting page) or out of sequence. The right side bar is usually the last panel (anyone who has read "Fruits Basket" will recognise the style). Spelling and punctuation mostly as in original.HEART GUY: NOW - ITS a Duel to the Finish!SPLEEN GUY vs the HEART!

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  Hogg's Research

• double redshifts

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:32 pm

  Tsalmantza and I spoke about our multiple-redshift search in the SDSS spectroscopy. The new technology we bring is a data-driven model of the spectra; the goal is to increase the number of known lenses. We discussed tests of the model, and the hope that increasing the precision of the model will increase the sensitivity of the system to second (and third) redshifts.

• stars, pulsars, dark matter

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:59 pm

  I can't say I did much research today but I saw two beautiful talks, and going to talks does count as research. At lunch time Dmitry Malyshev (NYU) gave a beautiful talk on millisecond-pulsar and dark-matter contributions to the observed haze at the Galactic Center from Fermi and WMAP. He showed specific pulsar-plus-DM models that explain the spectral properties of the haze beautifully, many of which are natural for both pulsars and the DM. In some, he had to make the electron–positron emission from pulsars very high, but it really is an unknown. He mentioned that 47 Tuc (globular…

• unit tests failed

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm

  Argh. Lang came into town and we added another JPL-ephemeris-based unit test to our code and it failed. It is a coordinate system problem we weren't able to diagnose before we ran out of day. But we started playing with the Canon Digital Rebels that Sam bought to put on the telescopes we have on the roof of 715 Broadway.

• meta-up

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm

  Fengji Hou (my new student, will be Hou from now on in this diary), his co-advisor Jonathan Goodman (NYU Courant), and I discussed Fengji's start on exoplanet radial velocity fitting using advanced sampling tools. We spent a long time talking about code, but once we were done, Goodman and I spent some time talking about medium-term projects that would be non-trivial and interesting. We discussed the idea that if you are a Bayesian (not always advisable), you don't really want to detect planets per se, you want to pass forward probabilistic information about their existence and properties, and…

• Sam, numerical stability

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm

  I spent the train ride coming back from Queen's drafting an AAS obituary about Roweis. I decided also that I am going to count scientific reminiscence about Roweis as research for the purposes of this diary, lest I end up with nothing to say! On the flight back to New York, I followed up an intuition floating around in my head that small changes in what we call the orbital parameters could make the code that converts between phase-space position and standard orbital elements much more numerically stable at edge cases. I found some nice things, and I am confident that there are large…

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  Astronomy Cmarchesin

• Forming the present-day spiral galaxies

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:30 am

  Image credit: NASA, ESA, Sloan Digital Sky Survey,R. Delgado-Serrano and F. Hammer (Observatoire de Paris)Image 1Print LayoutUsing data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have, for the first time, created a demographic census of galaxy types and shapes from a time before the Earth and the Sun existed, to the present day. The results show that, contrary to contemporary thought, more than half of the present-day spiral galaxies had so-called peculiar shapes only 6 billion years ago, which, if confirmed, highlights the importance of collisions and mergers in the recent past of…

• SDSS J1254+0846: Quasar Pair Captured in Galaxy Collision

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:52 am

  Credit X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Green et al.),Optical (Carnegie Obs./Magellan/W.Baade Telescope/J.S.Mulchaey et al.)JPEG (236.4 kb)Tiff (34.2 MB)PS (16 MB)More ImagesZoom-In (flash)This composite image shows the effects of two galaxies caught in the act of merging. A Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows a pair of quasars in blue, located about 4.6 billion light years away, but separated on the sky by only about 70 thousand light years. These bright sources, collectively called SDSS J1254+0846, are powered by material falling onto supermassive black holes. An optical image from the…

• A Little Telescope Goes a Long Way

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:04 pm

  This artist concept shows the planetary system called HD 189733, located 63 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Full image and captionThis chart explains how astronomers measure the signatures of chemicals in the atmospheres of planets that orbit other stars, called exoplanets. Image credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechFull image and captionNASA's Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Copyright Ernie MastroianniNASA astronomers have successfully demonstrated that a David of a telescope can tackle Goliath-size questions in the quest to study…

• The Stars behind the Curtain

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:05 am

  PR Image eso1005aStellar nursery NGC 3603PR Image eso1005bAround NGC 3603PR Video eso1005aZooming in on NGC 3603PR Video eso1005bPanning across NGC 3603ESO is releasing a magnificent VLT image of the giant stellar nursery surrounding NGC 3603, in which stars are continuously being born. Embedded in this scenic nebula is one of the most luminous and most compact clusters of young, massive stars in our Milky Way, which therefore serves as an excellent “local” analogue of very active star-forming regions in other galaxies. The cluster also hosts the most massive star to be “weighed” so…

• Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Trailing Debris

  2 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am

  Credit: NASA ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)More ImagesNASA's Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a mysterious X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that suggest a head-on collision between two asteroids. Astronomers have long thought that the asteroid belt is being ground down through collisions, but such a smashup has never before been seen.The comet-like object imaged by Hubble, called P/2010 A2, was first discovered by the LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program) sky survey on January 6. New Hubble images taken on January 25 and 29 show a complex X-pattern of…

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  ASTRONOMY IN LIPAN (LASS)

• NOW LET THE DEBATES BEGIN

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:11 pm

  No, I'm not talking about the political debate although the subject at hand will have it's political overtones. I'm talking about the debates over the state of affairs that the U.S. will be in if the proposed axing of human space flight is implemented. Already there are folks lining up their support for the continuation of the human space program, namely the development of the Orion capsule and SOME kind of rocket to launch the capsule. Lockheed is very vocal about their ability to have the Orion capsule ready for launch by 2013----but there isn't any firm proposals for a rocket to launch it.

• THE SHOE DROPS MONDAY

  29 Jan 2010 | 7:23 am

  Like most things in Washington the news about the cancellation of the Constellation project is front page news today. Sources close to the presidents budget proposals say that there will be no funds for the moon mission which was set to place humans to the moon by 2020. The majority of these funds are being diverted to extend the International Space Station instead. Simply stated, "there just isn't enough money to do both projects". The formal announcement is expected Monday when the presidents budget is presented to congress. It has been a well known fact that the Constellation program was…

• LARGEST FULL MOON IN 2010

  28 Jan 2010 | 4:36 pm

  If the weather cooperates, we will be able to witness the largest full moon for the year of 2010 this Friday, Jan. 29th. Aww come on---you don't mean to tell me that the moon is bigger sometimes than it is at others. Yep, that is what I am saying---at least I am saying it appears to be bigger. In reality it seems to be bigger because it will be at Perigee during this full moon phase. Apogee---Perigee---what is all this none sense? Well we all know that the moon does not make a perfect circle when it orbits earth. For that matter, neither do any of the planets make perfect circle orbits around…

• SUBTLE MOVEMENT IN ASTRO OBSERVING

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:22 am

  When your grandkids are getting older you don't seem to notice them changing if you see them on a regular basis but if you only see them once or twice a year the changes seem astounding. There is always that tendency to say " my how you have grown since I last saw you". They always hate that.If you haven't been paying much attention to what is being offered for sale in the telescope arena lately you might also be a bit surprised. More and more the offerings in all the catalogs tend to point toward scopes that are controlled by either a hand held keypad or maybe even a laptop which may or may…

• TIME TO THINK MESSIER

  23 Jan 2010 | 11:51 am

  Around this time of the year I usually get around to posting something about the March Messier Marathon. This year will be no exception. For years upon years amateur astronomers have invested at least one night in the early spring to the pursuit of those old standby targets known as the Messiers. Why do we take the time to look at these objects with such an intense interest? If I had a patent answer I would be happy to give it to you but I don't. However, not one to be lost for words, I will wax once again on this ritual that intrigues so many of us.I might start out with a comparison to the…

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  The Urban Astronomer

• Get Involved: Cal Academy, Star Parties, meet John Dobson

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:18 pm

  February is a busy month here in San Francisco for those who are ready to take a step forward and get involved in a local astronomy event or two. Here's the lineup.On February 11, the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers (SFAA) team up with the California Academy of Sciences for a new series of astronomy talks and star tours on the Living Roof of the Cal Academy. I'll be giving the talk this Thursday during the NightLife event at 7:15 pm. More information and tickets on the NightLife webpage.On February 17, the SFAA holds its monthly meeting and lecture at the Randall Museum in San Francisco.

• Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010

  3 Feb 2010 | 10:43 pm

  Eclipses are very exciting events, special moments that provide beautiful visual spectacles in the sky. Every year there are typically two to three eclipses of the Sun ("solar eclipses") and two to three eclipses of the Moon ("lunar eclipses"). And for each eclipse the event can be "total" (where the Sun or Moon is fully blocked out), or "partial" where a portion of the Sun or Moon is blocked out, but a portion is still visible.Last month there was one such event, a type of solar eclipse called an Annular Eclipse. In this configuration, the Moon's disk appears to block out most the Sun but…

• Leo the Lion

  1 Feb 2010 | 10:48 pm

  Leo is one of the twelve zodiac constellations, the name "zodiac" sharing its origin with the word "zoo" -- appropriate for the ring of mythical animals found in the sky. Leo is a very easy-to-locate constellation because it has one very bright star (Regulus) and quite a few moderately bright stars in a distinctive pattern that resembles a lion. The image at left shows the general outline of the stars in Leo, with the sickle (or backwards question mark) at the head of the lion, something that is easily identifiable as Leo rises in the east in the winter. For the coming months, it will be…

• Mars and the Biggest Full Moon of 2010

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:52 am

  The next few days offer a chance to see Mars and the full Moon together while each celestial body passes through its closest point to the Earth in their orbit. When Mars and Earth line up in their orbits around the Sun, we call that "opposition" and it represents the closest approach between the two planets. This takes place approximately every two years and when it does, Mars appears brighter than usual and is larger in a telescope. Also at opposition, Mars rises just as the Sun sets and is up all night. Mars is at opposition on Friday January 29th.The Moon has an elliptical orbit around the…

• Jupiter and a Young Moon

  16 Jan 2010 | 8:26 pm

  Despite the cloudy weather here in San Francisco these last few days, bright Jupiter shines through from time to time as it slowly works its way down the western sky after sunset. The next few days offer a chance to see one of my favorite views, that of the young Moon and a bright planet. In this case the waxing crescent Moon slides across the south-western horizon each night for the next few nights. With Earthshine illuminating the dark portions of the Moon, the visual effect is quite striking. If clouds part in the next few days, find a good western horizon for this beautiful scene.

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  Fly with a Twitter

• Annular Eclipse

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:30 am

  If you had read my post on Solar Eclipse, you would have known that Annular Eclipse is a type of Solar Eclipse where the moon does not block the entire Sun. If you had read my last post about the eclipses, I had mentioned that on Jan 15th, 2010, India would witness an Annular Eclipse. It was the first in India after 108 years.An Annular Eclipse is when the Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon is smaller than its average size. Due to this, the moon does not block the entire sun and forms a ring. For the first time of my life, I felt the effect of an eclipse. The day was bright as it always is in…

• Picture Of The Month - January 2010

  14 Jan 2010 | 10:30 am

  The above image shows the different types of rockets used by the Indian Space Administration (ISRO). SLV and ASLV are no longer used. We now usually use PSLV and GSLV. India is yet to test GSLV MK-3 which could carry twice the weight of the normal GSLV. Our GSLV had already made a record by carrying 10 satellites succesfully in one go. India is also trying to get a hand on the Re-usable launch vehicles which would drastically cut-down the expenses and revolutionize the future missions.

• ISRO Mars Mission

  26 Dec 2009 | 10:30 am

  Indian Government has finally approved for the Indian Mars Mission. But the mission may take place anytime between 2018 to 2030. ISRO chairman is pretty confident that the mission will be done before 2030. I'm not sure on why ISRO needs such a long time to plan the mission. But looks like they are concentrating on the Moon and Manned Space missions for now.Chandrayaan-2 is set to launch in 2013 with a rover (robotic car) and based on the result of C2 ISRO may plan C3 with man landing on the moon. The discussion will start only after the success of C2. Also Manned Space Mission is on the way…

• Picture of the Month - December 2009

  18 Dec 2009 | 10:30 am

  Most of you would be familiar with the star trail images. Well, its just a photograph of the sky with the shutter opened for hours so that it can capture the trail or the movement of the stars. This image also shows the trail of the moon (you can easily guess) and also Jupiter (the bright trail very near the moon). This image also shows that the stars get dimmer as it reaches the horizon. That is because of the greater air masses at the horizon.

• Supernova

  29 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

  Supernova (Supernovae in plural) is a Stellar Explosion (explosion of a star) which are so bright that it can be clearly seen even during the day time for months. Every star is made up of Hydrogen atoms. Just like how humans convert oxygen to carbon-dioxide in the process of breathing, similarly stars convert their Hydrogen atoms to Helium. When all the hydrogen atoms in the star has been converted, it will no longer be able to resist the gravity trying to compress the mass into its core. The star collapses and the outer layer is exploded resulting in Supernova. Not all stars ends in a…

• 
  Astronomy Cameras Blog

• Extraordinary Solar Prominence Images

  Xiao Sun

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  The following solar prominence images are submitted by Jim Ferreira, based in California USA. Detailed info is available in the pictures. Besides the remarkable images, Jim also sent us some comments on the camera this time. Solar Prominence Solar Prominence Jim's Kits Here I quote his email: Here are a couple photos of recent prominence activity in H-alpha.  Both imaging and observing are done with a Lunt LS50F H-alpha filter fitted to a 102ED refractor.  Visual views, via oculars, through the system are dramatic, however, using the DMK21 or DBK21 as an electronic eyepiece is really…

• Stunning Mars Image – NASA APOD

  Xiao Sun

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  This is the first GigE astronomy camera’s image published in this blog. The photographer is Jean-Luc Dauvergne. Jean-Luc photographed this picture on the top of Pic du Midi, southern France. Here is the picture in color, also as NASA’s Astronomy Picture Of the Day on Feb.05: Mars Image in Color ( Click to Zoom in) He also sent us a picture in which he pinpointed several terrestrial features of Mars. You guys all understand them though they are in French. Mars (Click to Zoom in) Jean-Luc told us took the picture on the T1M of Pic du Midi. It is an infrared image (742nm). The sky…

• Solar Images (1040)

  Xiao Sun

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:48 pm

  These Hα images of the Sun are submitted by American astronomy amateur Jim Ferreira.  Jim has been using DMK 21AU04.AS astronomy camera since 2008. Over the past one and half years, he has sent us different astronomy pictures taken in his backyard in California, USA. Solar Image - Click to Zoom in His photograph kits include: DMK 21AU04.AS Lunt LS50 H-alpha filter Stellarvue 102ED refractor @ 700mm Thank you Jim! Look forward to more works from you.

• Splendid Sun Images – with Sunspot 1040

  Xiao Sun

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:48 pm

  The following Sun Images are submitted by French astronomy photographer Laurent Langelez. Laurent took these images on Jan.17 in Ramicourt, France. Sun Image Sun Image - Sunspot 1040 Sun Image - Sunspot 1040 You will open the original images by clicking the zoomed ones above. Laurent’s gears: Equinox 80mm refractor on EQ6. Astrosolar densité photo filter and Cotinuum Baader filter Registax5 + Photoshop Merci Laurent!

• Solar Image – NOAA 1040

  Xiao Sun

  1 Feb 2010 | 8:38 pm

  Italian astronomy amateur Adriano Amadori has been using DMK 21AU04.AS camera to capture solar images since last summer. He took the following picture on 10th of Jan, in Verona Italy. Solar Image - NOAA 1040 Tech details can be found on the picture. Grazie Adriano! Ben fatto!

• 
  sci.astro Google Group

• Re: The metric system sucks

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:57 am

  Just so you're aware of it, google "1 atm in pascal" and "1 mile^3 in cc". Furlongs per fortnight it can handle--cubits per millishake defeats it (doesn't have millishakes).

• Re: The metric system sucks

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:40 am

  I once knew a girl named Milly-Helen. She looked like a shipwreck. But how does prove that using powers of ten is a bad idea? ============================== ====================== Computers use powers of 2. What is 16384 base T in binary? 100,000,000,000,000 What is 40000 base 8 in binary? 100,000,000,000,000

• Re: The metric system sucks

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:23 am

  On Feb 9, 3:23 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...@nezumi.demon.co .uk> wrote: Such 'quick shifts' are a common source of errors. Of course, you can do it by calculator or computer, but that also makes working with English units' conversion factors easy. There's really no problem with non-decimal money, but inflation has

• Re: The metric system sucks

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:20 am

  On Feb 8, 9:50 pm, "Ostap S. B. M. Bender Jr." As I already stated - and you no doubt read - I prefer we should use the British volume units but the US weight units. Of course computations of volume should be in cubic inches or cubic feet for simplicity - only commercial products need use the gallon, etc.

• Re: The metric system sucks

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:19 am

  I meant that it became obsolete without any bureaucratic compulsion. Andrew Usher

• 
  uk.sci.astronomy Google Group

• S@N

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:54 am

  Earliest off-air showing BBC4 tv Tuesday evening ? or was the first showing sometime last week

• Re: Sirius and us, Newtonian inseparable / FAS & Brad Guth

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm

  Geoengineering sure as hell aint going to be cheap, nor happen overnight. If the future survival of the human species ever comes down to a do-or- die push or shove, as with proper incentives or motivation (such as our sun bloating up or even the loss of our geomagnetic protection) we could probably utilize our moon(Selene) to better protect Earth from

• Re: Strange shape seen in aurora photo

  4 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

  I'm not sure how relevant it is, but if you follow the axis of the 'spike' downwards it points directly towards a bright porch light on one of the houses.

• Re: Strange shape seen in aurora photo

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:51 am

  On Jan 30, 2:01 am, James Harris <james.harri...@googlemail.com > wrote: The image shape is very easy to reproduce with any common magnifying glass. I just did so using a low Sun and a 4" biconvex lens. The question is whether it is possible to capture such an image off axis in the camera used by Mikalsen. This should not be too difficult to

• Re: EQMod

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:54 pm

  AFAIK this won't work with a standard EQ6, it needs the interface board and steppers that the EQ6 Pro Syenscan and Syntrek mounts use. __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. [link]

• 
  Are We Alone? - Science Radio for Thinking Species

• Pave New Worlds

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  The extra-solar planet count is more than 400 and rising. Before long we may find an Earth-like planet around another star. If we do, and can visit, what next? Stake out our claim on an alien world or tread lightly and preserve it? We’ll look at what our record on Earth says about our planet stewardship. Also, whether a massive technological fix can get us out of our climate mess. Plus, what we can learn about extreme climate from our neighbors in the solar system, Venus and Mars. Guests: Ken Caldeira – Climate scientist from The Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology…

• It's the Science, Cupid!

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Love makes us feel warm and mushy, but the sweet sting of Cupid’s arrow makes a compelling chemistry lesson, too. Research into animal mating and human courtship provides clues to an eternal mystery: what’s the purpose of love? Learn lessons from the family values of field mice, and affectionate same-sex penguin pairs. Plus: Darwin’s take on speed dating, and the science of smooching. Guests Helen Fisher – Anthropologist, Rutgers University Sarah Woodley – Biologist, Duquesne University Skyler Place – Doctoral Student, Indiana University’s Department…

• Who's on First?

  25 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am

  Being first counts in science. Land that coveted spot and you’ll make history, whether it’s with the first steam engine or the discovery of our earliest human ancestor. But what does “first” mean when technological invention so heavily builds on what’s come before… and evolution represents continuous change? Find out how “publish or perish” made Darwin famous… why we’ll never find the first human fossil… and how powerful new telescopes are allowing us to see the earliest galaxies. Plus, the chicken and egg battle it out in line. Guests: Garth Illingworth –…

• Skeptic Check: Swimming in Denial

  18 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am

  Public distrust of science is higher than at any time since the Enlightenment. New Yorker writer Michael Specter argues how our anti-science bias and our irrationalism about everything from genetically modified foods to climate change to childhood vaccines endangers our future. And remember when… a look back at scientists who at first pooh-poohed plate tectonics… meteorites, and quantum physics. How the evidence turned them around. It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it. Guests: Michael Specter – Writer for The New Yorker and author of Denialism: How Irrational…

• Eureka!

  11 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am

  From the double-helix to the expansion of the universe, great scientific discoveries reshape our understanding of who we are and how things work. But great discoveries require more than just a great mind. We tour brainy breakthroughs from Archimedes to Darwin, and find out what made their revolutionary insights possible. Also, why you need more than a stratospheric I.Q. to be a super-achiever. And how the invention of reading re-directed the course of civilization and re-wired our brains in the process. Guests: Alan Hirshfeld – Professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts,…

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  StarDate

• Orion Planets - StarDate: February 9

  McDonald Observatory

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  A hostile location for new planets. (Note: Audio will be available tomorrow.)

• Orion - StarDate: February 8

  McDonald Observatory

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The beautiful celestial hunter.

• Bright and Brightest - StarDate: February 7

  McDonald Observatory

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Lining up a pair of sparklers.

• Moon and Antares - StarDate: February 6

  McDonald Observatory

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Hiding the surface of a star.

• Delta Pavonis - StarDate: February 5

  McDonald Observatory

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Looking in on a close neighbor.

• 
  About.com: Astronomy

• 3-2-1 Launch... Only 4 To Go!

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:56 pm

  The Space Shuttle Endeavour left the launch pad early this morning and is now in orbit on its way to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the first shuttle flight of the year, and represents the beginning of the end for the aging shuttle fleet. The focus of this mission is to deliver a module to the ISS that will increase the interior space and provide additional living quarters. While the crew will not arrive to the space station until Wednesday, they are busy testing equipment and preparing for the space walks that will be needed to install the new node and research facility.

• Update on NASA Budget

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:22 am

  Last week I noted that the Obama administration had cut the Constellation Program from the budget, effectively killing the proposed return mission to the Moon and future manned Mars missions. An ancillary effect being that we would not need to rely on our Russian counterparts to complete our obligations to the International Space Station. This news initially angered proponents of the space program, including myself, because of the administration's demolition of our manned space program. However, once President Obama officially released the complete budget and vision for the future of our…

• The Future of the International Space Station

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am

  As part of the re-invisioning of NASA (more on this tomorrow), the work of the International Space Station will be extended through at least 2020. This will allow scientists to expand the experiments being conducted and, according to NASA, enable "this vital orbiting laboratory to reach its full potential." Sounds good to me. Personally though, I was just psyched about this image that was released along with the announcement. Pretty spectacular, huh? Telll me what you think! Image Credit: NASA The Future of the International Space Station originally appeared on About.com Space / Astronomy on…

• NASA Has Given Up on Getting Spirit Free

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am

  NASA has announced that it has officially given up trying to free the Spirit Rover from the bed of sand that has been holding it captive. (For a rather funny portrayal of these events, go here.) This does not mean however that it will no longer provide scientific data. Rather, it will study the surrounding martian surface and what lay beneath it. The coming Martian winter is of concern, but NASA hopes that the little trooper will survive. Should the rover live on, scientists hope that it can help answer a question that has plagued them for years: is the Martian core completely solid, or does…

• Amazing Full Moon in Store Tonight

  29 Jan 2010 | 6:23 am

  Those of you lucky enough to be around clear skies tonight -- I live in the midwest so I haven't seen a clear sky for weeks -- then check out the Moon. It is only the end of January, but the Moon will be on its closest approach of 2010, making it appear bigger and brighter than it will ever appear again this year. For simplicity we usually discuss the orbit around the Earth as having a circular path, but in fact it is slightly elliptical. Tonight, the Moon will be more than 15,000 miles closer to Earth than average, making it appear about 30% larger and brighter. You should be able to see…

• 
  A Pacific View

• What we really get up to at the summit

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:40 am

  I mentioned it in my last post, but there are so many inaccuracies it's hard to know where to begin. The most fundamental one is that I know no astronomer or astrophysicist who drinks Bud Light. We are a strange community but I can tell you that most astronomers know their beer!As for the rest of the shenanigans, I have no comment...PS. We also know how to spell asteroid!

• Super Bowl sunset

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:48 pm

  I managed to watch the first quarter of the Super Bowl before leaving for the summit and with the Colts up 10-0 thought I was going to miss a bit of a blow-out, so wasn't too concerned. By the time I was at the summit the news was the Saints had won in a very entertaining game! Oh well, we all have to make sacrifices although I did manage to see the Bud Light astronomer advert which reminded me I have to buy a white lab coat one day and wear it at the summit!Lots of tourists also missed the Super Bowl but by choice; they were at the summit on Sunday evening watching yet another magnificent…

• A gentle evening stroll at 14,000 feet

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:12 pm

  One of my duties as an astronomer working at an observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawai`i, is to give support to visiting astronomers from around the world who use the telescope. In the last three or four years we've moved into a survey mode which has changed this role quite significantly. In the old days, astronomers would prepare their observations a few weeks before visiting, perhaps even a couple of days beforehand when they arrived on the island, and we'd help with the preparations using our knowledge and experience of the instrumentation and telescope. We'd then accompany them to the summit,…

• What did you do to my office?

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:23 pm

  I came into work today and found I had a little surprise waiting for me! This was due to the news about Pam which she explains in "The Big C vs. My Surgeon". I have to say that I work in a wonderful place with wonderful people.

• Where's that bloody laser beam then?

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:48 pm

  On Sunday evening at around 9:30 we called the Keck observatory to see if they were using their new laser on the Keck 1 telescope. I'll admit it wasn't a purely professional call, I wanted to go outside and take a picture! The answer was promising, the laser was in action (for PC reasons, I'm supposed to steer clear of using the term "firing off the laser"!).It was a beautiful moonlit evening so I set the camera up on a tripod and took a couple of 60-sec exposures to create a panorama. I couldn't see the laser beam with my naked eye but that's not unusual, the lasers that Subaru, Gemini and…

• 
  Remanzacco Observatory - Comets & Neo

• U Scorpii in Outburst

  Team

  29 Jan 2010 | 9:08 am

  The recurrent nova U Sco has been discovered in outburst at magnitude V=8.05 on January 28.4385 UT by amateur astronomers B. Harris and shortly after by S. Dvorak (who estimated it at V~8.8). According to the AAVSO website prior to outburst, U Scorpii was measured at V=18.2 on Jan 27.4501 (Harris), and estimated at m(vis) less than 16.5 on January 27.6271 by M. Linnolt.Novae are binary systems where the companion star feeds matter through an accretion disk to accumulate on a white dwarf. After the eruption, the white dwarf returns to a steady state while the accumulation begins anew so that…

• Possible Nova in Sagittarius

  Team

  23 Jan 2010 | 11:06 am

  CBET circular No. 2140, issued on January 23, 2010, announces the discovery by John Seach (NSW, Australia) of a possible nova in Sagittarius (mag 8.5) on three 6-s CCD exposures (limiting mag 11) obtained on Jan. 20.22 UT with a Nikon D300 camera (+ 50-mm f/1.4 lens + orange filter).The object is located at (position provided by S. Kiyota):R.A. = 18h07m26s.79, Decl. -29d00'42".8 (equinox 2000.0)Follow-up observers on CBET are noting that nothing is visible at this position on a DSS image.UPDATE JANUARY 24On CBET circular No. 2142, H. Maehara (Kyoto University) reports that a low-resolution…

• New Sungrazing Comet

  Team

  21 Jan 2010 | 9:09 am

  After the bright sungrazing comet discovered on January 02, 2010 on images taken by NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft, a new comet is plunging toward the sun. On first looking this comet is ~1-1.5 mag fainter than the previous one from early January.Below the new comet imaged by another solar spacecraft, SOHO:Click here to see the same image with labels (by Spaceweather):http://bit.ly/8Vz9PE While by clicking the thumbnail below you can see a full C3 Animation (credit SOHO):The comet is just entering the field of view of SOHO C2 camera:Click here for a bigger version:http://bit.ly/7hhDlK UPDATE…

• Possible Nova in Ophiuchus

  Team

  18 Jan 2010 | 11:29 am

  CBET circular No. 2128, issued on January 16, 2010, announces the discovery by Hideo Nishimura (Japan) of a possible nova (mag 8.4) on two 13-s frames taken on Jan. 15.857 UT with a Canon EOS 5D Digital Camera (+ Minolta 120-mm f/3.5 lens). The object is located at:R.A. = 17h39m41s, Decl. = -21d39'47" (equinox 2000.0)According to K. Kadota nothing is visible at this position on a red Digitized Sky Survey image from 1997 (limiting mag estimated to be 20 by S.Nakano).This is the confirmation image of this outbursting object taken by K. Itagaki: (Credit: K. Itagaki, Japan)click here for a bigger…

• New Comet Discovery: C/2010 A4 (SIDING SPRING)

  Team

  16 Jan 2010 | 10:33 am

  IAU circular No. 9107, issued on 2010, Jan. 14, announces the discovery by G. J. Garradd of an apparently asteroidal object, on CCD images taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope in the course of the Siding Spring Survey. After posting on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, Garrad itself and other observers have noted the cometary appearance of this 19.0 magnitude object, designated C/2010 A4 (SIDING SPRING).We have been able to confirm this object remotely, through the GRAS network, using a scope located in Mayhill (NM): on 2010, January 13.4, co-adding of 20 unfiltered…

• 
  365 Days of Astronomy

• February 9th: Things That Go Bump In the Night

  kortney.hogan

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Date: February 9, 2010 Title: Things That Go Bump In the Night Podcaster: Patrick McQuillan Organization: Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) - www.iris.edu Music Credit: "What is a Shooting Star?" by They Might Be Giants from the CD Here Comes Science. Description: The Universe is mostly empty. That’s why it is called space and not stuff. However, collisions do occur. Let’s take a look at some of the more notable collisions that have occurred in the history of the Universe. Bio: Patrick McQuillan earned a B.S. Physics and an M.S. in…

• February 8th: The Supernova That Bounces

  kortney.hogan

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Date: February 8, 2010 Title: The Supernova That Bounces Podcaster: Rob Bowman Description: Rob describes the before, during and after of a Type II supernova – also called by a much better name: A “Core Bounce Supernova”. Bio: Rob Bowman is an electronics/software engineer by day and an armchair astronomer by night. He lives under the orange glow of city skies, so contents himself with downloading and manipulating images from the world's great telescopes, reading and listening to any astronomy media he can get his hands on, and wondering if 43 is too old to become a…

• February 7th: Determining the Eccentricity of the Moon’s Orbit

  kortney.hogan

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Date: February 7, 2010 Title: Retro Science: Determining the Eccentricity of the Moon's Orbit Podcaster: Mike Simonsen and Kevin Krisciunas Organization: Slacker Astronomy Description: Mike Simonsen from Slacker Astronomy interviews Kevin Krisciunas about his recent paper that describes how to measure the eccentricity of the moon's orbit with a yardstick and some cardboard. Bio: Slacker Astronomy is a light-hearted podcast that wanders the astronomical road-less-traveled. Visit us at http://www.slackerastronomy.org/. Today's sponsor: This episode of "365 Days of…

• February 6th: Expanding an Already Very Large Array

  kortney.hogan

  6 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Date: February 6, 2010 Title: Expanding an Already Very Large Array Podcaster: Nicole Gugliucci Links: The Very Large Array - http://www.vla.nrao.edu The NRAO Image Archive - http://images.nrao.edu The EVLA - http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/evla One Astronomer's Noise - http://noisyastronomer.com/365-days-of-astronomy/ Music from Dorian Spencer: http://www.dorianspencer.com/ Description: One of the most productive telescopes in astronomy, the Very Large Array, has shut down its operations for the first two months of this year in order to give it a much anticipated upgrade. Find…

• February 5th: Getting Started in Astronomy: Then and Now

  kortney.hogan

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Date: February 5, 2010 Title: Getting Started in Astronomy: Then and Now Podcaster: David Chapman and Andrea Misner Organization: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Halifax Centre: AstronomyNovaScotia.ca Description: Andrea and Dave are two amateur astronomers and friends 30 years apart in age with a common bond formed by their interest in astronomy and physics. Dave became an amateur astronomer in the 1960s; Andrea in the 1990s. In conversation, they compare the "Galileo Moments" that started them on their individual journeys, the telescopes that were available to…

• 
  The Daily Astronomer

• DA February 3, 2010 And, Then, The Astrophysicist Had to Explain

  Southworth Planetarium

  2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  From the USM Southworth Planetarium “Soft touched” THE DAILY ASTRONOMER February 3, 2010 And, Then, the Astrophysicist Had to Explain Nobody has ever explained that strange prickly neck phenomenon. By which I mean that sudden warm sensation that one experiences around the back of the neck. The neck hairs become erect; you gulp, sometimes even gasp, and are [...]

• DA February 2, 2010 Herding Quantum Cats

  Southworth Planetarium

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  From the USM Southworth Planetarium “Somewhere out there….” THE DAILY ASTRONOMER February 2, 2010 Herding Quantum Cats Some have derided it as the “cruelest thought experiment ever devised.” Others have dismissed it as so much frivolous mind play. Still others find within it a keen insight developed by a brilliant man seeking to understand the quantum world’s enigmatic [...]

• DA February 1, 2010 February 2010 Sky Calendar

  Southworth Planetarium

  31 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  From the USM Southworth Planetarium “Return to the surface” THE DAILY ASTRONOMER February 1, 2010 February 2010 Sky Calendar So, at the very first moment of February 2010, we enjoy a prolonged look at the month’s multitude of sweet sky sights. Some might feel a bit grey around the gills knowing that the year’s coldest month is in [...]

• DA January 29, 2010 Quiz: I ALMOST care about knowing that

  Southworth Planetarium

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  From the USM Southworth Planetarium “Spheres” THE DAILY ASTRONOMER January 29, 2010 Quiz: I ALMOST care about knowing that Today, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to have a dribble of fun with our Friday quiz. Traditionally, we design these examinations to be stress-inducing disasters that should inflict indelible scars on your psyche. Any test-writer will tell you that [...]

• DA January 28, 2010 That’s a Crab? (R)

  Southworth Planetarium

  27 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  From the USM Southworth Planetarium “No rest for the angelic.” THE DAILY ASTRONOMER January 28, 2010 That’s a Crab? Yes, we HATE repeats. We pride ourselves on posting something new and delightful (Well, at least new) every day, five days a week. However, sometimes life (i.e. work!) interferes with our plans and compels us to post a re-run. This [...]

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  IYA 2009 Astronomy Sri Lanka

• A Comprehensive Summary of IYA2009

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  Following is a JPG image that features a summary of IYA2009. You can find special statistics as well as many interesting stuff about IYA2009, you might not have known earlier. Please click on the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• A Night with Virtual Telescope along with Gianluca Masi

  6 Feb 2010 | 5:20 am

  Last Thursday evening (04th February) was so much anxious, for I was waiting for a great astronomy event to start. Not only me, a lot of my facebook friends and many others kept on sitting till the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• IYA2009 Commemorative Coins Issued by Many Countries Worldwide

  29 Jan 2010 | 11:11 pm

  As the title of this post hints, there were lot of countries involved in this worldwide celebration during 2009, which was the 400th anniversary of both the discovery of telescope for astronomical... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• A New Blog Dedicated to IYA2009 Coins/ Numismatic Issues

  27 Jan 2010 | 10:11 am

  It's not more than 2 days, since I created this new blog. It's a .blogspot as well. The aim of this attempt was to feature all the coins issued for IYA2009 by different countries, in celebration of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Hello, Red Planet ! Participating Countries and News

  27 Jan 2010 | 9:32 am

  Here is a detailed description on each of the confirmed participating countries for of the Hello, Red Planet !, Global Mars Observation Campaign. There are information on how to reach local contacts... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]