May's Astronomy Day

Tomorrow is Astronomy Day. The first of two throughout the year, the other is on October 1st. Astronomy Day runs on the slogan "Bringing Astronomy to the People." I had mentioned the event in this month's Highlights. Around the world local astronomical societies, planetariums, museums, and observatories will be sponsoring public viewing sessions, presentations, workshops, and other activities to increase public awareness about astronomy and our wonderful universe. It is a way for the general public and various astronomy enthusiasts, groups and professionals to interact. You can learn more from your local astronomy club or planetarium, or...

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Posted in astrobiology,Astronomy,Astronomy Day,FREE,HCAS,Meteor Shower,Mothers Day,Outreach 26 comments

Earth's Gravity Distorts Space and Time.

We are surrounded by swirling and distorted time and space, and no this not the effect of the Cinco de Mayo tequila... Well maybe some of it is... Distorted space and time around Earth. (Credit: Stanford) Yesterday NASA announced that Gravity Probe B (GP-B) confirmed two of Einstein's space-time theories. The first is the geodetic effect, or the warping of space and time around a gravitational body. The second is frame-dragging, which is the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates. It is OK to be asking 'what are these theories and what probe' and 'when did this mission happen'. Honestly, it was tucked into...

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Posted in GPS,Gravity,Physics,Space News,Space-time 38 comments

May the Fourth

May the fourth be with you. Happy Star Wars Day! Yeah, I totally outed myself as a Star Wars fan. But honestly, this is an astronomy blog, so it can't be that surprising. Though people have pegged me for a Star Trek fan instead. Star Trek is good an all, but I ain't no Trekkie. Give me mystical space wizards with laser swords over super-intelligent space elves with autism any day. Both have fascinating and complex galaxies, and I guess the biggest difference is that Star Trek is us in the future, in our own galaxy and exploring. Star Trek is more based in reality I'd guess. Star Wars is totally out there with anything possible, an entirely...

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Posted in Star Wars 32 comments

Astro-Lesson: The Sun

So this weeks lesson is about the Sun. Our home star is the very thing that makes life possible here on Earth. At a mere 93 million miles away in the center of our solar system, the Sun dominates our sky. By comparison, the next closest star, Proxima Centauri, is just over four light years away. The warmth of the Sun's glow provides a climate on Earth perfect for life. It's closeness also makes it the easiest and best studied star in the Universe. The Sun as seen from Earth's surface. (Wiki) For as close and well studied as the Sun is, we still still don't know a whole lot. But astronomers are working hard on it every day. In fact, knowing...

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Posted in Astro-Lesson,solar flares,Stars,Sun 20 comments

Decrease the Suck, Increase the Awesome

So NASA now has an unofficial new slogan. I kinda like it. It's pretty true of what NASA does and comes from an inventive vlogger Hank Green. The most recent video can be seen below, which NASA helped to make. It initially started with Green's video "Top 5 Awesome Things About the Webb Telescope" and has been quickly taken up by the community as a great way to describe NASA and reasoning for supporting continued scientific support in the United States. It is especially important Congress is debating the science budget that currently leaves scientists in limbo. The main thing that is clear is that both the House and the Senate are proposing...

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Posted in Astronomy,awesome,Buddy Holly,Earth,James Webb,NASA,News,webcomic 27 comments

May 2011 Highlights

Another month is upon us, and summer is coming fast here in the Northern Hemisphere. By the end of the month, barbeques will be firing up across the U.S. for Memorial Day and thousands of students will be getting out on summer vacation. The weather will also hopefully stabilize and we will get some nice, crisp, late spring nights with great viewing. Here are some of the things you can hope to catch during the month of May: May 2: Endeavour Launch: The next attempt to launch this shuttle on its final flight will be at 2:33 p.m. EDT. The launch has been further delayed, a week or more. The next launch will be no sooner then May 8. As the shuttle would have to clear the way for an Air Force launch on the 6th. The reason for delay is indications that issues with the APU-1 heating that caused...

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Posted in Astronomy,Full Moon,Highlights,May,Planets 18 comments