SkyGuy's Blog

Hey Fellow FOx 5'ers!

We are in for a sky treat on 2-4-09 at sunset as the International Space Station is doing a marvelous flyover of our area. Here are the details

06:21 PM 6 minutes 52 deg Max 10 deg above start WNW end 10 deg above SE

The ISS will be about as bright as Venus. We will have other sighting opportunities as well in the next few days. See http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/
view.cgi?country=United_States&region=DC&city=Washingto
n

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox5'ers!

February marks the half way point of Winter and I am sure Fox5'ers have noticed that daylight hours are longer and the Sun is higher in the sky at noon. We continue to gain more daylight hours as the weeks and months progress to summer but the nights are still long and beautiful with the bright stars of winter. We have quite a line up of sights to see this month

Mercury will be low in the eastern sky just before dawn towards the end of the month. The golden-yellow colored planet will be paired with Mars, Jupiter AND the thin waning crescent Moon. The best days to get up and see this will be the 22nd and 23rd. Binoculars will help in your view of this tight alignment. Mars will be low and to the left while Jupiter will be fairly bright and just to the lower left of Mercury and the Moon. You have to have an unobscured east-south east horizon to see this marvelous alignment. March will give us an even better view of this planetary lineup.

Venus reigns supreme high and glorious in the south west as it gets dark - it is the brightest "star." The "Evening Star" is at its best view for all 2009 this month. Venus will be just about as bright and high in our sky as it ever can be. If you can get to a dark sky site that has snow on the ground, Venus is capable of casting your shadow when there is no moonlight to interfere - Venus is that bright.

The sky event of the month will take place on the 27th when the thin waxing crescent Moon will be just to the left of Venus. This will be a must see event as the Moon will have Earthshine - the faint glow that makes the unlit portion of the Moon visible due to the reflection of sunlight off our planet's clouds and oceans - to compliment the dazzling beauty of Venus. Try taking a picture of this sky scene by mounting your digital camera on a tripod and zoom in to fill the frame. Start with a 1 second exposure at ISO 200 and adjust as necessary.

Saturn rises in the eastern sky at about 8 p.m as the month begins and at about 6 p.m. at month's end. The Moon passes to the upper right of the ringed planet on the 10th and can act as a guide to finding Saturn.

The Moon is at First Quarter on the 2nd and Full on the 9th. This month's Full Moon is called the "Snow Moon" due to February's peak snowfall amounts. Last Quarter Moon is on the 16th and New Moon is on the 24th.

Here are our down to Earth events for this month.

• Open House at the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park Campus Observatory, will be at 8 p.m. on the 5th and the 20th.

   

• The National Capital Astronomers (NCA) will meet February 7th at 7:30 PM at the University of Maryland Observatory. The speaker will be Dr. Jennifer Wiseman (GSFC) - New Wavelength Frontiers: Observing Star and Planet Formation with Herschel and ALMA.

   

• Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) will meet at 7 p.m. at George Mason University (GMU) on Sunday, February 8th. The speaker will be determined.

   

• NOVAC will also host another public star party on the 21st at CM Crockett Park. This is a great opportunity to get out and under the stars and look through a wide variety of telescopes.

   

• The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) has Monday night tours but space is limited. The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) has several space related activities this month.

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

Please visit this NASA video to pay respects to our fallen astronauts  of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia - today is the 6th anniversary of Columbia's accident.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/dor09/index_noacc
ess.html

Then tune in to Episoe 11 of Astrocast.tv: http://astrocast.tv/

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

How would you like to help in the next discovery made by the Hubble Space Telescope? As explained on the Hubble Site:

"Hubble's Next Discovery -- You Decide" is part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's observations. People around the world can vote to select the next object the Hubble Space Telescope will view. Choose from a list of objects Hubble has never observed before and enter a drawing for one of 100 new Hubble pictures of the winning object. The winning image will be released between April 2 and 5, during the IYA's 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global astronomy event geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky. Vote by March 1 to swing Hubble toward your favorite target. "

Read More ABout It:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/38677572.htmla>

http://youdecide.hubblesite.org/

Good Luck!

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers,

Yesterday was the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts while they were conducting a full up launch rehearsal for their upcoming flight. This accident was NASA's first loss of a crew.   http://www.history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger which exploded 73 seconds after lift off. All 7 crew members were killed in the accident. http://history.nasa.gov/sts51l.html

February 1st will be the 6th anniversary of the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia which broke apart upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and just 16 minutes from touchdown. http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/home/index.html

Discovery is on the pad and preparing for a mission to the ISS next month. NASA continues to push for the next generation of rockets and spacecraft that will return us to the Moon. In these TOUGH economic and war torn times, humanity needs the promise and realization of manned space exploration more than ever.

As the years fade we cannot forget the sacrifice these crews, as well as those of Russia, have made in the advancement of knowledge and exploration on all of our behalf. We pay honor to them by continuing to do what they had, and never forgetting the sacrifice they made for all of us.

SkyGuy

WOW Fellow Fox 5'ers!

I gotta' tell you we have REALLY had a LOT of fireballs around the world that are getting caught on video. Check this one out from Sweden: http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/images2009/Svenss
on1.mpg?PHPSESSID=056feif7cq6qn058fsp4gt7lu4

I hope we get lucky!

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

Fasten your seat belts and grab your 3D glasses if you have them......take a fascinating trip to Tycho Crater courtesy of the Japanese Kaguya (SELENE) spacecraft. The movie is a combination of high resolution photos and computer image processing. Oh, and you do not REALLY need the 3D glasses to enjoy the flight.

See it here: http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/en/observation
_mission/tc/013/tycho_anaglyph.html

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

NASA was a BIG hit with the President and First Lady as the STS-126 crew and the UBER COOL electric Lunar Rover ended the Inauguration Parade. The President was CLEARLY entertained by the gyrations of the Rover in front of the Reviewing Stand and the spacesuited astronaut walking around.

I trust he will choose wisely the next NASA Administrator - I confess that I am tainted by the last administration picking politically connected people that had no clue....can you say FEMA Director and Katrina.

Change has come to the US Government - let us hope that it is for the better. Only time will tell - we owe our new President just that, time and patience. I for one am hoping for the best.

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

NASA will have a part in the Inauguration Parade today as the STS-126 astronauts and a new electric Lunar Rover will thrill the crowds today. Astronaut Mike Gernhardt will drive the rover; while Astronaut Rex Walheim, wearing a spacesuit, will ride with him.

Today at noon, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will be replaced temporarily by associate administrator Christopher Scolese who will serve as acting administrator until a new NASA chief is picked. Mike, like all other Bush appointees, has to resign from office. He was NASA's 11th Administrator and had the helm at NASA for 4 years. He was not asked to stay on.

The favored name being floated to replace Mike is a retired Air Force General with NO space experience but ties to the new Administration......I HOPE this is not true. NASA needs know how from top to bottom, not an empty suit at the top.

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

With all the hoopla in our neck of the woods and the "Miracle on the Hudson", you may not have seen the VERY significant news story about Mars last week. Ground based telescopes observed the 2003 release of an estimated 21,000 tons of Methane from the Northern Hemisphere osummer f Mars.

Map of Methane release

The Methane can only come from two sources - biological or geological processes. Either way, the finding shows that Mars is NOT a totally dead planet. SOMETHING made this large amount of Methane. It will take more research, both ground, space and Mars based to unravel the mystery. But what is SO exciting is that organisms on Earh live underground and release Methane as part of their biological cycle.

It is very possible that the Mars Roving Lab, NASA's next ground based mission to Mars,  will set down in an area identified as the best place to resolve the findings.

Read More About It: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethan
e.html and http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090119.html

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

Colorado, Canada, California, Vermont.....the list can now add Sweden as having a BRIGHT fireball caught on camera:

http://www.expressen.tv/KVP/1.1435804/se-himlafenom
enet-har

Within the past several months there has been an extraordinary run of good luck in catching BRILLIANT fireballs on camera and being seen by eyewitnesses. The fireball in Canada produced meteorites that were found  and there is a chance this one did too because of the terminal  burst seen at the end.

Wish we could have some of this luck over our area like we did with the great fireballs of Halloween 2005.

SkyGuy