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

I just wanted to let the weather guys know it is snowing, and it is sticking on the grass, and some gravel areas.

       thanks Outlanders 

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

There have been many injuries reported from trying to walk and drive on ice.  For an elderly person like myself, a fall can have fatal consequences.  Therefore, my recommendation is to carry a sturdy walking stick.  This acts as a third leg to give you more support as you take a step forward   Also, the cane can be used to probe for soft or slippey spots before you take a step forward.  Since these walking sticks can be bought at any drug store, a person is a fool not to carry one during an ice storm.

Also, the weather prophets are bordering on criminal negligence in not telling the viewers to use a walking stick while walking on ice.

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

The morning, Holly Morris was reporting from an ice covered street in Maryland somewhere where video was constantly being shown of people struggling to get up an icy hill. Each time her segment was shown, comments were made regarding the fact that no salt trucks had come up that street. Well, how convenient that before the morning broadcast ended, a salt truck showed up..

    DC Public Schools once again FUMBLES!  Despite the icy forecast which did take place on Wednesday, January 28,2009, the "MASTERMINDS" how kind of them-opened schools TWO HOURS LATE! While Ms. Rhee and company are entrenched in destroying the morale of the DC teachers,principals and other staff, the banner waving for CHILDREN FIRST was lost on this day.

    Perhaps the "MASTERMINDS" have hidden credentials that allow them to override the pleas of established weatherforecasters and reporters who brave the elements to see for themselves the conditions on the streets. When the REAL people who REALLY care about the safety of others beg the viewers to stay inside, why in all STANDARD BASE CURRICULUM would children and staff be placed in travel peril to attend school?

Perhaps, Ms. Rhee and company want to be known as the only major school district to be opened. MY! MY! I suppose this means that the other districts DO BELIEVE IN CHILDREN FIRST- THEIR SAFETY DOES COME FIRST!

Build a ball park and they will come! Have a foot or more of snow and several inches of ice and out of  the questionable erudite kindness of DC Public Schools, perhaps schools will open two hours and fifteen minutes late!

I pray it does not happen, but with such calls made as the one today, there is a risk that children will receive instruction while recovering from serious injuries as they try to get to school or by simply walking the path leading to their school door  and be taught by substitutes because their regular teachers may have been injured while moving along icy streets to get to work because under Ms. Rhee, heaven forbid do not give her a reason to fire you despite the fear one has of being injured.

Ms. Rhee and Mayor Fenty and the rest of the "MASTERMINDS" need to remember that the buildings will be there,the lessons will be taught,BUT what good are the buildings when the sidewalks are still covered with ice and as Ms. Denson the reporter for Fox5 reported from Stoddart School at 11:00 this morning, the pavement was STILL in the process of being cleared of ice. The sidewalk was STILL packed with ice.

Perhaps that two hour and fifteen minute delay would have worked!

     I DON' T THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!!

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