Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

NASA's MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft flew by Mercury today,  4:40:21 a.m. EDT, at a distance of only 125 miles! This is the 2nd flyby of the planet closest to the Sun accomplished by MESSENGER as the first was done January 14th of this year.

MESSENGER is going to view a whole new area and will undoubtedly provide us new data and more surprises. Read More About It: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/01oct_mercuryf
lyby2.htm?list142667  and http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_flyby2.html

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow FOx 5'ers!

NASA has announced that Space Shuttle Endeavor is next up in November for a mission (HST) to the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis and the Hubble SPace Telescope Repair Mission have been moved back to Feb 2009.

The shuffle was necessitated by a major equipment failure to HST - see my previous blog of 9-29. More details are at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissi
ons/sts126/index.html  and

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/servicing/
SM4/main/index.html

SkyGuy

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

Here is the low down on our skies and Earth-bound events for October.

SkyGuy

Mercury will be in the eastern sky just before dawn about mid-month and will be at peak brightness as October ends. The golden-yellow planet will be one fist-width above the horizon. Binoculars will help in your search for the fast moving planet. NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will perform the second flyby of Mercury on October 6th  at a closest approach of only 125 miles. Read More About It: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/ind
ex.html and http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_flyby2.html

The month opens with Venus stealing the sky show in the west as it is getting a little higher in the sky. You still need a clear view of the western horizon but dazzling Venus is always worth a look. The crescent Moon will be just below Venus on the 31st and will be a beautiful sight.

Mars is too close to the Sun to be seen.

Jupiter is easy to spot in the south after sunset. It is the brightest “star” in that part of the sky and the Moon passes just below Jupiter on the 6th. If you are lucky enough to be in dark sies when the Moon is not visible, Jupiter is very near the brightest part of the Milky Way (our home galaxy) and will be stunning to view.

Saturn is in the eastern sky before dawn. The thin crescent Moon passes belwo the ringed planet on the 25th and can act as a guide to finding Saturn.

The Moon is at First Quarter on the 7th and Full on the 14th. This month’s Full Moon is called the “Hunter’s Moon”. Last Quarter Moon is on the 21st and New Moon is on the 28th.

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. Read More About It: http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/index.html

The National Capital Astronomers (NCA) will meet October 11th at 7:30 PM at the University of Maryland Observatory. The speaker will be Dr. John Grant, NASM, Mars Exploration Rovers: Still Driving After All These Years Read More About It: http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/programs/NCA.html

NCA will also host a star party at Rock Creek Park on October 18th at 7:30 p.m. Read More About It: http://www.nps.gov/rocr/planyourvisit/expsky.htm>

Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) will meet at 7 p.m. at George Mason University (GMU) on Sunday, October 12th. The speaker will be determined. Read More About It: http://www.novac.com/meetings/index.php>

NOVAC will also host its’ annual Fall Star Gaze on October 4th at Crockett Park and another public star party on the 18th at Mason Neck Park. This is a great opportunity to get out and under the stars and look through a wide variety of telescopes.  Read More About It: http://www.novac.com/gaze/ and  http://www.novac.com/outreach/

The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) has Monday night tours but space is limited. Read More About It: http://www.usno.navy.mil/tour_info.shtmla>

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) has several space related activities this month. Read More About It: http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/calendar.cfm

On Saturday, October 25th, 6:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Sky Meadows State Park, near Paris, Virginia, join Sean O’Brien, NASM staff astronomer of the Albert Einstein Planetarium, and other local amateur astronomers for public telescopic observing under dark, star-filled skies, away from city lights. The evening begins with a short night sky orientation at dusk, followed by telescopic observing of various astronomical objects. Admission is free. Read More About It: http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/skywatching/

Be sure to tune into Episode 7 of Astrocast.tv http://astrocast.tv/

Hey folks

A chilly start to the day but it gets better! Warming up to the low 70's today with mostly sunny skies and a bit breezy but not as brezzy as yesterday.  Tonight we will see a few clouds but mostly clear. High 72 Low 49.

The pleasant weather continues through the weekend but the mornings will still be very chilly.  The sunshine means it  will be great for any outdoor activities you have planned. Enjoy the sunshine and the first full week of fall!

Gwen

What ever happened to Tom the weather man?  I also thought that he was married to Holly.

Should be a nice looking day with more sunshine then the past couple of days.

This morning we will see mostly sunny skies and cool temperatures. Temperatures in most of the area will be in the low 50s.

Today will become mostly sunny and cool. A stiff breeze out of the west and north- west at 10-15 mph will definitely make it feel like October. Highs will be in the upper 60's.

Tonight will be mostly clear and cool. Lows will range from near 50 in town to the low to mid 40's in some of the suburbs.

The sunny streak is expected to continue into the weekend.

Hope its a great day for you....

Tucker

Hey Fellow 'Nuff Clouds Fox5'ers!

The skies are gonna' clear and we have a lovely view awaiting us in the west after sunset. Let's get outside and look!

NASA(for today)Guy

Hello Fellow Fox 5'ers!

50 years ago today President Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA. In that 50 years we have progressed from the 1st launch at the Cape of Bumper 2, shown here, to returning again to the Moon and beyond. NASA has given the world much that it wouldn't have otherwise. Congress should give NASA more funding - currently a paltry 1% of the Federal Budget. The future and survival of humanity is in the stars and every dollar well spent on space helps.

Here are some links for more on NASA's 50th: www.astrocast.tv   http://www.nasa.gov/   http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

NASAGuy (today)

A Winter Weather Forecast developed using the teachings of an Ancient Indian, some Elder Farmers and their “August Principles”   

Let me explain what this is that I have posted here for those that have not seen my forcast before.

First the title, the Ancient Indian refers to my Grandmothers side of the family, we havent re-proven the existance of the Indian but the Catholic Church told us so. The Elder Farmers are the friends of my Grandfather, who was also from a farming family. The August Principles are from the storys that these old folks told about how the fog in Late Summer fortold of the winter ahead and how many snow storms they should expect. Many of these tales are known to have been passed down from the Erie and Huron Indians of the Great Lakes region.

How this works is this each of the 12 predictions has a weather condition in all caps. That is the predicted condition for the date or days listed. I watch the weather report five days prior to each date, this is the comparitive. For example the first one is FROST on October 28th, so on the 23rd I will see what the weather report says for the overnight of the 28th. Lets say they call for RAIN. On the 29th I record what happened as I see it in the morning, ie. do I have to scrape the car windows of FROST or walk around the puddles of RAIN water.

The correct predictions are recorded and after April 2nd the results as percentage correct are posted. These will include the alternate score for those events that take place within 48 hours of my predicted date...ie. if it FROSTs on Oct 26 throughOct 30 that scores as a alternate correct prediction.  Hey if the weatherfolks can change theirs each day, I get credit for being that close this far out!    

Amazingly this method has held fairly true no matter where I have applied it from Ohio to Georgia and Utah and for the past 20 years here in Maryland. These predictions are for the area in and around Frederick MD. Also known as the Northern Zone in the weather tab here 

1.  Look for FROST during the overnight hours of October 28th 2008 this will be a light frost so plants won’t be affected and it may melt before daylight.

  2.   The weekend before Veterans Day will be DRY, starting out sunny and then becoming cloudy and cooler.  Expect  temps dropping from the upper 50’s 

        3.      Expect a light SNOW on November 16th 2008. Temps will be above 40 but the upper level will support a light snow. 

        4.      There will be SNOW before Thanksgiving most likely overnight on Wednesday the 25th.

         5.      You may want to have an umbrella handy for December 2nd and then a shovel for the 4th 2008 when a half inch of  RAIN falls followed by 3 inches of SNOW 

         6.      The SNOW that falls on December 16th 2008 will likely melt before Christmas.

          7.    Temps in the 20’s and a Great Lakes clipper may dump 8 inches of SNOW on December 31st 2008   

          8.      It won’t be the coldest day of the year but expect January 21th 2009 to be one of the coldest 5 days. It will be so COLD it cannot snow even though it will just to the south. 

           9.     2 CLIPPERS from Canada follow each other, on the 2nd and 11th of February 2009. Low temps near 5, highs near 25. 

           10.  In the wake of the previous weeks cold clipper expect SNOW FLURRIES for February 17th 2009 as temps rise above 35.

            11.  SNOW on St. Patrick’s Day  March 17th 2009, but a warm weekend will clear all but the deepest piles. Temps could make it into the low 50’s  

           12.  Watch the weather report on March 27th, they will predict SUNNY  and CLEAR for April 1st 2009 but on the 30th will change it to RAIN. Expect about ½ inch of RAIN, temps near 50. 

Rules to remember:

1. It can and does SNOW at 40 degrees, it can but usually don’t SNOW below 18 degrees.
2. It can SNOW ahead of a clipper but seldom in behind one. The SNOW falls as the temps fall. (see rule 1)
3. Weather from the WEST weakens as it moves EAST, weather from the EAST strengthens as it moves WEST
4. The coldest week is the week with the lowest average high temp, Monday-Sunday.
5. The “August Principle” each foggy day in Late Summer foretells of a SNOW event that season. Ask an Indian
6. SNOW has the following undeniable properties; STICKY=NO STICKY   NO STICKY=STICKY
7. If a raindrop falls into a puddle and forms a bubble Rain will fall on that spot for two more days.

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

A critical component in the Hubble Space Telescope has failed, essentially shutting down science operations. The failed component is used to relay data to the ground. A back up unit which has not been used since 2001 is being powered up and may be placed in use this week.

The criticality of thefailed component and the need for a backup capability may force the delay of the STS 125 mission until next year. Mission planners for the last servicing mission to HST need to determine if this part needs to be replaced.

See further details at http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts125/080929hubble/

SkyGuy

Thanks Tony P. for the inspiration with this morning's headline. Well can't say enough good things about this forecast as we are expecting much improved weather around here for our day today.

This morning we will see some areas of fog and some low level clouds. Temperatures in most of the area will be in the 60s.

Today will become mostly sunny and less humid. Highs will be about 80.

Tonight will be mostly clear and cool. Lows will range from the upper 50s in town to near 50 in some of the suburbs.

Hope its a great day for you....

Tucker

Thanks Tony P. for the inspiration with this morning's headline. Well can't say enough good things about this forecast as we are expecting much improved weather around here for our day today.

This morning we will see some areas of fog and some low level clouds. Temperatures in most of the area will be in the 60s.

Today will become mostly sunny and less humid. Highs will be about 80.

Tonight will be mostly clear and cool. Lows will range from the upper 50s in town to the near 50 in some of the suburbs.

Hope its a great day for you....

Tucker

Hey Fellow Fox 5'ers!

Earlier today China completed its' first ever spacewalk and joins the US and Russia in having done so.  Mission commander Zhai Zhigang floated out of the orbiter module's hatch in the spacewalk, shown live on state broadcaster CCTV. Tethered to handles attached to the Shenzhou 7 ship's orbital module's exterior, Zhai remained outside for about 13 minutes before climbing back inside and closing the hatch behind him.

This is a significant milestone and China now wants to mate two spaceships together to form a crude orbitng space station. China has also stated that it wants to land humnas on the Moon in the next decade.

China is definitely on an upswing with regard to space ambitions and has the money and know how to back up those ambitions. It will be interesting to see if the cash strapped US can compete in an arena that used to be the exclusive domain of the US. Only time and the will of the American people as espoused in the next President and Congress will tell. Losing our edge in space is yet another indicator of how far the US has fallen in so many areas of prominence during the past 8 years.

SkyGuy

After enjoying a couple of nice weeks with seasonal temperatures and sunshine it looks like the next few days will be a little unsettled. Today will be cloudy and quite cool, with scattered rain showers as a powerful storm system moves through the Carolinas.  Highs will only be in the upper 60s, so bring a jacket.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, windy and cool. Rain showers or a little drizzle will continue overnight.  Lows will be in the 50s and low 60's.

The weekend will be cloudy, with occassional rain showers.  Still breezy, with winds out of the north/northeast blowing at 10 to 15 miles per hour,  Highs temps at least will rebound into the mid 70's.

Have a great weekend ...

Tucker Barnes

Hey Fellow FOx 5'ers!

China successfully launched its third manned spaceflight mission yesterday. The Shenzhou 7 spacecraft lifted off around 9:10 a.m. ET yesterday aboard a 19-story Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gansu province.

Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, all 42-year-old Chinese fighter pilots, are China's first 3 taikonaut crew to journey to space. The flight is scheduled to make an historic spacewalk tomorrow for one of the taikonauts and would be China's first and a major milestone in their space program.

China has stated that it wants to build an orbiting space station and land humans on the Moon. The mission is scheduled to end Sept 28 with a landing in inner Mongolia.

SkyGuy