Event of the Week: 29.06.09: The Deepening Solar Minimum.

Two tiny active regions (light spots) just starting to make themselves known…(credit: ESA/SOHO).
Something mildly bizarre is happening on our nearest star, the Sun. Or should we say, a lack there of… This weeks astro-event is a sort of non-event, but one of the big mysteries of 2009; where exactly are the sunspots? Turning that newly [...]

Review: Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone.

Out now from Candlewick Press.
Chances are you’ve never heard of the “Mercury 13.” OK, we all know about the Mercury 7 via movies such as the Right Stuff and an endless stream of Discovery channel documentaries, but there also exists another little known but fascinating tale of the early American manned space program; the contributions [...]

AstroEvent of the Week: 22.06.09: Will the June Bootids Perform?

Looking towards the Zenith-north at +30 Latitude at about 10PM to Midnite. (Created in Stellarium and Paint).
This weeks’ event is a total wild card. Most years, the meteor shower known as the June Bootids warrants nary a second thought, as rates tend to hover around 10 per hour on or around the morning of June [...]

Going Under

This is the third in the Quantum Gravity series by author Justina Robson.  It is the further adventures of Special Agent Lila Black and her unlikely retinue.  This is my third reading of a sequel before the original.  This time, I wanted to put down this book and go back to the first, Keeping It [...]

A Home-made Solar Filter for Cheap.

Never Drink & (Solar) Observe! (All photos by Author).
Solar observing is just plain cool. While some celestial objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy will look exactly the same on the day you die as when you were born, the face of the Sun can change day to day, or even minute to minute. As we [...]

AstroEvent of the Week: 15.06.09: The Summer Solstice.

A Monsoon Sunset over the former Very Small Optical Observatory. (Photo by Author).

Astronomers throughout the northern hemisphere, rejoice; the long slow onslaught of daylight is about to end! The summer solstice occurs right on schedule this year at 05:45 Universal Time on Sunday, June 21st. The most northerly point in the Sun’s yearly celestial journey, [...]

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