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Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
Video: Catch a Spectacular Launch From Wallops
A rocket at the ready. (NASA/Wallops).
Live on the mid-U.S. Eastern Seaboard? Wanna see a rocket launch? We’ve go one for you, coming live from NASA’s Wallops flight facility tonight. We’ve actually been chasing this one for about a week now and conditions need to be just right for it to happen. We’re talking about a sub-orbital flight of a Terrier-improved Malamute rocket. The mission is a short up and down flight, meant to test new ampoule dispensers aboard. This will shoot out chemical tracers high in the Earth’s tenuous upper atmosphere, creating a brief false aurora for researchers to track the movements of air currents high up.
The 15 minute launch window tonight runs from 9:04 PM EDT to 9:19 PM EDT. The Wallops webcast via Ustream should go live right around 8:30 PM EDT:
Thus far, the launch has been thwarted by wayward boats in the hazard area and pesky summer clouds. Researchers need clear skies for this one to track the light show from the ground, both from Wallops and a satellite site known as “Duck”. With a little luck, folks from North Carolina up to southern New York might just catch the light show as well, low to the east. Here’s the visibility map. Unlike large rockets, little two-stage sounding rockets are real “fast movers” and fun to watch. The nightly launch window runs out on Sunday, June 18th. We’ll be live tweeting this one as well. Here’s hoping for clear skies!
But wait, there’s more. Don’t miss the SpaceX launch of BulgariaSat-1 from the Kennedy Space Center Saturday night June 17th at 18:10 UT/2:10 PM EDT. And we’re also tracking the rumored launch of China’s first X-Ray Space Telescope the HXMT as well. Stay tuned!