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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.
28.04.10-Green Light Given for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope.
Move over, SDO: the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy is going to kick the telescope envy game up a notch. The National Science Foundation gave the go ahead earlier this year to break ground on the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), a 4-meter Sun dedicated platform to be built atop Haleakala Mountain on the big island of Hawaii. When completed in 2017, ATST will be the largest solar telescope in existence. From this pristine site, the ATST will deliver resolution in the order of 0.1” arc seconds and have imaging capabilities spanning the ultraviolet to infrared spectrum. Originally in jeopardy of ever reaching construction, a deposit of $146 million courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act breathed new life into ATST. 8-year costs are expected to extend to about $298 million dollars total. ATST will join a growing battery of telescopes atop windswept Haleakala, including the Mees Solar observatory, the USAF Advanced-Electro-Optical System, and the Faulkes Telescope North. Environmentalists oppose the construction of the telescope, as they have for most of the instruments constructed on the big island of Hawaii. It is interesting to note, however, that where observatories are built land is usually preserved, as these instruments tend to need remote undeveloped wilderness to operate. In fact, the foot print of telescopes on the environment is pretty small compared with the average strip mall… perhaps a dual use/protection agreement would be equitable to all parties concerned? Whatever is the case, the future looks bright (pun intended) as both NASA and the NSF received boosts to pursue solar physics over the next decade.