The Sky is Waiting.
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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.
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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.
27.04.11: MeerKAT & the Bid for SKA.
African radio astronomers are taking an innovative approach to a bid in hosting a unique proposal. The idea is known as the Square Kilometer Array, a radio observatory that will employ hundreds of dishes over a large area to scan and survey the radio sky in unprecedented detail. Much like the Allen Telescope Array being built in California, SKA�s strategy is to use the technique known as radio interferometry and go for many small dishes linked together rather than one large single antenna.
Slated to begin construction in 2013, initial site selection could come as early as next year. The Australian outback and South Africa�s Karoo site are already short listed; however, South African astronomers have decided not to wait. In a move demonstrating ingenuity and resourcefulness,promoters such as Justin Jonas are scouring the continent looking for defunct dishes. Once the backbone of communications infrastructure, these dishes are now being abandoned in favor of wireless and fiber-optic technology. Jonas and team are searching for about 20 each�30-meter dishes to become part of an ad hoc array. Already, South Africa�s KAT-7 array has been hugely successful, and the team is looking to complete a larger array known as Meer-KAT as a precursor to a hoped for landing of SKA. Such a move demonstrates the tenacity and forward thinking of the African team. And yes, in addition to looking at distant intergalactic radio sources, SKA will be used in the hunt for SETI� another rising radio astronomy star to keep an eye on is Simon Ratcliffe AKA the South Africa SKA projects’ very own �Barefoot Astronomer,� working tirelessly to promote astronomy on the African continent.
All this also begs the Sunday morning question; how bout� all those backyard dishes now littering the local dump in YOUR respective neighborhood? Surely, some local astronomy club could start a local�mini-SETI� league? Could the “our town, our SETI,” idea catch on? Even if E.T. doesn’t come calling, think of the public outreach ops!
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