Trackbacks
-
[...] Astro Guyz Astro Guyz: …read [...]
The Sky is Waiting.
Search AstroGuyz
Custom Search
Advertise on Astroguyz!
 |
|
 |
 |
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.
Astro Video of the Week: NASA Opens the Archives
What a fun circus ride…
Ever wonder what sort of secrets NASA is REALLY sitting on? We got an early birthday surprise early this past week, when the Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly the Dryden Space Center) released hundreds of old videos on YouTube, some of these have existed around the web on various sites, some are new to the online era. You’ll see the old flying bedstead used to train Apollo astronauts in action, early flight tests of the SR-71 Blackbird, accident tests using a commercial airliner, and much more. NASA has thus far put about 300 new/old videos up out of a promised 500. For our money, the flying bedstead tests simulating a lunar lander are always fun to watch:
�
�
Nope, no alien autopsies or back engineering of captured faster than light drive spacecraft here, just good ole honest real history. NASA is actually one of the most transparent government agencies out there, broadcasting its activities for anyone that’s interested in near real time. That’s why we feel that the recent proposal to create a military ‘Space Force’ is a bad idea. Not only do we not need more generals, but we already have ample military space assets in the U.S. Air Force. Plus, we were lucky in the early era of the Space Age when scientists successfully advocated for a civilian run U.S. space program, otherwise, yes, we would’ve ended up with a cloaked in secrecy military run space agency.
�
Enjoy these videos, as we comb through them as well this weekend. We’d love to have the startup capital to dig through those old vaults ourselves, and bring some of those videos from older more obscure launches to the light of day… maybe there’s a Kickstarter idea in the works there, somewhere?
�