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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.
07.11.09:Attack of the Lunar Rovers!
NASA plans to send new hardware back to a familiar place; the Moon. Specifically, scientists at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona are studying the hugely successful rover activities on Mars to see if they can be emulated in a low-cost fashion on the Moon. It isn’t generally known that much of the Moon is largely unexplored from a ground-level perspective; the early unmanned Surveyor-style landers in the 60′s were stationary, and the Apollo astronauts were restricted to nearside, equatorial landing sites. Intelligent lunar rovers would allow for extensive surveys of unexplored areas such as the South Pole Aitken Basin, one of the largest impact basins in the solar system. Rovers could also scout out future manned landing sites as well as search for that treasure of treasures; water. Unlike the Martian rovers, the signal round trip is negligible, thus allowing for near real-time control. So, when might we see this new breed of lunar robots? Well, NASA has unofficial plans to place its first rover in 2014. The Chinese however, may beat us to tasting lunar dirt with the Chang’e-3 mission in 2013…who will win the battle of the 21st century lunar rovers? Stay tuned!