Perseids Meteor Shower (August 11-12)
On the night of August 13 and 14 the Perseids meteor shower will peak. It is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at the peak, but you may be able to see some meteors any time from July 23 to August 22.
Southern Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower (July 28-29)
If you have missed the latest Monthly Stargazing Calendar, then this is a reminder that on the night of July 28 and 29, the Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower will peak. The Delta Aquarids can produce about 20 meteors per hour at their peak.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for January 2012
On the night of January 3 to 4 the Quadrantids meteor shower will peak. It is an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at the peak. The near first quarter moon will interfere with the show a little at first, but it will set shortly after midnight, leaving dark skies for what would then be a good show.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for August 2011
This month on the 12 and 13 the Perseids Meteor Shower will peak. It is one of the best meteor showers to observe because it can produce up to 60 meteors per hour at the peak. You may also be able to see some meteors any time from July 23 to August 22.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for April 2011
Featured astronomical event Lyrids Meteor Shower: The Lyrids are an average meteor shower with about 20 meteors per hour at their peak on April 21 and 22. These meteors can produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. The shower is most spectacular during the peak on April 21 and 22, but some meteors can still be spotted from April 16 to 25. The meteors will be radiating from the constellation of Lyra after midnight. A dark viewing location far from city lights is recommended since this year, the gibbous moon will hide most of the fainter meteors in its glare. Moon phases As you know, the Moon has…
Non-Rocket Spacelaunch – Space Elevator Safety Issues
The space elevator is a gigantic concept and as such it has many safety issues that would have to be resolved before construction begins. A space elevator would present a navigational hazard, both to aircraft and spacecraft.
Weekly Stargazing Calendar for 2010-12-13
This week we will witness the Geminid meteor shower. It is considered to be the most spectacular meteor shower with an average of 60 meteors per hour during the peak which will be on the night of December 13 and 14. If you are lucky enough to get very little light pollution you could probably see up to 120 meteors per hour at peak. The shower will radiate from the constellation of Gemini. Last year’s Geminid meteor shower. Image Credit & Copyright: Wally Pacholka (AstroPics.com) Although not nearly as spectacular as the meteor shower, the planets are also interesting to observe. So here are their positions for this week: Mercury…
Astronomy Picture of the Week – Leonid Meteor Shower
Today is the peak of the Leonid meteor shower. It is one of the best meteor showers to watch because it produces an average of 40 meteors per hour during the peak. All meteors seem to come from the Leo constellation, hence it’s name. This picture features a few meteors from the 2001 Leonid meteor shower streaking over Joshua Tree National Park in California, USA. Image credit & copyright: Wally Pacholka (Astropics) & Tony Hallas (Astrophoto) Unfortunately for me the weather is really bad where I live: it is really cloudy with intermittent rain. So I hope some of you had better luck!
Dark Asteroids Discovered, Possible Threat to Earth
An infrared space telescope, called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has discovered several dark asteroids close to Earth that could possibly be a threat to our planet. Those asteroids are very dark and reflect less than 10% of the sunlight they receive, which makes them extremely hard to spot with traditional telescopes. However they absorb a lot of the sunlight and heat up which makes them quite bright in infrared. That’s why WISE could detect them. Near-Earth Object becomes visible in infrared WISE, the new space telescope launched on December 14, 2009 is expected to discover as many as 1000 near-Earth asteroids. However according to current estimates the number…
Possibilities for Life on Mars
An article was recently published by Scientific American, a very reputable science magazine, stating that evidence was found that life existed on Mars and was brought to Earth on a meteorite. The meteorite in question is called “Allan Hills 84001”. It was blasted from Mars by a huge meteorite impact 16 million years ago and crashed on Earth 13,000 years ago. It was only in 1996 that it was discovered in Antarctica. The meteorite appeared to contain some peculiar fossils. They being of biological nature was rapidly dismissed at the time. However, now scientists have re-examined them and concluded that they are indeed biological. They are fossils of ancient microscopic…
