found at APOD.
Monday, July 14, 2008
mercury's caloris basin
another cool image of mercury taken in january from the messenger space craft. this enhanced color image shows the caloris basin.
found at APOD.
found at APOD.
Friday, July 11, 2008
blast to the past
i'm off to my old undergraduate institution today to give a talk for the physics department - all my old professors! i'm a little nervous about it because i have a vivid memory of them ripping apart the research of the only astronomer i remember visiting the department. its amazing how differently the details of the two fields are, even though all the phenomena are based on the same fundamental properties. it has been interesting to write this talk for a physics audience, since they don't have the astronomical intuition i have assumed in previous professional talks. but at the same time, i feel like they are a bunch of proud parents, so i'm not really that worried!
i'll try to track down a picture of myself during my undergrad physics days to share (i'll have to scan a picture because those were pre-digi-cam days!). i sort of satisfied the "hippy" stereotype: with super long hair, tie-dye t-shirts, listening to the grateful dead and lots of bluegrass, camping constantly, etc... i spent my days in the physics department working thru homework problems with a few of the guys in my class, and spent my evenings thinking about other things entirely. i'm curious to hear what impressions my old professors had of me at that time! should be interesting! i hope i remember my way around campus! haha.
i'll try to track down a picture of myself during my undergrad physics days to share (i'll have to scan a picture because those were pre-digi-cam days!). i sort of satisfied the "hippy" stereotype: with super long hair, tie-dye t-shirts, listening to the grateful dead and lots of bluegrass, camping constantly, etc... i spent my days in the physics department working thru homework problems with a few of the guys in my class, and spent my evenings thinking about other things entirely. i'm curious to hear what impressions my old professors had of me at that time! should be interesting! i hope i remember my way around campus! haha.
the hoop is on fire
more skills from the soul fire tribe. here's lara rocking the fire flying hula hoop! the move near the end with her arm up and her head sideways under the hoop blows me away every time!
and here's ari spinning his fire staff! the way the music lines up with his moves in this video is pretty amazing!
and here's ari spinning his fire staff! the way the music lines up with his moves in this video is pretty amazing!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
tattoo possibility
i might very well get a tattoo (very) soon. i have a tentative plan, but i'm open for suggestions (i know, i hear my mother saying "but why?"). send ideas for... anything.
Monday, July 7, 2008
mars and saturn
has anyone been able to see or get pictures of the mars, saturn, and moon alignment this weekend? hopefully the clouds will clear tonight so i can take my fantastic green laser pointer outside and show my nephew the big dipper!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
soul fire tribe
here's my sister spinning her poi fire for the soul fire tribe in yellow springs, ohio! pretty crazy spectacle at night!
you'll also notice some cameos by my favorite big dipper, (nephew) keldan and my favorite little dipper, (niece) areya!
you'll also notice some cameos by my favorite big dipper, (nephew) keldan and my favorite little dipper, (niece) areya!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
keyless in ohio
i moved out of my office, my apartment, and my life in austin. i sold my scooter, my bike and very nearly everything i own. yesterday i arrived in ohio, keyless. i'll have no keys for almost two months...!!
yesterday i met my best friend's tiny little 5.5 lb. baby girl. she's adorable, and poops way more than i thought a less-than-6-pound baby would!
tomorrow i'll see my nephew and niece for the first time since christmas. i've missed my favorite little dippers and cant wait to play!
i'm here for july enjoying my family and the flowers. i have a one-way ticket to england in august, and no place reserved to stay when i get there.... yet.
absolute craziness!
yesterday i met my best friend's tiny little 5.5 lb. baby girl. she's adorable, and poops way more than i thought a less-than-6-pound baby would!
tomorrow i'll see my nephew and niece for the first time since christmas. i've missed my favorite little dippers and cant wait to play!
i'm here for july enjoying my family and the flowers. i have a one-way ticket to england in august, and no place reserved to stay when i get there.... yet.
absolute craziness!
Monday, June 30, 2008
night sky july 2008
JUNE ENDS tonight with a very nice alignment of saturn, regulus, and mars as shown in the image below. the three will be pretty low on the western horizon and then continue to set, so you'll have to get out early to spot them.
the new moon is wednesday, JULY 2nd, so the skies will be nice a dark to view the planetary alignment!
on JULY 4th, the earth is at aphelion, the farthest distance from the sun all year! its about 152,105,000 km away from our burning star, or about 3.4% farther than at perihelion.
on JULY 5th, the crescent moon sweeps past the saturn-mars pairing, creating a wonderful photographic opportunity in the west around sunset!
JULY 8th-9th is when jupiter reaches opposition, and appears the brightest in our sky. the opposition position is when the sun, earth and jupiter line up with earth in the middle... constituting jupiter's closest approach to us on earth! jupiter rises in the east after sunset and will be the brightest thing in the night sky after the moon for the next few months. you should be able to see the galilean moons of jupiter with binoculars and a steady hand!
mars continues to catch up to saturn on the ecliptic, coming within one degree of each other on JULY 10th.
enjoy!!
the new moon is wednesday, JULY 2nd, so the skies will be nice a dark to view the planetary alignment!
on JULY 4th, the earth is at aphelion, the farthest distance from the sun all year! its about 152,105,000 km away from our burning star, or about 3.4% farther than at perihelion.
on JULY 5th, the crescent moon sweeps past the saturn-mars pairing, creating a wonderful photographic opportunity in the west around sunset!
JULY 8th-9th is when jupiter reaches opposition, and appears the brightest in our sky. the opposition position is when the sun, earth and jupiter line up with earth in the middle... constituting jupiter's closest approach to us on earth! jupiter rises in the east after sunset and will be the brightest thing in the night sky after the moon for the next few months. you should be able to see the galilean moons of jupiter with binoculars and a steady hand!
mars continues to catch up to saturn on the ecliptic, coming within one degree of each other on JULY 10th.
enjoy!!
euro cup 2008 finale
no, it wasnt a fantastically thrilling final match of the 2008 euro cup, but i was still entertained. disappointed that my team didn't win the whole thing, but their aggressive energy at the beginning of each half gradually wore out without them scoring an actual goal! on the other hand, i was thoroughly satisfied with the winning goal (video) put forth by fernando torres... the only goal of the game. as the scoring play unfolded, i thought there was no way torres was getting around lahm with enough time to hit the ball, so i nearly missed his quick flick to goal as i reached for my beer! so quick... so great! congrats espana!
i'm sure i will now enter a small period of soccer-watching withdrawal...
good thing i'll have ample family entertainment in ohio for the entirety of july, and a whole season to look forward to once i move to the UK in august! i havent kept up much with MLS lately. any thoughts on which team i should follow? i havent chosen one yet. the obvious choice would be the nottingham forest, since that'll be my new hometown team. but what about liverpool? arsenal? thoughts?
i'm sure i will now enter a small period of soccer-watching withdrawal...
good thing i'll have ample family entertainment in ohio for the entirety of july, and a whole season to look forward to once i move to the UK in august! i havent kept up much with MLS lately. any thoughts on which team i should follow? i havent chosen one yet. the obvious choice would be the nottingham forest, since that'll be my new hometown team. but what about liverpool? arsenal? thoughts?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
i love momentum
it took me a little while to get the xkcd reference (even though he gave it away in the title - i know)....
but then i got it in this nice video.
but then i got it in this nice video.
Friday, June 27, 2008
end of june sky 2008
starting tomorrow evening, look to the west after sunset to saturn, mars and the star regulus lining up near leo.
mars continues to creep closer to regulus, culminating in a near overlap of the two on sunday night! mars and regulus will be less than a degree apart in the sky. if you hold your arm out, pointing your finger to the sky, mars and regulus will be closer together than your index finger is wide! mars and saturn will be about 5 degrees apart in the sky on sunday!
mars continues to creep closer to regulus, culminating in a near overlap of the two on sunday night! mars and regulus will be less than a degree apart in the sky. if you hold your arm out, pointing your finger to the sky, mars and regulus will be closer together than your index finger is wide! mars and saturn will be about 5 degrees apart in the sky on sunday!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
germany in the euro cup 2008 final
aside from the unfortunately dramatic power outages during the broadcast of the second half of the match, the germany-turkey bout yesterday was very exciting. i was pleased to see turkey attack early in the match. i lost count f how many shots they had on goal befre germany even had one! i was hoping for turkey to score early because if they didnt score and lost momentum, they would be tired and finished. also, a goal would produce a more exciting game! score they did and the game was off...!
germany ended up pulling thru... again... despite great playing by the turks.
the best quote i've read about the match comes from Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile: "Now the Mannschaft have reached the EURO 2008 final with a 3-2 win over an arguably better team, nodding heads are attributing their triumph to simply being German, a synonym for depressingly successful."
wish i was in germany celebrating now... and good luck sleeping, eva!
off to work early today so i can watch the spain-russia match today. russia looks good so this is a tough match to call. i think germany would be happier playing spain in the final. who know what will happen....
germany ended up pulling thru... again... despite great playing by the turks.
the best quote i've read about the match comes from Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile: "Now the Mannschaft have reached the EURO 2008 final with a 3-2 win over an arguably better team, nodding heads are attributing their triumph to simply being German, a synonym for depressingly successful."
wish i was in germany celebrating now... and good luck sleeping, eva!
off to work early today so i can watch the spain-russia match today. russia looks good so this is a tough match to call. i think germany would be happier playing spain in the final. who know what will happen....
our exploration of space
in response to some of the comments i received on my post about the discovery of water on mars, i've been reading about the global interest in exploring other worlds in our solar system, thru both manned and robotic missions.
the european space agency, ESA, recently put out an application call for aspiring astronauts and received nearly 8500 completed applications from many different countries! i couldnt find many specifics about their exploration plans other than this generic statement: "This campaign is ESA's first astronaut selection since 1992, providing the opportunity to be at the forefront of ESA’s human spaceflight programmes, including future missions to the ISS and beyond." while 10% of those applications came from the UK, it's no secret that the UK space program has suffered from some recent controversial funding issues.
china has twice sent manned vehicles into space. they plan a third mission to launch after the 2008 beijing olympics, but only have plans to explore the moon, as far as i could tell from the internets. russia hopes to meet the october 2009 launch window to reach mars with their phobos grunt project. the indian space research organization (ISRO) has stated plans to launch a vehicle to mars by 2013. they would also like to send a "gaganaut" within a decade after that, if plans go well.
the NY Times posted an interview in january 2008, asking several space-science-related people: "Is manned space exploration worth the cost? Why or why not?"
all six people interviewed claimed manned space missions is definitely the way to go! this is surprising to me considering most of the astronomers i've talked to about this issue are of the opinion that if we go far far away, we should send robots first. i'll let you read that article to get an idea of the arguments given from their biased selection of NASA-related people, and i'll also list some other opinions collected by fraser cain at universe today and the bad astronomer phil plait.
the argument against space exploration that bugs me the most is that if we have so many problems here at home, why spend money to send humans so far away. now i agree with the fact that i dont think we should send humans, and therefore save money, but i also think there are plenty of financial resources - specifically in the US - that are being poorly allocated. specifically, have another look at the death and taxes poster to see where US tax dollars are going this year and how their direction differs from last year. increase in department of defense yet a decrease in energy efficiency and renewables (even though bush promised otherwise in his last state of the union address).
also, here's a quote from keith cowing of NASAwatch.com:
“Right now, all of America’s human space flight programs cost around $7 billion a year. That’s pennies per person per day. In 2006, according to the USDA, Americans spent more than $154 billion on alcohol. We spend around $10 billion a month in Iraq. And so on.”
at this point, us earthlings have successfully blasted countless electronic explorers off into space, as well as placed many many satellites in orbit around our planet to help us with many technological endeavors that make our daily life a bit more "convenient." it's a pretty crazy reality to think about this accomplishment of ours. the arrival of phoenix to the surface of mars marks another huge accomplishment in our robotic exploration of our solar system, and the Universe at large. but are we ready... psychologically, economically, and politically to go that far ourselves?
i think there are clear benefits to space exploration, and i think the major problems us earthlings are facing is how we are treating each other, our children and our earth. those things should be evaluated, but not by putting on hold the one task that currently keeps us all together and reaching for the same goal.
by the way, NASA is also accepting astronaut applications until july 1st, 2008!
pictured above is astronaut karen nyberg on the recent discovery mission.
the european space agency, ESA, recently put out an application call for aspiring astronauts and received nearly 8500 completed applications from many different countries! i couldnt find many specifics about their exploration plans other than this generic statement: "This campaign is ESA's first astronaut selection since 1992, providing the opportunity to be at the forefront of ESA’s human spaceflight programmes, including future missions to the ISS and beyond." while 10% of those applications came from the UK, it's no secret that the UK space program has suffered from some recent controversial funding issues.
china has twice sent manned vehicles into space. they plan a third mission to launch after the 2008 beijing olympics, but only have plans to explore the moon, as far as i could tell from the internets. russia hopes to meet the october 2009 launch window to reach mars with their phobos grunt project. the indian space research organization (ISRO) has stated plans to launch a vehicle to mars by 2013. they would also like to send a "gaganaut" within a decade after that, if plans go well.
the NY Times posted an interview in january 2008, asking several space-science-related people: "Is manned space exploration worth the cost? Why or why not?"
all six people interviewed claimed manned space missions is definitely the way to go! this is surprising to me considering most of the astronomers i've talked to about this issue are of the opinion that if we go far far away, we should send robots first. i'll let you read that article to get an idea of the arguments given from their biased selection of NASA-related people, and i'll also list some other opinions collected by fraser cain at universe today and the bad astronomer phil plait.
the argument against space exploration that bugs me the most is that if we have so many problems here at home, why spend money to send humans so far away. now i agree with the fact that i dont think we should send humans, and therefore save money, but i also think there are plenty of financial resources - specifically in the US - that are being poorly allocated. specifically, have another look at the death and taxes poster to see where US tax dollars are going this year and how their direction differs from last year. increase in department of defense yet a decrease in energy efficiency and renewables (even though bush promised otherwise in his last state of the union address).
also, here's a quote from keith cowing of NASAwatch.com:
“Right now, all of America’s human space flight programs cost around $7 billion a year. That’s pennies per person per day. In 2006, according to the USDA, Americans spent more than $154 billion on alcohol. We spend around $10 billion a month in Iraq. And so on.”
at this point, us earthlings have successfully blasted countless electronic explorers off into space, as well as placed many many satellites in orbit around our planet to help us with many technological endeavors that make our daily life a bit more "convenient." it's a pretty crazy reality to think about this accomplishment of ours. the arrival of phoenix to the surface of mars marks another huge accomplishment in our robotic exploration of our solar system, and the Universe at large. but are we ready... psychologically, economically, and politically to go that far ourselves?
i think there are clear benefits to space exploration, and i think the major problems us earthlings are facing is how we are treating each other, our children and our earth. those things should be evaluated, but not by putting on hold the one task that currently keeps us all together and reaching for the same goal.
by the way, NASA is also accepting astronaut applications until july 1st, 2008!
pictured above is astronaut karen nyberg on the recent discovery mission.
professional space travelers
english speakers call them astronauts, derived from a combination of the greek words for star, "astron," and sailor, "nautes." many languages use "astronaut" as the base of their word for space explorers with the exception of the countries who have sent, or who are considering sending, humans into space!Russians labelled them cosmonauts (kosmonavt, космонавт) by combining "cosmos" and "nautes." ive seen chinese space explorers refered to as Taikonauts, which might mean something related to the word "space" in mandarin, but i have no idea how to interpret what wikipedia says: "yǔhángyuán" (宇航员) or "hángtiānyuán" (航天员).... anyone?
the coolest new word that i've found for astronaut is a sanskrit-derived name, gaganaut! according to the professional pakau, "gagan" refers to the vast sky above us and more generally, to everything beyond the earth. i like the sound of this word, but i also like his comment that gaganauts sounds more like 10^9 nauts! any other clever names to distinguish professional space explorers from recreational soace explorers?
Monday, June 23, 2008
euro cup 2008 semi-final lineup
and so we have it...
SF1 (wed): turkey vs. germany
SF2 (thurs): russia vs. spain
i was half right on the semi-final match ups, but i still could get the right teams in the final! we'll see. i definitely think spain deserved to win today. italy finally showed the strength of their defense, but failed to attack consistently. maybe luca toni's mustache repelled the ball from coming to him, or maybe it was the missing play makers: pirlo and gattuso. my biggest hope is that this ref sits out the rest of the tournament!
i was glad to see germany step up in their QF match against portugal. i was pleased to see them score a fantastic goal that wasnt initiated from a set play. in the end, i think it was portugal's weak defense against germany's powerful set plays that cost them the game.
the croatia - turkey match started out sloppily, but they settled into a decent rhythm. unfortunate shoot outs for croatia, but what an unbelievable last few minutes of overtime play!
the netherlands started out slow against russia and played too conservatively to pose an offensive threat.
i'm still going for a spain against germany final.... but you never know what could happen in a given match in this sport!
SF1 (wed): turkey vs. germany
SF2 (thurs): russia vs. spain
i was half right on the semi-final match ups, but i still could get the right teams in the final! we'll see. i definitely think spain deserved to win today. italy finally showed the strength of their defense, but failed to attack consistently. maybe luca toni's mustache repelled the ball from coming to him, or maybe it was the missing play makers: pirlo and gattuso. my biggest hope is that this ref sits out the rest of the tournament!
i was glad to see germany step up in their QF match against portugal. i was pleased to see them score a fantastic goal that wasnt initiated from a set play. in the end, i think it was portugal's weak defense against germany's powerful set plays that cost them the game. the croatia - turkey match started out sloppily, but they settled into a decent rhythm. unfortunate shoot outs for croatia, but what an unbelievable last few minutes of overtime play!
the netherlands started out slow against russia and played too conservatively to pose an offensive threat.
i'm still going for a spain against germany final.... but you never know what could happen in a given match in this sport!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
ode to michael chang
i've kept journals pretty consistently all my life... well, since about the 3rd grade anyway. right now i'm going thru all my stuff, whittling down what i will take east (not much), what i will store while i'm gone (not much), and what i will give to my friends and goodwill (most of it). i found all the journals i've kept since i was 9 years old, and collected them all together in one place for the first time in a long while! i was just reading thru a random journal and (for some reason) wanted to share a passage that made me laugh so hard i cried. it succinctly sums up my state of being in 1994:
It's so strange how things work. Last year I was so pist when I got my knee surgery because I couldn't do anything, but now this is the best summer of my life. Lara said last year that if something bad happens, good things will come from it. Now I'm running varsity cross country, I went to see the U.S. soccer team play in the World Cup, I went to Korea for a month, and I sat next to Michael Chang in church this morning!!
i had almost forgotten about the michael chang encounter. that very afternoon he was playing against stefan edberg in the finals of the ATP tennis tournament not 15 miles away! i was excited for sooo long after that! and yes, i went to church for a couple years there... anyway, it feels great to simplify my belongings. "keep it light enough to travel," as the be good tanyas say. its strange to be in the graduate school denouement phase of my life. its exciting and nerveracking to prepare for the next portions of my professional and personal life.
you pass thru places and places pass thru you, but you carry them with you on the soles of your travelin shoes.
the littlest birds, by the be good tanyas:
happy first day of summer!
moving milky way
tom lowe has been producing some really great landscape timelapse videos lately! here's one of the milky way passing overhead at night. if you've never actually seen our galaxy, or known what to expect, here's a fantastic example!
"The One that Got Away"..... (Night Timelapse HD) from Tom Lowe on Vimeo.
"The One that Got Away"..... (Night Timelapse HD) from Tom Lowe on Vimeo.
carnival of space - #59
the lastest greatest carnival of space (#59) is up at green gabbro.
i thought it was cool to listen to the sounds of saturn, but the orbiting frog blog dares you to listen to the sounds of gravity!
this week i contributed a rundown of what's happening in the sky and a description of the big dipper.
enjoy!
i thought it was cool to listen to the sounds of saturn, but the orbiting frog blog dares you to listen to the sounds of gravity!
this week i contributed a rundown of what's happening in the sky and a description of the big dipper.
enjoy!
Friday, June 20, 2008
death and taxes
here is a very interesting visual of the US 2009 proposed budget... where are federal tax dollars going? this isnt the final version of the budget, but it's the proposed budget that will begin negotiations in october.
link to FULL SIZE poster!!
there is so much information here that it will take me a while to absorb and process, but it's an interesting thing for all united states citizens to look at.. in my opinion.
here's a video interview with the creator of the death and taxes poster:
link to FULL SIZE poster!!
there is so much information here that it will take me a while to absorb and process, but it's an interesting thing for all united states citizens to look at.. in my opinion.
here's a video interview with the creator of the death and taxes poster:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
shuttle launch from space
these photos are stunning!
there appears to be a bit of controversy as to to whether these images were captured from the international space station or from a high-altitude plane. i couldnt find the original source of the photos, but they're still fantastic regardless of where they were taken!
UPDATE: flyingsinger performed a cool simulation experiment which he has shared on his music of the spheres blog. now i'm pretty convinced these shots were not taken from the ISS!
there appears to be a bit of controversy as to to whether these images were captured from the international space station or from a high-altitude plane. i couldnt find the original source of the photos, but they're still fantastic regardless of where they were taken!
UPDATE: flyingsinger performed a cool simulation experiment which he has shared on his music of the spheres blog. now i'm pretty convinced these shots were not taken from the ISS!
euro cup quarterfinals
tomorrow welcomes the euro cup 2008 quarterfinals! the match-ups are:
QF1: portugal vs. germany
QF2: croatia vs. turkey
QF3: netherlands vs. russia
QF4: spain vs. italy
my predictions were pretty close, other than the lack of the czech republic and the inclusion of turkey.
italy managed to squeeze in to the next round. they've been creating scoring opportunities, but they need to finish (come on luca toni!). i also wasnt too impressed with their defense. spain and portugal both look good and i'm excited to see how long the netherlands can keep up their scoring spree!
i'm definitely excited about the germany vs. portugal match tomorrow! i'm still cheering for germany, although they definitely need to step up their game if they expect to beat portugal. i thought philipp lahm played brilliantly against austria and hope the rest of the team can feed off his play-making enthusiasm.
QF1: portugal vs. germany
QF2: croatia vs. turkey
QF3: netherlands vs. russia
QF4: spain vs. italy
my predictions were pretty close, other than the lack of the czech republic and the inclusion of turkey.
italy managed to squeeze in to the next round. they've been creating scoring opportunities, but they need to finish (come on luca toni!). i also wasnt too impressed with their defense. spain and portugal both look good and i'm excited to see how long the netherlands can keep up their scoring spree!
i'm definitely excited about the germany vs. portugal match tomorrow! i'm still cheering for germany, although they definitely need to step up their game if they expect to beat portugal. i thought philipp lahm played brilliantly against austria and hope the rest of the team can feed off his play-making enthusiasm.
planetary bubbles
creative review asked photographer jason tozer to test out the new sony alpha digital camera by shooting bubbles. as shown on the creative review blog, these bubbles look amazingly like planetary atmospheres!
this is the image i've seen most around the internets, and at first glance, i think it looks like an image of a hairless man from behind as he looks to the ground.
mechanical participation!
a couple weeks ago, i posted this animated simulation:
some enthusiastic and creative readers actually built this deceiving mechanism out of meccano!!
nice work, hardy and chris!! thanks for testing and sharing!!
some enthusiastic and creative readers actually built this deceiving mechanism out of meccano!!
nice work, hardy and chris!! thanks for testing and sharing!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
the skies of june 2008
TONIGHT, the nearly full moon and the bright star, antares line up.
WEDNESDAY, june 18th, reveals june's full moon!
THURSDAY night, june 19th, begins the ascent of the moon near jupiter. the two rise above the south-eastern horizon late in the evening with the very bright jupiter to the left of the moon. jupiter reaches opposition on july 9th (when the sun, earth and jupiter line up with earth in the middle), so it is very bright in our sky these days! this would be a great night for some late-night binocular or telescope viewing! try to find the 4 galilean moons of jupiter and guess which is which!
FRIDAY marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. this (early solstice) is the day the sun is as far north in the sky as it will get all year. those in the southern hemisphere celebrate their winter solstice as they begin to welcome longer days each day of the rest of the year!
SATURDAY, june 21st, is the first official day of summer in the north.... but it has been a brutually hot spring in this part of the world so i'm not really thrilled about the official hot season just beginning now!
SUNDAY night, look to the west just at sunset to see a beautiful trio of saturn, the star regulus, and the planet mars (upper left to lower right) with saturn being the brightest!
enjoy!
WEDNESDAY, june 18th, reveals june's full moon!
THURSDAY night, june 19th, begins the ascent of the moon near jupiter. the two rise above the south-eastern horizon late in the evening with the very bright jupiter to the left of the moon. jupiter reaches opposition on july 9th (when the sun, earth and jupiter line up with earth in the middle), so it is very bright in our sky these days! this would be a great night for some late-night binocular or telescope viewing! try to find the 4 galilean moons of jupiter and guess which is which!
FRIDAY marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. this (early solstice) is the day the sun is as far north in the sky as it will get all year. those in the southern hemisphere celebrate their winter solstice as they begin to welcome longer days each day of the rest of the year!
SATURDAY, june 21st, is the first official day of summer in the north.... but it has been a brutually hot spring in this part of the world so i'm not really thrilled about the official hot season just beginning now!
SUNDAY night, look to the west just at sunset to see a beautiful trio of saturn, the star regulus, and the planet mars (upper left to lower right) with saturn being the brightest!
enjoy!
Monday, June 16, 2008
jump!
my favorite capture from last weekend's boat party in austin. as always... thanks tom!
more pictures here.
ursa major
straight overhead during these summer months in the northern hemisphere, the constellation, ursa major, is visible throughout the entire night! ursa major is the constellation inside of which lives the popular asterism: the big dipper. an asterism is a subset of stars from one of the official 88 constellations that divide the entire sphere of our sky.
can you identify the big an little dippers in the night shot below??
the big dipper is easy to identify right now, even from inside cities. i can usually use the stars at the end of the pan to find polaris as well, but it takes a bit more patience and fewer city lights to spot all the stars of the little dipper.
here's a hint:
note that the orientation of the constellation changes throughout the night and throughout the year. right now in the sky over austin, the big dipper is oriented differently than shown in the image above. it appears upside down early in the evening and rotates counterclockwise around the north star throughout the night... from the top to the left position in the image below.
ursa major translates from latin as the "big bear." it's not obvious to me where the "big bear" imagery comes from when considering the pattern formed by stars that i familiarly identify as the big dipper.
the map below shows the outline of the constellation ursa major. all the stars withing the boundary are considered part of ursa major. the brightest stars that create the shape of the "big bear" are identified and connected with red lines.
here's one that highlights the stars that make up the big dipper.
i've been reading that in england, this asterism is called the "plough." is that correct? that'll be a good thing for me to know ;) some other names i've read about include the butcher's cleaver, the saucepan, and the great wagon, among others.
the stars in ursa major are not all at the same distance from us, ranging in distance from about 70 light-years to about 210 light-years away. since the stars move relative to each other in our sky, the big dipper will not always look as it does now. here's a short history of distorted big dippers from the past and future...
here's why:
enjoy the view of the dippers!
can you identify the big an little dippers in the night shot below??
the big dipper is easy to identify right now, even from inside cities. i can usually use the stars at the end of the pan to find polaris as well, but it takes a bit more patience and fewer city lights to spot all the stars of the little dipper.
here's a hint:
note that the orientation of the constellation changes throughout the night and throughout the year. right now in the sky over austin, the big dipper is oriented differently than shown in the image above. it appears upside down early in the evening and rotates counterclockwise around the north star throughout the night... from the top to the left position in the image below.
ursa major translates from latin as the "big bear." it's not obvious to me where the "big bear" imagery comes from when considering the pattern formed by stars that i familiarly identify as the big dipper.
the map below shows the outline of the constellation ursa major. all the stars withing the boundary are considered part of ursa major. the brightest stars that create the shape of the "big bear" are identified and connected with red lines.
here's one that highlights the stars that make up the big dipper.
i've been reading that in england, this asterism is called the "plough." is that correct? that'll be a good thing for me to know ;) some other names i've read about include the butcher's cleaver, the saucepan, and the great wagon, among others.
the stars in ursa major are not all at the same distance from us, ranging in distance from about 70 light-years to about 210 light-years away. since the stars move relative to each other in our sky, the big dipper will not always look as it does now. here's a short history of distorted big dippers from the past and future...
here's why:
enjoy the view of the dippers!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
blues that make you smile
the great ella fitzgerald guest starring on the dinah shore show... singing the blues!
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