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Astronomy Forecast – Asteroids, Fireballs, Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower, and Hubbles Hidden treasures – Video

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Astronomy Forecast - Asteroids, Fireballs, Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower, and Hubbles Hidden treasures
May 3, 2014 2014 HL129 0.0020 AU 0.8 LD 5.7 - 13m Close Approach 8:14 a.m. 1997 YM9 0.1848 AU 71.9 LD 42-94m Close Approach 8:03 p.m. 2014 GY48 0.1171 AU...

By: Sarah Hockensmith

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Astronomy Forecast - Asteroids, Fireballs, Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower, and Hubbles Hidden treasures - Video

BACKYARD ASTRONOMY: Saturn takes center stage

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This is the view looking south about 11:30p.m. on May 10. Saturn will appear at about the same position among the stars of Libra every night throughout the month of May. Mars is still large and bright and the bright asteroid Vesta can be seen in binoculars.

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The Earth zips around the sun 29 times in the time it takes Saturn to make one trip. That means that Saturn, moving so slowly in its orbit, seems to reside in the same constellation for a very long time. It spends all of 2014 in Libra. Once each year, Earth moves between the sun and Saturn and we see it directly opposite the sun. As the sun sets in the west, Saturn will be rising in the east. That opposition occurs on May 10 this year. Around that time, Saturn will reach its greatest brightness for the year and be in our sky all night. It will appear just a bit brighter than the bright stars Spica and Antares and to the naked eye will appear like a beautifulgoldenstar.

It is in the telescope, however, that Saturn becomes a truly spectacular sight. Its magnificent ring system makes Saturn the jewel of the solar system. This month the planets ring plane is tilted down about 22 degrees from our vantage point so we see the north face of the rings. Scientists are still unsure of exactly how the rings formed. It is tempting to think of the rings as a solid structure or a concentric series of ringlets but they are comprised mostly of ice particles, billions of them, that range in size from dust motes to boulders. Even a small telescope will detect the rings, and bigger telescopes reveal a number of the larger gaps intherings.

The planet itself is pretty too, its cloud bands are reminiscent of a subtly colored Easter egg. And there are moons galore. Saturn has 62 moons and eight of them are visible in backyard telescopes. Dont miss it. If you dont have your own telescope, be sure to come to the Patterson Observatory public night on June 5 and ask toseeit.

There is a strong possibility that we will witness a new meteor shower overnight on May 23 to May 24th. Earth will pass through the stream of debris left by an unusually close passage of a tiny periodic comet called 209P/LINEAR. It is always difficult to accurately predict these things, but this could be a very dramatic event. Most likely we will see a good display, similar to the peak of the typical Perseid meteor shower, but there is at least a small chance of a meteor storm. Youve nothing to lose but a bit of sleep and all you need is a comfortable chair and a wide expanse of sky to observe the shower. The peak should occur around midnight MST but you should be watching by 11 PM on the 23rd and give it at least until 2 AM on the 24th.Goodluck!

Saturday, May 10 is Astronomy Day, an annual worldwide event specifically designed to bring astronomy to the public. The Huachuca Astronomy Club will be outside of the Sierra Vista Public Library from about 10 a.m. until late afternoon (weather permitting). There will be variety of properly filtered telescopes aimed at the sun and a host of amateur astronomers to answer your questions about astronomy. The moon will be visible in the afternoon sky and we might just catch a daytime glimpse of a planet or two. Have you ever seen Jupiter in the daytime? You can walk a scale model of the solar system that will be set up along Tacoma Street. Youll be surprised at just how empty our suns neighborhood is. Walk all the way to Pluto and youll learn just how far away the next closest star would be. That will probably surprise you too. There will be some free stuff handed out, plenty of stickers and temporary tattoos for the youngsters and just maybe a few surprises. Its all free, its family friendly, educational ,and fun. I hope to seeyouthere.

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BACKYARD ASTRONOMY: Saturn takes center stage

Flint Children's Museum launches new exhibit on space and astronomy

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FLINT, MI -- The Flint Children's Museum has launched a new, interactive space and astronomy exhibit, "Defying Gravity."

Children will be introduced to the properties of gravitational pull inside the Solar System, experiment with gravitational force inside a zero-gravity vortex, and learn about the energy of stars. Children can shoot their own stars inside the exhibit, explore the surface of Mars using robotic arms and design their own extraterrestrial being. The exhibit also features a reproduction of the International Space Station where children can experience life as an astronaut and test their "space senses," according to a release from the museum.

"Kids are going to have a blast in the exhibit" said Executive Director Sue Nederlander in a prepared statement. "Hands-on learning is minds-on learning at the Flint Children's Museum. Introducing young children to the science of outer space is the first step toward understanding that they are part of it."

Additional educational programs will include zero-gravity experiments, "Starry Night" watercolor painting, and a moon match game.

For more information contact the Flint Children's Museum at 810-767-KIDS or at http://www.flintchildrensmuseum.org.

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Flint Children's Museum launches new exhibit on space and astronomy

Yerkes Observatory Educators Prepare to Fly with Airborne Infrared Telescope

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Newswise A project at the University of Chicagos Yerkes Observatory, which enables the visually impaired to almost literally touch the stars, will take flight May 5 and 7 aboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

Taking flight for the project is Vivian Hoette, director of education and outreach for Yerkes, and Ryan Lau, an astronomy graduate student at Cornell University who is using the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) to capture images of the cosmos in infrared. Hoette and Lau will collaborate to create tactile graphics of Laus scientific results, making it possible for youth who are blind or visually impaired to compare the properties of massive, dust-enshrouded stars at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

You take an astronomical image, make an inverse gray image, black-on-white background, adjust the contrast so that you can see the object of interest, then create a Braille label as well as a text label, Hoette said of the process. Katherine Watson, a Yerkes journalism intern who is blind, will check the images for tactile clarity and check the Braille for accuracy. Watson will edit Laus descriptions to ensure that someone can explore the image through touch rather than sight.

Also flying aboard SOFIA on May 5 and 7 as Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors will be Marcella Linahan, a science teacher at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Ill., and Lynne Zielinski, of Long Grove, Ill., who is a Stars at Yerkes educator. Stars at Yerkes is a professional learning community organized by teachers associated with education and outreach at the observatory.

The ambassadors program brings teams of teachers aboard SOFIA to conduct research, implement classroom lessons based on their experiences and complete a plan to educate the general public.

Zielinski and Linahan applied to the SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program as a team intending to accomplish these goals: to help middle-school teachers to understand astronomy and teach it to their students, and to encourage girls to become interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

There are a plethora of options available in STEM to be excited about, Linahan said. She plans to bring back data gathered herself to show students. She also wants to help students understand what it takes to get SOFIA and other scientific investigations off the ground.

This is the worlds only flying observatory, said Zielinski, an active educator at Yerkes and retired physics and astronomy teacher at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Ill. We will be with the astronomers in the control room operating this amazing telescope. We want to learn as much about that process as possible.

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Yerkes Observatory Educators Prepare to Fly with Airborne Infrared Telescope

See the stars in Barrington this Saturday

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The Barrington recreation department and The Astronomical Society of Southern New England (ASSNE) are co-hosting Astronomy Day this Saturday, May 3, weather permitting.

From 1:30 to 6 p.m., about a dozen telescopes specially filtered to allow views of the Sun will be set up on the Barrington Town Hall lawn, on County Road. Children accompanied by their parents are welcome to look at sunspots if they appear, and through specialized Hydrogen-Alpha light telescopes to see solar flares and prominences that can extend half a million miles into space. The Moon, with its amazing craters, mountains and lava basins, will be visible throughout the afternoon and well into the evening.

At about 7:30 p.m. as night falls, more than twenty large telescopes will permit public viewing; Mercury may be visible just after sunset in the western sky. Jupiter and its moons will be visible from the main Town Hall lawn, along with many star clusters and nebulae.

Barringtons Astronomy Day has grown in recent years and is probably Rhode Islands largest ongoing astronomy event. Previous Astronomy Days drew more than 200 daytime visitors and over 1,000 at night.

This is a weather-dependent event and there is no rain date. If it is partly cloudy the event will go on, but if it is overcast, or raining, it will not. Visit assne.org to see if the event has been cancelled. A cancellation notice should appear shortly after noon.

WHERE:Barrington Town Hall lawn, 283 County Road, Barrington WHEN: Saturday, May 3; 1:30 to 9:30 p.m. COST: Free MORE INFO: assne.org

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See the stars in Barrington this Saturday

The Need for Astronomy: Teaching Science in Tanzania (Op-Ed)

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Mponda Malozo, an amateur astronomer, works with the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture as an environmental and agriculture expert, is coordinator for Universe Awareness-Tanzania, and is the Tanzania coordinator of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), and the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP) and Star Peace in Tanzania. Chuck and Susan Ruehle are trained teachers, retired Lutheran pastors, and thefounders of AWB's Telescopes to Tanzania. The authors are collaborating with a Tanzanian non-governmental organization in the development of a Center for Science Education and Observatory. The authors contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Four years ago, Chuck and Susan Ruehle went on a mission trip to Tanzania to visit schools, hospitals, orphanages, clinics and churches. Everyone in the eight-member delegation talked about what they were going to take for the schools they were going to visit, and being visual astronomers in Racine, Wisc., the Ruehles took three small telescopes . They shared a few simple supplies for teaching science and for observing the night sky with schools and communities and people were very interested and committed to using those tools.

Through Astronomers without Borders, the Ruehles were introduced to Mponda Malozo, and together they planned a two-week teacher training event using astronomy as a vehicle for teaching science, math and geography. In a teacher training session, one teacher stated: "It sounds like you are saying that the sun is a star." It was that single comment followed by myriad more that committed the Ruehles to working with teachers to build a better understanding of the universe.

From that two week experience, the vision for the Center for Science Education and Observatory for northeast Tanzania was born.

Now, that center is poised to become a reality. The center demonstrates how classroom-taught theories can be transformed into student-motivated explorations of science questions. Astronomy will become the center's tool to explain the underlying principles of science, math and engineering disciplines.

In June 2014, a specially selected group of teachers, scientists and education officers will gather near Arusha, Northern Tanzania, to develop an astro-science model for the nation and as a model to be shared throughout Africa. As for the facility itself, the center has been using a donated office facility with space for workshops and secure storage for science materials but teachers and students are waiting for the center's centerpiece, a 12-inch Cave Cassegrain telescope being refurbished and readied for transport from the United States.

Below are our personal thoughts about the effort, and if you wish to support the project, you can learn more on our donation site.

Mponda Malozo

Living in a land where the majority of people are trying to attain the basic needs of life, changing the archaic lecture-based education system is perceived as prestigious and too expensive.

Looking at the history of Tanzania, very few people have managed to surface and give back to society. Even teachers, who are paid very small salaries, must devote precious preparation and learning time to bringing additional resources for their families' incomes.

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The Need for Astronomy: Teaching Science in Tanzania (Op-Ed)

Canada's MOST astronomy mission comes to an end – Suitcase -sized space telescope wraps up observing after more than a …

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April 30, 2014 Longueuil, Quebec Canadian Space Agency

After more than ten years of studying the Universe, the Canadian Microvariability and Oscillation of STars (MOST) mission will come to an end on September 9, 2014, having exceeded its objectives. Since its launch in 2003, MOST has produced over one hundred science publications and provided astronomers with new insights into the behaviour of stars. Originally planned as a one-year project, MOST was extended annually due to the telescopes continued successes. The suitcase-sized telescope will leave a prolific legacy of data for astronomers to analyze.

In the fall of 2013, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) conducted a mission extension review in cooperation with members of Canadas astronomy community. The evaluation weighed the missions ongoing operational costs against its objectives and new alternatives to obtain similar data. The review led to the recommendation that the mission be terminated, considering that MOST had already surpassed its objectives.

MOST has helped a new generation of astronomers and space engineers advance their studies and research. Under the leadership of its Principal Investigator, Dr Jaymie Matthews of the University of British Columbia, the MOST science team currently includes members from: the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, Universit de Montral, St-Marys University, the University of Vienna, Harvard University and NASAs Ames Research Center.

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Thanks to the Canadian Microvariability and Oscillation of STars telescope, Canadian astronomers have produced a decades worth of astounding discoveries and Canadas space industry gained essential expertise. As MOST prepares for its retirement, I offer my congratulations to the talented team of astronomers and engineers on this Canadian science and technology success story.

- General (Retired) Walter Natynczyk, CSA President

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Canada's MOST astronomy mission comes to an end - Suitcase -sized space telescope wraps up observing after more than a ...

Two Southern Oregonians Fly High For NASA

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OPB | May 1, 2014 3:15 p.m. | Updated: May 1, 2014 4:23 p.m.

Two Southern Oregon residents are flying with NASA through western skies this week to gather data on the deep corners of theuniverse.

This modified Boeing 747SP jetliner uses a 3.5 meter infrared telescope to gather information about theuniverse.

NASA

Robert Black is the astronomy teacher and planetarium director at North Medford High School. He is joined by his friend, and amateur astronomer, DaveBloomsness.

The pair was chosen along with other educators and scientists to fly aboard the NASA craft called SOFIA the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

On two flights at about 45,000 feet above sea level, infrared images will be captured at night to help shed light on black holes and the formation and destruction of stars. The first flight was Wednesday night with the second scheduled to depart from Palmdale, California, onThursday

Robert Black said hell never forget what he saw on the first flight. Looking through this really dense, cloudy, dusty region of space and watching a protostar which means the beginning life of a star appear out of this cloud ofdust.

Infrared images captured by NASA's SOFIAaircraft.

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Two Southern Oregonians Fly High For NASA

ALMA and the Cosmos – Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed – Video

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ALMA and the Cosmos - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed
The Richest Planetary System and Constructing ALMA - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed Segment 1: Richest planetary system discovered [5:28] Astronomers using ESO instrumen...

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ALMA and the Cosmos - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed - Video


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