Astronomy presentations planned

Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2014 11:38 pm | Updated: 11:50 pm, Thu Sep 18, 2014.

Astronomy presentations planned By Leader-Telegram staff Leader-Telegram

Free public informational sessions on astronomy topics are the third Saturday of the month at Beaver Creek Reserves Hobbs Observatory.

Lauren Likkel will present Hot News in Astronomy at 8 p.m. Saturday.

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Astronomy presentations planned

Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2014 Opens

19 September 2014 | Art & Photography | By: M@

Earth and Space (and overall) winner) James Woodend (UK), with Aurora Over a Glacier Lagoon. A vivid green aurora is pictured above Icelands Vatnajokull National Park, reflected almost symmetrically in Jokulsarlon Glacier lagoon. A complete lack of wind and current combine in this sheltered scene to create an arresting mirror effect, giving the image a sensation of utter stillness. Despite this there is motion on a surprising scale, as the loops and arcs of the aurora are shaped by the shifting forces of the Earths magnetic field.

The annual prizes for best astronomy photography have been announced, and are now on display at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The show always attracts a broad range of images that appeal both to the eye and the mind. This years selection includes a stunning aurora-topped landscape (by overall winner James Woodend), a fresh look at the famous Horsehead Nebula, and the ripples in a pond of the suns surface. The best images, including our selection above, are on show at the Royal Observatory until 22 February. Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2014is free to visit, although other parts of the observatory require an entrance fee.

Tags: astronomy, featured, greenwich, Photography, royal observatory greenwich

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Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2014 Opens

Astronomy – Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (21 of 23) Earth’s Temperature 12,000 Years Later – Video


Astronomy - Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (21 of 23) Earth #39;s Temperature 12,000 Years Later
Visit http://ilectureonline.com for more math and science lectures! In this video I will explain how and why Earth #39;s temperature changes every 12000 years o...

By: Michel van Biezen

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Astronomy - Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (21 of 23) Earth's Temperature 12,000 Years Later - Video

William Paterson University Astronomy Professor Jason Kendall Explains Fireball – Video


William Paterson University Astronomy Professor Jason Kendall Explains Fireball
William Paterson University astronomy professor, Jason Kendall, explains a fireball that crossed the evening sky on September 14, 2014 to News 12 New Jersey reporter Douglas Clark.

By: William Paterson University

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William Paterson University Astronomy Professor Jason Kendall Explains Fireball - Video

University of Alabama astronomy group hosting viewing of nebulae and star clusters

Moundville Archaeological Park

Children climb on top of one of the mounds at Moundville Archaeological Park Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. (staff photo | Dusty Compton)

The public is invited for a free viewing of nebulae and star clusters from 8 to 10 p.m. Sept. 26 at Moundville Archaeological Park.

The viewing is being organized by the University of Alabamas astronomy group within the department of physics and astronomy.

The deep-sky observing sessions use portable computer-controlled telescopes.

The telescopes will be set up in the field across the road from the Moundville Archaeological Park museum.

Parking will be available at the museum and near the conference center overlooking the Black Warrior River.

The event will be hosted by Ron Buta and Bill Keel, professors of astronomy.

For more information, call 205-348-5050. People with large groups need to contact the office for accommodation.

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University of Alabama astronomy group hosting viewing of nebulae and star clusters

KU teacher: 'Mind-blowing' discovery invigorates interest in astronomy

Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas University assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics, Gregory Rudnick gives a lecture on Friday, May 3, 2013 in Malott Hall.

Kansas University associate professor Gregory Rudnick was glad when the recent discovery of a distant galaxy in the process of forming made the news.

The mind-blowing factor of such discoveries always helps invigorate the publics interest in astronomy, and thats a good thing, said Rudnick, who teaches physics and astronomy at KU.

In this case, astronomers for the first time caught a glimpse of the earliest stages of massive galaxy construction, NASA announced last month. NASA described the site, nicknamed "Sparky," as a dense galactic core blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars that are forming at a ferocious rate.

Now for the mind-blowing part.

Sparky is so far away from us that light from it takes 11 billion years to reach the Earth talk about distant.

By comparison, light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach us, and it is 93 million miles away from Earth, Rudnick said.

When the light left this galaxy, the sun was not even born yet, Rudnick said. Its crazy-far away.

Rudnick said he was on a team of scientists that helped discover similar galaxies that appeared to have already finished forming, which they documented in a 2013 paper. But he said information like how the objects looked before forming and exactly how far away they were was still a mystery.

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KU teacher: 'Mind-blowing' discovery invigorates interest in astronomy

Star viewing event Oct. 4 at Thunderbird Conservation park

Photo by Susan Trask

Mike Collins of the Saguaro Astronomy Club sets up telescopes for the public to use for star viewing.

Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 1:27 pm

Star viewing event Oct. 4 at Thunderbird Conservation park

Enjoy a night under the stars at the 37th Saguaro Astronomy Club Annual Fall Public Star Party, 6 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Thunderbird Conservation Park, 67th Avenue and Patrick Lane. Sunset will take place at approximately 6:09 p.m.

Weather permitting, this free, family-friendly event will be sponsored by the Glendale Parks and Recreation Department and hosted by the Saguaro Astronomy Club. Large and small telescopes will be set up and available for public viewing of the moon, planets, stars, galaxies, and other deep sky wonders. Club volunteers will be glad to answer questions about the heavens and astronomy in general.

For more information, visit the Saguaro Astronomy Club website at http://saguaroastro.org. For more information on Thunderbird Conservation Park, visit http://www.glendaleaz.com/parksandrecreation.

Posted in Entertainment on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 1:27 pm.

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Star viewing event Oct. 4 at Thunderbird Conservation park

Ideas for Citizen Science in Astronomy

Philip J. Marshall, Chris J. Lintott, Leigh N. Fletcher

(Submitted on 15 Sep 2014)

We review the relatively new, internet-enabled, and rapidly-evolving field of citizen science, focusing on research projects in stellar, extragalactic and solar system astronomy that have benefited from the participation of members of the public, often in large numbers. We find these volunteers making contributions to astronomy in a variety of ways: making and analyzing new observations, visually classifying features in images and light curves, exploring models constrained by astronomical datasets, and initiating new scientific enquiries. The most productive citizen astronomy projects involve close collaboration between the professionals and amateurs involved, and occupy scientific niches not easily filled by great observatories or machine learning methods: citizen astronomers are most strongly motivated by being of service to science. In the coming years we expect participation and productivity in citizen astronomy to increase, as survey datasets get larger and citizen science platforms become more efficient. Opportunities include engaging the public in ever more advanced analyses, and facilitating citizen-led enquiry by designing professional user interfaces and analysis tools with citizens in mind.

Comments:

In progress. The most up to date PDF file should be downloaded from this http URL . We invite feedback via github issues at this http URL, and aim to submit to ARAA on September 26

Subjects:

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)

Cite as:

arXiv:1409.4291 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:1409.4291v1 [astro-ph.IM] for this version)

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Ideas for Citizen Science in Astronomy

Astronomy Detectives Reveal Origin of Monet's 'Impression' Painting

Astronomical clues could pinpoint the day Claude Monet painted "Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise)," the art piece that lent its name to the Impressionist art movement.

Based on the celestial detective work of Donald Olson, a Texas State University astronomer and physics professor, curators think they've identified the moment that Monet attempted to capture from his hotel room in the city of Le Havre, France: Nov. 13, 1872, 7:35 a.m.

Monet is celebrated today for his attention to the fleeting quality of light and color at a specific time and place. But there has been some confusion about what moment exactly Monet was trying to depict when he painted the vibrant orange sun and muted, misty gray sky of "Impression, Soleil Levant." Some even art historians have even contended that the painting depicts a sunset, not a sunrise. [Monet's 'Impression' and Astronomy History (Images)]

Olson has a history of using astronomy to settle such historical minutiae. He corroborated Mary Shelley's account of the moonlight streaming into her window when she awoke from the nightmare that inspired her to write "Frankenstein." In another study in 2010, Olson linked the "strange huge meteor-procession" referenced in American poet Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" to a rare procession ofearth-grazing meteorsthat streaked along the horizon in 1860. He has also calculated the direction of the moonlight on important moments in American history to explain why Paul Revere wasn't spotted by British sentries on a nearby ship in 1775 and why Confederate general "Stonewall" Jacksonwas mistaken for the enemy when he was shot by his own troops in 1863.

Olson's latest findings are described in catalog for "Monet's Impression Sunrise: The Biography of a Painting," an exhibition on display at the Muse Marmottan Monet in Paris from Sept. 18, 2014 to Jan. 18, 2015.

To settle the case, Olson first turned to historic photographs of Le Havre to reconstruct the southeast view Monet must have had from his hotel room. The sun in Monet's painting appears as it would have roughly 20 to 30 minutes after sunrise, Olson found. He then calculated when this time would have corresponded with high tide, the only time large sailing ships could have entered the shallow harbor. He was left with 19 possible dates.

To narrow his options further, Olson looked at historical weather reports and ruled out stormy days. The curve of the smoke plumes on the left side of the painting hint that the wind was blowing east, leaving Olson with just two options: Nov. 13, 1872 and Jan. 25, 1873. Art historian Graldine Lefebvre argued in the exhibition catalog for an 1872 creation date, matching the "72" painted next to Monet'ssignature on the canvas that was sometimes dismissed by curators who favored an 1873 date.

"It is pretty clear that Monet started from observations from his hotel window during this visit to Le Havre, but then he showed his artistic genius by expressing emotional content that goes beyond literal depictions," Olson explained in a statementfromTexas State University. "Knowing the details of the harbor scene in this painting only increases our admiration of the artists skill in depicting this sunrise."

Follow Megan Gannon onTwitterandGoogle+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, FacebookorGoogle+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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Astronomy Detectives Reveal Origin of Monet's 'Impression' Painting

Russian Bombers Continue Probing U.S. Defenses

Russias recent Cold War-styled probing of North Atlantic defense zones along a path that could potentially offer its cruise missile-carrying Tu-95 bombers firing solutions in an actual nuclear war, is more political theatre than military threat, says a prominent national security expert.

Tom Nichols, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College told Forbes that an early September incident in which two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked across the North Atlantic near Iceland, Greenland, and northeastern Canada was a training exercise deliberately designed to test West European and U.S. defenses.

They think theyre communicating messages of strength and resolve by conducting nuclear war exercises, said Nichols. If youre going to train to fly 6000 miles to drop a cruise missile you need to fly 6000 miles to practice, especially if you want to familiarize yourself with the various countries reactions along the route.

A Soviet Tu-95 Bear H aircraft being escorted by a Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighter in 1987. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering these flights or is it the Russian military?

Theres no way that these flights would get anywhere near the U.S. without [Putin] knowing about it, said Nichols.

This follows an account in the Washington Free Beacon that detailed similar Russian bomber flights this spring in which four Tu-95s and two IL-78 aerial refueling tankers, made incursions into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and were met by two F-22 fighters before the Russians appeared to turn back.

A few hours later, however, the two Russian bombers reappeared 50 miles off the northern California coast and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) again scrambled aircraft, this time two F-15s to make visual contact.

The [bombers] were in the ADIZ, but at no time did they enter our sovereign airspace, Maj. Beth Smith, spokesperson for NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command told Forbes. We do consider this as a spike in activity, but we do assess the [Russian flights] as exercise related.

Nichols is quick to point out however that in the event of an all out Russian nuclear attack, submarine launched missiles would get here in minutes and Russian land-based missiles in half an hour. By the time their bombers got here, Nichols says World War III would already be over.

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Russian Bombers Continue Probing U.S. Defenses

Visually impaired kids can learn astronomy

It has been noted that visually impaired students fail to understand geography chapters based on astronomy in schools.

So Dr Kalpana Kharade, associate professor and Hema Peese, assistant professor of KJ Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education Training and Research (KJSCCETR) researched on teaching astronomy to these kids with the help of Technology Based Inquiry Learning. Soon they would conduct workshops in schools for visually impaired students.

The cost of research was Rs5 lakh and was funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. During the research, the professors discovered that children in class VI, are unaware of basic facts. They are fed on bookish knowledge instead of anybody explaining it to them.

Astronomy has remained inaccessible for these learners due to its abstract nature and focus on visual representations.

During their research, they carried a six week programme with class VI students. The programme included topics such as 'solar system and the galaxy', 'motion of earth and its types', 'occurrence of day and night' and 'reasons for the seasons'. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in the understanding level of the students.

Kalpana said, "In the research, we found out that special schools are using text books made available in Braille. However, these books lack in appropriate graphical presentations and the content and vocabulary used is not helpful for visually impaired students. To solve this problem, we carried a thorough content research on the subject; identified the complex areas and provided textual supports by creating new learning material. We used the latest technology to introduce the graphics in tactile form. Teachers training colleges should train regular, B.Ed and D.Ed students, in such methodology, so that they can cater to the needs of differently abled students in regular classrooms."

Peese, said, "The astronomy content has a lot of visual elements, presented with language meant for sighted people. Similarly, the description of many phenomena like equinox positions and solstice positions, etc, was also difficult to understand for these students."

The professors also made these resources available in Braille with tactile diagrams and in DAISY (digitally accessible information system). They developed a short movie on solar system with audio description. The children found these learning experiences fun and exciting.

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Visually impaired kids can learn astronomy

The Most Exciting 365 days Ever in Astronomy starts now. Ceres Pluto Mars & more! – Video


The Most Exciting 365 days Ever in Astronomy starts now. Ceres Pluto Mars more!
https://www.youtube.com/THORnews October 2014 through October 2015 should turn out to be the most exciting year in Known Astronomy EVER! Siding Spring at Mars, New Horizon at Pluto and an unnamed...

By: thornews

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The Most Exciting 365 days Ever in Astronomy starts now. Ceres Pluto Mars & more! - Video