tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121459872009-07-06T06:50:17.430ZThis Blog (web log) will keep you all updated on various newsworthy astronomy and space related items. Here I will post new articles I have written, any new content I have added to my site, or anything else of interest to amateur astronomers. Feel free to submit articles to the website.gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1162382611355936832006-11-01T12:03:00.000Z2006-11-01T12:03:48.486Z

The Night Sky Observer has teamed up with Clickbank and now offers LunarPhase Pro through Clickbank, one of the premier digital download networks in the world. Because of Clickbank's low administration fees, affiliate can now earn a 50% (up from 40%) commission (approx. $18) on sales of the digital download version of LunarPhase Pro. Becoming an affiliate is free. All the information you need to

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1158800646110854932006-09-21T01:03:00.000Z2006-09-21T01:04:22.266Z

Night Sky Observer has teamed up with Clickbank to also offer LunarPhase Pro through them. Clickbank is one of the premier digital download networks in the world. Because of their low administration fees, LunarPhase Pro affiliates can earn a 40% commission on sales of the digital download version of the software. Becoming an affiliate is free and you don't even need to have bought LunarPhase Pro.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1155865473211427482006-08-18T01:43:00.000Z2006-08-18T01:44:33.666Z

An explosion on the sun on Aug. 16 hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. The approaching cloud could spark a geomagnetic storm when it arrives, probably on August 18th. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras.If a storm erupts, the best displays will be at higher latitudes: e.g., Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia. However, auroras could descend to lower latitudes, too, spreading

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1154096825138306572006-07-28T14:24:00.000Z2006-07-28T14:28:52.170Z

Numerous well-defined dark patches resembling lakes are present in radar images of Titan's high latitudes. At Titan's frigid temperatures, about minus 180 degrees Celsius, the liquids in the lakes are most likely methane or a combination of methane and ethane."This is a big deal," said Steve Wall, deputy radar team leader at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We've now seen a

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153873571072080582006-07-26T00:25:00.000Z2006-07-26T00:26:11.140Z

Radar sweeps of Saturn's moon Titan, completed just a few days ago by the Cassini spacecraft, have revealed something extraordinary: fluid-filled lakes. Researchers believe the fluid is not water, but liquid methane, a flammable hydrocarbon. See the radar images at http://spaceweather.com .

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153873494873019022006-07-26T00:24:00.000Z2006-07-26T00:24:55.473Z

This week, Earth is passing through a meteoroid stream from -- where? Its source is unknown. Every year in late July, the mystery stream produces a mild but pretty meteor shower, the Southern Delta Aquarids. The best time to look is Friday morning, July 28th. These meteors tend to be faint, so dark country skies are recommended.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153510229903489452006-07-21T19:29:00.000Z2006-07-21T19:30:32.043Z

Yesterday (July 19th) on the sun, a magnetic filament snapped. The resulting explosion hurled a CME into space and sent beautiful waves of energy surging through the sun's atmosphere. Although the CME is not heading directly for Earth, the outskirts of the cloud might brush against Earth's magnetic field on July 23rd, causing a mild geomagnetic storm.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153404154719014132006-07-20T13:58:00.000Z2006-07-20T14:09:58.883Z

Binoculars.com have some great deals on astronomy binoculars at the moment with discounts ranging from 20%-45%. Of particluar note is the Nikon 20x120 Bino-Telescope which has a 45% discount.Other highly discounted models are:Nikon 18x70 Astroluxe XLNikon 7x50 Prostar SPNikon 10x70 AstroluxeOberwerk 20x80 LightweightOther lower discounted models (20% discount) are also available. Might be a good

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153354725916475082006-07-20T00:17:00.000Z2006-07-20T00:18:46.356Z

The fourth installment of Science@NASA's Apollo Chronicles explains why Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin couldn't fall asleep 37 years ago in the Sea of Tranquillity.Full story here

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153316493643929012006-07-19T13:39:00.000Z2006-07-19T13:41:33.810Z

Version 3 of the LunarPhase Pro Moon Observer`s Software toolkit has been released. New functions have been added, including the ability to see lunar features from overhead, an inbuilt news screen that lists all the latest news stories about the moon along with moon-related podcasts and facilities to download hundreds of highly detailed Moon charts that can be panned zoomed and printed out.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153316089230389452006-07-19T13:34:00.000Z2006-07-19T13:37:39.103Z

The two biggest storms on Jupiter have been converging for months, and this week they're at closest approach. So far, Red Junior and the Great Red Spot are surviving the encounter with little disruption or weakening of either storm system.See the latest images at http://spaceweather.com

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1153315840666458732006-07-19T13:29:00.000Z2006-07-19T13:30:41.060Z

An inflatable satellite? Believe it. Genesis I, launched last week by Russia for a private aerospace firm, blew up like a balloon when it reached Earth orbit on July 12th. The mission tests an unorthodox idea, that inflatable modules might be used to build future space stations. So far so good. Although it's not the brightest object in the night sky, Genesis I can be seen making regular

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1144096879420636892006-04-03T20:39:00.000Z2006-04-03T20:42:59.336Z

Solar activity is suddenly increasing. The biggest sunspots of the year are crossing the solar disk; one group is longer than 10 Earth diameters and poses a threat for solar flares. Meanwhile, astronomers are monitoring a large and delightfully complex prominence dancing long the sun's limb. Whether all this will translate into magnetic storms and auroras remains to be seen. Visit http://

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1141131873180087062006-02-28T13:04:00.000Z2006-02-28T13:04:33.493Z

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of two new moons around the distant planet Pluto. The moons were first discovered by Hubble in May 2005, but the Pluto Companion Search team probed even deeper into the Pluto system with Hubble on Feb. 15 to look for additional satellites and to characterize the orbits of the moons. In the image, Pluto is in the center

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1140976368151611652006-02-26T17:51:00.000Z2006-02-26T17:52:48.643Z

The V2.51 upgrade for LunarPhase Pro is now available.There's a new screen called "Apogee/Perigee Phase Correlation" whichshows when the major phases (full, new, first & last quarters) occurnear Perigee or Apogee. The screen's available from the "Reports" menu.I've also upgraded the Eclipse Circumstances screen so that it nowshows the entry and exit positions of the Moon in relation to theUmbral

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1140878073905965142006-02-25T14:29:00.000Z2006-07-19T13:36:06.096Z

A new comet is emerging in the morning sky. Comet Pojmanski has been brightening since its discovery in January and can now be found just east of Venus before sunrise. The best way to see the comet is through binoculars or a small telescope: It looks like a fuzzy 5th-magnitude star with a small tail.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1139871214772321272006-02-13T22:52:00.000Z2006-02-13T22:53:35.233Z

It seems that Sky Publishing Corporation, the privately held publisher of Sky & Telescope and astronomy books, announced today that it has completed the sale of its business to New Track Media LLC, an entity formed in the fall of 2005 by Stephen J. Kent and Boston Ventures. The full story is here

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1138794798185609252006-02-01T11:50:00.000Z2006-02-01T11:54:22.563Z

A forum has been added to the Night Sky Observer website where folks can do the usual BBS thing.Since the forum is brand new, there's no threads in it yet - so get posting!The forum cam be reached at:http://forum.nightskyobserver.com

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1138647653617405542006-01-30T18:56:00.000Z2006-01-30T19:02:36.356Z

Part 3: Issues Facing Type Ia Supernova CosmologyThe final installment of a series reporting on the Supernova Workshop sponsored by SNAP, the SuperNova/Acceleration Probe collaboration, to investigate the best ways to study dark energy with exploding stars.Supernova cosmology was founded on measurements of distant Type Ia supernovae, and high-z searches for distant supernovae have continued to

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1138323814780884962006-01-27T01:01:00.000Z2006-01-27T01:03:35.343Z

On Friday, Jan. 27th, Saturn will be at its closest to Earth for all of 2006. Even a small telescope will show the planet's exquisite rings. Look for Saturn rising in the east at sunset (it looks like a bright yellow star) and soaring overhead at midnight. Bad weather on Friday? Don't worry. Saturn will remain close to Earth for weeks to come. You'll have many more chances to see the ringed

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1138036842285062242006-01-23T17:18:00.000Z2006-01-23T17:20:42.470Z

NASA will honor former astronaut Michael Collins for his involvement in the U.S. space program with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum Space Hall, One Davis Ave., Garden City, N.Y.NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the 38 astronauts who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1138036673528584462006-01-23T17:12:00.000Z2006-01-23T17:17:54.430Z

NASA will honor former astronaut Edgar Mitchell for his involvement in the Apollo space program with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award at 4 p.m. EST, Sunday, Feb. 5 at the South Florida Science Museum, 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, Fla.NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the 38 astronauts who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1137806218962352992006-01-21T01:14:00.000Z2006-01-21T01:16:59.356Z

I've moved the NASA TV streamed video feed from the front page to its own page. There are other links on this page that let you get the feed in either RealPlayer or Windows Media.

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1137601491245395212006-01-18T16:19:00.000Z2006-01-18T16:26:40.223Z

V2.45 of LunarPhase Pro has just been released. Full details of the software can be found here.LunarPhase Pro (for Win 98/Me/NT/2000/XP) is a software toolkit for anyone who's interested in the moon. By using the integrated tools and the general lunar data presented on screen, you'll be able to easily see when and where the moon is, its phase for any date, when it's above the horizon and plan for

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12145987.post-1137601016916737372006-01-18T16:16:00.000Z2006-01-18T16:19:01.206Z

When it comes to finding asteroids or comets that swing too close to home, the Catalina Sky Survey is currently Earth's best defense.The Catalina Sky Survey discovered more near-Earth objects (NEOs) than any other sky survey in 2005. That includes more NEOs larger than a kilometer in diameter, as well as more smaller objects that potentially threaten Earth.CSS astronomers discovered 310 NEOs, or

gnugenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12535642817658202701noreply@blogger.com0