Hot Astronomy Posts
News: Astronomical Observing News (12/21 to 12/27)
This week's AON is brief, but there's plenty to see. Without adieu, here's the news: Through March 2012—The Garradd comet shines in the sky! Here's how to observe it!
Budget Astronomy: Resources for Making Your Own Equipment
For newbies to astronomy, expensive equipment is an understandable deterrent. But with some thorough Google searching, you can find plenty of How-To's for making your own tools for less. Below are a few sites with several cool projects to offer.
News: Milky Way Over Abandoned Kilns
From Astronomy Picture of the Day, Milky Way Over Abandoned Kilns by Tom McEwan. McEwan shot some historic kilns in rural Nevada, stitching together a panoramic "digital conglomerate of five separate images taken in early June from the same location. Visible above the unusual kilns is a colorful star field, highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy appearing along a diagonal toward the lower right."
Solar Walk: Solar System iOS App with 3D TV Support
Explore the night sky on your iOS device, or better yet, in the third dimension on a 3D TV. More information here and here.
News: Astronomical Observing News (12/13 to 12/19)
This week's AON is pretty short, but there are also lots of clouds because it is winter. However, that just makes the few days of open sky way more valuable!
How To: Find and Observe the Garradd Comet
If you haven't seen one, a comet is one of the most spectacular astronomical objects in the sky, partially because it is so close to Earth. At the closest, it is only 1.3 a.u. (194,477,400 kilometers) away from Earth. Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd was discovered by Gordon J. Garradd on August 13, 2009. It never comes closer to the sun than Mars's orbit. Usually, a comet moves fast, but it has stopped moving so fast recently, making it really easy to observe. It can be observed by a telescope or wit...
News: My wife holding the Sun.
Taken at the top of Haleakala in Maui.
Earth's Shadow: Time-Lapse Video of the Total Lunar Eclipse of 12/10/11
I woke up at 4:00 am this morning in order to take some video of the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America till 2014. The eclipse was beautiful. It was amazing to watch the shadow of our planet creep slowly across our nearest neighbor. Once the shadow was blocking out most of the light from the sun, the moon was significantly dimmer and the color had changed to a reddish orange. This color is caused by the same effect that makes our sunrises and sunsets so colorful. The light fr...
News: Geminid Meteor Shower Starts Monday (12/12 to 12/16)
Since the Geminid Meteor shower is intensifying more every year, grab your binoculars and lay down in a field to enjoy the show! If you are going to observe one day, do it on the peak: December 14th.
News: Total Lunar Eclipse Early Morning Tomorrow (December 10th) in North America
The next total lunar eclipse won't occur until April 2014, so if you're interested in seeing the moon engulfed in a light orange to blood red hue, set your alarm and get out there before 9:05 a.m. EST (6:05 a.m. PST, 1405 GMT). I'm planning on taking some High Definition time lapse video of the darkening and reddening that will occur.
News: Astronomical Observing News (AON) Kickoff
Astronomy World will be posting a weekly blog post that informs fellow observers upcoming interesting events in the sky. These will include:
News: Proof of Water on Mars
Since the first time we've been to Mars, the question was 'Did there used to be life here?'. That all changed for the better when NASA told us that the Opportunity rover found signs of water- the essential part to life. NASA officials on Wednesday said the rover discovered a mineral vein of gypsum running along the rim of a crater called Endeavor. The gypsum was deposited by flowing water billions of years ago. The vein is about 20 inches long. They found it while studying a rock called Tisda...
News: Russell Crotty's Astronomical Paper Globes
When Cerek mentioned astronomy-inspired artwork in his Astronomy World introduction post, I immediately thought of Russell Crotty. Crotty is a California artist who creates beautiful sculptures and drawings inspired by astronomy, landscape, and surfing.
News: Welcome to Astronomy World!
A little about myself and astronomy: I created this world because I love astronomy. I really, really, love astronomy. When I was ten, I went to a restaurant and saw a huge wall mural of the Andromeda Galaxy. At my house, we had a tiny refractor telescope. I knew this wasn't enough, so I bought (with help) an 8 inch Dobsonian reflector. I looked up one time to try to find something to look at and saw something fuzzy- the Orion Nebula. This is when I really got into using my telescope. I still ...
News: DIY Papercraft Models of the Planets
I'll have to post up some pictures of astronomy-related papercraft models that I have made at some point, but for now here is a link to a few different papercraft models of the planets. I need to go back through my resources because I know there are a bunch of sites out there with some easier to make polyhedral models. Also, at some point I'll put up the models of planetary bodies that I have mapped and labeled myself.
News: Perfect Timing
Via Caras Ionut
Next Page
Prev Page