LIGHT POLLUTION CITIZEN SCIENTIST PROJECT

Hey Space Placers!

Credit: ESA

Want to help with the efforts to reduce light pollution around the planet?

Well, you are in luck.

Check this link for more information on how you can help using pictures of the Earth at night from the International Space Station.

I hope you will help out.....

Sky Guy in VA

NASA PREVIEWS SKY EVENTS FOR NEXT 30 DAYS

Hey Space Placers!

Enjoy this roundup of upcoming sky events for the next month courtesy of NASA.

Get out and enjoy the Full Moon and the planets!

Sky Guy Greg

LEARN ABOUT ASTEROIDS

Hey Space Placers!

Tune in to learn about asteroids in this podcast.

Sign up and subscribe to the entire season.

We need to do more to protect ourselves from the threat and finally building an asteroid detecting spacecraft for the Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission will go a long way in doing so. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will lead the development of the mission as part of NASA's planetary defense mission.

Sky Guy Greg

WATCH JWST COME TOGETHER

Hey Space Placers!

Here is a short video showing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spacecraft and telescope being joined.



Still on track for launch March 31, 2021.

Sky Guy Greg

ASTRONOMERS WIN THE 2019 PHYSICS NOBEL PRIZE

Hey Space Placers!

Three Astronomers have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for 1st exosolar planet discovery and structure of the Universe.

Sky Guy in VA

SATURN IS THE CHAMP OF NUMBER OF MOONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Hey Space Placers!

Saturn has overtaken Jupiter as the solar system champ for total number of moons - 82 vs 69. It was just announced that 20 new moons were discovered

An artist’s conception of the 20 newly discovered moons orbiting Saturn. These discoveries bring the planet’s total moon count to 82, surpassing Jupiter for the most in our Solar System. Studying these moons can reveal information about their formation and about the conditions around Saturn at the time. Illustration is courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science. (Saturn image is courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. Starry background courtesy of Paolo Sartorio/Shutterstock.)

Here is the article about the discovery. Be sure to read the part about the contest to help name these new moons!



Sky Guy in VA

SATURDAY NIGHT BELONGS TO THE MOON

Hey Space Placers!

Saturday night is “International Observe the Moon Night”   https://www.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night    or InOMN for short. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of this annual event  https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/international-observe-the-moon-night-celebrates-10-years     as well as taking place a few months after the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the Moon https://wtop.com/gallery/media-galleries/photos-apollo-11-the-1st-mission-to-the-moon/ . NASA also states,”This year, International Observe the Moon Night coincides with World Space Week! World Space Week is held annually on October 4-10. This year’s theme is “The Moon: Gateway to the Stars.”

International Observe the Moon Night is sponsored by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)  https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov    and the Solar System Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with support from many partners.

Observers and lovers of the Moon worldwide will be looking at the Moon and sponsoring Moon watching events.

As stated on NASA’s InOMN webpage, “International Observe the Moon Night is upon us!” Join humanity’s celebration of lunar exploration and science October 5th, 2019, by looking at the alluring and inspiring Moon. Beginning in 2010 International Observe the Moon Night has,“invited participants all over the world to come together, watch the Moon, and celebrate our nearest celestial neighbor.”

In the DMV this year there are a number of InOMN events being held. NASA Goddard, NASA Wallops, Maryland Science Center, the National Air and Space Museum’s Haas Public Observatory and others are all hosting InOMN events. Click on the link  https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon/attend-an-event/   for further information and see if there is an event near you.

Take a look at the Moon any night it is visible and you can see two basic colors - white and gray. The white is the ancient lunar crust while the gray marks areas where lunar lava filled in huge impact basins caused by asteroids and comets hitting the Moon. Any modern optical aid such as binoculars or small telescopes will show the Moon in wondrous detail. You can also see craters on the Moon with your unaided eye, especially bright Tycho with its rays on the lower Full Moon and Copernicus in the middle of the Moon when it is 10 days old.

By the way - that bright “star” to the upper right of the Moon you will see is the ringed planet Saturn at over 900 million kilometers from Earth. Its light takes almost 83 minutes to reach Earth as compared to 1.3 light seconds for moonlight to reach us.

Get out and ponder the Moon…humanity is headed back to stay this time  https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2019/07/column-apollo-11s-legacy-and-what-to-look-forward-to-next/ .

Sky Guy in VA