What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! A Nice spiral galaxy - 1st time I ever photographed it. I look forward to improving. Happy New Year to everyone. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Venus in very poor seeing during daylight. Sky Guy in WINDY VA

Hey Space Placers! NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has spotted China's lander Chang'e 3 and rover Yutu on the Moon. Here is a before and after view of the landing site - pretty cool Read More About It On this last day of 2013 may you enjoy the coming of the New Year under clear skies and warm memories. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Get the answer here . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Did Santa bring you a new telescope or binoculars perhaps? Not sure what to look at with it? Before you head out under the stars make sure you read the manual that came with your 'scope and familiarize yourself with all of the features in the daylight before you head out in the dark. It would be very helpful to have a red lens flashlight to use at night to preserve your night vision and be able to find things. I use a red-LED headlamp and a flashlight and could not operate without them. You also need a star atlas or sky guide book to help learn your way around the sky. If you have a computer controlled "Go To" 'scope this helps in finding your way around, but it helps to know the sky the old fashioned way too. You are in luck because there are quite a few treats in the sky right now. 1st up is Venus in the southwest sky. It is headed towards the western horizon fast and will be gone from the evening sky. Venus is in an ever widening cres...

Hey Space Placers! M42 is a place where stars are being born while the Double Cluster is a thriving stellar population. M1, the Crab Nebula is where a massive star ended its life in a huge explosion seeding heavy elements into space. A Tired But Elated Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Heart of the Andromeda Galaxy - 2.5 million light years away. Dust clouds, hint of spiral arms and blue giant stars surround the nucleus. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! More pics: VENUS IN DAYLIGHT JUPITER Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was great as I spent the night (low 14 degrees) with my telescope and new 24 megapixel camera. I am working on some pics I took of Jupiter and may post if they are worth a bean but right now the telescope-camera is operator dependent - read STEEP LEARNING CURVE! I did manage to get what I think is a beautiful shot of the Milky Way through Casseopia even with light pollution - it makes me wonder how great it would be from a dark sky site. But it is full of stars which makes it magic - I hope you enjoy it. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Enjoy….I did wave and wish the crew members a Merry Christmas :-D Sky Guy LOVES his new camera

Hey Space Placers! Santa got me a new Nikon 5200 DSLR with 24 megapixels. I am hoping to get some pics today and share with you the results. The International Space Station has a GREAT flyover in the Eastern US tonight at 6:27. Look up ISS for your location and wave at 6 humans and a million pounds of space hardware. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. Thank you for taking time out of your day to share the Universe together. Sky Guy in CLEAR VA

Hey Space Placers! A great day for NASA, ISS, Mission Control Houston and Rick and Hopper. Hear my interview on WTOP  . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Forty five years ago NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders were away from home for the Christmas holiday. In fact, they were away from the planet on a voyage of exploration to the Moon that I think is the modern day equivalent of the voyage to the New World embarked upon by Christopher Columbus in 1492 . Both voyages sailed great and danger filled distances to unknown shores and because of their success, opened whole new realms for humanity to explore and inhabit. Apollo 8 was a daring mission for NASA as Apollo 7 had successfully proven just two months earlier that the Apollo Command and Service Modules could perform successfully for 11-days in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Apollo 7 was quite an accomplishment as it had been over a year and a half since Apollo 1 - www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo1.html#.UrkjYP2z7wI astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee had been killed in a fire in their Apollo spacecraft during a p...

Hey Space Placers! Check out what NASA accomplished in 2013 . As I pointed out in my blog/WTOP article on NASA  the American taxpayer (and the rest of humanity for free) get quite the bang for their buck. Tomorrow I will have a blog/article on the legacy of Apollo 8 in recognition of the mission's 45th anniversary. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Hello from 70-degree and rainy Virginia. Record likely to be set again today for highest temp. Planetary defense against comets and asteroids got a welcome addition this week by the return of pictures from NASA's reactivated and renamed Near Earth Object   Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( NEOWISE ).  NEOWISE started off as  the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer ( WISE ) which  was a hugely successful spacecraft that discovered thousands of asteroids, comets and astronomical objects during a multi-year whole sky survey in infrared. Infrared is useful in finding objects as allows the detection of heat from the object even though it may not be visible otherwise. The spacecraft has been in hibernation for 31-months and was found to be in excellent health upon reactivation in September. NEOWISE will resume asteroid and comet hunting following ground preparations in the next few months.  NEOWISE will be looking f...

Hey Space Placers! Winter began for the Northern Hemisphere at 12:11 p.m. EST and marks the shortest day of the year for us. Tomorrow the Sun begins its climb higher in the sky to summer in six months. Here in Virginia we will likely set new high temperature records today and tomorrow - downright weird folks. UPDATED: Check out this NASA photo of the seasons - very cool - 1st time I have seen this from a space view: The International Space Station (ISS) astronauts are finishing their 1st spacewalk to repair the faulty ammonia cooling valve - see my earlier blog. The have actually removed the faulty module. Two remaining spacewalks are planned. Apollo 8 left for the Moon 45 years ago today at 7:51 a.m. EST. I will have a special blog on December 24th on Apollo 8. As the Holiday Season gets into full swing may you and yours have a safe and enjoyable time together. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observed the area of space where Comet ISON would have been on December 18th and saw nothing . This just confirms what we already knew, Comet ISON is no more. There are STILL people trolling the 'net with claims of Comet ISON impacting the Earth, pieces of it spiraling through space to hit us which the government knows about but is covering up *sigh*. Comet ISON is no more - deal with it. Funny how they make no claims over Comet Lovejoy. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia mission lifted off successfully today, 12/19/13. The 5 year mission is designed to observe 1 billion stars of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Gaia will observe each of these stars an average of 70 times and determine their positions, distances, temperatures and chemical composition. With all of this information Gaia will produce over a Petabyte - 1 million Gigabytes or 200,000 DVD's - of data that will need to be analyzed. When this analysis is done, it will give us a very detailed map of of our home in the Cosmos, our Milky Way Galaxy. Gaia will also discover thousands of supernovas - massive stars that explode when they die - and asteroids. This is a very interesting mission indeed. I look forward to seeing the results. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Check out the almost Full Moon and Jupiter close together in the East at 7p.m. local time tonight, 12-18-13. Graphic Made Using Safari Plus Very pretty sight with the stars of almost winter rising as well. Enjoy the moonlight on the snow if you have any. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! NASA has announced that astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will be conducting spacewalks to repair the faulty ammonia coolant line valve located within a pump module unit. This fault in the cooling system has required the shutdown of electrical components to reduce the heat load on ISS. NASA had studied its options in dealing with the problem and finally settled on the replacement via spacewalk option on December 17th. This is the same unit that had to replaced during three spacewalks in 2010. A spare unit is stowed outside of ISS. There will be a teleconference on the spacewalks today -12/18- at 3 p.m. EST. The spacewalks are scheduled for December 21, 23 and 25. This would be the first spacewalk done on Christmas since Skylab 4 astronauts conducted one in 1973. The spacewalks will start each day at 7:10 a.m and last for 6 1/2 hours. Live NASA TV coverage will begin at 6:15 a.m EST to cover the spacewalks. This will be the first spa...

Ho, Ho, Ho! Happy Holidays! Got a stargazer, including possibly yourself, on your holiday shopping list and can’t figure out what to get them? You’ve come to the right place, the  “What’s Up? The Space Place” holiday edition to get some great gift ideas for that stargazer of yours. MONTHLY MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION As a first step for someone new to astronomy I recommend getting them a magazine subscription to either (or both)  Astronomy  or  Sky and Telescope . An added bonus is that when the magazine arrives each month it will be a reminder of you to that special stargazer. Astronomy and S&T also provides a digital version as part of the magazine subscription which comes in handy.  These monthly magazines and their respective excellent websites are chock full of observing advice, astronomical equipment, pictures, book reviews, astronomy related ads, news AND monthly observing guides/star charts. I will admit I am an S&T subscriber and have b...

Hey Space Placers! The Moon has become a popular topic with China's lunar landing - see my related blogs. Long time readers know that I am a "Lunatic" as to all things about the Moon. I can hardly wait for the data to flow in from Chang'e 3/Jutu and NASA's LADEE. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to provide images and data on a daily basis. LRO posted today (12/16) pics of a new impact crater that had been detected by NASA's Lunar Impact Program  (LIP) on March 17, 2013.  LIP has detected over 300 impacts to date and is providing valuable information on meteoroid impacts. Amateur astronomers are helping in this program by monitoring the Moon during major meteor showers using video cameras to capture any bright flashes that may indicate a new impact. LRO has discovered changes in the lunar surface and will fly over Chang'e 3/Jutu's landing site to record changes in the lunar surface due to the landing and rover movement...

Hey Space Placers! China's space/moon program at its roots is being conducted for the very same reason the U.S. and former U.S.S.R did theirs - national prestige. The Chinese government has joined the very exclusive lunar landing club - only the third nation to do so and the first in the last 37-years. New technology, jobs employing a scientifically and technically oriented workforce, national inspiration and pride, global recognition - all are a result of China's space program. I was very glad to see that China carried out Chang'e 3/Jutu in a live feed media environment. Their previous Chang'e missions were difficult to follow as there was not a robust media effort supporting them as there is with Chang'e 3. Hopefully China will share the science results of Jutu with the world. One Chinese official interviewed by Chinese media claimed that to be a global power you have to add to global science.  Jutu's color photographs and science results from a pr...

Hey Space Placers! UPDATE: Yutu rover has separated from the lander and is on the Moon UPDATE: Live coverage has ended. See pictures of lunar surface and the landing  here  . China's rover Jutu is on the Moon in Sinus Iridum according to Twitterverse and Chinese media. Live feed and updates here . I am impressed and glad that China has chosen to share in the excitement of the first landing on the Moon in 37 years  - Russia was the last to do so in their Luna series. The rover is set to depart from the lander tomorrow. Congratulations to China. All success to Jutu. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Hubble Space Telescope (HST) made observations of the Jupiter moon Europa in December 2012 and review of the data was amazing. HST found the signature of water vapor coming from the south polar region of the large moon. It has been suspected that Europa harbors a liquid water, perhaps even salt water ocean under its thick icy crust. These observations by HST would go a long way in adding credence to the existence of such an ocean but researchers are not ready to do so. More observations will be made and the archives of the Galileo mission will be reviewed for potential observations as well. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Read the latest on China's rover due to land tomorrow at 10 a.m. I'll be watching and blogging on this as it happens. Sky Guy in COLD VA

Hey Space Placers! UPDATE: Check out this "cool" NASA video about seeing the Geminids at 4 a.m. on the 14th. Also the Geminids have been active with almost two dozen fireballs reported last night by NASA's Fireball Network . Remember to join the chat tonight starting at 11 p.m. EST and listen in on radar if your are clouded out - details are below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonight starts the Gemind Meteor Shower. The peak will be the night of the 13th-14th but there may be some activity tonight. Yeah, I know it is cold. But if the sky stays clear on Friday night into Saturday morning, we will enjoy the peak time for what I think is the best meteor shower of the year, the Geminids. I say best because it reliably produces a large number of meteors per hour (100-120) and many of them are bright. Plus the Geminids is the only major meteor shower where you can see a...

Hey Space Placers! NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is in orbit around the Moon. LADEE has commenced making its f irst science observations and has begun to detect lunar dust impacts and identify components in the Moon's exosphere. This is very exciting and will only get better as more observations are made in the upcoming months. LADEE gets as close as 12-miles above the Moon in its orbit which is really close. I expect that more dust impacts will be observed, perhaps even during tomorrow's start of the peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower - I'll have my blog on the shower tomorrow. Look up at the Moon tonight and wave at LADEE. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Miss Comet ISON? Here's another video from NASA on the now officially declared dead comet. The only reporting left on Comet ISON will be if Hubble Space Telescope (HST) finds any remnant of the comet during planned observations in the near future. Sky Guy in Frigid VA

Hey Space Placers! I love it when a spacecraft flies by Earth and uses its instruments to photograph and study our planet and Moon. NASA's latest spacecraft to Jupiter, JUNO , did that earlier this year on a flyby to pick up a gravity boost. The result was successful for the spacecraft and for us as you can see in this wonderful video made from images taken during the flyby. What makes this video unique is that it shows the Earth and Moon in motion. In fact you can see the Moon pass in front of Earth in the video, which may be a first. Pretty wild to see that when I have seen the moons of Jupiter pass in from of the gas giant planet. Enjoy the original musical score too while watching. Get read for the Geminid Meteor Shower which will peak this Friday-Saturday night - more on that to come. Sky Guy in Frigid VA

Hey Space Placers! I hope you had a chance to read my WTOP article on NASA . It was very popular and had over 50K hits on Google Trends. I also received a number of Tweets from NASA, including this one: User Actions   Following NASA's Dawn Mission ‏ @NASA_Dawn @SkyGuyinVA Thanks, do [tho wish I'd been included, sniff]...  Reply   Retweet   Favorite   More 9:28 PM - 9 Dec 13 Well, I felt really BAD about leaving DAWN out of my article - I just couldn't include every mission NASA has going on as it would have made the article too long. So, DAWN, this Blog is for you.  Just so you know I have written nine previous blogs on your mission. And I have followed your mission closely because of my interest in meteorites (I own 208 in my collection including HED's from Vesta), asteroids and your UCLA (my alma mater)/JPL team.  When you arrive at Ceres in 2015 I will be covering you in detail with t...

Hey Space Placers! This seems like a PERFECT topic after the ice/snow we have had the past several days here in DC,VA, MD. And with the overnight temps predicted to go into the teens, I thought I would make all of us feel warmer by sharing NASA's announcement regarding the "Coldest Place On Earth". No surprise that an area of the Antarctic takes the prize, but the lowest temperature ever recorded is, well, COLD -136 degrees Fahrenheit - BRRRRRRR. And we aren't talking wind chill either. You can read more about it  here  as you enjoy your snow day and prepare for our own cold snap here in our area. Sky Guy in Cold, Icy and Snowy VA

Hey Space Placers! UPDATED: Online video of today's Curiosity AGU teleconference   http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/41544332 NASA's Curiosity rover has been busy on Mars. Latest from  American Geophysical Union (AGU)  Conference being held this week in San Francisco. NASA Curiosity: First Mars Age Measurement and Human Exploration Help Yellowknife Bay as Seen by Curiosity NASA The article highlights: Not only has Curiosity accomplished its primary goal of finding evidence for an ancient environment that could have supported life, but it also has provided evidence habitable conditions existed more recently than expected and likely persisted for millions of years.   Additional new results from Curiosity are providing the first readings of radiation hazards at Mars' surface, which will aid planning of human missions to Mars. Other findings will guide the search for evidence of life on Mars by improving insight about how erosion may expose buried clues...

Hey Space Placers! Here's the link to the WTOP story:  http://www.wtop.com/904/3520946/NASA-Some-perspective-and-gratitude Americans are aware of NASA but I do not think they realize how much NASA does http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/what_does_nasa_do.html#.UqS_4qWz7w I and for how little money wise. Do you know what NASA’s budget is for 2014? Thanks to our deadlocked and dysfunctional Congress there is no approved budget for the Government.  NASA is looking at roughly $17.7 billion requested For FY2014 http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/750614main_NASA_FY_2014_Budget_Estimates-508.pdf . That breakdowns to roughly 15 cents a day per American and less than 1 cent a day per human on the planet. I include this last figure as much of what NASA does benefits all of humanity, not just Americans. To put NASA’s budget in perspective, consider these factoids - Americans spend $61 BILLION on their pets per year http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/05/22/americans-spend-61-bil...

Hey Space Placers! Here is a good wrap up - less the science learned that will follow in papers and upcoming observations -- if any -- by amateurs and HST. Be safe if you are in Virginia as the ice storm settles in tomorrow. Enjoy this write up on Comet ISON http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/04dec_isonrecap/ Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! China's lunar rover is set to enter lunar orbit late Friday night according to this news release: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1374434/chinas-lunar-probe-will-reach-moon-orbit-tonight The rover is targeting Sinus Iridum with a touchdown expected near Laplace A as seen in this Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Wide Angle Camera photo: Touchdown is set for around the 14th. Hopefully China will elect to be open with their mission and its results. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! UPDATED: Read about how to see Comet Lovejoy in the predawn sky here:  http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/Lovely-Comet-Lovejoy-234492641.html Although Comet ISON was getting all of the attention - I will have another Comet ISON post tomorrow - Comet Lovejoy has been putting on a fine show in the pre-dawn sky. This photograph was taken on the 3rd with the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii and shows incredible detail in the tail: You can download the pic and zoom in to really see the streamers in the tail here as well as learn more: http://www.naoj.org/Topics/2013/12/05/index.html Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Get out at sunset on the 5th to see the brilliant planet Venus and the crescent Moon in the western sky. Venus is  at its greatest brilliance and height in the sky for the season and if you have a dark sky site you can see shadows cast by Venus on freshly fallen snow. I was able to see shadows cast by Venus on the ship in the dark Atlantic. The crescent Moon will be a treat as it will have earthshine present - the illumination of the dark side of the Moon caused by the reflection of sunlight off of our planet's oceans and clouds. Binoculars and a telescope can enhance the view of the earthshine greatly - even to the point where lunar features are easily visible. Try your hand at taking a picture of these two in the sky. Mount your digital camera on a tripod or steady surface and try taking a 1 second exposure at ISO 200. Adjust accordingly to get that perfect shot. Enjoy this pretty sky sight as we head into the holiday season. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! NASA is hosting a Google+ hangout dedicated to the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn at 3:30 p.m. EST 12-4-13. Check out this impressive photo of Titan taken by Cassini rising: It's important to support Cassini as NASA has had to put forth discussions of cutting Cassini for budgetary reasons… insane to shut down a perfectly performing spacecraft that cost $$ to get to Saturn. But the unrealistic budgetary squeeze the inept and dysfunctional Congress has put NASA in is causing this to happen. Read More About the Cassini budget mess: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/van-kane/20131112_Cassini_extended_mission.html Read More About the Google+ Hangout http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/december/nasa-holds-google-hangout-on-cassinis-findings-at-saturn/#.Up8fTKWz7wI Sky Guy in VA