What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Last year I started a New Year’s Eve tradition of picking the “Top Space Story” for the year. In 2013 it was “ The Chelyabinsk Airburst Event ”. Hillary Howard, Dimitri Sotis and I discussed on air some of the triumphs and tragedies of space in 2014 which hinted at what I consider to be tops in space this year. I gave great consideration to naming NASA’s successful launch and recovery of the Orion spacecraft earlier this month as the winner but it lacked one thing that the winner had - empathy.  Sky Guy Greg Redfern’s Top Space Story for 2014 is: The European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta Mission .  Rosetta was a bold mission to a distant comet that took 10 years and billions of miles of precise solar system travel to rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet 67/P) in August 2014. One of the mission objectives was to attempt humanity’s first ever landing on a comet via a dishwasher size probe named Philae . It took several mont...

Hey Space Placers! I wanted to share this astropic I took last night as it shows the  first confirmed gravitational lens  - a consequence predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity in which a foreground massive object bends spacetime so that objects in the distance can become multiple images in space from our point of view. ​ The light from this double image of a quasar (the center of a galaxy that has an active supermassive black hole and is incredibly bright as a result) traveled 8.7 billion light years to be collected by a 20-inch telescope and fall upon the CCD detector.  This is the most distant object I have ever photographed and it has me in awe of our Universe AND our ability to comprehend it. Happy New Year to you all…….tomorrow I will post my "Top SPace Story of 2014". Awed Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! UPDATE: Here is the latest info and sky chart for finding Comet Lovejoy which has continued to brighten and is reported to be at naked eye visibility from dark sky sites. Tonight, 1/4/15. the comet is near Rigel in Orion. Here is what it looks like in the sky - it is the bright green object near the center of the camera. This was taken in strong moonlight which interferes with seeing the comet until 1/7/15. Using binoculars will really help with the view, even in moonlight and urban settings. Now is the time to try and see Comet Lovejoy as it has been reported as being visible to the unaided eye from dark sky sites. I have seen the comet in 10x56 binoculars and I have photographed it with a telescope several times, including last night as it passed by the M-79 Globular Cluster: Read this article and use the finder chart to try and see this beautiful visitor from the beginning of our solar system; Try and find a site that is free of lights...

Hey Space Placers! Been busy spending time with my family and taking pictures with the Slooh telescopes (more about that later. Astronomers are zeroing in on trying to actually capture images of a black hole.    I hope they are successful in zeroing in on the 4 million solar mass black hole that resides at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. This indeed would be the image of the century and FINALLY prove the existence of black holes beyond a doubt. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! If Santa brought you a new telescope for Christmas - lucky you - here's a good article on what you can do with it. By New Year's you will be able to add the planets Venus and Mercury to your observing list as well as a new comet. Saturn will be nicely placed in the early morning sky by mid January. Make sure you follow all of my "Sky Guy Viewing Alerts" here and on Twitter @SkyGuyInVA. ENJOY and let me know how it goes. My latest with Slooh - NGC 4565, a spiral galaxy that shows what our Milky Way looks like in space: Sky Guy in VA

ey Space Placers! Enjoy this picture I took of the Horsehead Nebula with a 20-inch Slooh telescope. May this holiday season be safe, joyous and merry for you and yours. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Our Milky Way Galaxy (MWG) and the Local Group - the 50+ galaxies that form our galactic cluster of which the MWG is part of - got a new neighbor. Just discovered , the small, isolated dwarf galaxy Kks3 lies 7 million light years away. Discovery of dwarf galaxies like these help us to understand galaxies overall and how they begin and evolve. Happy Holidays to all of you around the world and thanks for dropping in. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! You owe it to yourself to see this picture . Stunning is not even close to describe what we are seeing. These cliffs are a kilometer tall and are located on a COMET! The detail in this picture is amazing as we can see texture in the cliffs, boulders on the surface, smooth areas……I could go on and on. I am so looking forward to seeing how this comet will change as it gets closer to the Sun and begins to sublimate its material out into space. The Rosetta spacecraft will swoop down to within just 4 miles (!) of the comet in February .   If this is done successfully the pictures we see will be capable of showing detail that is INCHES across - wow. I'm hoping the weather clears so I can get some pics of Comet Lovejoy which continues to brighten and may grace our skies in early January. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Check out this view of our Sun in high energy X-rays . A NASA spacecraft used to study energetic objects in the Universe turned its instruments towards andy Sun and showed our star to be quite the show. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! 6:03 P.M. EST today (Dec. 21) marks the Winter Solstice - the 1st day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This is also the day of least sunshine but we start towards spring tomorrow! For those down under in the Southern Hemisphere it is the 1st day of summer, Bundle up and get out to enjoy the skies of winter .  Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Check out this incredible video of NASA's Orion spacecraft re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The view is what an astronaut aboard the spacecraft would see so you get a perspective that is rare. Also check out the picture of the spacecraft - make sure you click on the image to get the enlarged view. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Ho, Ho, Ho! Happy Holidays! Welcome to the  “What’s Up? The Space Place” holiday edition to get some great gift ideas for that stargazer of yours. OK, you have 6 shopping days left but don’t panic. Internet shopping and quick shipping will get that star minded someone, including possibly yourself, their gift in plenty of time. 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 gui...

Hey Space Placers! Tomorrow morning before dawn the waning crescent Moon will join Saturn in the southeastern sky. Moon 12-18-14 G. Redfern Earthshine is caused by our planet's oceans and clouds reflecting sunlight which illuminates the Moon's unlit surface. Enjoy the view! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Tune in today , 12-17-14 to hear live NASA's latest on the Asteroid Redirect Mission. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Learn how you can name a crater on the planet Mercury .  5 craters are up for naming and the competition to submit names runs from 12/15/14 to 1/15/15. Good luck! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! UPDATE: On Dec. 13,  Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office  and a team of astronomers from Marshall Space Flight Center will host an overnight NASA web chat from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. CST, answering questions about the Geminid meteor shower .  To join the webchat on Dec. 13, log into the chat page at: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids_2014.html This weekend, especially on Saturday and Sunday nights, 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 good number of meteors during the early evening hours instead of the hours just before dawn. The predicted peak of the 2014 Geminid Meteor Shower are the nights of December 13 and 14 but you can see Geminids from the 12th to the 16th. Each year at ...

Hey Space Placers! Enjoy these pics….comms have been down at sea. Be back to regular entries tomorrow. Sky Guy Heading to Florida.

Hey Space Placers! Latest on Orion launch. https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/ SKY guy in Morrocco