What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Can you guess what my 'Top Space Story for 2017' is? Hint: it was golden! Enjoy the read . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! This is a truly amazing find .....the most distant black hole yet discovered is 800 million times the mass of our Sun AND it formed only 690 million years after the Big Bang. This artist's concept shows the most distant supermassive black hole ever discovered. It is part of a quasar from just 690 million years after the Big Bang. Credit: Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science Astronomers are really scratching their heads to come up with how such a whopper black hole could grow so large in such a short time (cosmically speaking). This find also seems to be the only one of its kind which will be very valuable to astronomers trying to determine the conditions in the Universe when it was only 5% of its age. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I hope everyone had a GREAT Holiday get together. Mighty (and bright) Jupiter is visible in the hours before dawn in the eastern sky. NASA's Juno spacecraft continues to explore the 'King of the Planets' and the data continue to be received and analyzed. The Great Red Spot (GRS) of Jupiter  has been visible in telescopes , including backyard 'scopes for centuries. The GRS has been slowly shrinking and the color has faded. It has been the longest lasting storm in the solar system. I hope to get a pic of the GRS to share when the weather clears. But in the meantime enjoy flying into the Jovian maelstrom: Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The Center of the Milky Way Galaxy Taken by Greg Redfern in the Coral Sea Did you know the Roman Catholic Church employs a staff of professional priest-astronomers who conduct a wide variety of astronomical research and observations? That Pope Francis believes in the Big Bang  - the leading theory as to how our Universe came into being? With Christmas upon us this is a GREAT article to read about science and faith (at least in the Catholic Church). I have encountered people who say that their particular pastor says "the Universe is only 40,000 years old according to the Bible" or similar type exultations. My standard response is that "everyone is entitled to their beliefs" - I don't even try to change their minds because they are making their statement(s) AFTER hearing one of my astronomy presentations. For those who debunk the "Big Bang" because it isn't faith based, I simply tell them about the Vatican Observatory ...

Hey Space Placers! If you like the annual December Geminid Meteor Shower you will want to read this article about how 3200 Phaethon was imaged when it passed by Earth recently. Even better is the fact that the Arecibo Radio Telescope that was damaged recently in the Puerto Rico hurricane has been repaired and was able to take these amazing images. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! The EXACT moment of the Winter Solstice  is today, December 21, 2017 at 11:28 a.m. EST. The Sun will be at its lowest point in your sky for the year and the night will be the longest. We start gaining more daylight each day after. I hope to post a pic of the Sun at the moment of the Solstice later. Winter Solstice 2017 Sun Winter Solstice 2017 Sun Greg Redfern Enjoy the holiday season and especially the winter stars...... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! This portrayal of 'Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1) suggests a less elongated shape. Some asteroid specialists have questioned how extreme this body's length-to-width ratio might be. ESO / M. Kornmesser Here are the latest findings on  Oumuamua which I blogged about previously . Results are still pending from the radio observations that were made of the object. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! NASA will be announcing a new solar system mission in a love teleconference this Wed., 12/20/17 at 2 p.m. EST. Here are the missions in the running: Comet Surface Sample Return Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Ocean Worlds (Titan and/or Enceladus) Saturn Probe Trojan Tour and Rendezvous Venus In Situ Explorer OH MAN HOW I WOULD 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍  a Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My $$ is on "Ocean Worlds (Titan and/or Enceladus)" selection. I say that because we just finished 10+ years at Saturn, have had several missions active, with more to come in the asteroid belt, Venus is Venus (not a top planetary priority as there have been previous missions to Venus) and  there have been recent comet missions. NASA is excited about Enceladus due to its subsurface liquid ocean so that is why I think it is the front runner. The Lunar mission would be very exciting as we would be returni...

Hey Space Placers! Read all about the "X-Files" unit in the Pentagon that was dedicated to investigating U.S. military UFO sightings. I personally think this is a good thing as ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE in the Universe. Are these alien spacecraft? other countries' advanced prototypes? Who knows. The fact that we do not know more than justifies inquiring about them as best we can. The Truth Is Out There...... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I hope you have signed up to see the International Space Station. It is ALWAYS amazing to see 1 million pounds of space hardware the size of a football field traveling at 17,500 mph with humans on board. This was my view last night: ISS Rises in the NW Amidst Clouds & the Milky Way Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! A Bright Meteor Greg Redfern Here comes the Geminid Meteor Shower! Bundle up and get outside to see what I think will be the BEST meteor shower of the year!!!! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Remember this????? Today NASA shared results of science from several of the experiments and observations made during the 8/21/17 . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! It's that time of the year again to shop for your favorite stargazer (maybe even yourself ;-) ). Sky Guy BACK in VA

Hey Space Placers! Interesting read . Only time will tell as to the origin of these microbes. As the late, great Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof". We have been down this road before with possible life forms found in an Antartica meteorite from Mars. Let's see what the worldwide scientific community comes up with in their analysis. Sky Guy 2 days Out of Miami.

Hey Space Placers! Hello  from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean aboard Regent Seven Seas EXPLORER. It has been a typical trans-Atlantic crossing in November - read cloudy and stormy - BUT it appears to be clearing just in time for Supermoon Sunday  http://earthsky.org/moon-phases/full-moon?mc_cid=bd4238a2b4&mc_eid=9aeb2a4318  !   I am hoping to photograph the Full Cold Supermoon as it rises above the sea horizon - that should be something to see.  On Sunday at sunset you will see a glorious Full Cold https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/full-moon/   Supermoon rising in the East after sunset that may appear brighter and a bit larger than other Full Moons of 2017. The Moon will be at Full phase (directly opposite the Sun) at 10:47 a.m. EST  on Sunday and at perigee (closest to the Earth for the month) on December 4th  at 3:42 a.m. EST - less than 24 hours apart hence the Supermoon. This is the only Supermoon ...

Hey Space Placers! Read this incredible story about far flung Voyager 1   using its back up thruster 37 years AFTER they were last used. Boy, can NASA build 'em! Voyager 1 Artistic Rendition  NASA/JPL-Caltech Sky Guy In The Atlantic Ocean