What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! More on the 1/31/18 eclipse . Sorry for the gaps but I am at sea..... Sky Guy Greg

Hey Space Placers! Wanted to make sure you knew about this GREAT event well in advance. NASA I will see it off the southern coast of Australia in its entirety while at sea and will be taking pictures to share with you. Mark your calendars!

Hey Space Placers! Read my inside story on three telescopes . Sky Guy Greg

Hey Space Placers! Carl Sagan's original 1980 'Cosmos' series is available for a limited time free online via Open Culture . It has been announced  that there will be a second season of Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2019. You owe it to yourself to see the original....listening to Carl is an experience anyone who loves the stars and space should experience. I still miss him..... Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Well, the AAS meeting - see my last blog - was quite amazing. I have more to share and will be headed back to sea for 18 days - Bali to Australia. Oh, I will get to see the 1/31/18 Total Lunar Eclipse off the coast of Australia...PICTURES!!!!!! Fly through the stunning Orion Nebula via this amazing NASA video. You can see the nebula as a fuzzy area under the belt of Orion in the sword. Binoculars really bring out more detail. Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! I am here at the 231st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Every January AAS holds what has been described as the Super Bowl of astronomy here at the National Harbor Convention Center. Astronomers from around the world by the thousands gather to present research papers, lectures and mingle with their colleagues face to face and usually over some kind of beverage ;-) I'll be sending out Tweets @SkyGuyInVA and posting blogs for the next three days. My big event is on Friday when I get to tour the Space Telescope Science Institute where Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is operated and the future operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Stay tuned..... Sky Guy in MD

Hey Space Placers! If you have been in the deep freeze the past couple of weeks like I have then you will appreciate this story about the Sun, which ultimately powers all of our weather. This shows our Sun for each day in 201 7. Very cool to see the changing face of our star each day. The Sun in 2017 Credit: ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium Downloading the image really helps to see the detail for each day. We are in solar minimum now and the Sun will become more active as time goes on. I plan to view more of the Sun in 2018 now that I have a Hydrogen Alpha filter unit to use on my telescope. Sky Guy in FROZEN VA