Great Worldwide Star Count - Oct 20 to Nov 3

Fall is a great time to get outside and observe the stars with your naked eyes. The air is crisp. The bugs are gone. And now you have another reason — the Great Worldwide Star Count

From October 20 to November 3 (all dates 2008), go outside and see stars. Specifically, those of us in the northern hemisphere should look for Cygnus (the swan) while those of you in the southern hemisphere should look for Sagittarius (the teapot). You’ll estimate the magnitude of the faintest stars you can see based on how much of the constellation you see. This helps scientists measure the light pollution of our skies.

Carnival of Space No. 60

Hear ye, hear ye! Assembled here is the official Carnival of Space No. 60 wherein the written assemblage of the musings of many eminent natural philosophers are here provided for your amusement and betterment.

In order of receipt by yours truly and in the own very words of the author, notwithstanding some minor editorial discretion, here, then, are the proceedings:

From Slacker Astronomy:

Hi Michael,

Here you go - hot off the keyboard!

Regulus - Just when you think you know a star

Cheers,
Doug

From astroENGINE:

Hi Fraser,

My entry:
Title: “No Doomsday in 2012: The Reason Why Science Will Not Win”

Just a brief discussion about the recent 2012 articles and why science is fighting a loosing battle against the scaremongers

Cheers, Ian

From 21st Century Waves:

Hi Fraser,
Here’s a post: State of the Wave, Friday 6/20/08

I hereby officially volunteer to host the Carnival.

Best regards…
Bruce Cordell

From Centauri Dreams:

Hi Fraser,

I’ll send “Alpha Centauri and the Long Haul“:

This one is a look at projects in human history that have involved lengthy time spans, with relation to interstellar concepts like the Ultimate Project, a multi-generational starship that might take 10,000 years to reach its destination. The idea of long-term thinking in a short-term culture is explored.

All best,

Paul

From Music of the Spheres:

GeoEye-1 and TMA Notes

Music of the Spheres looks at the soon-to-launch commercial Earth-imaging satellite GeoEye-1 and at some details of its high-resolution optics.

From Free Space:

humm …

how ’bout this for this week: Metaphysically Speaking

Congress may force NASA to fly a canceled dark matter experiment, but it’ll have to be without a rescue shuttle available.

Thanks!

Irene

From Start With A Bang!:

The Moon looks huge!!
Because who doesn’t love the moon, really?

From Space Feeds:

This week’s space video of the week is the 1997 sci-fi/fantasy film The Fifth Element.

Space Video of the Day - 080623

Ed

From Nextbigfuture:

Article Title: The Space elevator games and the lunar lander contest preview for 2008

Summary: The Space elevator power beaming (climber) competition is on Sept 27, 2008 and the lunar lander contest is Oct 24, 25 2008. The main focus is on the space elevator climber teams and the progress towards a tether.

Brian Wang

From Orbiting Frog:

Fraser,

Crikey, the sixtieth must be coming up!

My entry this week would have to be the ‘Font Sizes of the Planets‘

Thanks,
Rob

From Cumbrian Sky:

Hi,

I’d like to submit this Blog post for your consideration for this week’s Carnival, please.

Title of Post: “The future’s not orange, it’s ICY…”

Summary: As exciting and important as it was, contrary to what many media reports have claimed, Phoenix’s spotting of ice on Mars wasn’t actually a “discovery” - ice had been seen on Mars by other probes over the years. But while the celebrations got into full swing in Arizona, NASA quietly released another “icy image” that received almost no attention at all, yet illustrated something possibly even more profound, giving us a tantalising glimpse into the future of space exploration and Mankind…

Stuart Atkinson

From Dynamics of Cats:

Holy Vanishing Crumbs, Phoenix!
yet another entry on Phoenix lander stuff

From A Babe in the Universe:

Aloha Carnival!
Endeavour returned to Earth June 14 with some spectacular photos from the Space Station.
“Photos From STS-124”

Mission STS-124 successfully installed the Japanese Kibo module. Human figures work on the Station in the ultimate high-rise project. We see the Shuttle docked at the Station, and a view of a place an earlier Endeavour once charted.

Thank you for hosting this week’s Carnival.
LOUISE RIOFRIO

From: Tyler at The Planetary Society:

Hi there,
Here’s my latest astronomy blog posting for the Carnival of Space.

Stop 14: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

This one talks about light pollution and astronomy outreach within the national parks.

Cheers,
Tyler

From the weblog of Columbus State University’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center:

Would you like to swing ’round a star?

Thanks!
– Rosa Williams

From Jeff Gortatowsky:

Star Party season…Or also know as fire season here in California. However being optimistic, it is star party season in the northern hemisphere. Coming up next week are two big star parties in northern California. The Golden State Star Party (GSSP) and the Shingletown Star Party (SSP). Both are held in an area that is one of of the darkest yet still accessible areas of the state. GSSP is currently booked up. SSP however still has room and day/night passes are available at the gate.

(Editor’s Note: It appears that SSP is “postponed until at least the end of August 2008″, according to their web site.)

From Astroblog:

G’Day

Title of Post: The Odyssey and the Celestial Clock

Brief summary: Has the date of homers Odyssey been found using the patterns of planets in the sky?

Cheers! Ian

From Emily Lakdawalla at The Planetary Society Weblog:

Hi there,

This week I’ll change things up and suggest you link to my weekly “What’s up” post, highlighting the current activities of all 20 of the active planetary space probes in and beyond the solar system. For the curious, that list includes: MESSENGER, Venus Express, Chang’e 1, Kaguya, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix, 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Rosetta, Stardust, Dawn, Deep Impact, Hayabusa, Genesis, Cassini, New Horizons, and Voyager 1 and 2.

Happy Mars solstice! (And Earth, too.)

What’s up in the solar system for the week of June 23

–Emily

From Catholic Sensibility:

Hi Fraser,

If it’s not too late, here’s my entry for the carnival:

Satellite Imagination 1.6: Meet The Louisians

Cheers to all at UT

Todd

From goodSchist:

Hopefully this isn’t too late:

The importance of being Ivuna

Cheers,
-Chris

From Twisted Physics

This is a neat one with great discussion - Sean Caroll over at Cosmic Variance vetted the scientific points Jennifer discusses:

Devourer of Worlds

Best,
~Dave

From Beth Katz:

Hanny’s Voorwerp is an intriguing green blob that looks very much like “The Incredible Hulk”. You, too, can explore the Galaxy Zoo.

A little closer to home, aurora watchers have been forlornly hoping that the sun will get past its solar minimum and get some sunspots. In January 2008, NASA reported that Solar Cycle 24 had started. It seems that there has been little activity since then unless you count Tiny Tims. But the STEREO spacecraft caught stereo images of twisting solar jets. Those spacecraft have some amazing images. Maybe by the time the Solar Cycle 24 Conference rolls around in December we’ll see a few more spots.

Too many clouds? Test your knowledge of lunar phases with the lunar cycle matching phase game or these lunar phase activities.

UPDATE Oh noes! I forgot one!

Did I break some rule or offend the Gods?

I sent a blog to Fraser and one to you. You said you’d pick.
Did they both suck or what?

–
Mike Simonsen
Development Director
American Association of Variable Star Observers
www.aavso.org

So…

From Simostronomy:

Hey Michael,

You may have received an entry for me for the carnival, but you might consider this one in its place.

What Are Variable Stars?

–
Mike Simonsen
Development Director
American Association of Variable Star Observers
www.aavso.org

Many thanks to the hard work and good thinking of our submitters. It’s a lot of great reading for us to digest. I’ve never hosted a carnival before so I probably did it wrong. Please be kind to my mistakes. Authors, let me know if I made any errors or omissions with your submission and I will promptly correct.

Wanna join the Carnival of Space? Just send the URL of your entry via electronic Internet email message to carnivalofspace@gmail.com.

Cheers, beers and clear skies,
Michael

Avoid the Light - do Globe at Night

Every year, the Globe at Night project asks people around the world to get outside and observe the constellation Orion. Report your location and which of the charts best matches what you saw.

This is a great slacker project. It doesn’t take much time or any tools. You can do it with kids, friends, or whoever. If you forget to do it tonight, you can do it tomorrow or the next time you have clear or mostly clear skies. You have until March 8, 2008 - next Saturday. This is a worldwide project.

To participate, go to the web site and check out the limiting magnitude charts to know roughly what the differences are in what you can see. Then go outside and block the most glaring lights. Let your eyes adjust to the dark for a few minutes as you locate Orion. Carefully consider what details you see in the constellation. Only Betelgeuse - the red shoulder star? All three belt stars? Stars close below the belt? The feet and shoulders? The head cluster? The Orion nebula? Fainter stars below the lower shoulder? Remember the faintest stars you could see.

By the way, Mars is the “extra star” somewhat nearby rivaling Betelgeuse with its bright red color.

Then go inside and report your observation. You’ll need to know where you are, what time you made your observation, and which chart most closely matches what you saw. In 2007, there were 8,491 observations. After a week of observations this year, it looks like there are fewer than 2000 observations.

Viewing more of Mercury

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft flew close by Mercury on 14 January 2008. Of course, it was taking pictures and managed to give scientists views of areas of the planet not imaged when Mariner 10 flew by in 1974 and 1975. Check out this detailed image of a pockmarked Mercury. This page has links to more pictures. The flyby is described here.

This was the Messenger spacecraft’s first of three 200km high fly-bys of Mercury. The next will be October 6, 2008, and the third will be September 29, 2009. Each fly-by slows the spacecraft as it heads to orbiting Mercury in March 2011.

Asteroid Advisory Not Issued for Mars

Scientists on neighboring Earth have not issued an asteroid advisory for Mars on 30 January 2008. An asteroid advisory would mean that an asteroid impact is possible within the next 100 sols. It is issued planet-wide because an impact may have planetary effects. However, the Torino Impact Hazard Scale seems to be Earth-centric.

In this case, a level 4 advisory would be issued at this time for asteroid 2007 WD5. Current calculations indicate a 1-in-75 chance that the asteroid will impact Mars around 10:55 UT on 30 January 2008 (all times Earth-based).

Earth scientists blame light from Earth’s Moon for impeding their observations of 2007 WD5. By early January 2008, they hope to have additional observations that will further refine the asteroid’s path. If Earth had an observatory on the far side of the Moon, maybe these calculations would take place in a more timely manner.

2007 WD5 passed by Earth in early November 2007 and was discovered on 20 November 2007 by the Catalina Sky Survey. It is estimated to be about 50 meters across.

Although the center of the asteroid’s predicted path appears to miss Mars by 50,000 km, that path’s uncertainty region is large enough to graze the planet. In comparison, 2007 WD5 missed Earth by 7.5 million km.

Earth scientists believe that the over-achieving Earth spacecraft that are on Mars are not in danger. MER Opportunity is near, but not in, the possible impact zone.

For further details, pictures, orbital animations, and updates refer to the NASA JPL’s Near Earth Object Program including this report on 21 December 2007.