Fill in your information below and your name will be included with others on a microchip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in 2011!

More at:
http://marsparticipate.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/

Amateur astronomers to shed light on solar storms

“…Becoming a solar storm tracker involves setting up a ‘Zooniverse account,’ logging into the Solar Stormwatch site at http://solarstormwatch.com and completing a short interactive training programme. Almost anyone can help the project says Dr Davis. “Many motivated individuals will always be able to scrutinise the data far more carefully than small dedicated science teams ever could. Contributing will enable more information to be gleaned from the data than would otherwise be possible.”

The site requires members to study video footage and photographs to identify past solar storms, described as big lightbulb-shaped explosions. Then they may be asked to look at data of real-time space-weather conditions. Dr Davis says, “the real-time data is less detailed but potentially provides a means of making true predictions about any solar storms heading towards Earth.” …

http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1003/02solar/

wonder how long till the podcast is posted?

http://www.amnh.org/podcast/index.html

–Ben

AMNHlogo

Media Inquiries: Department of Communications

212-769-5800 communications@amnh.org

www.amnh.org

_____________________________________________________________________________

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’S

TENTH ANNUAL ISAAC ASIMOV MEMORIAL DEBATE

ASKS “Where Next for the Manned Space Program?”

WHAT Tenth Annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate Moon, Mars and Beyond: Where next for the manned space program?

What is the future direction for manned space flight? Should we proceed straight to Mars? Should we return to the Moon, or should multiple destinations be the goal?

Where to go next is one of the hottest topics for NASA’s manned program. Central to the subject are thorny issues that relate to science, launch hardware, international competition, national security, shrinking budgets, and political will. The Obama administration’s recent decision to delay indefinitely of our next voyage to Moon while simultaneously planning a new launch vehicle to take us out of low earth orbit makes this Asimov Debate particularly topical and newsworthy.

Moderator

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronomer and Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium

Panelists

Kenneth Ford, Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, is Chairman of the

NASA Advisory Council.

Lester Lyles, United States Air Force (Ret), is a member of NASA’s Human

Space Flight Plans Committee.

Paul Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, has experiments on lunar orbiting

missions to map permanently dark regions poles and search for water ice

deposits.

Steven Squyres, Cornell University, is the principal investigator for the Mars

Exploration Rover Project, among others.

Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, with a focus on exploration and

settlement of that planet, is also the President of Pioneer Astronautics, an

aerospace research and development company.

WHEN Monday March 15, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE LeFrak Theater, first floor – Enter at 77th Street

American Museum of Natural History

ADMISSION $15 adults $13.50 members, students, seniors

# # #

No. 25a

===========================================
http://www.amnh.org/programs/programs.php?src=p_h&date=2010-03-15&event_id=1633

More images from Enceladus flyby last Nov. 21 2009.

–Ben

Forest of Jets
Cassini’s close flyby of Enceladus last Nov. 21 revealed a forest of new jets spraying from the prominent fractures crossing the south polar region and yielded the most detailed temperature map to date…

http://ciclops.org/view_event/129/Forest_of_Jets

–Ben

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-130/html/iss022e062674.html

lots of other STS-130 pics here.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-130/ndxpage1.html

Geostationary Orbits are over five times the radius of the Earth, approximately 36000 km above sea level. Objects in such orbits have orbital period equal to the Earth’s rotation and would remain stationary over the same point on the Earth’s equator. Geostationary objects appear motionless in the sky, making extremely useful for communications (including TV broadcast) and weather satellites. While in 1945 Arthur C. Clark was the first to suggest the usefulness of such an orbit, there are now over 370 satellites in Geostationary orbits. But while they are motionless relative to the Earth surface, they are moving objects against the background sky as they are rotating around our planet in this space high way with speed ten times faster than an airliner. Although they are some of the furthest satellites, but surprisingly, given dark enough skies, it is possible, armed with a telescope or a pair of binocular to spot some of the them in the geostationary ring. Typically these satellites are at magnitude. +11 or fainter (over 100 times fainter than naked-eye visibility), but as recorded in this video they are brightening by several magnitudes when the geometry is favorable. Most satellites in the video are at 7th to 9th magnitudes but there are few of them at about magnitude 5, visible to the naked-eye under dark skies! The time-lapse video is made using an 85mm lens on a modified DSLR camera under an ideal dark sky. It is a sequence of 12 shots each 45s exposure on a tracking mount. Majority of GeoSats are visible at 5 degrees below the equator on the Orion Nebula declination. Mintaka , the western most star of the Orion Belt, is the closest to the equator. All of the satellites in this highway has moved about 2.5 degrees during the 10 minute shooting period, equal to 360 degrees for a complete 24 hours. Babak Tafreshi

http://twanight.org/newTWAN/case.asp

As always, be sure to zoom in to the FULL frame (2758 X 2567)
6.8MB JPEG

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-2010-08-a-full_jpg.jpg

to see all the ‘tiny’ galaxies.

I like pair in the bottom left.

–Ben
==================================
Jurassic Space: Ancient Galaxies Come Together After Billions of Years

February 18, 2010: Imagine finding a living dinosaur in your backyard. Astronomers have found the astronomical equivalent of prehistoric life in our intergalactic backyard: a group of small, ancient galaxies that has waited 10 billion years to come together. These “late bloomers” are on their way to building a large elliptical galaxy. Such encounters between dwarf galaxies are normally seen billions of light-years away and therefore occurred billions of years ago. But these galaxies, members of Hickson Compact Group 31, are relatively nearby, only 166 million light-years away. New images of these galaxies by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope offer a window into what commonly happened in the universe’s formative years when large galaxies were created from smaller building blocks. The Hubble observations have added important clues to the story of this interacting foursome, allowing astronomers to determine when the encounter began and to predict a future merger. Astronomers know the system has been around for a while, because the oldest stars in a few of its ancient globular clusters are about 10 billion years old. The encounter, though, has been going on for about a few hundred million years, the blink of an eye in cosmic history. Everywhere the astronomers looked in this compact group they found batches of infant star clusters and regions brimming with star birth. Hubble reveals that the brightest clusters, hefty groups each holding at least 100,000 stars, are less than 10 million years old. The entire system is rich in hydrogen gas, the stuff of which stars are made. Astronomers used Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys to resolve the youngest and brightest of those clusters, which allowed them to calculate the clusters’ ages, trace the star-formation history, and determine that the galaxies are undergoing the final stages of galaxy assembly.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/08/

19 February 1473

the first astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe

–Ben

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Copernicus

This 3-D view is a color composite picture made from two different black and white images that were taken from slightly different viewing angles. The images are combined so that the viewer’s left and right eye, respectively and separately, see a left and right image of the black and white stereo pair when viewed through red-blue glasses…

http://ciclops.org/view/6133/Prometheus_Popping_in_3-D?js=1

I’m not sure I like the gov. defining my science.

Although they do define the weights and measures.

I heard Indiana tried declaring pi = 3.0000 awhile back (1897). Well at least they tried to.

–Ben

===================
2010 Regular Session

HM 17

“PLUTO IS A PLANET IN NEW MEXICO DAY”

Sponsor: Joni Marie Gutierrez

Current Location: Passed

http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=M&LegNo=17&year=10

“…WHEREAS, thanks to Dr. Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto will always
be considered a planet in New Mexico;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 18,
2010 be proclaimed “Pluto is a Planet in New Mexico Day” at the
house of representatives in honor of the eightieth anniversary
of the discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh…”

http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/10%20Regular/memorials/house/HM017.pdf

Move over Dr Who scarves… There is a NEW geek scarf in town.

–Ben

from @starstryder & @Moonrangerlaura
I found a reason to go by more yarn & study emission line lamps http://bit.ly/dbvTHf aka:

http://sternlab.org/2010/02/emission-spectra-scarves/

That’s no small moon, That’s a Space Station!
oh wait, yes it is just a small moon.

–Ben
=====================================
****** Forwarded Message Follows *******
February 15, 2010
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Latest images from Cassini’s flybys of Saturn’s `Death Star’ moon, Mimas, and one of its small moons, Calypso, are now down on the ground.

If you love surfaces covered with craters and coated with icy debris, check them out at http://ciclops.org .

http://ciclops.org/view_event/128/Mimas_and_Calypso_Rev_126_Flyby_Raw_Preview

Enjoy,
Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
Director, CICLOPS
Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO

http://ciclops.org

http://twitter.com/carolynporco

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carolyn-Porco/116163229386

Hearts in Space- Sixty Symbols

and a special alert to be on the lookout for northern lights tonight.

There is a new show on the feed! It’s the extended version of our February contribution to The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Our very own slacker Mike Simonsen interviews Kevin Krisciunas about his recent paper that describes how to measure the eccentricity of the moon’s orbit with a yardstick and some cardboard. But that’s not all! Kevin is a funny and experienced guy and the interview is packed with stories and science from his journeys.

You can subscribe by using the links on your right or listen to this episode right now below.

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Mars Rover Spirit picture compilation in HD

Pictures compiled from Mars Rover Spirit using the front HAZCAM left side lens from martian days (sols) 1 through 1724. That’s nearly five earth years shrunk into a 7 minute video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQQKQhX–M

===================

Mars Rover Opportunity picture compilation in HD

Pictures compiled from Mars Rover Opportunity using the front HAZCAM right side lens from martian days (sols) 1 through 1751. That is five earth years shrunk into a 8 minute video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWI2WuqhQ2A

But do not “despair”. We have several new podcasts coming up in the next few days.

Twitter.com/Exoplanetology

Hey, exoplanets.org just launched their new exoplanets data http://exoplanets.org/exotable/exoTable.html includes plots! Nice!

He’ll take you to the Moon, you’ll fly through the stars, you’ll go visit a friend on the surface of Mars.
So scroll down the page, see what there is to see, the tickets are priced just right..they’re FREE!

This book is a classic beginner level guide to the night sky that includes a great introductory text on finding your way around the heavens, tips on observing the four brightest naked eye planets, a very nice guide to observing the Moon, complete with detailed lunar maps with features labeled, and star charts for each month of the year.

The attention to detail and practicality are notable. For example, the Moon maps are made large enough to show quite a bit of detail. This necessitates them being printed as roughly half a hemisphere per page. Instead of losing detail in the margins of some of the most interesting features on the lunar surface, the maps overlap quite a bit. This is a handy feature that could easily have been overlooked by less experienced or detail oriented authors or publishers.

Everyone you show the Moon to wants to know where the astronauts landed. In answer to this, the sky guide Moon maps show the locations of the landings of Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 (remember Apollo 13 never made it to the surface, “Houston, we have a problem!”)

The real meat and potatoes of the book are the monthly sky charts, depicting the stars, constellations, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies that are visible to the observer with the unaided eye, binoculars or a small telescope. Thee is also a description of the location and brightness of Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn each month from 2010 to 2014, so this book will serve readers well for the next five years. Also listed are lunar and solar eclipses, and meteor showers visible for each month for the next five years.

The star maps are first quality and should make the beginner or intermediate observer anxious to go check out what can be seen each month. I’ve been observing the sky for nearly forty years and I find them to be a pleasure to look at and use. Wil Tirion is widely considered the leading celestial cartographer of our time. This night sky guide is just another example of why.

Featured each month are star maps and text highlighting a particular constellation or region of the sky. January features Orion and all the wonderful nebulae and clusters visible to binoculars and small telescopes. The text is well written and scientifically accurate in every aspect. I expected nothing less from the editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy and Norton’s Star Atlas.

If you have a young person or friend you would like to share your love of astronomy with, get them a pair of binoculars and this book and you’ll have a star gazing friend for life.

Steve is an interesting guy and this is an interesting interview. The version at 365 Days of Astronomy is the short version. The extended version is on the feed as well as below.

Enjoy!

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

see it at :

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1946595_2010965,00.html

You can get the the Full size 7227 samples x 3847 lines image, or smaller sizes too,
here: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11667

or
http://ciclops.org/view/5773/The_Rite_of_Spring

It make’s a great desktop image.

Thanks Cassini and Carolyn Porco

–Ben

Our topic is heat and we discuss heat, temperature, thermodynamics, black bodies and associated hot topics.

Listen now:

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=28&month=11&year=2009

and scroll down to the ‘SPACESHIP SIGHTINGS:’

then to ‘more images:’ paragraph then in mid paragraph…

ta-da…

If you want to see an animated GIF of the event check out :

http://freemars.org/mnfan/MNSFS/2009-11-26-ISS-STS-129-Pass/ISS-STS-129-pass-2009-11-26.gif

6Mb file.

other info here:

http://freemars.org/mnfan/MNSFS/2009-11-26-ISS-STS-129-Pass/

–Ben
still trying to get my 15 min of fame.

So here, then, is Michael Koppelman, Doug Welch and Mike Simonsen, for your listening pleasure, presenting the Slacker Astronomy podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

This year, say it in stars! Send your friends and relatives best wishes for the season with our printable holiday cards. Messages of joy and peace are illuminated by the natural splendor of the universe. The cards are designed to be printed out at photo stores or online photo labs, though you can also use a home printer.

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/holiday/

Poke around those and you might find some entertainment. For example, there is this little gem of an interview with David Levy!

As always, let us know what you think in the comments or email us.

too bad GRO isn’t around any more

–Ben

NASA’s Great Observatories Celebrate International Year of Astronomy

November 10, 2009: A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our
Milky Way galaxy is being unveiled by NASA on Nov. 10. This event will
commemorate the 400 years since Galileo first turned his telescope to the
heavens in 1609. In celebration of this International Year of Astronomy,

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/28/

http://home.arcor.de/axel.mellinger/

======================
November 1, 2009

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Here’s a reminder that tomorrow (Mon) sees the first of two Cassini close flybys this month of the moon Enceladus. Images should start arriving here at CICLOPS around 12:30 pm Mountain Standard Time tomorrow; we’ll post the best raw images as soon as we are able at:

http://ciclops.org

The finest resolution will be approximately 60 meters/pixel of the south polar terrain.

And the next flyby, which is specifically designed for high resolution imaging, will occur on November 21, when the best resolution will be about 12 meters/pixel.

Enceladus remains a very high priority object of interest for the Cassini mission, and we look forward to these fine opportunities to learn more about its active south polar cap.

Also, for those of you in the San Francisco Bay area, I will be giving a public lecture at the Morrison Planetarium of the California Academy of Sciences on December 7, 2009 at 7:30 pm.

http://www.calacademy.org/events/?e=268&d=07&m=12&y=2009

Hope to see you there!

Enjoy,

Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
Director, CICLOPS
Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO

http://twitter.com/carolynporco
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carolyn-Porco/116163229386

here is a local TV story on it.

http://www.ksat.com/video/21243470/index.html

more at bad astro
http://www.bautforum.com/astronomical-observing-equipment-accessories/95619-30-telescope-stolen.html#post1608705

–Ben

find a nearby event

http://www.galileannights.org/

or make your own event!

and party like its 1609!

Four hundred years since Galileo’s telescopic observations revolutionized our view of the Universe, the public will once again be turning their attention to the heavens. People all around the world are encouraged to take part in Galilean Nights activities on 22-24 October 2009 and experience for themselves the same sense of awe and wonder that Galileo must have felt.

The aim of the IYA2009 is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science under the central theme‚’The Universe, Yours to Discover’. IYA2009 events and activities will promote a greater appreciation of the inspirational aspects of astronomy that embody an invaluable shared resource for all countries.

–Ben

You should subscribe to the feed, subscribe via iTunes or just listen or download below.

Send us your questions! Buy a t-shirt!

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

–Ben

13-Oct-2009: A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what
appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the
result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way
smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic
collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years
away in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab)…

http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0912.html

=============================================

Ever Wonder What Every Space Mission From the Last 50 Years Looks Like on One Map?

Well, here it is. National Geographic has plotted the route of every space mission carried out over the last 50 years onto a map of the solar system, giving a nice visual look at the history of space travel.

Each line represents a different space mission, highlighting notable missions, including those from different countries, those of historical significance, and those which have failed. (The map doesn’t seem to make note of the recent LCROSS mission, where a rocket plowed into the moon to probe for water.)

Did you know there have been three more missions to Venus more than Mars (43 to 40)? Check out the whole thing for yourself here.

More at:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-10/ever-wonder-what-every-space-mission-last-50-years-looks-one-map

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/4002050596_0c2b6c4dd2_o.jpg

This fascinating graphic by Sean McNaughton at National Geographic shows all interplanetary missions since the dawn of ths Space age.

Charting The Solar System

Download large version

So it is freaking awesome that the 2 fellows who invented the CCD were just given the Nobel Prize in Physics!

From Cnet:

Working at Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1969, Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith built the first CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). Using the photoelectric effect theorized by Albert Einstein, the sensor transforms light into electric signals. The team’s major hurdle was determining how to gather and read out those signals into a large number of pixels in a short burst of time.

Congratulations, gentlemen, and thank you!

The podcast features the usual crew — Michael Koppelman, Doug Welch and Mike Simonsen and includes an interview with Dr. Edward Guinan and Scott Engle from Villanova University.

A quick summary of Polaris facts:

1. Polaris is not the brightest star in the sky.
2. Polaris is in the north.
3. Polaris hasn’t always been and won’t always be the north star.
4. Polaris is a variable star of a type known as Cepheids, which have been important stars in understanding cosmic distance scales.

Subscribe to the feed or listen now using the player below.

UPDATE: Mike Simonsen has a nice photo of Ed Guinan and a link to more discussion on Polaris.

The Trilogy is Complete — GigaGalaxy Zoom Phase 3

The third image of ESO’s GigaGalaxy Zoom project has just been released online, completing this eye-opening dive into our galactic home in outstanding fashion. The latest image follows on from views, released over the last two weeks, of the sky as seen with the unaided eye and through an amateur telescope. This third instalment provides another breathtaking vista of an astronomical object, this time a 370-million-pixel view of the Lagoon Nebula of the quality and depth needed by professional astronomers in their quest to understand our Universe.

370-million-pixel starscape
of the Lagoon Nebula

http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2009/pr-36-09.html

http://www.gigagalaxyzoom.org/

I Haven’t seen them due to clouds over my house but SOHO has.

Nice one at the 8:00 position.

–Ben

The Very Latest SOHO Images

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html

VERY COOL satellite.

“…Planck the coldest object in space at just 0.1° above absolute zero (-273.15°C)…”

–Ben

First Light Survey results confirm excellent performance

The Planck space observatory, ESA’s mission to study the early Universe, has successfully completed its initial test survey of the sky, confirming that both of the scientific instruments and the sophisticated cryogenics, all of which the UK played a key role in building, are working well. Following the successful survey, Planck has now embarked on its 15 month mission to map the structure of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) – the relic radiation from the Big Bang…

…The Planck satellite was launched along with the Herschel satellite on 14th May 2009 from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket. During its 6 week journey to its observation point around L2, 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from Earth, the scientific instruments were cooled to extremely low temperatures, making Planck the coldest object in space at just 0.1° above absolute zero (-273.15°C). It took around 6 weeks for Planck to cool down to these low temperatures, after which a further 6 weeks were spent calibrating the instruments…

http://planck.cf.ac.uk/node/136

==============
Smallest exoplanet is shown to be a solid, rocky world

*The confirmation of the nature of CoRoT-7b as the first rocky planet outside our Solar System marks a significant step forward in the search for Earth-like exoplanets. The detection by CoRoT and follow-up radial velocity measurements with HARPS suggest that this exoplanet, CoRoT-7b, has a density similar to that of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth making it only the fifth known terrestrial planet in the Universe.

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=45518

–Ben

ESO unveils an amazing, interactive, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire night sky

The first of three images of ESO’s GigaGalaxy Zoom project — a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO’s observing sites in Chile — has just been released online. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world.

This 360-degree panoramic image, covering the entire celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet. This gorgeous starscape serves as the first of three extremely high-resolution images featured in the GigaGalaxy Zoom project, launched by ESO within the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). GigaGalaxy Zoom features a web tool that allows users to take a breathtaking dive into our Milky Way. With this tool users can learn more about many different and exciting objects in the image, such as multicoloured nebulae and exploding stars, just by clicking on them. In this way, the project seeks to link the sky we can all see with the deep, “hidden” cosmos that astronomers study on a daily basis. The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at ESO’s sites in Chile, which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world.

http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2009/pr-32-09.html

Great NEW shots of NGC 6302 (Butterfly Nebula, Bug Nebula), Jet in Carina, Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) & Stephan’s Quintet

They are cool… as all HST images are.

–Ben
==========================
Hubble Opens New Eyes on the Universe

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2009/25/

Audiences to Accompany Spacewalking Astronauts as They Perform the Final Upgrade to the Hubble Space Telescope

IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq:IMAX) (TSX:IMX), and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Hubble 3D will be released exclusively in IMAX(R) and IMAX(R) 3D theatres worldwide beginning March 19, 2010, with expansion to additional IMAX locations on April 23rd, timed to the Hubble Space Telescope’s 20th Anniversary.

The IMAX 3D camera, which flew onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, captured stunning 3D images of the intricate spacewalks required to service the telescope during the most recent mission last May. Shot by the STS-125 astronauts, this intimate look at the complexities of repairing the telescope will put IMAX audiences right there along-side the spacewalking astronauts. Hubble 3D will combine this awe-inspiring IMAX footage with breathtaking up-close imagery of distant galaxies, the birth of stars and planets, and more — revealing the cosmos as never before.

“We have waited a long time to get the IMAX camera back into space and finally the opportunity came with the amazing final repair mission of the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Toni Myers, director, producer and editor of the film. “In Hubble 3D, audiences will be able to float in space alongside the astronauts as they perform the repairs and upgrades to the telescope, and then fly to the edge of the universe, through its first new images. Hubble’s incredible legacy changes the way we see and think about the universe, and it is an honor to give people a chance to experience its breath-taking images in IMAX 3D.”

On Wednesday, September 9th, NASA will unveil the first images from the newly re-furbished Hubble Space Telescope. Visit www.nasa.gov for more information.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=29129

You also may have noticed some new blog posts by Ben Huset. Ben is an avid follower of space and astronomy news and tidbits and he will be posting some of his findings on the blog. If you’ve gotten used to the fact that we don’t post much on the blog, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Make sure to subscribe to the blog’s RSS or Atom feed to get the latest from Ben.

Remember that the door is always open to you, too! Send us some audio, show ideas, questions or challenges and we will do what we can to do something entertaining with it.

New show in the works, so stay tuned! You haven’t heard the last of Aaron, Rebecca and Travis either…(queue suspenseful music)

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/09/01/satellite-images-of-california-wildfires-mt-wilson-update/

Interesting fire blog posts by /Hal McAlister, Director /CHARA Array @ /Mt Wilson /on (http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/fire.php)

fire map here
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/

Mt Wilson is on the SE edge of the fire

*The Mount Wilson webserver has gone down, most likely due to a backfire infiltration of a pull box containing telephone lines that bring us our T1 internet service. The will be no more updates from the Towercam, the last one being upoaded at 13:49:06.

All news updates have now been moved to a different server and are posted here .

Last picture from Mt Wilson webcam posted here
http://mwcam.pna.ucla.edu/towercam.htm

–Ben

==========================

Catalina Sky Survey Spawns Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey

The Catalina Sky Survey detects potentially hazardous asteroids and comets. Now a spin-off survey is finding a windfall of “optical transients” in the same data…

…Thanks to the $890,000 NSF grant awarded this month, the CRTS team soon will construct a Web site that will make roughly 10 terabytes of data taken by the Catalina Sky Survey over the past five years –- as well all new CSS data that continues to stream in — available over the Internet to astronomers worldwide, professional and amateur.

The Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey will be the first and only fully public synoptic sky survey, team members say. It’s a bargain-rate boon to astronomers who are trying to figure out how to manage enormous data streams to be delivered by future synoptic sky survey telescopes…

…Researchers will be able to compare real-time CSS images to any image in the 5-year CSS archive…

http://uanews.org/node/26922

http://crts.caltech.edu/

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/css/

“…Driven by high winds, flames continued to burn out of control high in the mountains as they neared the Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory and onsite communication towers.

“It’s a serious situation,” said Bob Shindelar, operations branch director of California Incident Management Team 5. “Is the observatory going to make it? We’re doing everything in our power. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is impacted by fire today or tomorrow.” …

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/huge-amounts-of-forest-lost-to-station-fire.html

But you would look even more hot if you were wearing one of our Slacker Astronomy t-shirts. The price includes shipping and 100% of the profits go directly to the production of this podcast. We don’t make any money doing this and we actually couldn’t afford to do this at all except for the generous on-going bandwidth donation from Clockwork.

So please buy a t-shirt if that’s your thing or click the Tip Jar button on the right to provide whatever support you can muster. Thank you in advance and we hope you are enjoying the podcast!

We have a new podcast on the feed! Refresh your iTunes and/or click below to listen. This episode features chatter from Michael, Doug and Mike. Topics include:

• Citizen Sky
• Jupiter Impact
• Galileo Scope
• Mars
• Scorpius
• Starhunt
• Super Planetary Nebula
• Stardust@Home
• Active SETI

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Its REALLY hard to explore beyond Mars if you have to drag a few football fields of solar panels with you.

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/08/10/nasa-may-have-to-revamp-science-without-rtgs/

Doug and I have been underwater lately. Sorry about the lack of new shows! But the gears have been turning and we will have new shows, new blog posts and new new new fun fun fun things coming around the bend in the not-so-distant-future.

So stay tuned!

Got a question or show idea? Email us!

Hi, all. Been a long time! I’m starting my fourth year in grad school and beginning dissertation work. The end is within sight, after which I hope to return to some level of activity. I’m using what few brain cells are left to think up some new, crazy stuff. But until that day eventually comes, I wanted to let you know about this other, crazy new project I’ve begun at my work: Citizen Sky.

This is not your average citizen science project. We are not asking simply for data. We also want to help YOU analyze the data and to help YOU publish YOUR results in professional journals! The idea is that citizen scientists get to experience the entire scientific process, not just one stage.

To help, we are developing tutorials, java-based analysis software with slick GUIs, building online collaborative tools, etc. We are also holding two public workshops. The first is this August at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. That one is focused on data collection and E/PO. The second will be at the California Academies of Science in San Francisco in spring, 2010. That one will be focused on analysis and paper writing. Travel grants are available for each.

Our scientific target is epsilon Aurigae, a VERY bright star that undergoes an eclipse about every 27 years. No one understands the eclipse and there are some neat theories, include one that involves swallowing planets. The system is too bright for the vast majority of professional (and even amateur) telescopes, so we are recruiting the public to monitor the 1-2 year eclipse. Hence the citizen, in citizen science.

This is a big project. We needed the National Science Foundation to fund a grant proposal so we could do it all. The proposal itself took months for me to write, with help from a small army of collaborators. Now the NSF is going to fund us to run this project for 3 years and then, hopefully, expand into other citizen science projects. But the core is this: we want your help as real scientists, more than just data collectors (although you can stick with that if you want).

If interested, register for an account at Citizen Sky. Lots of new announcements will be posted there soon, including the opening of public forums similar to the old ones we had here once upon a time.

Doug and I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Dr. Evalyn Gates, Assistant Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. She studies white dwarfs (dwarves?), dark matter, cosmic strings, black holes and she recently wrote a book on gravitational lensing, Einstein’s Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe.

You should, of course, subscribe! But a good plan otherwise is to listen or download below!

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Universe Today reports that this technique was successful in finding a planet orbiting another star. They measured the star wobbling back and forth across their images over a 12-year time period. The star is 20 light years away, which is pretty close in astronomical terms, but it is also small, cool and dim, compared to the sun.

So that’s cool. That makes for at least 2 good planet-finding techniques using only imaging, something you can do from your backyard.

I, too, have recollections of great photometrists, having spent time with Dr. Arne Henden and, more recently, Dr. Arlo Landolt. It is a strange science that has given us a great deal of insight into our universe and stars in particular.

From http://hubblesite.org/servicing_mission_4/

As you know, it is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) as well as the 400th anniversary of the astronomical telescope. There is a very cool telescope that is part of these celebrations, the Galileoscope, and it is only $15 and takes just a few minutes to assemble.

If you are an educator, troop leader or other person in front of young people, you can order the scopes in bulk and receive a discount. Or, if you are a generous sort, you could buy some for your school, church or club. If you order > 99 they cost only $12.50 each!

This is a great project. None of us are doing this for the money. This is not a commercial. This is a great learning experience just waiting to happen and/or just a cool little toy to own.

Buy some!

Download or listen now!

(picked this up from Dick’s Rocket Dungeon)

We have a new podcast heading your way soon!

In Part I we presented 2 interviews from Mike Simonsen of Simostronomy (and the AAVSO) from a conference he attended recently, Wild Stars in the Old West II . Mike has blogged extensively about this.

In this episode we present 3 new interviews with professional astronomers about cataclysmic variable stars. Christopher Tout, Paula Szkody and Boris Gaensicke discuss their work and ideas from the conference. It can be heavy stuff at times but gives a fascinating insight into the world of stellar astrophysics.

Many thanks to Mike Simonsen for bringing us these interviews! He is a fun guy to talk to. We’ll be hearing more from Mike!

Click below to listen now or download to your hard drive.

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

The 100 Hours of Astronomy is going on right now! Go see what is near you!

I have to say, we are in good company! On the list in positions 1 through 4 are Phil “Please Digg This” Plait, Alan Boyle of Cosmic Log, who seems like a very smart guy despite the fact that he is an actual journalist, Astronomy Blog, manned by the Brit, Stuart, who is a nice fellow who speaks the Queen’s English and NASA Watch, a web site which does not have any connection whatsoever with, endorsement by, or authorization from, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration nor does any product or service being offered or made available to the public have the authorization, support, sponsorship, or endorsement of, or the development, use, or manufacture by or on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

And then, gloriously, the heaven’s part, angels sing, John Williams conducts and Slacker Astronomy is listed as #5! By this one guy! Sah-weet!

So thank you, some guy. You are tops #5 in our book, too.

• 2008 TC3
• Mars
• Hubble
• 100 Hours of Astronomy
• Simostronomy
• Cataclysmic variable stars
  including an interview with Brad Schaefer and another interview with Steve Howell
• the ISS

If you aren’t smart enough to subscribe you can just click below to listen now or download to your hard drive.

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Eta Carinae is an enigma. Look it up, it totally is. And it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon! The image at right shows 3 cycles of the X-ray light curve. You can see the most recent event is quite different than previous events. We are watching one of the most massive stars possible changing on ridiculously short times scales.

What is going on? We don’t know.

People familiar with Slacker Astronomy have probably heard of Dr. Roberta Humphreys from my interviews with her. She is a professional astronomer at the University of Minnesota and she is a very well-connected and influential astronomer.

When Roberta Humphreys arrived at the University in 1972, the newly hired 28-year-old assistant professor of astronomy was, as she recalls, “the fifth and youngest woman faculty member in IT.

Her accolades are seriously impressive:

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR 2001-, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2002-2007; Fellow, AAAS 1980, Humboldt Senior Scientist Award, Federal Republic of Germany, 1988, George W. Taylor Research Award, Institute of Technology, 1985. AAS Tinsley Prize Committee 1994-96, Chair 1995-96; AAS Nominating Committee 1998-2000, Chair, 2000; NASA UV/Optical Review Panel 1995; NASA Senior Review (Office of Space Science) 2001; NASA Senior Review (The Universe) 2006; NSF Special Review for AURA 2000, NSF Special Review Panel for ITR/NVO 2001; NVO Science Definition Team 2001-02; University of Minnesota Member Representative to AURA 2001- 2010, AURA Nominating Committee 2006, Space Telescope Institute Council (AURA) 2004-2010. Senate/Faculty Consultative Committee 1995-96, 1998-2000, Vice-Chair University/Faculty senate 1995-96, 1999-2000;

I am writing about her for several reasons. She has been very kind and supportive of me, a lowly amateur astronomer who wanted to get involved with professional research. She is discussed in the book Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos about her time working with (and disagreeing with) Sandage on the determination the Hubble constant. The “Humphreys-Davidson Limit“, an empirical upper limit of the mass of stars which can become a red supergiant, is named after her and her husband, Dr. Kris Davidson. She is someone that everyone in the astronomical world knows is formidable and not to be trifled with. She is a consummate professional and a brilliant astronomer. Her work on massive stars is unequaled.

Further, she has worked her entire career not just on astronomy but on broadening the role of women in science in general.

She is a (short) giant and I am very grateful that I have been able to work with her and get to know her.

It was almost like looking at old love letters. I felt sad and nostalgic. These were the love letters that started my love affair with astronomy. After my girlfriend got me a telescope, I became an absolutely voracious amateur astronomer. I was part of the “every clear night club” — heading out to observe every clear night, regardless of the temperature, often observing in temperatures -15F (-26C). I eventually built an observatory, spent a fair amount of money on a great telescope, mount and CCD camera and started imaging and eventually doing photometry.

But that’s not all! I joined the Minnesota Astronomical Society, the AAVSO, the AAS (eventually) and the ASP. I started doing research in the department at the University of Minnesota. I started taking calculus and physics classes, eventually getting a BS in Astrophysics.

I got the bug big time.

When all of this started I was single. Eventually I got married and had one kid and then another. I started a new business along the way, which grew from $0 in revenue to $5M and from 4 people to 35. So my life, during my quest to learn as much as I could about astronomy, changed a lot. Suffice to say, I am no longer a member of the “every clear night club”. I’ve also satisfied a lot of my initial curiosity about astronomy. I got a BS in Astrophysics because I wanted to know how math could explain stars. I took classes on stars, galaxies, cosmology, computational physics — it was awesome. I learned (to some minor extent) about things like thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and relativity. I could read entire paragraphs of Chandrasakar and understand it!

I also got gigabytes of data at my observatory. I plotted light curves, made periodograms and Fourier spectra. I wrote code to reduce data, learned IRAF and presented posters at professional meetings. I even got involved with Slacker Astronomy!

I’m not bragging, in case that is what it seems. I still know much less than every PhD student of astronomy in the world. I’m no genius and am probably not particularly gifted at astrophysics. But I love it and I loved learning about it.

But in some small way I burned out. The pressure of going to my observatory (which is 45 minutes away by car) while taking classes and going to meetings, all the while raising a family and building a business, was too much. Eventually my observing had to go — I couldn’t keep up with my classes and be up all night. Then, after I got my degree, I found I still wasn’t observing much, and when I did, I didn’t even bother to reduce the data.

What had happened to me? Did this love affair with astronomy die…?

The answer, I know, is no. There is a time for everything and there is nothing to be gained by trying to cram things in when it doesn’t feel right. I need to take care of my family and my business. In the meantime, I am exploring hobbies that I can enjoy closer to home. Someday…a day I look forward to very much…I will live in a place where my observatory can be in my backyard. Someday my kids will grow up, my business will be sold and I will be back in my mistress’s arms again, through the long, beautiful night.

Enjoy!

Part 1:

Part 2:

These episodes of Slacker Astronomy were also brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online postgraduate degree programs in astronomy.

We have some new podcasts in the works…check the feed soon for some new audio.

Busy busy!

M.

You, as their constituent, have more voice than you are probably aware. If you go to your City Council or equivalent they will listen to you. They won’t necessarily act in your favor but they will, for sure, listen to you.

Light pollution is a lose-lose scenario. Said more positively, smart lighting saves money and is more safe than lights which create light pollution. You don’t have to be an astronomer to understand that light should be directed where needed and should not shine where/when it is not needed or unwelcome. To me, that is just obvious.

So the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) is doing a very, very smart thing. They are creating a model lighting ordinance that you can propose to your City Council. Just print it out, go to a meeting (or even meet with City Councilors individually) and tell them you want them to put this on the agenda, debate it and bring it to a vote. Insist that they do so. If they seem unwilling to listen to you, get a bunch of your neighbors to sign a petition saying you insist that they consider adopting an ordinance based on the model lighting ordinance.

The IDA is currently seeking feedback on the model lighting ordinance. If you are an astronomer, a developer, a corporation, lobbyist, public servant or someone who lives somewhere, take a moment to read the ordinance and let the IDA know if you think it can be improved.

I really believe that we can ultimately win the war against light pollution and bring the beauty of the night sky back to our cities. At the same time we will be safer and we’ll be saving money. I applaud the IDA for working towards this goal.

Listen now!

This episode of Slacker Astronomy is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online postgraduate degree programs in astronomy.

Check out some of these titles:

Armchair Astronauts Exploring the Solar System
Five Years of Spirit on Mars
Galileo Discovers Jupiter’s Moons, Going to Disneyworld
Gosh, Dim It All!
Have a Plan
How to be an Armchair Astronaut
January’s Garnet Star
Massive Stars with Dr. Roberta Humphreys
Observing Quasars with Nature’s Telescope
Pulsars
Radio Astronomy. What’s That
Space Telescope of the Future: The Space Interferometry Mission
The Link Between Beer and Space Settlement
The Man Who Beat Galileo
The North Star
The Seasons and Solar System Geometry
The Spacewriter’s Top Ten Reasons Why Stargazing is Cool
Tips For Your First Telescope
Understanding Variable Stars
Voyage Past the Sideways Planet
What is Astrobiology
Who Ordered the Dark Matter and Dark Energy

It’s all been really great stuff. Maybe I’ll link those titles when I have time.

Anyway, if you are not listening, it’s not too late. Since the podcasts are only 10 minutes or so, you can listen to a week’s worth in about an hour.

So get on it!

If Apple can’t survive without Steve Jobs Apple can’t survive. I hope Steve Jobs is at Apple for another couple of decades, but if he has to leave the leadership of the company, I am confident he has created a company and a culture that will survive him and thrive after he moves on.

Aaron and I got a chance to interview Dr. Michael Turner, the cosmologist who coined the term “dark energy”. Dr. Turner shares his views on dark energy, cosmology and science in general in this 25 minute audio interview.

Favorite quote: the description of the universe as The Clash of the Dark Titans. He also predicts that in 10 years we will have dark matter pretty much figured out and will have made significant strides in understanding dark energy.

Tune in for AAS 2019 to find out if he is correct!

Listen now:

So if you are within driving distance of the Rock Bottom Brewery in Long Beach, CA, USA, stop by and say hi!

You can also follow the action on Twitter.

[A] team of scientists says it has found new evidence that a comet triggered [an] extinction …13,000 years ago, when humans were around to witness the event and suffer its terrible consequences.

The researchers also think that when the comet exploded above the planet’s surface—ultimately killing off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and other large mammals that roamed North America…

The paper, published in Science magazine, is also discussed at Scientific American.

If you haven’t already, you should head over to http://365daysofastronomy.org/ and subscribe to the daily astronomy podcast. The first episode is on the feed with another scheduled to publish tomorrow, and so on, every day for the rest of the year.

There’s also a calendar of events which is growing every day. Lots to see and do!

Doug interviews Ken Mogul, who has been using the Global Rent-a-Scope system to observe variable stars from his bed. Doug and I also discuss some random topics including some interesting papers on astro-ph.

Here’s some links from the interview:

Global-Rent-a-Scope Grant Program for High-School Students

Global-Rent-a-Scope

AAVSO

Mike Simonsen’s Blog

Astronomy Cast

Important paper on Type II and Anomalous Cepheids in the LMC

Listen now! Podcast Interview: Ken Mogul (MP3, 39.8MB, 43:22)

Or better yet, subscribe!

Check out our upcoming January 5th podcast on The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast.

Two Eyes, 3D

It’s about stereoscopic vision and technology, what most people associated with “3D glasses”. It’s the center of my research interest in grad school. So if you are into that sort of stuff, check it out.

I guess it will have something to do with astronomy. My first stereoscopic research was done at the Adler Planetarium (hopefully to be published soon so you can read it) and my next research will likely involve galaxy simulations. I’ll describe it all in detail at the other blog. And I hope to write more for Slacker also. I’m done with classes in grad school now!

In summary:

Maximum Altitude Definition of 150 kilometers or 492,120 feet. This is in place of old rules about the maximum burn time below.
Suborbital Requirement. You can’t go into orbit without upping the amount of papework!
Not Cross International Boundary. Related to the above, you can’t cross borders with your rockets.
Elimination of Burn Time and Ballistic Coefficient Requirements. You don’t have to compute the density of your rocket or limit it by burn time.
Revision of Amateur Rocket Classes. There are now 4 classes of rockets, “Model”, “High-Power Rockets, “Advanced High-Power Rockets” and “Other”. The model rocket category no longer requires any notification to the FAA for launches. The maximum weight of a model rocket has gone from 16 oz. to 53 oz. and the maximum propellent from 4 oz. to 4.4 oz.

Here is a screenshot of the new classes of rockets:

All in all it looks like pretty good news for amateur rocketeers, especially those flying smaller rockets.

The article at The New Scientist makes a good point for commercial rocket programs as well:

The main importance of this for the entrepreneurial space community is the removal of the burn-time limit. With that change, many small rocket vehicles qualify as amateur rockets, at least for early development testing.

Now if we could only get the ATF to lighten up on the hobby.

As listeners know, I like to critique poor astronomy press releases. Part of the problem stems from writers who base entire articles on those press releases, with doing no vetting on their own. Can you imagine if political writers did that? They do? Okay, you’re making it hard to make my point, so I’ll distract you with shiny things and dangling string and get back to the topic at hand…

I want to throw a shout out to Clara Moskowitz at Wired.com for this article. It is a very simple article about naked eye astronomy this week. I find it a practically perfect astronomy piece. It doesn’t hype it but it still puts the event in perspective. It’s clear, correct and to-the-point. This conjunction was especially beautiful and I know many non-astro friends who commented on it to me. It was so well placed that the public was interested. Look at the comments she got on that post: 81 vs. the comments she got on her most recent post before that: 10. A story like hers will be a great gateway for the general public to learn a bit more – and perhaps come back later for more.

I only took points off for the obligatory Star of Bethlehem reference that every astronomy news outlet trots out every twelve months. But I can hardly fault her for getting into the Christmas spirit.

I haven’t read her stories before, so I’ve bookmarked her column and look forward to more. I checked out a couple of her most recent and they seem similarly clear, with some light humor thrown into each piece. She seems especially handy at headline writing.

Kudos to Clara. Wired, take care of her!

Michael and Doug ramble through a random selection of topics including Mars Phoenix, Hubble and iPhone rockets. Then the main event — a great interview with Dr. JJ Kavelaars about Kuiper Belt objects and specifically the discovery of 2008 KV₄₂, “the first ever trans-neptunian object known to orbit backwards around the Sun”.

Interview: JJ Kavelaars and 2008 KV₄₂(MP3, 44.6MB, 01:04:49)

The interview starts at 22:45 if you want to get right to it.

This is a little video from a project I’ve been working on. It’s, um, kinda-sorta related to space and stuff?

I could go on and on about Eta Car. It’s a fascinating system and one of the likely candidates for a nearby supernova in our lifetimes. For more info, a great place to start is the HST Treasury Program on Eta Carinae.

We have a new podcast on the feed, recorded on lovely Nantucket island during the fall AAVSO meeting. Aaron, Doug and I have a casual chat about a myriad of astronomical topics. Then we join Doug Welch as he interviews his old friend Dr. Geoff Clayton, an expert on R Coronae Borealis stars. We also have that interview on video.

Listen now! (MP3, 33.4MB, 36:18, Show Notes)

* 1664 Isaac Barrow
* 1669 Sir Isaac Newton
* 1702 William Whiston
* 1711 Nicholas Saunderson
* 1739 John Colson
* 1760 Edward Waring
* 1798 Isaac Milner
* 1820 Robert Woodhouse
* 1822 Thomas Turton
* 1826 Sir George Biddell Airy
* 1828 Charles Babbage
* 1839 Joshua King
* 1849 Sir George Stokes
* 1903 Sir Joseph Larmor
* 1932 Paul Dirac
* 1969 Sir James Lighthill
* 1979 Stephen Hawking

I wonder who is next?

PS – there’s a new podcast on the feed. Will be posting it here soon.

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.

If you like astronomy and you like listening to podcasts then 2009 is going to be a very, very good year for you. Slacker Astronomy is going to be a strong supporter and contributor to The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast, the Daily Podcast of the IYA.

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is a project that will publish one podcast per day, 5 to 10 minutes in duration, for all 365 days of 2009. The podcast will be made available through an RSS feed. The podcast episodes will be written, recorded and produced by people around the world.
…
We are looking for individuals, schools, companies and clubs to provide 5 – 10 minutes of audio for our daily podcast. You can do as few as 1 episode or up to 12 episodes (one per month, subject, of course, to our editorial discretion). Our goal is to encourage people to sign up for a particular day (or days) of 2009.

So tell your mom, dad, child, grandfather, friend, school, troop, club or friend that you want to make one measly 10 minute podcast about astronomy to help out and, perhaps, be famous.

Ears around the world are counting on you.

So join in!

We posted a new podcast to the feed a few days ago, full of fascinating insights, knee-slapping humor and Nobel-prize worthy oratory. You can’t miss this episode! If you never listen to a podcast again in your life, it will be OK if you listen to this episode. This is no joke, people, we even included 13 extra minutes FOR FREE. You won’t see an offer like this again. So act now!

Another Slacker Chat (MP3, 32.0MB, 46:27, Show Notes)

Hubble Space Telescope malfunctions, space shuttle repair mission uncertain, NASA says

I wanted to post the cartoon in this post but they probably don’t like that.

The 46 billion year part is only off by a factor of 4 or so.

In the meantime, I was thinking, it’s time to solicit openly what we’ve all been thinking — why is there no asteroid named “slacker” or “slackerastronomy”? We need some ambitious and slightly demented asteroid chaser to step up to the table and name an asteroid after us! Don’t you agree?

Cassini images reveal the existence of a faint arc of material orbiting with Saturn’s small moon Anthe.

The moon is moving downward and to the right in this perspective. In this image, most of the visible material in the arc lies ahead of Anthe (2 kilometers, 1 mile across) in its orbit. However, over time the moon drifts slowly back and forth with respect to the arc.

The arc extends over about 20 degrees in longitude (about 5.5 percent of Anthe’s orbit) and appears to be associated with a gravitational resonance caused by the moon Mimas. Micrometeoroid impacts on Anthe are the likely source of the arc material.

Also available in MP4 format.