TRENDING THIS WEEK
#meteorshowers #meteors #satellites
Earth-asteroid Encounters This Week
- Asteroid Date (UT) Distance size (m)
- 2015 MA54 2023-Jul-24 16.6 LD 31
- 2023 OW 2023-Jul-25 19.8 LD 40
- 2018 BG5 2023-Jul-27 10.8 LD 56
- 2020 PP1 2023-Jul-29 17 LD 17
- 2021 BD3 2023-Jul-30 14 LD 25
Data from Spaceweather.com
The Perseid meteor shower will be active from 17 July to 24 August.
The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
https://www.spacecentre.ca/
There are more than 4,000 planetariums worldwide. Each one is unique. This is an impressive place to visit. I have been there a couple of times, and each visit was a new experience. The planetarium has several different shows with a variety of ages recommended for each. There is something for everyone and especially young people interested in exploring our universe. Tickets to shows at this time run $19.75 with those under 5 years old free.
Besides the planetarium shows, there are interactive exhibits to get a 'hands on' understanding of space, climate, light and the potential for life on other planets.
Next door to the Space Centre is the Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory. The facility is open to the public and staffed with guides to answer questions. A 1/2-meter Cassegrain telescope is available for you to see the night skies above Vancouver.
Isa's Astrophotography Atelier
https://isasastroatelier.ch/
Isa calls it "A work in progress". And, what a work it is. As an astrophotographer, Isa is one of a few who share not only the images she takes, but also how she takes them and with what tools.
Beyond her images, she provides her visitors with very complete astronomy guides to assist you in finding and taking the best images possible. The guides have a 'Topic of the Month', Moon phases, Planet visibility info and "Phenomena not to miss". There are table showing the bright stars and where to find them, Galaxies and their locations, Messier objects and Globular and Open star clusters.
The website includes animal and landscape pictures to round out the variety of images that Isa takes. She discusses light pollution and its effect on astrophotography. Isa encourages you to subscribe to her monthly Astronomy Guide.
A great website to visit and as she says, "It's a wonderful journey!"
In Case You Missed It
Eureka! Scientists explore mysteries of black holes with hi-tech bathtub.
Hannah Devlin, Science correspondent for the Guardian, takes us on an interesting journey to 'The Black Hole Laboratory. Run by a pioneer in analogue gravity who has set up a hi-tech bathtub to get a "unique glimpse of the laws of physics". The approach to this work has its critics but there is hope that it will be justified.
The International Astronomical Union gives us a complete guideline for the naming of Exoplanets. They introduce us to the history of searching for planets and how they are designated. There are rules and guides as to what the names should NOT represent. The article includes a long list of Exoplanet names including Astronomical Designation, Citations and Proposers. A list of more information links, acknowledgements and references completes this discussion.
‘Oumuamua: Natural or Artificial?
Jason Wright submits the question and provides claims and evidence for both sides. Presented here are arguments for and against, with both major and minor claims. In the end, testing the science and truths brought forward by the arguments has been a learning experience.
News From Around The Web
Mars Helicopter: Up and at ‘Em
Louisiana Students to Hear from NASA Astronauts Aboard Space Station
Proposed Budgets Cut NASA Funding, Prioritize Artemis Program
Pew Poll: Americans Want Space Program To Focus On Asteroids and Climate More Than Human Spaceflight
First contact with aliens could end in colonization and genocide if we don’t learn from history.
Hubble images a starstruck galaxy
Asteroid-smashing NASA probe sent boulders into space.
Looking for cracks in the standard cosmological model
Utilities Leaders Bank on Satellite IoT to Secure Future of National Power Grids
To stick or to bounce: Size determines the stickiness of cosmic dust aggregates.
Not All Craters are Circular. Sometimes They Look Like This
Life on Earth didn't arise as described in textbooks.
How often do solar eclipses occur?
Chandra Spots ‘Relaxed’ Galaxy Cluster in Distant Universe
'Oumuamua definitely experienced a non-gravitational acceleration, as determined by its position in the sky,...'
ReplyDeleteIt is important to keep in mind that 'Oumuamua followed almost exactly a hyperbolic orbit around the Sun due to gravity alone.
Perhaps it was a gravitational lensing phenomenon. Therefore, the cause of the non-gravitational acceleration was not visible. 😊
The occupation with the cosmos and the planets brings again and again frightening details with itself. The other day I read that nuclear fusion in stars can only be proved because neutrinos are produced in our sun. I was surprised that not even this can be explained, because the thing with the emergence of a neutrino beam in the reactor I find dubious. Surely only the costs for it should get a sense.
ReplyDelete🤣I stick to you like a fly to glue!
ReplyDelete