Saturn's beautiful ring system

Galileo first spied the rings of this planet with his effective but first crude telescope. The Cassini spacecraft, orbiting Saturn, continues to provide breathtaking closeups of the this ringed planet. (if you did not already now, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus also have rings but not as extensive as Saturn's).

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

(if not 6/9/2008 look at archives)

circumhorizon arcs

Atmospheric Optics are unusual colors and sights which appear in the sky under special conditions that may include the sun, mooon, rain and other occurences.
Here is one called
circumhorizon arcs.
6/6/2008 (if not date use archives)
http://www.spaceweather.com/

There might be ice on Mars

There might be ice that was exposed when soil was blown away as NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars last Sunday, May 25. The possible ice appears in an image the robotic arm camera took underneath the lander, near a footpad.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080530.html

Houston we have a problem but the space shuttle is coming to the rescue

Houston we have a problem but the space shuttle is coming to the rescue.

The space shuttle is going up Saturday 5/31. It has a precious cargo to take up to the International Space Station (ISS) - parts for the Russian made toilet, which is not working well. There is only 1 toilet in the ISS and everyone has to use it.

The main toilet onboard the International Space Station is broken. "[It] works for solid waste disposal, but requires additional steps for liquid waste," says Kirk Shireman, deputy ISS program manager at NASA. The procedure for liquid waste "takes two crew members and 10 minutes of maintenance after three flushes."

"It is very inconvenient at this time because it requires a lot of manual intervention," Shireman said.
Fortunately, space shuttle Discovery is set to launch this Saturday with spare parts needed to restore normal operations:.

PS cost of new repair $19 million- and you thought your plumber was expensive!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html
more about toilets FYI
http://www.theplumber.com/closet.html

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Amazing photo taken of descending Mars Pheonix probe and more

SATELLITE ORBITING MARS IMAGED DESCENDING PHOENIX
-------------------------------------------------
Photo showing the spacecraft
descending to the martian surface under its parachute Sunday. The
black-and-white photo, shot by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
spacecraft as it sailed overhead, shows the inflated parachute and the
backshell supporting Phoenix dangling below.

http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/080526mrochute.html

LIVE UPDATES IN OUR MISSION STATUS CENTER:
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/status.html


NASA MANAGERS THRILLED WITH SUCCESSFUL LANDING
----------------------------------------------
Digging for ice within a week or so, NASA officials said early Monday, after engineers complete initial checkout and collect more photos to help characterize the landing site.

http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/080526postland.html


TOUCHDOWN! PHOENIX LANDS ON ARCTIC PLAINS OF MARS
-------------------------------------------------
NASA's Phoenix lander plunged into the martian atmosphere Sunday at 12,700
mph and then used atmospheric friction, a large parachute and finally, 12
individually controlled rocket engines to complete an automated landing
near the red planet's northern polar cap.

http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/080525landing.html

Watch updated latest news about Pheonix mission at this site

Now that the Phoenix craft made it to the surface and has communicated back pictures, the fun has just begun. Watch updated latest news at this site

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/missions.php

First landscape look of Mars by Pheonix lander

First spectacular colored picture of the landscape on Mars at the North Pole. Quite different from other Mars photos.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Old unseen comet plunges into Sun

Photos and movies taken by an old small comet plunging into the town.
http://www.spaceweather.com/
If not 5/25/2008 try archives

Phoenix lands on Mars !!!!

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/

Double rainbow and aurora

May 24, 2008 on spaceweather has some beauty to behold. A photos of double rainbow and aurora

http://www.spaceweather.com/
if not 5/24 goto archives

Watch the ISS (International Space Station ) from where you are

I first saw the ISS (International Space Station ) in the skies south of Kansas City a few years ago. Since then the ISS has expanded and grown even brighter as it reflects more light. Sometimes because of the angle of the light, the ISS can be near the brightness of Venus -2.
Look at this link when the ISS is making a pass over your town/city.

http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/?PHPSESSID=hrlnp3bkbt3hfnl67cj6vcl3e5

Possible discovery of object that may be the link between star and planet

Possible discovery of object that may be the link between star and planet

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM9E91YUFF_index_0.html

Fly over Mars

Click on the opening pictures and you get to view Mars from above as the landscape below flies over the planet. Nice work NASA. Wow!
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080519m.html

satellite-catches-bright-solar-flare on other star!

This is pretty amazing :satellite-catches-bright-solar-flare on other star!

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/19/wow-satellite-catches-bright-solar-flare-%e2%80%93-from-a-another-star/

Barn and Mercury

In Overland Park, Kansas near Olathe KS USA on 151st Street there is this neat lone Barn structure in a huge pasture field once filled with grazing cows. Now this field is giving way to houses, streets and more. I don't know how long this Barn will be around so I wanted to take a photo of it in an astronomical setting before it was demolished. I caught it as Mercury (right above it was sinking in the sky).First time I have photographed Mercury since I first saw it in 1963 in Providence RI one night.I hope to have more photos with the barn but at least I have Mercury with it. Mercury is mercurial and I hope not but I am afraid this barn will be gone soon from sight soon.Taken with Canon Revel EOS , 50 mm lens 6.3 f, 10 seconds.

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS

Long-Lived Lightning Storm discovered on Saturn

Scientists continue to find new discoveries about the dynamic weather system on Saturn and other planets.
posted: 29 April 2008 3:53 pm EDT
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080429-saturn-lightning-storm.html

also
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080327-saturn-hurricanes.html

Fossil sediments in Spain may give clues to what happened to life on Mars

Fossil sediments in Spain may give clues to what happened to life on Mars
A river in Spain may show how signs of life could be preserved on Mars and possibly can give us clues as to possibly life that might have been on mars.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080501-am-mars-life-iron.html

Mars Phoenix will land soon on Mars

If all goes well and we hope it does, the probe/spacecraft/rover will land on Mars in a couple of weeks. Here is more .This should be exciting to supplement the two Rovers still working on Mars and the Mars Express snapping from over head above Mars.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13may_phoenix.htm

7.8-magnitude earthquake rocks China

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns in Sichuan and nearby provinces. Thousands killed in China earthquake.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/huge-quake-kills-thousands-in-china/20080512061409990001

Learn about/ see storms, tornadoes and more

I am helping with a tour and running a weather workshops starting June 1 for a week.

If you are interested in knowing more click on this link
? let me know

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstormguy@aol.com)
http://www.violentskiestours.com/schedule/index.html

Amazing video of tornado in Alabama 5/8/2008

This is one of the most amazing footages I and many other stormchasers have seen. The power of this EF-2 tornado and what it does (I won't spoil it you have to look).

http://www.whnt.com/Global/category.asp?C=6018&nav=menu108_1

Typhoon hits Burma news and picture/video

Some other articles mention 120 to 130 with higher gusts.

"Electricity supplies and telecommunications in Yangon have been cut since late Friday night as the storm bore down from the Bay of Bengal, packing winds of 190-240 kilometres (120-150 miles) per hour.
Some damage description too.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...acleFVUOsIsG8Q


some pics here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...=moreheadlines

Nice closeup view of the Mars' moon Phobos

A really nice closeup view of the Mars' moon Phobos taken from orbiting spacecraft

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080414.html

Young star appears to have

It is interesting to see objects in the heavens that are possible birth places for future extrasolor (beyond Earth) planets). Even young stars are possible candidates. This star 100,000 years old may be forming planets.
BY EMILY BALDWIN
ASTRONOMY NOW
Posted: April 2, 2008
This star is probably less than 100,000 years old


http://www.astronomynow.com/news/080402embryonicplanet/

International Space Station, Endeavor space shuttle and a red surprise photo

I've seen the ISS and Space Shuttle recently. But in 2004, I took an unexpected photo that I nicknamed the "Red Surprise." Comet Ikeya- Zhang was a fine comet in 2004 that I photographed and saw with my naked eye too. I took some pictures with one of the robotic telescope I use and waited for the next days pic. I was the comet in my picture on the right. Since I took it with a red filter there was not much of its tail showing. But what were thought 3 streaks diagonally on the left? I had no clue. So I used my Starry Night Pro software to find out. Finding that date and time, I found part of what I was looking for. A bright stripe with a lesser bright stripe next to it, was the International Space Station (ISS) and the Endeavor space shuttle. But what was the other one. Fiddling with the timer and going forward and backwards on this pass, I found it. A Soviet spacecraft happened to be passing right by in tandem. Fittingly I called it my "Red Surprise". While I've been to Moscow, Space City and had many surprises along the way, this a Soviet Union delight in another celestial and different way!