The Moon is a big sponge

The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out
by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains
on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO
instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how
water is likely being created on the lunar surface.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM8TBYRA0G_index_0.html

vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system

NASA's IBEX spacecraft has discovered a vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system. One mission scientist calls the discovery "shocking" and says theorists are "working like crazy" to explain the finding.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15oct_ibex.htm?list731500

Are Hummingbirds Still Present?

Last couple of years I have seen hummies starting 8/22 for a month but not this year. Here is info about reports and more FYI.

http://webmail.aol.com/28200/aol/en-us/Suite.aspx

NOW Where Are Hummingbirds Still Present? Please Let Us Know!
The coldest air of the season is moving across the continent now. Most hummingbirds have already abandoned the northern states and the Canadian provinces, but some scattered sightings are still being made. When did you see your last hummingbird of the season? Are hummingbirds still present where you live?

Please Report Your Hummingbird Observations:
1) PLEASE REPORT NOW if you are still seeing hummingbirds.
2) Please submit a FINAL REPORT for the date you last saw a hummingbird. CAREFUL! Do not use today's date. Our goal is to show when and where hummingbirds are present. Therefore, date your final report for the last date a hummingbird was present. DON'T WORRY: If you should report a "final" hummingbird, and then see one again, simply report again. Your final report will appear on the map.

You Can Report Your Sightings Here:
http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings

Migration Map: (Showing fewer and fewer hummingbirds!)
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/humm_fall2009.html

Meteor Crater Arizona

8/11/2009 APOD
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Free charting/planetarium software

One printable star chart that I have found interesting is at
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052

Another more interactive simple charting program is at
http://www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm

For a really deep, printable atlas, there is triatlas at

http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/index.html

If all you need is a monthly one page chart,
http://www.skymaps.com/

For planetarium programs, one of the best free ones find more at
Cartes du Ciel.
Hallo Northern Sky,
Celestia, and
Stellarium are also not too bad.

National Parks TV documentary

If you have been to one or more national parks then fine on your local PBS station and find and view this brilliant documentary. Movies, photos and information give an appreciation for how the National Parks were developed.

Ice seen in Martian craters produced by meteorites

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_martianice.htm?list1285438

water found on the moon

Using instruments on three separate spacecraft, scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_moonwater.htm?list731500

A new found planet : First rocky extrasolarplanet

The mass of this new planet indicates it is not a gas giant but is rocky like our first 4 planets in our solar system. Now the quest is to find a rocky planet farther away from a star similar to Earth.
9/23/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD Spaceweather page lower portion)

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

toba super volcano almost wiped out human race

The eruption went 20 miles in air (Mt. St.Helens went 10 miles)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

Newfound Planet Orbits Backward

Another strange planet is found
By Jeanna Bryner and Robert Roy Britt
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090812-backward-planet.html

a space telescope sees how two worlds collided thousands years ago

Space telescopes view past collision

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090810-planet-smash.html

Beautiful galaxies in space

Star islands in space are beautiful to look through small and bigger telescopes.
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Perseids what a hype and what a bust

I've been watching meteors for years so I guess when the skies are clear, whether cold or warm, I will try, as I have done over the years despite the hype. The hype of the Perseid meteor shower, this year , was nerve racking.

It was clear over Kansas for the most part but the Moon was keeping many of the faint ones. I don't care about seeing the faint ones, all I look forward is a few bright ones to remember.
I only could compare this Perseid hype to Comet Kohoutek when much is expected but little if nothing is delivered. Not only were two maximum dates expected but the extra bombardment was supposed to happen either later evening and/or early morning. This was compounded by observers seeing a lot (which led me to believe what are they smoking anyway) or literally nothing (my case).
A human eye can see so much and when the hype media says 100- 200 meteors per hour these are expectations not realizations. You are not going to go out and see fireballs falling around you. If you are lucky you can see one or two bring ones or some every few minutes at the peak.
I gave it a go one more time.
In Olathe, KS (near Kansas City), the Moon was finally setting a little lower so that the sky was darker in the area of the NE and the constellatioin Perseus. It was far better than last years Full Moon but up until now seeing the meteors was still disconcerting. However supposedly there was to be another "spike". So instead of going to bed, I go out my sleeping bag and waited, again.

In an hour , with clear skies, all I saw was 8 Perseids. But all except one was pretty bright.
The best was a short yellow Perseid at zero magnitude (not quite a fireball) , that left a nice 0.75 train (smoke trail). There were 2 fireballs (yellow and yellow-white) at -2 that were 25 degrees long and pretty. So at least I saw something.

But an all sky camera can see much more over time. Ths spectacular photo shows dozens. There is on that stands out and I wish the author would have said more how bright this particular wide bright one was.
8/14/09
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://spaceweather.com/

Perseids meteor shower tonight

The Moon will be close but that won't keep us from seeing the brighter meteors as they strike the atmosphere. It is definitely a hindrance but it you see a few bright ones, then I (and others) will be happy.

Earthgrazers, meteors that skim the atmosphere and appear after sunset are bright, long and spectacular and some might appear in your location.

There also might be an extra flurry of meteors around midnight for about an hour so we shall see.
More information
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/31jul_perseids2009.htm

If you see some meteors tonight let me know . I will post my own . I might even try to take some photos.

Jupiter Impact clouds

Much is happening to the clouds that created when some type of celestial object punctured the atmosphere of Jupiter on 7/19/2009
8/8 spaceweather
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://spaceweather.com/

Small comet or asteroid plows into the atmosphere of Jupite

While I was in China seeing the country and getting ready for the day of the total eclipse, we heard about this unexpected discovery- a small celestial object plowing into the atmosphere of Jupiter. Here now are 3 d like images. Give it a try.
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://spaceweather.com/

Mysterious Noctilucent Cloud Storm Panorama

I've been to Russia and Canada but never seen these clouds. Strange and mysterious this is a nice photo of them.
7/11/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD page lower portion)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Lowly Worms in Space may provide clues to Microgravity

Worms may provide clues to microgravity, long term effects in space and much more.
By Jeremy Hsu
Astrobiology Magazine
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090709-am-worms-space-experiment.html

Sharp eyed most likely Galileo Discovered Neptune years before others

This is a possible astronomy mystery waiting to be solved to a greater extent.
By Robert Roy Britt
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090709-galileo-neptune.html

Beautiful celestial structure: Pillars of Eagle Castle

This now famous part of the sky , seen with Hubble Space Telescope or not, is an amazingly rich photo of colors and celestial structures. The Eagle nebula comsic structions are both beautiful have a lot of curiousity that cries out to ask “what are these things?”
APOD
7/10/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD page lower portion)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Nature's Fireworks: My volcanic sunset photo and more

Nature puts on its own fireworks type displays in the way of volcanic eruptions and sunsets. I wanted to view the sunset structures of the volcano called Russia's Volcanic Sarychev Peak which erupted- on June 12. I waited taking pictures of the sunset and clouds. Suddenly these whitish plume streaks “popped” out of the bluish tinged western sky above the other clouds (light plumes above the orange clouds). I took this photo of these difficult to see volcanic plumes high above the cloud in the sky on July 1 above Olathe, KS. They are best seen when clouds do not obscure the filtered light to illuminate them. This was test on July 2 when the streaks did not appear even though the skies were clear. The sooty like clouds low in the north and west obscured the sun’s rays. (I did not think the atmospheric soot were from the volcano).
I did not quite see the reported lavender shades of color, spewed volcanic aerosols mixture of ash and sulfur compounds into the air.

Photo taken with my canon rebel xti at f5.6 , ASA 100 , 1/15 second with tamron 28-200mm telephoto.

http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Eric-Flescher-volcanicplumestreaks9867sm_1246629642.jpg

photos from the earth
http://www.spaceweather.com/

a short video and unique view of this volcanic eruption from outer space

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Riauw5UTnW8&fmt=22

simulation of the SWIRLING SULFUR DIOXIDE plumes can be seen at
7/3/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the Spaceweather page lower portion)
http://www.spaceweather.com/

found a 1,100 pound meat-eating dinosaur with three slashing claws

Scientists keep uncovering more dinosaur fossibls. This one would have been dangerous too.
http://news.aol.com/article/austrailia-dinosaur-find/555266

Bizarre mysterious lines on Saturn's moon Enceladus

Scientists still have many questions about how these structures called Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus form and then loft jets of ice particles into the space around the moon and creating one of the rings of Saturn. This photo from the Cassini spacecraft shows much detail.

6/28/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD page lower portion)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Volcanic plume movie and sunset volcanic photo

Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano continues to display beautiful multimedia based information concerning the eruption. Here are links to a video/ movie and also a beautiful photo taken from a jet showing a unique volcanic sunset.
6/26/2009
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://www.spaceweather.com/
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