Feed aggregator

NASA is getting ready to launch a new mission, a mission to observe a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere that powers its dynamic million-degree outer atmosphere and drives the solar wind. In late June 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. IRIS will advance our understanding of the interface region, a region in the lower atmosphere of the sun where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated. Such emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble

Gassendi Crater
Move cursor over image to view labels.

setrollover("http://www.asod.info/wordpress/wp-content/2013/05/20120531-Gassendi-labelled.jpg");
//-->

2012 06 01, 0238 UT – 0446 UT Gassendi
PCW Memorial Observatory, Texas, Erika Rix
www.pcwobservatory.com

Celestron Omni XLT 102mm, 24-8mm Baader Planetarium Mark III Hyperion, 2x Barlow, 250x
Temp 71° F, 60% humidity, S: Antoniadi II, T: 5/6
Eyepiece sketch black Strathmore Artagain paper, Conte crayon and pastel pencil, charcoal pencil
Phase: 45.8 deg, Lunation: 11.21 d, Illumination: 84.8%
Lib. Lat: +05:08, Lib. Long: -04:13
Az: +209:11, Alt: 41:03

Located on the northern border of Mare Humorum, crater Gassendi is an impact crater formed during the Nectarian period (-3.92 to 3.85 billion years ago) that later was modified after volcanic activity, becoming a fractured-floor crater. Gassendi is believed to have been filled with lava from the inside, raising its floor, creating stress fractures in the process. This would explain it being considered a walled plain with a shallow depth of 2.8 km. The central peaks (~1200 m high) remain and several rilles (called Rimae Gassendi) were formed on the lava-filled floor during the Imbrian geological period -3.85 to –3.2 billion years ago.

Crater Gassendi A was formed during the Copernician period (–1.1 billion years ago to the present day) and overlaps Gassendi’s northern rim. The pairing of Gassendi and Gassendi A resembles a diamond ring and makes a very striking feature to observe 3 days after first quarter or two days after last quarter of lunation. My observation was nearly three days after first quarter.

Gassendi’s southern rim was swallowed by the lava of Mare Humorum leaving only a thin crest line to support its circular shape. Dorsa ran from the southern rim to Gassendi O (11 km wide). The sharp ridge that defines the border of Mare Humorum to the SW of Gassendi adds to the crater’s unmistakable identification.

At the beginning of my session, Spica and Saturn lined up to align with the Moon. Spica was 2.08 degrees north of the Moon and Saturn was 6.9 degrees north of the Moon. Extending further north, Arcturus was nearly in line as well at 31.8 degrees north of the Moon

Blue Sun Bursting

Messier 44

Earth's Richat Structure

Jupiter – December 1, 2012

Hello!
I present to you my latest sketch of the Jupiter.
Sketch was made by pastels on the navy blue paper and it is also some corrected with GIMP (especially the roundness of the planet).
Jupiter was observed through my SCT 5″ on December 1st, 2012.

Best regards!
Aleksander Cieśla (wimmer)

Comet PanSTARRS Anti-Tail Once the famous sunset comet, PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) is now visible all night from much of the northern hemisphere, bound for the outer solar system as it climbs high above the ecliptic plane. Dimmer and fading, the comet's broad dust tail is still growing, though. This widefield telescopic image was taken against the starry background of the constellation Cepheus on May 15. It shows the comet has developed an extensive anti-tail, dust trailing along the comet's orbit (to the left of the coma), stretching more than 3 degrees across the frame. Since the comet is just over 1.6 astronomical units from planet Earth, that corresponds to a distance of over 12 million kilometers. In late May Comet PanSTARRS will pass within a few degrees of the north celestial pole.

Rima Petavius

I have observed rima Petavius several times .

One exellant seeing night, 2011. 9[september] .14 …. , I ,d found out with my 8″ refractor at x 340 the three tuna-fish like convex hills on the middle of the 80 km long rima road,,,

I was then feel very happy because maybe this discovery was the first since amateur lunar observing history.

I have made this artistic conception today, a Lunar horizon landscape viewed from on one of the the three [Tuna-fish like hills] which located on the bottom of 4 km wide, 80 km long magnificent rill.

I dont know how many billions of years have passed on this geological creation,formation, or evollution forces- sequences.

—————–

8 inches refractor x 340, homade equatorial

date; 2011. sep. 14

location; at backyard home in South korea

media; graphite pencils , a white A4 printer paper

tranceparency; worst, 0.5-1/10

seeing ; perfect, 10/10

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

The Waterfall and the World at Night Above this boreal landscape, the arc of the Milky Way and shimmering aurorae flow through the night. Like an echo, below them lies Iceland's spectacular Godafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods. Shining just below the Milky Way, bright Jupiter is included in the panoramic nightscape recorded on March 9. Faint and diffuse, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) appears immersed in the auroral glow. The digital stitch of four frames is a first place winner in the 2013 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest on Dark Skies Importance organized by The World at Night. An evocative record of the beauty of planet Earth's night sky, all the contest's winning entries are featured in this video.

Messier 1

hi asod,I send my last observation of the Crab Nebula.this day the sky seemed to be good, but later was completely clouded wind.with these bad conditions, I was pleased with the observation.greetings and thanks.

Object Name: messier 1 / ngc 1952
Object Type: supernova remnant
Location: bonilla cuenca / spain
Date: 1 February 2013 hour 19:50 < 20:30
temp. 8,4° C humidity 67% nelm 5,4 bortle scale 3/9
Media: Canson 130g paper,graphite pencil,and gimp tools 2.8

optical equipment: meade lightbridge 10'' & explore scientific 30mm 82°
42x increases fov 1,9° 6mm exit pupil

http://dibujodelcielonocturno.blogspot.com.es/

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

Johnny Cash may have preferred this galaxy's burning ring of fire to the one he sang about falling into in his popular song. The "starburst ring" seen at center of a new image in red and yellow hues is not the product of love, as in the song, but is instead a frenetic region of star formation. The galaxy, a spiral beauty called Messier 94, is located about 17 million light-years away.

What is the long-range weather forecast for the giant planets Uranus and Neptune? These planets are home to extreme winds blowing at speeds of over 1000 km/hour, hurricane-like storms as large around as Earth, immense weather systems that last for years and fast-flowing jet streams. Researchers set an upper limit for the thickness of jet streams on Uranus and Neptune.

An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa.

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at their disposal.

Four X-class Flares Swinging around the Sun's eastern limb on Monday, a group of sunspots labeled active region AR1748 has produced the first four X-class solar flares of 2013 in less than 48 hours. In time sequence clockwise from the top left, flashes from the four were captured in extreme ultraviolet images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Ranked according to their peak brightness in X-rays, X-class flares are the most powerful class and are frequently accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive clouds of high energy plasma launched into space. But CMEs from the first three flares were not Earth-directed, while one associated with the fourth flare may deliver a glancing blow to the Earth's magnetic field on May 18. Also causing temporary radio blackouts, AR1748 is likely not finished. Still forecast to have a significant chance of producing strong flares, the active region is rotating into more direct view across the Sun's nearside.

Messier 38

Hello Artists!

When I sketching, usually I use black paper and jelly pen.

How can I do the more realistic expression?

The open cluster is glittering in the black sky.

So I thought that I can express this glittered stars with the beads!

How is this work?

http://www.nightflight.or.kr/xe/files/attach/images/25489/227/090/938569eb3df65d19a9f2e186d763a4f2.jpg

(Please watch by the large-sized display with most bright mode)

Original Sketch link (Black paper & White pen)
http://www.nightflight.or.kr/xe/files/attach/images/25489/530/060/51788857dd4c2693072de783d82f680a.jpg

Object : M38 (OC in Auriga)

Location : South Korea

Media : Swarovski crystal beads, Black felt

Nightwid 無雲