The Flag Still Stands

NASA's LRO lunar probe took this picture of the Apollo 17 landing site. Labeled in the image, you can still see the American flag! Of course, we would expect it to remain standing, since there's no wind on the moon, but it's cool to actually see it!

Now we just need boots on the moon again, to take a picture from ground level!

Clear skies!

Reader Submitted Orionid Image

This image was sent to me by Paul Newport. It shows an Orionid with some wonderful coloration!

Got images of your own you'd like to see here? E-mail them to me at sean@visualastronomy.com!

Orionid Observations?

Well, I had some nice cloudy skies for the Orionids... Did any of you get good observations of the Orionids during their peak? If so, feel free to leave comments or e-mail me. If you have any pictures or video, send them to sean@visualastronomy.com and I'll post them up on Visual Astronomy!

Clear skies!

Time-lapse Astrophotography of the Milky Way

Found this video on StumbleUpon today, and thought it was really cool and that I would share it with all of you!

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

(Some feed readers may need to click through to view the video)

Clear skies!

The Great World Wide Star Count

Got a few minutes and clear skies? You can help contribute to an annual citizen science project, the Great World Wide Star Count! As a part of the "Windows to the Universe" program of the International Year of Astronomy, the Great World Wide Star Count runs from October 9-23, 2009. The purpose of the star count is to determine world wide light pollution levels. Each year, the study is repeated, so that we can see the effects of light pollution across the world!

Getting Involved

Being part of the World Wide Star Count is actually very easy. To submit your observations, simply follow the instructions on their website. Basically, you will download a series of magnitude charts, that show an easily identifiable constellation. Then you simply match which magnitude chart best fits the view you have from your location. Then, just submit this observation, along with your location and time, and you will have contributed to a great citizen science project!

The image above shows last year's results, which are then compared to the previous years results to gain a better understanding of changing light pollution levels. One aim of this project is to bring awareness of light pollution levels to the public, hopefully resulting in better lighting practices and regulations.

Clear skies!

LCROSS Lunar Impact

NASA's LCROSS Lunar probe made it's intentional lunar impact this morning. Below, you can see a video of the impact taken from the spacecraft itself. Unfortunately, the impact did not make a visible plume, as expected. Even the huge telescopes at Lick, Mauna Kea, and Palomar didn't observe a plume, so if you didn't see the plume, you didn't miss anything!

Some feed readers may have to click through to view the video.

One telescope, the MMTO at Mount Hopkins, Arizona, did capture a video of the impact, which although fuzzy, gets the idea across.

I'll post any more videos I find, but it looks like this might be it.

Clear skies!

Upcoming Event: Orionid Meteor Shower 09

The Orionid meteor shower is expected to reach peak activity this year on October 21st, 2009. This meteor shower comes from Halley's Comet, since like most comets, it leaves a dusty trail as it orbits the sun. The particles in this trail eventually become meteors as they burn up in our atmosphere.

The Orionids have been producing rather bright meteors in the recent past, so it should be a good show. The shower reached a maximum of only 20-30 meteors per hour last year, but is still a worthwhile observing event! This is because the Orionids typically are very colorful meteors, sometimes being yellow or green, and sometimes even producing fireballs called bolides. Also, this year's shower will be perfectly timed with a very thin crescent Moon, so the views of the meteors won't be impeded by moonlight!

When and Where Should I Look?

As usual, the best time to observe a meteor shower is during the early morning hours, around 2-5 AM. This is because as the Earth rotates into the sunlight, we are moving into the meteor field. This increases the number of meteors entering our atmosphere over any given location. Of course, not everone wants to stay up that late, so if you don't plan on doing so, start watching for the meteors at local dusk, and they'll really start to pick up towards 11 PM or midnight. The Orionids have a very broad peak, so any night during the week of October 18th to October 24th will work for obesrving.

To find the direction you should look, simply find the constellation Orion. It is one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky, mostly due to the 3 bright stars that make up his belt. Look for three stars in a straight line somewhere between SW and SE depending on the time. There will also be an hourglass shape along with this "belt". This will be the direction that the meteors will appear to come from. Click for information on finding Orion and objects in it.

For more updates like this, subscribe via RSS or via e-mail!

If you have any observations, pictures, or videos, submit them here.

Clear skies!

See the LCROSS Lunar Impact!

The Impact Has Already Occurred!

See Videos

On Friday, October 9, at 11:30 UTC, our Moon will have a new crater! The source of this new crater will be NASA's LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft. The LCROSS system is composed of two spacecraft: an impactor, and the "shepherding" craft. The impactor will slam into the Moon's surface at a very high speed, creating a new crater. Four minutes later, the shepherd craft will fly through the plume of Moon dust created by the impactor, sampling the freshly excavated Lunar soil. In light of the recent finding of faint traces of water on the Moon, this is a very significant mission! The coolest part, however, is that you should be able to see the impact from home in telescopes 10" or larger!

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