Amazing visuals taken through the Robot of NASA are continuous and will remain as part of the NASA activities, especially sent to Jupiter. The spacecraft of NASA named Juno took nearly five years to approach closely to Jupiter, whereas settled closely to the orbit that is far away from the earth with the distance of nearly 444 million miles.
Images of the poles of the Jupiter are taken through the use of cameras and many other tools used by the scientist of NASA, especially for the first time within the history of NASA’s research. Different proofs and images about the solid core mysterious auroras, and many rivers of ammonia are seen through the images taken.
With the speed of nearly 130, 000 mph Juno settle-lite of NASA swings near Jupiter one time each 53.5 days.
Through each two weeks, NASA has aimed to increase the frequency and speed of this flying ship, however, this purpose is stopped due to some kind of mechanical issues within the engine of the machine.
On May, 19, Juno of NASA has completed its sixth movement, whereas delivered latest images of Jupiter. In this regard, NASA has also displayed the images within the public domain, with the intention to offer chance to professional to put color inside the images to make those images appealing.
In this regard, different images are displayed through NASA, gained by the fifth movement of the Juno around the Jupiter along with the sixth movement of the robot of NASA as well as shown below;


Course Name: Diploma in Astrology
Course Id: DA/Q1001.
Education Qualification: 10th Pass.
Course and Exam Fee: 5000.
How You will Get Diploma Certificate:
Step 1- Select your Course for Certification.
Step 2- Click on Enroll Now.
Step 3- Proceed to Enroll Now.
Step 4- Fill Your Billing Details and Proceed to Pay.
Step 5- You Will be Redirected to Payment Gateway, Pay Course and Exam Fee by Following Options.
Card(Debit/Credit), Wallet, Paytm, Net banking, UPI and Google pay.
Step 6- After Payment You will receive Study Material and Online Examination link on your email id.
Step 7- After Completion of Course Study give Online Examination.
Step 8- After Online Examination within 7 days you will get Diploma Certificate soft copy(Scan Copy) and Hard Copy(Original With Seal and Sign) within 30 days.
Step 9- After Certification you will receive Prospect Job Opportunities as per your Interest Area.
Online Examination Detail:
Duration- 60 minutes.
No. of Questions- 30. (Multiple Choice Questions).
Maximum Marks- 600, Passing Marks- 40%.
There is No Negative marking in this module.
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- Government Authorized Assessment Agency Certification.
- Certificate Valid for Lifetime.
- Lifetime Verification of Certificate.
- Free Job Assistance as per your Interest Area.
Or You Can Fill below Enquiry form For Regular Course Training from our Training Centers located in India.
Student Course Enquiry Form
Diploma in Astrology
|Name of Paper||M. Marks||Pass Marks|
|Origin and Introduction to Universe and Astrology||100||40|
|Sages of Astrology, requisites of an Astrologer||100||40|
|Astrology- Science and art||100||40|
|Importance of Astrology, siddantha, samhitha and hora||100||40|
|The Zodiac and the Solarsystem-12 signs of the Zodiac||100||40|
|Detailed Study of Universe and Galaxies related to Astrology||100||40|
Origin and Introduction to Universe and Astrology
Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astronomical Techniques, Radiation Processes in Astrophysics, Computational Astrophysics, Planetary Sciences, Data Analysis Astronomy Lab, Structure and Evolution of Stars, Galaxies (Structure, Dynamics and Evolution), Cosmology, Seminar, Observational Astronomy Lab, Comprehensive viva, High Energy Astrophysics, Estimation and Stochastic Processes, Formation of Stars and Planets, Advanced Astronomical Imaging, Radiation Hydrodynamics, Accretion Physics, Polarization in Astronomy.
Sages of Astrology, requisites of an Astrologer
Origin and introduction to Universe and Astrology, History of Astrology, Astrology and its orientality, Sages of Astrology, requisites of an Astrologer, Edifices of astrology, Astrology –Science &art, Importance of Astrology, Siddhartha, Samhitha and Hora, Introduction and importance of Astronomy, Detailed study of Universe and Galaxies related to astrology, Planets, Motion of Planets, Retrograde and Direct motion of Planets, Planets, Signs and Constellations.
Astrology- Science and art
What is Astrology?, Astrology Charts and the Art of Reading Them, Introducing Aries and Taurus, Introducing Gemini and Cancer, Introducing Leo and Virgo, Introducing Libra and Scorpio, Introducing Sagittarius and Capricorn, Introducing Aquarius and Pisces, Conclusion, Becoming an Astrologer, What astrology is and how it works, A brief history of astrology, What an astrology chart is, Various approaches to the field of astrology, Some various types of astrology, The characteristics of each planet, focusing on how its energy works.
Importance of Astrology, siddantha, samhitha and hora
Siddhanta or Tantra or Ganita, Surya Siddhanta, Paulisha Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta, Paitamaha Siddhanta, Types of Vedic Astrology, Scientific Basis of Vedic Astrology, What is Ganitha Branch of Astrology?, The Planets, Types of vedic astrology, Samhita (Mundane astrology), Hora (Predictive astrology), Scientific basis of Vedic Astrology, The Origin and History of Astrology, Importance of Astrology in our life, Skanda Hora or Jyotishmati , Brihat Prajapatya, Vasishta Hora.
The Zodiac and the Solarsystem-12 signs of the Zodiac
Yugas, meaning and its usage, Meaning of Panchanga and its utilities, Panchanga: System of Almanac (Panchanga) & Types, Samvathsaras and different types of samvathsara, ayanas, ritus, season, solar/lunar month, waxing/waning moon, Tithis, Vara, Yogas, Karana, Time measurement – GMT,IST, LMT, prime meridian, summer, Winter, war time, day and night, Sidereal time and tropical zodiacs, Sun rise, Sun set, duration of day and night, Planetary Motion Direct, Retrograde, Planetary Speed etc, Allocation of stars ( Constellations) in Zodiac.
Detailed Study of Universe and Galaxies related to Astrology
Naked Eye Astronomy and the Foundational Physics of Astronomy, Stars, Galaxies & Cosmology, Planets & Life in the Universe, The Milky Way Galaxy, Galaxies in the Universe, Cosmology, The Solar System, Life in the Universe, Life in the Department of Astronomy, Solar System and Worlds Beyond, Stars and Galaxies, The Solar System, Introduction to the Sky and the Solar System, Introduction to the Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe, Introduction to Astronomical Observation, Alien Worlds.
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IN THIS EDITION:
* Paakindji man Uncle Owen Whyman of Wilcannia is attempting to form the Indigenous Party of Australia and will hold a meet and greet in Wilcannia on Saturday for people to sign up.
* Member for Parkes Mark Coulton has welcomed a $4.6 million Federal Coalition Government investment to seal the section of Pooncarie Road in the Wentworth Shire, complementing work already underway to seal the road in the Far West of his electorate.
* Astronomers from The University of Western Australia’s node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have developed a new way to study star formation in galaxies from the dawn of time to today.
* The new light towers at the Jubilee Oval have fallen victim to local wildlife, after cockatoos were caught using the wires as a snack.


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Before the moon and the earth were separated by the sky, they were in love. The earth was not round, but tall and slender, and the forests weaved around her head like a crown and her bare skin formed tundras that were icy cold to the touch. The moon was not distant, but close enough to kiss, with dusty, crumbling skin, and iridescent hair that glowed brighter than the stars. And every day, the sun bathed them in warm light as they held each other close, and whispered between them the stories of the galaxy.
“Will we always be together?” asked the earth. “Of course,” replied the moon. “I love you more than the universe can hold.”
But the universe was growing, slowly, slowly, and stars were falling and dying and twirling themselves around and around in a great spiral, and ever so often, the moon would peek up towards the heavens instead of gazing into the earth’s eyes. Her smiles grew few and far between, and as she lay her head on the earth’s chest, she found herself feeling hollow inside, as if she too had been snuffed out like those millions of stars.
“Will we always be together?” asked the earth. “Of course,” replied the moon. “After all, where else could I possibly go?”
But the halo of trees that the moon had once found so lovely were losing their flowers and leaves, and the cold hands that held the moon tight were now only making her shiver. The moon held the earth’s waist and looked deep into her eyes, but she knew that the love within them was no longer reflected in her own.
“Will we always be together?” asked the earth. “Of course,” replied the moon. “We must always stay the same, or else we will fall as fast as the stars.”
But the stars that fell so fast were glimmering so bright, and even as they flickered out, there was something so magnificent about them, so free. The moon dreamed of grabbing one by the tail and letting it whisk her away to faraway lands that she could only dream of, places that the earth would never be able to take her. And one day, when the earth leaned in to kiss her, the moon reached up, up, up, and felt her fingers brush against a brilliant comet, glowing in purple and green and blue. It felt warm in her hand and filled her soul with light.
“Bonnie, this story is so silly.”
“Will we always be together?” The earth shouted into the abyss of space, to no avail. She could feel her crown beginning to rot and splinter, her flesh becoming lukewarm in the glare of the sun, her heart wilting and falling to pieces like an orchid.
“The earth and the moon couldn’t be girls, they’re made of sediment and rock, just like any other solid mass in space.”
Salty tears poured from the earth’s eyes, catching in the crevices of her skin and the folds of her skirts and bathing her in rolling blue seas. The earth curled up and cried until no more tears would come, and found she was covered in pale, murky oceans.
“I guess it’s a cute idea, though.”
The earth’s dying heart turned molten, melting her chest from inside out, and leaving her too vacant to feel the cold embrace of the waters or the steaming rays of the sun. Her hair stood on end and crackled like lightning, her lungs swelled with pressurized steam, and she stormed and stormed and stormed until she could no longer feel anything at all.
“Goodnight, Bonnie. I love you.”
But sometimes when the earth looked up, she could see her dearest moon in the distance. Spinning and spinning and reaching her arms up, up, up, letting every star slip through her fingers. Still beautiful, but still so sad, and still just out of reach.
Goodnight, I whispered, gazing at her silhouette. The city lights shining through our window fell across her head, and for just a moment, her hair glowed brighter than the stars. I love you too, my moon, more than the universe can hold.


How to Use the Stars to Find Your Latitude
Recap: What Is Latitude?
Before we rejoin Secret Agent Math and the quest to pinpoint your latitude on Earth, we’d first better recap what we mean by latitude. Those of you who have stared at a globe long enough to notice the grid of horizontal and vertical lines already know pretty much everything you need to understand latitude (as well as its close cousin longitude).
We can mark the location of any point on Earth by specifying its latitude and longitude.
The key thing to know is that we can mark the location of any point on Earth by specifying its latitude and longitude. Lines of constant latitude run around the globe parallel to the equator, while lines of constant longitude run north-south from one pole to the other.
Today we’re going to focus on how you can figure out the latitude of wherever you happen to be standing. In other words, we’re going to figure out how you can find the number of degrees north (or possibly south) of the equator that you are standing. Ready to hone your math secret agent skills and figure it out? Good!
The Boring Way to Find Your Latitude
Like most things you might want to do in life, there’s more than one way to find your latitude. Some ways are easy but boring, and some are a bit harder but much cooler. For the sake of completeness, let’s start with the easiest but also the most un-Secret Agent Math way. Namely, just ask Google.
Yes, that’s right. If you are dying to know your latitude on Earth at this very instant (and who isn’t) and you just can’t bear to wait, you can go to Google and enter something like “latitude of Los Angeles” (or whatever city you’re in). In its nearingly infinite wisdom, Google knows these sorts of things—and it’s happy to tell them to you. Google tells me that my hometown of Los Angeles is located at a latitude of 34.05º N … that’s about 34º north of the equator.
While kind of boring and totally not something a secret agent would use, this trick will nonetheless tell you your latitude wherever you are on Earth. That’s certainly cool, but we can do much better.
The Awesome Way to Find Your Latitude
This brings us to the awesome secret agent approved way to find your latitude. Namely, you can find your latitude using a bit of spherical geometry and the stars! In truth, we’re really only going to need one star: Polaris—aka, the “North Star.” I should say right off the bat that the trick I’m about to describe will only work if you’re in the northern hemisphere (that is, north of the equator). If you’re in the southern hemisphere, you’re out of luck—although there is an analogous trick for the south which you should be able to figure out and put into action once you understand the trick for the north.
You can find your latitude using a bit of spherical geometry and the stars!
Here’s how it works: Imagine standing at Earth’s north pole. Where would Polaris, the “North Star,” be located from your vantage point? If you think about it, you’ll realize that it would have to be directly overhead. And it would always be directly overhead with the entire sky appearing to rotate around it once every 24 hours. Now imagine walking south towards the equator (which actually means any direction). As you walk towards the equator, Polaris will start to move away from the point directly overhead (called your zenith) towards the horizon.
Now, if you were to eventually walk all the way to Earth’s equator, where would Polaris be located? Again, if you spend a few minutes and think about it, you’ll see that the “North Star” would have to be located on your horizon when standing on Earth’s equator. Putting all of this together, we find that all you have to do to figure out your latitude is figure out how far Polaris is above the horizon:
- At Earth’s north pole, Polaris is at your zenith … which is 90º above the horizon. This is also your latitude at the north pole.
- At Earth’s equator, Polaris is on the horizon … so that’s (obviously) 0º above the horizon. Again, 0º is also your latitude if you’re standing at the equator.
- In Los Angeles, Polaris is located about 34º above the horizon. Which, as we’ve already seen, means that Los Angeles is located at a latitude of roughly 34º N.
And that’s all there is to it! The super cool mathematically knowledgeable secret agent method of finding your latitude anywhere in Earth’s northern hemisphere is simply to locate Polaris (which you can easily learn to do) and then estimate the angle between it and the horizon due north of where you’re standing. That angle will always be your mathematically (and astronomically) derived latitude.دانلود نسخه قابل چاپ مسیر یابی نجومی به انگلیسی


I just re-arranged some things on the site, so that it can be betterly found in your favorite search engine. The news page now is based on an error 404 which bounces you back to the correct script, but that means that when this site get’s spidered, it will correctly pick up the date that the article has been posted rather than the page which it was on before I posted things. It makes much more sense this way and looks pretty cool too.
Another thing that hit me while I was doing all of those code updates is that this site has been inexistance for a long time now and stores 516 (this article included) articles over the last two years. Considering I’ve never really tried too hard on this site, I’m quite impressed.
Last night was a lunar eclipse. Not much to see really, the moon was there, then it wasn’t. If you missed it, you can easily reproduce the same effect by looking into the night sky in the direction of the moon, and slowly moving your hand in front of your eyes, the moon will disappear.
Tonight is the formal season premiere of The Simpsons. Apparently Homer’s long lost fugitive mother will be making a return appearance. As long as it’s not a Lisa based episode, I’m happy with that. They’re too annoying an preachy for me.
Until next time, keep watching the skis.


Maths Craft is delighted to have been invited back to the Space & Science Festival in 2018! This year the festival's daytime event will be held on 26 May from 12 to 4 pm at Onslow College, Wellington. The Space & Science Festival is an annual celebration of science at which thousands of visitors enjoy a wide range of science activities and talks.
The Maths Craft area will feature a collection of craft creation stations that promises to engage people of all ages. Knit a mathematical knot, explore the wonders of the Möbius strip, fold an origami octahedron, draw an impossible triangle, or colour a Latin square and learn about the fascinating relationships between maths and craft. Enthusiastic volunteers, experienced in both mathematics and crafts, will make you feel at home no matter what your age or background.
As well as Maths Craft, the Space & Science Festival will feature rockets, the world of energy, engineering with robots & electronics, 3D augmented reality, science talks, and fun with physics, chemistry, & biological sciences. Plus there will be a chance to meet special guests from NASA, Dr. Yvonne Cagle and Dr. Jen Blank!
Tickets to the Space & Science Festival are only $10 per person and can be purchased online. Tickets are limited due to venue restrictions so get in fast!
The Space & Science Festival also have other events running throughout May, so check out their website for more information.
About the Space & Science Festival
The Space & Science Festival is an event run by the Space & Science Festival Society, a not-for-profit organisation formed entirely by volunteers who are passionate about inspiring the next generation of amazing people growing up in New Zealand. They aim to give children of all ages and their families amazing experiences to inspire them to follow their interests in space, astronomy, astrophotography, science, technology, engineering, and maths at a festival run each year. Any profits above and beyond what are needed to run the festival are invested in supporting educational needs in these subjects.
Maths Craft’s presence at this event was sponsored by:


Our amazing wooden toy rocket ship is one of the best space toys around, its action packet full of fun features including astronauts, aliens and robots which will let any boys or girls imagination run wild with all the fun adventures that they will have. The top section of this fun rocket detaches from the main spacecraft just like the real thing so children can fly away on epic adventures and once landed the space vehicles can go and explore and load moon rocks with the crane to.
Both boys and girls who love space toys and the excitement that they bring will love this amazing wooden toy rocket ship.
This fun toy features a detachable spaceship which can go and explore the stars and beyond which adds an extra dimension to play time.
The fun features of this imaginative set includes a detachable loading ramp, over 25 colorful pieces, including astronauts, robots and even aliens, 2 Space vehicles for exploring uncharted planets and a functioning space crane to pick up space rocks .
Large wooden toys rocket
Detachable Space Ship
25 colorful pieces including Aliens, Robots and 2 Space vehicles to explore planets
Functioning crane to pick up space rocks.
Ideal for both boys and girls
L 56 cm x W 46 cm x H 81cm
Made of composite wood materials & plastic
3 Plus Years


by Ryder W. Miller
Scientists have been busy studying earthquakes, meteors and searching for life in the solar system, significantly altering our understanding of the universe in the last decade.
“Dark Universe,” a new plan- etarium show at the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, was writ- ten by best-selling Bay Area writer Timothy Ferris, and pro- duced by the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The film ushers in a new understanding of the cosmos gained from recent dis- coveries of dark energy and dark matter. Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, nar- rates the planetarium show.
It was once believed that the expansion of the universe was slowing down after The Big Bang, more than 13 billion years ago, due to gravity. We now understand that the rate of expan- sion is increasing due to dark energy and dark matter. Astronomers have discovered that outer space is a lot more crowded than they had realized.
In the past we could only detect five percent of what we now know exists. The other 95 percent is filled with dark energy and dark matter. The repulsive force of this energy has the universe expanding rather than pulling it inward due to gravity.
These new discoveries will not enable us to surmount the limitations of the speed of light, scientists say, so there will be no warp drive or new ability to travel faster than the speed of light to reach other stars in our lifetime. It appears now that what was once considered a vacuum has more matter and energy than was once believed.
The nearest star to Earth is Alpha Centauri, 4.2 light years, or 40 million kilometers, away. It
joins 11 other stars that are less than 11 light years from the Earth.
“Dark Universe” has stop points in the presentation, where Academy presenters can add the most recent discoveries.
Meanwhile the “search for extraterrestrial intelligence” has improved with the development of the Square Mile Telescope, which will add magnitudes of new receptive powers for the detection of beamed signals from other planets.
For more information about “Dark Universe,” go to the website at http://www.calacademy.org.


The Organization Committee has published the conference fee.
The fee includesA�the conference participation and hotel accommodation (single room, including breakfast) for one night from arrival on Wednesday 30 November to departure on Thursday 1 December 2011.A� The fee is a�� 695,–.A�
The fee for the Scientific satellite program is a�� 295,–.A� This fee includes hotel accomodation (single room) for one night (Thursday December 1, till Friday December 2, 2011) including breakfast and lunch on Friday December 2, 2011.
The fee(s) have to be transferred after receipt of the invoice.
Cancellation will only be accepted in writing. A cancellation fee per delegate will be charged.


(Editor’s Note: Congratulations to Kim Hilbert (#12), Julie S. (#13) and Sharon Nelson (#26) as our winners for this week’s giveaway. Our winners were chosen using Random.org’s random number generator.)
A few weeks ago I downloaded the Star Walk app for my iPhone. My son is a stargazing enthusiast and I thought it would help us learn more about the stars together, as well as provide a tool for stargazing out in the field. Boy was I right! This app is really something to behold. Words can barely describe what this app does, its features are so unique to anything I’ve ever seen before. There are surely programs that do this type of thing on a computer indoors, but taking this program out to the field provides a whole new level of astronomy education, right there in your hands.
Here’s the basic rundown from the Vito Technology Inc. app page in the iTunes App store:
“Star Walk is your personal planetarium that can answer all of your curiosities about the sky! For anyone who is interested in stargazing, amateurs or professionals, Star Walk makes discovering more than 9,000 stars, planets constellations and messier objects as beautiful and easy as it has ever been before!
Use the Star Spotter function to see the sky in front of you in real-time. Tilt your iPhone towards the sky to activate the DIGITAL COMPASS which will determine location and orientation of your phone. The image on your screen will correspond to the area of the sky you are pointing your phone towards, and it will follow your movements. Please note that this function is available on 3GS devices only.“
The app is stated as compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad (although they have a separate version available for the iPad), and requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
So, after raving about this app on Twitter, I was contacted by the developers and asked if we would like to host a giveaway of the app. It didn’t take me three seconds to respond with a resounding “Yes!” So this week for our inaugural Wednesday Giveaway, we’re holding a contest to choose THREE lucky winners who will receive iTunes app store codes good for a free download of the Star Walk app for the iPhone. The winners will be chosen using Random.org’s random number generator.
The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!
(Note: Please use a valid e-mail address. US and Canada residents only. The winners will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends on Tuesday, 5/11/10, at 5:00 p.m., PST. Winners will be notified via e-mail and announced here on the blog.)
(Image Source: All images are courtesy of Vito Technology Inc., the sponsors of this week’s giveaway.)


According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-circle_distance, the great circle distance based on two coordinates in nautical miles is given by:
d = r * Δσ where r is the radius of the earth and
Δσ = acos(sin(θ1) * sin(θ2) + cos(θ1)*cos(θ2) * cosΔλ)
The radius of the earth is a constant and its value in radians is r = 10800 / PI
Given 2 coordinates (Lat1, Long1, Lat2, and Long2) the formula can be re-written as:
Δσ = acos(sin(Lat1) * sin(Lat2) + cos(Lat1) * cos(Lat2) * cos(Long1 – Long2))
Because the coordinates on earth are given in degrees, you need to convert the degrees into radians by multiplying the degrees * PI / 180.
In this assignment, you will ask the user to enter two coordinates (Lat1, Long1, Lat2, Long2) and you will calculate the distance in nautical miles using the formula above. You will need to create a separate method call getDistance and pass the four coordinates as arguments and return the distance in nautical miles. Then you will display to the user the correspondent distance rounded to one decimal (i.e. 105.5 NM).


How far away are the 100 closest stars to the Earth? Or the 100 closest galaxies? How about the size of the galaxy in which we live? Or the extent of the entire Universe? How would you even go about answering that question?
How do we know that the nearest star to our Sun is 4.2 light-years away? It’s not as though we can stretch out a long tape measure between here and Proxima Centauri. Barring drastic advances in space travel, if we’re going to figure out the distances to the stars, we’re limited to measuring them while not leaving the Solar System.
Let’s try an experiment. Hold up a finger several inches in front of your face and focus on something across the room. Now close one eye and notice where your finger appears to be. Without moving your head or your hand, close that eye and open the other one. Notice anything different about your finger? It appeared to move! If you rapidly alternate which eye is open you’ll see your finger appear to dance back and forth in front of your face. Every time you switch eyes, you’re seeing your finger from a different angle. To your left eye, the finger is off to its right while the opposite is true for your right eye. Now, continue to alternate eyes while moving your finger away from your face. You’ll notice that your finger won’t bounce back and forth as much when it’s further away. Now try it with an object on the other side of the room. The more distant the object, the less it moves as you alternate eyes.
This effect is known as parallax and it’s one of several ways our brains interpret distance. Having two eyes lets us view everything from two different angles. By comparing how objects appear in both our eyes, our brain can figure out whether an object is close or far. Successfully picking up a glass without missing would be a lot harder if you only had one eye.
But we can do a lot better than just saying whether an object looks close or far. We can actually calculate precisely how far it is. If you know how far apart your eyes are and you measure the angle over which your finger appears to move, you can construct a triangle. The base of the triangle is the distance between your eyes and the opposite angle is the one you just measured.
Remember in high school trigonometry when you wondered what use all of it was? Well, here you go: you can use those two numbers, and a simple equation, to calculate the height of the triangle which, in this case, is the distance to the object.
What ultimately limits us is how far apart our two viewing angles are. Try the alternating eye trick with a far away flag pole or even a cloud and you’ll note that your eyes don’t see those things much differently. You need to move your eyes farther apart for that to work. Since that sounds like an unpleasant solution, what if we just stand at two different locations? This is the whole basis of triangulation and is something surveyors have been using for a very, very long time.
If you pick two locations that are sufficiently far apart, you can start to measure some seriously large distances. By standing on opposite sides of the Earth, you can measure the distances to the Moon, Sun, and planets. But even that’s not enough to measure the distances to the stars. Instead, we let the Earth do our work for us by taking us around the Sun! As the Earth travels on its orbit, we constantly see the stars at slightly different angles. If we take a picture of a field of stars and then wait six months to take another, we see those stars from two locations which are as far apart as the Earth’s orbit is wide – roughly 200 million miles!
Interestingly enough, this was for a long time used as an argument against the idea that the Earth went around the Sun. Ancient Greek scholars knew that if the Earth moved, they should see the stars shifting back and forth. They didn’t, so clearly the Earth was stationary. It didn’t occur to them just how far away the stars actually were! It wasn’t until 1838 that German astronomer Friedrich Bessel successfully made the first stellar parallax measurement and deduced the distance to the star 61 Cygni as roughly 10 light-years. This is no easy task. Even for the closest star to our Sun, measuring the parallax angle is equivalent to measuring the width of a human hair from roughly 70 feet away!
By measuring stellar parallaxes, astronomers have mapped out the distances to hundreds of thousands of the closest stars. To get really accurate measurements, you need to get above the turbulence of the Earth’s atmosphere. This led the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1989 to launch the Hipparcos satellite and map stars out to 1600 light-years away. But even that is a small percentage of our entire Galaxy. To probe deeper, ESA will launch the Gaia satellite in late 2012. Gaia will provide an unprecedented galactic census of some one billion stars and let astronomers map their positions right to the core of the Milky Way Galaxy.
The power of parallax measurements, however, ends pretty much at our Galaxy’s edge. Beyond that, the angles become much too small for even the most sophisticated instruments to measure. To determine galactic distances, and beyond, astronomers have a whole host of other tricks up their sleeves. But they all depend upon the parallax measurements of the closest stars for calibration.
Amazingly, the journey to the edge of the Universe starts by measuring the tiniest of angles right here at home.


Engraved with the classic Big Dipper constellation. The Big Dipper (US) or the Plough (UK & Ireland), commonly referred as a large laddle or spoon in the sky. It is in fact a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major. A symbol of power, protection and good health.
Choose your chain size or just the pendant.
925 Sterling silver. Available in 2 sizes, 20mm or 25mm diameter round, 0.8mm thick.


NASA Is Going to The Sun, Here’s Why That’s So Crazy
NASA is launching humanity’s first ever mission to touch the Sun, and it could solve two of the most vexing mysteries in astrophysics.
Watch More Space Crafts! | https://bit.ly/2w0YKD1
Read More: Parker Solar Probe https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe “NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will be the first-ever mission to ‘touch’ the Sun.”
Launch Week Begins for Parker Solar Probe https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/08/07/launch-week-begins-for-parker-solar-probe/ “Teams preparing for launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe are beginning a busy week leading up to liftoff, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 11, at 3:33 a.m.”
Parker Solar Probe - Spacecraft http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/Spacecraft/index.php#Extreme-Environments “PSP will perform its scientific investigations in a hazardous region of intense heat and solar radiation. The spacecraft will fly close enough to the Sun to watch the solar wind speed up from subsonic to supersonic, and it will fly though the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles.”
Seeker inspires us to see the world through the lens of science and evokes a sense of curiosity, optimism and adventure.


September 3, 2020 marked the announcement of the first woman president of the Canada Space Agency since the organization was created in 1989.
Lisa Campbell served as assistant deputy minister at Veterans Affairs Public Services and before that was assistant deputy minister, Defence and Marine Procurement within Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Her appointment comes at a time when the space agency is participating in the Lunar Gateway Project, a major international project led by the United Sates to build a space station to orbit the moon. Canada’s signal contribution will be the Canadarm3, an autonomous robotic system based on artificial intelligence.
News release issued by the Government of Canada, 3 September 2020. For further information: John Power, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, 343-550-1456, email@example.com; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, firstname.lastname@example.org
Canada’s space programs
For more information, visit the Canada Space Agency website.


Las Vegas Astronomical Society Brings Its “Stars” to
Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah. As darkness
falls on Cedar Breaks
National Monument, a different kind of light illuminates the night
That light, which comes from objects out in space transforms the
a place of darkness into a place of wonder.
Cedar Breaks National Monument has some of the darkest
night skies in the
country. As Southwestern Utah grows and develops, “light pollution”
form of stray artificial light is a growing problem which masks
and intensity of a dark starlit sky. In the high elevation night
Cedar Breaks, the stars shine nearly as bright as they did in the
before the invention of the light bulb.
To celebrate and share the beauty of our dark night
skies, Cedar Breaks is
hosting a special 2-night event during Labor Day weekend. Members
Las Vegas Astronomical Society (lvastronomy.com) will telescope
skies on Friday, August 29th and Saturday, August 30th beginning
at 10 pm
on Point Supreme. These star party experts will illuminate your
viewing and answer questions about your interests in stars, planets,
how to help preserve skies in your neighborhood. Visitors who own
own telescopes are invited to bring them along.
Dress warmly for the cool night air at this high
elevation, and come
prepared to enjoy a late night of star gazing at Cedar Breaks! Cedar
Breaks National Monument is located 23 miles east of Cedar City,
Highways 14 and 148. More information is available by contacting
Hampton at 435-586-0787 ext. 41 or the Monument’s administrative
Updated events and activities, program offerings,
and other park
information are also available for downloading at the Cedar Breaks
Monument website: www.nps.gov/cebr .
Festival Cedar Breaks National Monument will
host its first Wildflower Festival June 30-July 16. Visitors can
participate in guided hikes focusing on the flowers and how to identify
them. According to Steve Robinson, chief park ranger at Cedar Breaks
National Monument, the wildflower display is expected to be especially
beautiful this year.
Your Visit From early June to mid-October, the
visitor center is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Visitor
facilities are CLOSED from mid-October through late May. For more
information on Cedar
Breaks National Monument click here.


The Valerius was a Primus class battle cruiser that supported an impressive arsenal of weapons.
In 2259, during the Narn-Centauri War, the Valerius was one of the Centauri warships to be retrofitted with a highly illegal mass driver system. The Valerius was the lead ship in the fleet of the Centauri warships that took part in the final assault on the Narn homeworld, plucking asteroids out of near orbit and bombarding the planet from space for days on end until the Narn Regime's unconditional surrender. To personally oversee their victory, Lord Refa specially reserved a place on board for himself and Londo Mollari. Londo watched the terrific devastation through one of the viewports.


With our 50-year Qioptiq® optical heritage in space, Excelitas supplies more than 80% of the planet's specialized space-qualified glass, making us the leading manufacturer of radiation stable micro-sheet cover glass and optical solar reflectors for the space industry. We maintain dedicated in-house glass melters in our facilities in the United Kingdom, and offer you a fully integrated manufacturing capability.
Why should you choose Excelitas as your provider of space optics?
Excelitas has built a reputation as the world-leading manufacturer of space-qualified glass and optical solar reflectors (OSRs). In 1970, we entered the space business as Pilkington Space Technology, eventually expanding to support the demands of over 3,000 satellites. Now, we have dedicated glass melting based in our United Kingdom operations, together with unique patented glass formulations. This shows our high-volume manufacturing capability, which matches the most challenging demands of the space industry.
What types of space optics do you offer?
Our space optics lineup is divided into the OSR and space-qualified cover glass. First off, our OSRs are used in most major satellite programs for civilian and military applications in Europe, the USA and Japan. On the other hand, our microsheet cover glass is manufactured to meet the most stringent space-qualified glass standards. We offer a wide range of thicknesses and geometries in CMX, CMG and CMO glass types. As such, our products can achieve low solar absorption, high emissivity, ESD protection and thermal expansion coefficients matching solar cells.
What applications do our space optics have?
We are privileged to supply 80% of the world's radiation stable microsheet cover glass and optical solar reflectors. This makes us a reliable partner in the space industry, satisfying the latter's unique requirements. Specifically, our OSR is capable of reflecting incoming solar radiation while radiating internally-generated heat. This function is used for the thermal control of spacecraft on the sun-facing sides of satellites. Meanwhile, our space-qualified glass is proven to deliver extensive on-orbit performance.
Can space optics solutions be customized?
Our UK facilities produce patented glass formulations that can be integrated into various space applications. Let us know your particular requisites, and our design and engineering teams will work together to deliver your desired results. Contact us today to learn more about how we customize solutions for our clients’ unique needs.
Optical Solar Reflectors
Excelitas is a world leading manufacturer of radiation stable Optical Solar Reflectors for the space industry. An optical solar reflector (OSR) is used for the thermal control of spacecraft on the sun-facing sides of satellites by reflecting incoming solar radiation while simultaneously radiating...Read More
Space-Qualified Cover Glass
Excelitas is a highly specialized manufacturer of radiation stable micro-sheet coverglass with extensive on-orbit proven performance. With dedicated glass melting based in our UK operations and unique patented glass formulations, we offer a fully integrated high-volume manufacturing capability to...Read More


SpaceX Marks Historic 300th Falcon 9 Launch with Starlink Success
In a whirlwind 24 hours for SpaceX, the company celebrated its 300th Falcon 9 rocket launch, a feat that included three missions within the same timeframe. The milestone mission, which took place on Thursday evening, featured the Starlink satellite deployment from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1:34 p.m. PST.
The Falcon 9's first stage executed a flawless return to Earth just over eight minutes post-launch, achieving a precise vertical landing on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" stationed in the Pacific Ocean. Notably, this specific Falcon 9 booster had previously undergone only one launch and landing, with its inaugural mission also dedicated to a Starlink satellite launch.
Simultaneously within the 24-hour period, SpaceX executed two additional launches – USSF-124, orchestrated by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, and the IM-1 mission by Intuitive Machines. These missions underscore SpaceX's relentless commitment to advancing space exploration and satellite deployment capabilities.
The Starlink mission saw the successful launch of 22 high-speed internet satellites, further expanding the global coverage of the Starlink constellation. SpaceX continues to refine its reusable rocket technology, exemplified by the efficient return of the Falcon 9's first stage, contributing to the company's goal of achieving cost-effective space access.
Starlink, known for providing affordable high-speed internet worldwide, recently gained regulatory approval to operate in Israel and select areas of the Gaza Strip. Additionally, SpaceX solidified its presence in the connectivity sector by partnering with Hawaiian Airlines to enhance in-flight WiFi services, further showcasing the versatility and impact of the Starlink satellite network.
-------The article excerpted from TESLARATI.


- This event has passed.
Adventure Day Camp: Out of this World Space Camp
June 22 @ 9:00 am - 3:00 pm$15.00
Though games, crafts, and lessons, campers will explore the world beyond our earth. We will learn about the sun, our moon, planets, comets, and stars. So, lace up your space boots, climb into your rocket and blast off out of this world to space camp. The camp will include a visit to our indoor planetarium. Snacks will be provided, but please bring a sack lunch and a reusable water bottle. Insect repellent and sun screen are optional.
Required to be ages 6–12. To receive a free t-shirt, campers must be registered by 9 AM on Wednesday, June 16 and attend three of the June Adventure Day Camps.
Minimum: 5/Maximum: 16


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Explore the universe with our quiz "NASA Planet Test"! This quiz will test your knowledge of the fascinating planets in our solar system, from Mercury to Neptune and beyond. Answer a series of fun and engaging questions about each planet's unique features, including its size, distance from the sun, and potential for life. Whether you're a space enthusiast or just curious about the cosmos, this quiz is a great way to learn more about the wonders of our galaxy. Play now and see if you have what it takes to pass the NASA Planet Test!


Texas Wineries Going Solar
Texas will be experiencing a total solar eclipse on April 8th. Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country will experience 4 minutes, 23 seconds of total darkness, starting at 1:32 that afternoon. This experience will be a once in a lifetime phenomenon with Texas wineries in the Texas Hill Country taking full advantage of the situation. Solar Eclipse party tickets are going for $200 and up with special mementos and bottles of wine. For instance, Wedding Oak Winery with its three locations in the Texas Hill Country have a party from 11am to 4 pm. Each $200 ticket includes a complimentary bottle of Wedding Oak Winery’s Eclipse 2024 Commemorative Wine, Wedding Oak Winery Eclipse Glasses, a Go Vino Stemless Glass, access to prime viewing areas, small food bites, and live entertainment. Arch Ray Resort will hosts a two-day Arch Ray Solar Eclipse Fest on Sunday, April 7, and Monday, April 8, 2024. Your $300 ticket provides you with an ultimate eclipse-viewing festival featuring live music at the Living Tree Amphitheater by nationally acclaimed bands including the Goo Goo Dolls, Fastball, Switchfoot, Kyle Park, Cory Morrow, Lane Smith and more. This is a VIP festival with limited tickets available to allow an intimate, exceptional experience. Guests at the Arch Ray Solar Eclipse Fest can enjoy overnight accommodations for RV boon docking and full access to the resort with a winery, brewery, distillery, and farm-to-table restaurant. The Texas-sized grounds offer an ideal location to view the totality of the celestial event on April 8, 2024 and sip on Texas wines and beers. Another solar eclipse party is the Ron Yates Wines Solar Eclipse Party on Monday, April 8 at its 10-acre winery grounds east of Fredericksburg! Attendees can watch the rare celestial event unfold from the breathtaking hill country acreage behind the winery for perfect eclipse viewing. Ron Yates Wines is in the direct path of totality; there is simply no better way to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event! Entry onto the winery grounds begins at 8:00 am, allowing attendees plenty of time to get in, park, and set up their area for the day. Guests are encouraged to bring camping chairs and blankets. Ron Yates wines will be available for purchase, along with a special, vintage wine bar to taste past, present, and future releases. There will food, wine, a game area reserved for horseshoes, bocce ball, corn hole, maybe axe-throwing, along with live music. Early Bird General Admission tickets are $125 each and include breakfast tacos and coffee upon entry, a glass of wine in a commemorative eclipse wine glass, eclipse viewing glasses, and a delicious paella lunch. Early Bird VIP tickets are $250 each. These tickets include a gorgeous breakfast buffet upon entry, followed by a pig roast for lunch, a tented relaxation lounge with furniture, a bottle of wine with a commemorative eclipse wine glass, eclipse viewing glasses, a private bar with access to exclusive wines, and a VIP bathroom trailer. Ron Yates Wines will have limited two-day RV camping packages for the Early Bird price of $675. The spaces will be available to rent for boon docking starting on Sunday, April 7 until Tuesday, April 9. The spot rental comes with two general admission tickets to the eclipse party.
Tickets to this event and other solar eclipse parties in the Texas Hill Country are going fast. The solar eclipse is less than one month away. Don’t be left in the dark! Get your tickets now to this once in a lifetime event while enjoying total darkness sipping on Texas wines!
TEXAS WINERIES GOING SOLAR
Texas Wineries Going Solar


Over Cuba blew up the meteorite. It is reported by several local media.
Some media outlets even stated that in the sky plane exploded. As for the authorities, they deny this version.
The experts reported that it was indeed a meteorite.
The authorities reported that the professionals who work near the alleged crash site, have found fragments of the fallen meteorite. Their size does not exceed 30 cm in length.
It is assumed that the country only dropped two of the meteorite. However, this theory is not yet confirmed.


The day after Thanksgiving was "Space Friday" for our family. We got up early and headed not to the mall, but to Kennedy Space Center. The men in my family all LOVE science and technology , so they were excited about the trip. My dad took my sister and I to watch Apollo 13 launch when I was a little girl, so he was thrilled to share the experince with his grandsons.
Besides touring the facility, we also watched two IMAX movies. One about the International Space Station and one about traveling to the moon. Sound boring? I forgot to mention that they were 3D movies! ! I have decided that the early astronauts were either really brave or really crazy!! (Matthew is ready to sign up!) It was a fun day.
Matthew stands at the bottom of the massive Saturn V rocket that was used for the Apollo Missions.
Matthew boards the G Force simulator...the rest of us watched!


The VIth WORKSHOP CHALLENGES OF NEW PHYSICS IN SPACE will be held at the Orotour Garden Hotel, Campos do JordÃ£o, a small city in the state of SÃ£o Paulo, from 24-29 May, 2015. It will have thematic review and advanced topic talks, delivered by invited Brazilian and overseas speakers. The subjects of the talks include: galaxies and large-scale structures at high redshift, the primordial universe (theory and observations), black holes, dark matter and dark energy (theory and observations). Besides, there will be works selected for panel presentation, and plenty of time for discussion among the participants.
Registration Deadline: April 25, 2015.
Deadline for poster submission: April 10, 2015.
Early registration, with discount until March 27, 2015


The partial Solar Eclipse on January the 5 th or 6 th , depending on your place in the globe, is the first of five in total, eclipses, three solar and two lunar, which will occur in This eclipse is also part of the series of eclipses on the Cancer — Capricorn axis. These eclipses began with the Solar Eclipse in Cancer on July 13 , and shall continue throughout , up until the summer of , when they will be completed.
This cycle of eclipses in the Cancer — Capricorn axis coincides with the gradual approach of Saturn towards Pluto and their conjunction in Capricorn in January , thus signaling a period of 18 months that will bring significant changes to Capricorn and Cancer Signs, and also to Aries and Libra Signs, since for them, the effect of the eclipses is stronger. Remember though, that eclipses are strong Astrological events and affect us all, some less and some more, without exception, and depending on what aspects they make on our personal natal chart.
Request your Astr ology Reading by Andrew Ifandis. Cosmic Level — A photo of the next six months. The Sun-Moon conjunction in the Capricorn Sign gives at a cosmic level a semester marked by significant changes in matters of how power is managed and administered world-wide. The two Lights are in conjunction to Saturn and Pluto and also lie on the midpoint of the two planets. Saturn and Pluto is a combination capable of enhancing the ambitions, goals, and the control that exert, various governmental, corporate, or other hierarchical structures.
Saturn also forms a sextile aspect to with Neptune, an aspect that helps such designs and power visions to be realized, and be at the same time accompanied by a series of necessary reality checks, before they are put into effect. At the same time, however, on the chart of this eclipse, and throughout the year, the square of Jupiter and Neptune is an aspect that undermines these plans, since it speaks of a social disappointment that will be diffused.
Jupiter — Neptune in a square of extreme idealism and disillusion, which combined with the great influence that the planet Uranus plays in the general planetary setting, may bring massive mobilizations.
- compatibility of zodiac signs aries.
- Solar eclipse of June 21, 2020.
- Navigation menu.
Uranus was also the last planet to go retrograde in the dance of the many retrograde planets of the previous summer, and its liberating and disrupting energy will once more start to express when it returns to a direct motion. All the sparkling electricity, and revolutionary or subversive action, that lay hidden, now finds an outlet, and the fact that this begins in the same day as the Partial Solar Eclipse, shows us emphatically that at the cosmic level we will see protests and upoars in the coming months. Click Flash — Mercury, Mars and Uranus. Mercury in trine to Uranus brings to the power holders strategic thinking and technocratic control, preserving prestige through control of knowledge, of science and of innovation.
On a square aspect to Mars who is powerful in the sign of his rulership brings controversy and juxtaposition of ideas. Angry voices and action that conflicts with what the technocratic power communicates and concedes. We see how a militant scenario is formed, as the same planet, Mercury, simultaneously stirs strategic changes for the status quo on one hand, and gives voice to protesting and defending the independence of the individual, on the other.
That is shortly after the accompanying Lunar Eclipse that will take place on the 21st of the month. Mercury turns retrograde more frequently than any other planet. It can never be more than 28 degrees from the Sun, and whenever it reaches its furthest distance from the Sun, it changes direction. As the planet of communication, Mercury retrograde tends to breed a certain level of confusion.
Mercury has rulership over such things as speaking, negotiating, buying and selling, listening, formal contracts, documents, travel, the mail and shipping, and so forth. All of these areas of life are affected when Mercury is functioning in a sluggish state. Decision-making is challenged during Mercury retrograde. Needless to say, it is not advised to sign contracts, engage in important decision-making, or launch a new business.
Delays and challenges are more probable with Mercury retrograde. This period is best used for re-organizing and reflecting. Watch what you say, because it may not come out, or be received, the way you intended. Double-check that the person who uttered those words really meant it the way you thought they did! Mercury Retrograde Cycle October-November Times are Eastern. Graphs and data from the excellent Day Watch software.
Read more about Mercury Retrograde.
Where is Mercury Retrograde transiting by house in your natal chart? Does it conjunct a natal planet, your Ascendant, or Midheaven? Read interpretations of Mercury Retrograde in Transit for a more personalized meaning of the transit cycle.
What is Venus Retrograde? Occasionally, Venus appears to be moving backward in the sky. Venus is Retrograde approximately days every 18 months. As the planet of love and values, Venus retrograde periods are times when we re-assess what—and who—we value. It is a period that most astrologers consider inopportune for getting married or starting a new relationship.soywragopov.tk
Brand new financial undertakings are not advised during this period as well. There may be delays or confusion in relationships and financial affairs.
Read more about Venus Retrograde cycles. What is Mars Retrograde? Occasionally, Mars appears to be moving backward in the sky. When Mars is in its retrograde cycle, we are forced to re-assess our current projects, our approach to getting what we want, and our desire nature. Rather than directly asserting our desires, we tend towards introspection.
We can be hesitant about taking action, second-guessing our instincts or our natural impulses rather than acting upon them. Jupiter is retrograde in from May 14 to September 12, , in the sign of Capricorn.
SOLAR ECLIPSE 5,6 JANUARY 12222: Vision of the days to come
Saturn is retrograde in from May 10th to September 28th, , in the sign of Capricorn. Note: Uranus completes its retrograde cycle that began on August 11, , on January 10th, , and will retrograde again in August Uranus is retrograde from August 15th, , until January 14th, , in the sign of Taurus. Neptune is retrograde in from June 22nd to November 28th, , in the sign of Pisces. Pluto is retrograde in from April 25th to October 4th, , in the sign of Capricorn. See more years of transiting chart patterns.
See the Eclipses page for more information about current and upcoming eclipses. The following is a January 1st, , chart with 0 Aries houses. Note that the year begins at different times around the world and the chart will be a little different in different areas.
Outer planet transits in the year , excerpted from the Day Watch Report Package. In the Day Watch report package, the following transits are mixed with personal transits. The McCarthy era is a good example of this feeling. That even filters down to children born in this period, who are noted for anxiety and depression and the psychologically driven creativity that sometimes induces in later adulthood. Read more about Saturn conjunct Pluto or the Saturn in Capricorn transit.
Actually, a series of shallow breaths describes it better.
- Eclipses During 12222!
- virgo love horoscope weekly 6 to 12 by tarot?
- Partial Solar Eclipse of January 06.
- leo love horoscope december 11.
What once you may have kept to yourself, it is time to exchange with others who have been in the same situation. Fortunately, the air is very conducive to doing just that, and what might have been hard to say before comes more easily with the knowledge that it is a two-way street of mutual trust and reward. Either way, you win. The one-size-fits-all philosophy will see some serious setbacks as quality and quantity part company and leveling bureaucratic structures get shaken up and shaken down.
This time it is likely to see the latter, when progress is not to be resisted or it will overcome you by sheer force. This does not mean you have to get on board of every new brainstorm, but if you see a juggernaut coming, either climb on or get out of the way.
No means no, whether you believe it or not, and since the tendency for coercion is in the air in general, you may be the one on the receiving end to most benefit from that.


Director: Prof. Dr. Muhammad Jawed Iqbal
Today we live in an era characterized by high-Q technology and microgravity science on the Earth managed by observations and experiments in Outer Space. We are in the midst of a GeoSpace Science revolution. Every nation is keen to partake the enormous benefits accruable by pursuing developments in GeoSpace Science. The Space Science uses new space-age technologies like data visualizations, spatial data management analysis tools and remotely-sensed imaging and satellite photography to greatly advance scientific understanding of Earth and its systems. With the launch of Earth resources satellites in polar and geostationary orbits around the Earth, the decade of 90’s has witnessed a wide spectrum of applications in disparate fields subject to the need and quality of imagery datasets acquired from the Earth orbiting satellites. The advances in computer technology have also contributed a lot in the development of more sophisticated sensors capable of imaging the earth in hyper-spectral, multi-resolution and multi-temporal modes. Digital image processing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are the new subjects having direct relevance to Remote Sensing Technology.
The University of Karachi is the pioneer university in Pakistan that realized the importance of Space Science and started a subject of Astronomy in 1952 at the Department of Mathematics. The Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA) came into existence as an autonomous Research Institute of the University of Karachi in 1994. After one year, ISPA had introduced M.Phil. / Ph.D. research program first time in Pakistan.
We are now introducing M.Sc. (Space Science) program at the University of Karachi for strengthening the existing MS / Ph. D. program of ISPA. This Space Science curriculum is designed in compliance with international standards, emerging technologies, and to meet the indigenous requirements of Pakistan. In addition, the proposed curriculum ensures the quality trends and the development of dynamic professional human resources. Our graduates of M.Sc. in Space Science will have job opening in SUPARCO, NESCOM, National Institute of Oceanography, Civil Aviation Authority, PIA, Pakistan Meteorological Department, National Telecommunication Corporation, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Ltd., Sui Sothern Gas Company and Oil & Gas Development Ltd. etc.
Till today the University of Karachi has awarded six PhDs and twelve M. Phil. / MS degrees to students of the Institute.
Second National Conference on Space Science (NCSS-2013)
The Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, University of Karachi is organizing the Second National Conference on Space Science on October 7 & 8, 2013 at HEJ Auditorium, University of Karachi for celebrating "World Space Week 2013". This conference is being organized in collaboration with SUPARCO, HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Higher Education Commission and Pakistan Physical Society, Sindh Chapter. The main theme of the Conference is “Exploring the Universe”. The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Qaiser will preside while Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof. Dr. Nikhat Siddiqui will also be present at this occasion.
The invited speakers are Prof. Dr. Ghulam Murtaza (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) from GC University, Lahore; Prof. Dr. Asghar Qadir (Hilal-e-Imtiaz & Sitara-e-Imtiaz) from NUST, Islamabad; Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sharif (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) from University of Punjab; Prof. Dr. Sarwar Naqvi from Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad; Dr. Syed Javaid Khurshid from International Nathiagali Summer College;Dr. Adnan Maqsood from NUST, Islamabad; Dr. Khan Alam and Dr. Muhammad Shafique from University of Peshawar; Dr. Adnan Khan from LUMS; Dr. Suhail Zaki Farooqui from NUST, Karachi; Prof. Dr. M. Ayub Khan Yousuf Zai and Prof. Dr. Syed Jamil H. Kazmi from University of Karachi.
First National Conference on Space Sciences (NCSS-2012)
The First National Conference on Space Science was organized by the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA), University of Karachi on October 8 & 9, 2012 at Arts Auditorium, University of Karachi and Bashir A. Malik Auditorium, Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, respectively. This Conference was organized in collaboration with Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, SUPARCO, Higher Education Commission and Pakistan Physical Society, Sindh Chapter. The theme of the Conference is "Space for Human Safety and Security." The Chief Guest was the Senior Minister Sindh for Education & Literacy, Mr. Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, who inaugurated the inaugural ceremony of two days National Conference on Space Science at University of Karachi. The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Qaiser presided the Inaugural Ceremony while Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof. Dr. Nusrat Jamil was also present at this occasion. The Closing ceremony was held at Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi on October 9, 2012. The Chief Guest of the Closing ceremony was the Chancellor of Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Mr. Z. A. Nizami, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Syed Jawaid Hasan Rizvi presided the Closing Ceremony.
Speakers from LUMs, Lahore; University of Punjab, Lahore; Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad; NUST, Rawalpindi; Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad & Karachi; University of Peshawar; University of Sindh; Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science & Technology, Karachi; Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi; SUPARCO and University of Karachi, were presented their research work at this conference. Total 36 research papers were presented in the Conference. Dr. M. Jawed Iqbal was the Conference Convener, Dr. Arjumand Zaidi was the Secretary, Mr. Faisal Ahmed Khan Afridi was the Assistant Secretary while six other members were included in the Conference Organizing Committee.


A proverbial water cooler of theology, sports, music, current events, and whatever other interesting stuff I find.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Happy Birthday Universe
What's the best present to get someone when you miss their birthday? What if you miss two or three? What about 2 billion? Evidently we've all missed out on an estimated 2.1 billion years. This story tells of a recent discovery, by which some scientists now believe the universe is 15% older and 15% larger than they previously thought.
Here's my favorite line from the article:
Distance measurements across the vastness of space are difficult and imprecise.
No kidding? I thought maybe we just needed a bigger slide rule.


What matter? Does it matter?
We use such concepts as matter, energy, force, time, speed and others to describe processes occurring around us. And these terms seem to perfectly describe and explain all that. But do they really? Do these familiar terms answer the question as to how our world works? No, not in my view. And problems started long ago, ever since the discovery of elementary particles, when it became clear that everything around us was made of uniform micro-pieces of something. What are these pieces? Why are they so weird? Why do they not fit within our usual linear mathematics, where each position of matter can be assigned specific values? These values of time, length, height, etc. are, to us, linear and continuous.
But suddenly, with the discovery of these particles, it became clear that it was a completely different world, uncertain and conditional. There was a gap between concepts. Suddenly we had to live in two completely different worlds with different physics and maths. The differences are so significant that, until now, scientists, physicists and chemists are unable to reconcile these principal distinctions. These attempts of reconciliation happen all the time, but the reality is such that we are living in the world of two physics – micro and medium size physics.
Note that I am talking about the “medium size” physics, the physics of Newton. Why? Because in the middle of the 20th century we, all of a sudden, learned a lot about the world of scale of galaxies and the universe. And this enormous-sized world suddenly also gave us a lot of surprises, when the scientists again tried to fit their knowledge of mid-size physics onto real physics of large masses. Black holes, dark matter, galaxies, gravity, time and distance became new problems. Hunting for new physics and mathematics started again.
Scientists are striving, constantly coming up with new ways of pairing differences, but the differences keep piling up, resulting in even more inexplicable knowledge and data. They invented the Big Bang theory. A brilliant idea, but what about the dark matter which distorts the results of calculations based on that theory?
In my opinion, we have already accumulated enough new information to stop trying to pull our past material knowledge onto something that, in fact, is not material and requires a rethinking of all accepted notions of the world order. The concept of matter can only describe a rather small in-between layer of sizes of the objects present in the universe.
Let’s turn our attention to one very interesting point related to everything existing in this visible world. Here, everything consists of particles combined into known matter – the matter we can only call so at the level of “mid-size” physics. Micro and macro worlds obey their own laws, and these laws we’ll try to explain in the following sections, abandoning the concept of matter and all other fundamental definitions.
In my opinion we have already accumulated enough of new information to stop trying to “pull” our past material knowledge on something that, in fact, is not material and requires a rethinking of all accepted notions of the world order. Using the concept of matter, we can only describe a rather small intermediate layer of sizes of the objects present in the universe.
Let’s turn our attention to one very interesting point related to all that exists in this visible world. All here is composed of particles, which are combined to the known matter, into matter, which we can call so only at the level of the “mid-size” physics. Micro and macro worlds obey their own laws, and these laws we will try to explain in the following sections, abandoning the concept of matter and all other fundamental definitions.


By the Light of the Moon
When Lulu our Chinese exchange student came to live with us, I asked him when his birthday was. He thought for a minute and then said he wasn't sure when it was this year, but he would check with his mom. And we said, "What? you don't know when your birthday is? " And he said, "No it's different every year." And so we learned about the Lunar calendar. Rather than marking the years by the 1st day of a month, a lunar calendar marks
the first day of a month as the day when an astronomical new moon occurs in a particular time zone.
Lulu's birthday varies from the beginning of August to the end of September and every year I ask him, "When is your birthday this year?"
My mother died at 4:38 am on the morning of the full moon in July...July 28th.
I like to say she was ushered into heaven on the coat tails of a full moon. When the full moon came around again on August 26th, I realized that with each full moon, I could mark her arrival into life eternal.
Though today is the solar calendar's two month anniversary of her Great Journey, I really marked it on September 24th as I walked down the driveway "by the light of the silvery moon!"


Rare supermoon signals changes at Moon Bingo
Many people will have looked out their window last night and noticed that the full moon looked bigger and brighter than usual (when there was a break in the clouds that is). The same phenomenon will be visible tonight (23rd June) and has come to be known as a 'supermoon'.
The reason for this is that the moon that day will be the largest of the year and at the same time will be in the closest proximity to earth for 2013. So, while there is a full moon every month, it won't be this close again until August 2014. Astrologer Ricahrd Nolle christened this a 'supermoon' more than 30 years ago, but it is only now coming to common usage.
While it is possible that such a phenomenon may be creating the weird affects on the weather we are experiencing, it is certainly having an affect over at Moon Bingo.
On Sunday players can take advantage of a 65% reload bonus by using bonus code HAT. By depositing £10 or more on that reload means players will be able to access the '3ree4free'games. These are sliding jackpot free bingo games with a starting prize of £2,000 and a £100 minimum that take place every night at 11pm. Depositing players get three days access to the room following a deposit being made.
In addition to all that this weekend at Moon Bingo players have the chance to win some £50 Spa Vouchers. All winners of the special Horseshoe and Top Hat patterns in the Moonalicious room will be entered into a special prize draw to win one of the vouchers on offer.
It is from 1st July that the affects will really be seen at Moon Bingo. There will be a new look to the site and lots of new bingo rooms to enjoy which means even more bingo games to win. New players will be able to turn a £10 deposit into £30 and everyone will be able to take advantage of twice the rewards, twice the jackpots and be part of the creation of twice the winners – plus all members will get free bonus chips just for logging in every day.
Look out for the Supermoon and don't forget to have a super time at Moon Bingo.
Read Moon Bingo Reviews


Cosmic Quest (Part III): Interstellar Romance
the explosion leaves us drained
a burst of creative energy
surges through the atmosphere
a cosmic solar flare
set everything ablaze
oh, I need to land
on something more stable than your nebular energy
I need to find my way this time
out of this black hole
and not farther in it
push myself out of your orbit
thrusting away from your gravity
into a void of my own.
phases of the moon
reveal your faces to me
shadows, clouded - leave me wondering
you control the tides of my emotions
with little more thought
than the oceans do the sea
I don't want to drown anymore or waste resources on
this interstellar battle
I want to reach out for a hand
one that will hold on tight
keeps me anchored and will not let go.
Cosmic Quest (Part II): Kinetic Energy
live wires, exposed, worn thin over time
the elements acting as the ultimate
two polar opposites so highly charged
highly drawn to each other
and within our own force field
when we align
nothing can pull us apart.
But time is wearing us down
and the elements are exposing more than we bargained for
Our faults becoming so much more deeply defined
and what had previously drawn us together
is slowly forcing us apart.
The longer I go
away from your influence
the more I begin to wobble
like some satellite, slowly spinning out of orbit
Your electromagnetic pull is weakening
the divide is widening
and I, once again, am coming back into my own
A powerful entity
energy to be reckoned with
free to pull in any celestial wonders
whose trajectory is within my sphere of reach, within my gravity.
Outside of your realm, I wonder
what drew me in?
Or if it was just a matter of time, circumstance and flight path?
There is no objectivity to this hodgepodge design
when you're in too deep
it's impossible to see the galaxy for the stars
I wonder if I'm assigning meaning
where there really is none
If I've spent too much time here in this system
If - in my quest to get involved
I lost myself in the solar flares that followed.
the likes of which I've never seen nor experienced
The universe wobbled
and like two magnets rocked upon their sides
our force - once pulling, once pushing


Greencastle, IN 46135
+1 765 658 4654
Greencastle in Indiana is swanked by the historic McKim Observatory. It is a monumental astronomical observatory and is functioned and owned by DePauw University. It was constructed in 1894 and is named after the prominent Robert McKim. A magnificent highlight of the site is the Clark 9.5 inch refractor that provides a view of the planets, moon, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Carl Butterworth 1964 - 2018
Carl was one of the founder members of the Good Earth Collective, playing Cajon and singing with the band from 2016 - 2018. During this time Carl was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer. It was a testament to the kind of person he was that he never let his condition affect his enjoyment of playing with the band and he never let us down, not once. Carl's humour, loyalty, strength and positivity was inspirational.
Carls last performance with the band was at Westival on Aug 25th 2018. We played outside in bright sunshine overlooking the beauty and majesty of the Yorkshire landscape that he loved. In October 2018 after two years of battling with cancer our friend and comrade passed away. We comfort ourselves knowing that although his physical form has gone Carl is now part of the infinite matter of the universe. We decided therefore to purchase a star in his name to both honour his memory and also to give us somewhere to look in the night sky when we fancy a chat or someone to share a Pontefract cake with.
If you wish to view The Carl Butterworth Star it can be found at: star location NGC181 situated in the Andromeda constellation (intergalactic star database number (ISD0433106)
Anybody who knew Carl, even briefly, knows what a special and unique human being he was. The world is much poorer for his passing but much richer for his existence. We wouldn't be the band we are without Carl and we wouldn't have laughed as much. We continue to miss him everyday but Carl wouldn't want us to be sad, after all we have a distant star to look at, some amazing memories and Carl's still with us on stage everytime we play and every tuesday in the kitchen. As well as being a musician, Carl was an exceptional and passionate photographer, something he only discovered whilst dealing with his illness. He decided to share his talents and skills as a photographer at S2R Create Space, a charity dedicated to positive mental health.
We miss you everyday Carl. There's still a space in the kitchen for your Cajon and there always will be.... so drop by one tuesday if you have time...
B.O.D "we are all made of stars"....


By Qin Sun Stubis
Growing up in China, I remember there were always nine planets in our solar system. As a child, I was fascinated by their names: Mercury ( 水星 ) – the Water Star, Venus (金星) – the Gold Star, Earth (地球) – the Earth Ball, Mars (火星) – the Fire Star, Jupiter (木星) – the Wood Star, Saturn (土星 ) – the Dirt Star, Uranus (天王星 ) – the King of the Heavens Star, Neptune (海王星 ) – the King of the Sea Star, and Pluto (冥王星 ) – the King of the Underworld Star.
Every time I looked at the night sky, alive with all its twinkles, I envisioned Mercury as a giant swimming pool, Venus wrapped in solid gold, and Jupiter, a giant wooden ball floating in the sky … but of all the planets, Pluto got my attention the most. After all, to a child’s mind, nothing was more gruesome and exciting than a planet associated with the Underworld!
Naive questions came to me: Do all the dead fly to Pluto? Otherwise, how does the king gather up his dead subjects? I was eager to get a glimpse of this deadly dangerous planet. When I was told that it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, I was very disappointed. At the same time, Pluto’s mystery only grew within me.
Since then, I’ve learned a lot more about Pluto: how it is a dwarf planet, the furthest one from the sun and the smallest, with only about one sixth of the mass of our moon. It is reclusive and eccentric in nature, made mostly of ice and rock, with an orbit unlike the others. It is definitely one of a kind – my kind.
I just love Pluto’s being different. Cold, dark, distant and mysterious, it is crowned with a perfect name, “King of the Underworld Star.” I adore my runt planet. And, so what if it doesn’t orbit the way others do? In my opinion, our solar system would be a bore without Pluto.
However, six decades after its discovery in 1930, many similarly sized celestial bodies have been found orbiting in the same area as Pluto, part of what is called the “Kuiper Belt.” Scientists started to question its validity as a ninth planet, its size, and orbital habit. Soon enough, its planet status was jeopardized. Many went so far as to have Pluto removed from their planetary models.
For scientists, our solar system is finally in conformity. But for people like me, the debate shall continue until we put Pluto back to where it belongs, and where it has always been.
You can always reach me at firstname.lastname@example.org.
(This column was originally published in The Santa Monica Star)


is the follow-on mission of successful
FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission, which will provide more than 4,000 GNSS radio occultation (RO) observations to monitor the low latitude ionosphere. This website provides retrieved RO ionospheric electron density profiles, improved RO profiles, global 3-D ionosphere electron density specifications, and nowcast and forecast ionosphere products. We wish researchers could utilize the data products provided here to explore ionosphere and space weather.
RO Data description
ionPrf is one of the data products from FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 occultation observation, which includes the ionospheric electron density profiles, the calibrated TEC, geographic longitude/latitude /altitude at perigees, etc.
igaPrf is another data products derived from ionPrf, which includes corrected electron density profiles and some related observables.
Global Specification Ionosphere
GIS data assimilation model
The GIS assimilates slant total electron content (TEC) observed from ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiving stations and space-based radio occultation (RO) measurements by F7/C2,by using Gauss-Markov Kalman filter, into international reference ionosphere (IRI) model to providecontinuous three-dimensional ionospheric electron density distribution.
Space Weather Forecasting Model
DART/TIEGCM is a space weather monitoring and forecasting system, using the ensemble Kalman filter method to combine the TIEGCM and ionospheric observations (ground-based GPSTEC, F7/C2 GPS RO, and F7/C2 IVM). This system provides the nowcast and forecast data of the global 3D ionospheric plasma density structure and other physical parameters, such as neutral atmospheric densities, neutral winds, and electric fields, etc..


SAO PAULO DANCE COMPANY
|MUSIC||PIERRE LOUIS GARCIA-LECCIA, ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS|
|RE-STAGING||GIOVANNI DI PALMA|
|WORLDPREMIERE||FEB 29, 2009, ROTTERDAM / 2011, SAO PAULO - PREMIERE OF SPCD|
|LENGTH OF PERFORMANCE||22 MIN|
Inspired by the music of Antony & The Johnsons and the astronomical phenomenon of the supernova – an exploding stars in space that shine for sometime - Marco Goecke created this work in 2009 for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. Supernova is a choreography of contrasts, where life and death, light and dark, are linked by the energy of each body. The dancers appear and disappear mysteriously from the stage and the sequences presents very quickly, precise and controlled movements to make the bodies vibrate. To Goecke, each movement can take place only once. "You can do it faster and faster and in the end it will hardly exist.


Internet company “Google” did not want to lose from the U.S. space agency, NASA.
Through Google Earth, Google invites you to “the streets” to Mars. See how here.
NASA successfully landed a laboratory vehicle for 2.5 billion dollars, on Mars.
“The landing has been confirmed,” said the mission control at NASA’s Jet Laboratory, as reported by Channelnewsasia.
The first images sent by the lab running, is the surface of the red planet, and a serrated wheel vehicle laboratory.
The image was taken with the camera placed on the rear of the vehicle. A different picture comes into operation control room, just in a matter of seconds.
The second image shows the shadow of laboratory vehicles running on Mars. U.S. President Barack Obama assessing the success of a mission to Mars landing vehicle laboratory, an achievement the U.S. pride.
“The landing of the most advanced laboratories that had landed on the planet, marking a feat that has never happened before. This will be a milestone in American pride into the future,” Obama said in a statement.
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By MARC TORRENCE (Patch National Staff)
Havre de Grace residents looking for something unique to do this weekend only need to look overhead on Sunday evening for a free show.
The first supermoon combined with a lunar eclipse to appear in 30 years is set to rise.
On Sunday evening, sky-watchers will see a larger-than-normal harvest moon begin to dim and turn red, lasting for more than an hour before returning to its normal brightness and color.
The last time this happened was 1982, and it won’t happen again until 2033.
This light show in the sky is courtesy of two usually separate phenomena occurring at the same time: The supermoon is what makes the moon appear bigger; the lunar eclipse turns the moon red.
The combination should make for a spectacular sight: a massive, red moon hanging in the sky for more than hour.
If you plan to put it on your bucket list—and you should—the best viewing areas are places with dark skies.
According to the National Weather Service, Havre de Grace residents might have to watch the spectacle through a mostly cloudy sky. Check the forecast.
So, What Is a Supermoon?
“Supermoon” is the unofficial term for “perigee,” when a full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its oval-shaped orbit, making it appear 14 percent bigger in the night sky.
(We’re actually in the middle of a cycle of three supermoons in a row. The first showed up Aug. 29, and the last will be Oct. 27.)
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the moon and the sun. The moon enters the Earth’s shadow, creating a reddish glow on the moon.
NASA says the supermoon will begin to dim at 8:11 p.m. EDT. A shadow will fall over the moon starting at 9:07, with the total eclipse beginning at 10:11 and lasting for an hour and 12 minutes.
Here are some viewing tips:
- Show up to your stargazing destination while it’s still light out to allow your eyes to adjust slowly as the light disappears. This also allows you to see where you’re going as you choose the perfect viewing spot.
- Don’t use artificial light sources such as flashlights and cell phone displays. If you need to use light, try placing red tape over a flashlight, since red light is less damaging to night vision ability.
- Bring chairs, blankets, water and snacks to make your night comfortable. You may be there for a couple hours, so don’t let hunger or discomfort ruin this spectacular evening!
A harvest supermoon on Sept. 27 will have an added bonus: a lunar eclipse. Photo Credit: NASA.
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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — There will be extra star power at the next “Starwalk” event at the Walkway Over the Hudson. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, announced Tuesday that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has agreed to send an astronaut to the Sept. 7 educational “Starwalk” event.
“A bona fide hero, NASA astronaut’s attendance will help launch the ‘Starwalk’ program into a new galaxy and will create an out-of-this-world experience for those who participate,” Schumer said.
“Starwalk” is an astronomically themed program designed to be fun, educational and interactive for beginner and advanced stargazers alike.
Open and fee to the public, “Starwalk” offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the stars and for the community to enjoy the staggering horizon-to-horizon view of the night sky on the Walkway Over the Hudson.
“Not only will this inspire a new generation of scientists in the Hudson Valley, it also builds on NASA’s commitment to education and scientific research,” Schumer said.
The Walkway Over the Hudson State Park spans the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County to Highland in Ulster County. It opened in October 2009 and is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.
Photo credit: Michael Woyton/Patch Staff.


Planet Clicker 2
Planet Clicker 2 on Scratch is an engaging and interactive idle clicker game that takes you on an interstellar journey. As a sequel to the popular Planet Clicker, this version offers enhanced graphics, more planets to explore, and deeper strategic elements. Your mission is to harness the power of clicking to generate resources, upgrade your abilities, and unlock new celestial wonders.
How to play Planet Clicker 2?
In Planet Clicker 2, your main goal is to accumulate resources by clicking on planets. These resources enable you to buy upgrades and unlock new planets. Each planet offers unique challenges and resources. As you progress, you'll need to balance your resource generation with the cost of upgrades and unlocking new planets. Strategic planning is key to efficiently grow your interstellar empire.
What are the controls for Planet Clicker 2?
The game is entirely controlled with your mouse.
- Clicking: Use your mouse to click on planets to generate resources.
- Navigation: Scroll through your planetary system with the arrow keys or mouse wheel.
- Upgrades: Click on upgrade icons to purchase them using your accumulated resources.
- Variety of planets to explore and unlock
- Upgradeable systems and abilities for enhanced gameplay
- Strategic resource management for deeper engagement
- Visually appealing graphics and animations
- Dynamic gameplay that evolves as you progress
Coltroc & Troider


Star Tracker VST-68M
The optical head with the high quality lens system (Leica) and a mission dependent baffle in front of itVECTRONIC Aerospace offers with the VST-68M a high performance star tracker for small satellite applications with the technical capabilities and radiation tolerance suitable for LEO, GEO and even for interplanetary missions. The predecessors of this sensor, the VST-41M series, have been successfully used in various small satellite missions.
The star tracker consists of two main elements:
- The optical head with the high quality lens system (Leica) and a mission dependent baffle in front of it
- The star tracker processing electronics with the on-board star catalogue
The VST-68M performs direct and autonomous measurement of the spacecraft attitude in the body fixed star tracker reference frame relative to the celestial reference system J2000.
Core element of the sensor’s processing electronics is a 1024 x 1024 pixel rad-hard CMOS sensor, specially developed for space applications, which transforms star images detected through the lens into electrical information. After the A/D conversion the CPU analyses the incoming data through a series of several algorithms, which eliminate fixed pattern noise, objects that are too bright like the Moon or planets and then determine star positions using a barycentric algorithm. With a focal length of 75 mm the sensor’s FOV is around 14°x14° which guarantees at least 16 visible stars independent of the current attitude. The attitude information is provided together with other status telemetry in the form of quaternions and/or Euler angles. The communication interface comprises two independent asynchronous SCI’s with a baud rate up to 1 Mbit. A redundant CAN bus interface is also available.
|Dimensions (with baffle)||60 mm x 60 mm x 138 mm|
|Mounting pattern||4 x M4 50 mm x 90 mm|
|Power consumption, max||3.0 W|
|Input voltage range (VCD)||9 to 40|
|Signal interface||2 x RS422 / 2 x CAN|
|Signal characteristics||Serial asynchronous / CAN|
|Operating temp.range||-20°C to + 65°C|
|Storage temp. range||-40°C to + 80°C|
|Vibration||20g rms random 3 axis|
|Radiation tolerance||> 20 krad|
|Accuracy 2σ (x,y / z axis)||5 arcsec / 30 arcsec|
|Acquisition probability||> 99.7%|
|Update rate||5 Hz|
|Field of view||14° x 14°|
|Time of first acquisition||typ. 1 sec|


New Zealand signs space agreement with NASA, 11th country to do so
Wellington: New Zealand on Tuesday announced that it has become the 11th country to sign the Artemis Agreement with the US space agency NASA. The agreement is a draft of cooperation in space and supports NASA’s plan to send humans to the moon by 2024 and the launch of the historic manned mission to Mars.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nania Mahuta has said that New Zealand is one of the few countries to launch a rocket into space.
“New Zealand is committed to ensuring that the next phase of space exploration is safe, sustainable and transparent, and in full compliance with international law,” Mahuta said, adding that New Zealand was particularly interested in ensuring that. The key is to use minerals from the moon or any other place in space properly.
The California-based company Rocket Lab made history in New Zealand four years ago when it launched a test rocket into space from the distant Mahia Peninsula.
It launched commercially in 2018. Rocket Lab specializes in launching small satellites into orbit. Peter Beck, founder of Rocket Lab and a New Zealand citizen, said the signing of the agreement was a sign that the country’s role in the space industry was growing and opened the door to alliance and mission possibilities with NASA.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement that New Zealand was one of the seven countries that helped draft the agreement and was pleased that New Zealand had signed it.
In addition to New Zealand, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine have signed it. Brazil has also said it plans to sign.


Kyle Winfield | Technology Editor
On Jan. 3, the state controlled media of China announced that the Chang’e 4 lunar explorer had made it to the far side of Earth’s moon, near the moon’s south pole. This event makes China the first ever country to reach the moon’s far side.
Since landing, the lunar lander has taken photos of the never-seen side of the moon, which were then released by Xinhua News, while the Yutu 2 rover explores the mostly unseen lunar surface.
It is important to note that, while pictures of the so-called “dark side of the moon” exist, they have been taken only from orbit.
The lander is seen as a preface to China’s efforts to send its own astronauts to the moon, sometime in the future. For the time being however, the lander will remain on the moon.
Equipped on the lander are a litany of sensors and cameras. But there was also something quite unusual aboard Chang’e 4. A small biosphere, which in this case, is a contained area meant to simulate a certain environment.
Within this biosphere were essential plant growing materials. Soil, water and air, along with climate controls and seeds. These seeds were set to be watered as soon as the lander made contact with the lunar surface. Soon after, photos sent from Chang’e 4 to scientists in Chongqing University revealed the growth of a small leaf, belonging to a cotton plant.
Sent alongside the cotton were seeds for potatoes, fruit flies and yeast. However, despite the on-board climate control on the lander, the temperatures of the biosphere began to shift so rapidly and extremely that nothing inside could have survived. China’s National Space Agency says that they will leave the organisms on the moon to decompose.
However, this setback has not stopped the enthusiasm of the scientific community. Simon Gilroy, a professor at University of Madison-Wisconsin, said this about the experiment “it’s fantastic to be able to say, yeah, it’s a first tiny step down that path,” and also joked “How do you become a good gardener in space
Despite the failure in the experiment, the Chinese Space Agency remains determined to send astronauts to the moon.


This comes as unconfirmed reports quoting US scientists predicted Universe change, total blackout of planet for 3 days from Dec 23 2012.
The report also added that it is not the end of the world, it is an alignment of the Universe, where the Sun and the earth will align for the first time. The earth will shift from the current third dimension to zero dimension, then shift to the forth dimension. During this transition, the entire Universe will face a big change, and we will see a entire brand new world.
However NASA has said, “Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of “alignment of the Universe” will cause a blackout. There is no such alignment (see next question). Some versions of this rumor cite an emergency preparedness message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. This is simply a message encouraging people to be prepared for emergencies, recorded as part of a wider government preparedness campaign. It never mentions a blackout.”
The officials further added, “There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.”
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on 21 December 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship.
The phenomenon was followed after Mayan archaeologists met in Guatemala and confirmed the end date for the Mayan Prophecy is December 21, 2012. That’s when the world will end.
Archaeologists reviewed a newly discovered 1,300 year-old Maya text that provides only the second reference to the “end date” of the Maya calendar on December 21, 2012. The discovery, one of the most significant hieroglyphic find in decades, was announced at the National Palace in Guatemala.
The Mayan phenomena was refused by various scientists and Astrobiology Institutes since Maya calendar doesn’t end in 2012, as some have said, and the ancients never viewed this year as the time of the end of the world


Hello and welcome to Astronaut Site
You don’t need a degree in Astro Physics to deduce that this is a site about astronauts – there’s a pretty strong clue in the name – and we aim to bring you lots of facts and foibles about the wacky world of space travel.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so don’t expect to find loads of tech babble and big words. Indeed popular culture trends that have been inspired by man’s fascination with the universe is just as interesting to us as the science behind it.I suppose what we are trying to say is that we will be mentioning David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust a fair bit. So don’t be surprised by that.
We are enthusiasts rather than astronauts ourselves but you never know, if you all stick around and read the site then maybe it will become so popular that Buzz Aldrin comes looking for a guest blog spot! Happy reading and we hope we enjoy the ‘atmosphere’ (little astronaut pun for you there) at our lovingly created site.
Watch this space (yes that’s another pun) for further posts about all things astro!


Perseus and Medusa's eternal struggle will wage for all eternity in myth and in the very stars themselves. The constellations of Perseus and the Hydra will be forever locked in battle for all to see, a constant reminder of good and evil.
The constellation of Perseus stands as a symbol of good's triumph over evil. It's worth noting that the constellation's brightest star, Mirfak, is the center of a vast intergalactic peacekeeping conglomerate and that nearly 2,500 years after the Gorgon War, a large intergalactic conflict broke out within the Alpha Persei cluster led by a Serpentine Empress who surrounded herself by Statues of those she defeated.
Celestial Perseus comes with the following: