Thursday was our last day working on our project. We started off the morning finishing up our prototypes and started working on our PowerPoint presentation. We did a run through presentation to the Pennsylvania State University Supervisors and some managers of the FABLAB. We received good feedbacks and constructive criticism on things we can adjust for the final and closing presentation.
In the afternoon we were headed to Jicamarca. It is a radio observatory located one and half hours outside of Lima, Peru. Jicamarca’s main antenna is the largest of all the incoherent scatter radars in the world. The observatory is a facility of the Instituto Geofísico del Perú and is used to do research in meteor physics and study of ionosphere. We were able to tour the observatory and meet some of the researchers.
Finally we had a friendly soccer match with students from Pennsylvania State University and Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería at Jicamarca’s soccer field before we headed back to our houses.


James Debo dreamed of a career with NASA for as long as he could remember. He loved talking about the space program and usually wore clothes which contained some sort of space theme. But as he was completing his senior year at Cicero-North Syracuse High School two years ago and considering future options, he decided to attend Onondaga Community College and major in American Sign Language (ASL). "I always thought working or participating in anything NASA-related was unrealistic. So I went with my second favorite thing."
Being an ASL major didn't change his dreams. Whenever he had free time he often spoke with fellow students about NASA and anything space related. Everything changed a couple of months ago when a fellow ASL major told him about an opportunity she had heard about with the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar program. He researched it and immediately signed up.
Debo took an online class through NASA and did well, earning perfect scores on all of his quizzes and an 80 on the final exam. A short time later he was invited to come to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. It is NASA's only owned and operated launch range. Debo will arrive on March 2 and spend four days at the facility. "I'll be working with teams to build a miniature rover out of a LEGO system, then digitally program it. I'm looking forward to meeting people interested in the same things as me and working alongside both students and people who work at NASA."
A career in space was always Debo's dream. Next month he'll take one large step in that direction. "It really feels like everything is falling in place now. I'm looking forward to going to NASA."


|Bigfoot campfire at midnight|
There was a moon, however, and the sand seemed to be reflecting star light as well, to give some degree of visibility. Yes, star light. I was so far from civilization that the stars could be seen in a way I can not describe. It was beautiful. It was hard to imagine the danger I was really in. Not being armed, anything could have attacked me.
|The moon after sunset from the camp|
There are hundreds of videos and photos that I am looking at trying to decide in what order to show all of this. I am very busy. Most people don't realize how much time is necessary to be a good Bigfoot Researcher.


UK officials think they've found part of an American rocket. NASA has been trying to find debris since a SpaceX cargo rocket blew up over the summer.
There’s a town in the continental U.S. that Smithsonian.com has called the “most remote” of all, as evidenced by its mail delivery system which still relies on mules.
The sister of one of the three attackers who blew themselves up in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris tells CNN she didn't see any signs her brother, Samy Amimour would act that way. CNN's Hala Gorani reports.
An unmanned SpaceX rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station exploded minutes after its launch. SpaceX said that an "anomaly" had caused the rocket to fail.


We are thrilled to announce the establishment of the Sultan Chand Astronomy Lab, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the universe! 🚀✨ Thanks to the visionary efforts of the Sultan Chand Dropadi Devi Education Foundation, this cutting-edge lab is poised to inspire the next generation of astronomers and ignite a passion for the cosmos.
The Sultan Chand Astronomy Lab is committed to fostering a love for astronomy among learners of all ages. The lab has been set up at “Upper Primary School, Til Deri, Sikandarabad, Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh” (School Code – 09111501107). A dedicated team of experienced educators will curate immersive workshops, engaging lectures, and interactive stargazing sessions to inspire and educate visitors about the wonders of the cosmos.
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is a success.”
Firstly, we would like to thank The Chief Development Officer of Bulandshahar, Mr. Kuldeep Meena Sir for his approval and support. We are thankful to the entire team of Astroscape and its founder, Aryan Mishra for their excellent work and the Head Sir, Mr. Ravinder Pal ji, and all the teachers especially Ms. Shubhra and Ms. Rekha ji for their continued support and cooperation.
We invite researchers, students, educators, and astronomy enthusiasts to join us on this incredible journey of exploration and knowledge.
Stay tuned for updates on our inaugural event, where we will unveil the Sultan Chand Astronomy Lab to the world. Let’s embark on a celestial odyssey together, and discover the wonders that await us beyond the stars! 🌠✨
#SultanChandAstronomyLab #ExploringTheCosmos #AstronomyAdventures #UnveilingTheUniverse


Using a sextant also require an operator (navigator) who knows what they're doing in order to take the sighting and compute the position, compared to radio navigation (vors, vor/dme, or gps) most pilots don't have any training in using a sextant (my experience comes from sailing), so having one would be useless to them. Apollo 11 astronauts used this star chart while training for their 1969 lunar landing mission it shows the locations, names, and code numbers for a select group of stars the astronauts would key those numbers into their apollo guidance computer while taking readings with a sextant. Maritime navigational instruments people who viewed this item also viewed.
At a time when 35% of the french population is single, more and more applications propose to meet love whether you are a couple or not, and with summer approaching, it’s about time to have a good dating app to help you out during your vacation and to find proper singles to meet. This app can be counted among the largest online social dating apps available this app is mostly for gay, bi sexual or bi curious men if you are only looking for someone to talk to or someone to date then grindr is a good option. In the example on the right the initial angle (30°) on the bow is doubled (60°) yielding an isosceles trianglethe distance travelled between the bearings is the same as the distance from the visible wreck. This is the 4th do-it-yourself sextant design published in this spacex-tant and cd-sextant are conventional marine sextants, using unconventional materials recently i added the iphone sextantthat device combines a telescope viewfinder with the phone and uses the phone gyroscope to read the altitudes.
Sextant is an excellent upgrade option for exhausted, frustated users of act, goldmine, or outlook it provides a host of feature sets, all easily learned and navigation. This project uses the iphone orientation sensors (magnetic compass and gyroscope) to work as a sextant for celestial navigation with this device, you can take altitudes of a couple stars and calculate your astronomical position at first i tried to use the bare phone camera as pointing device. Basic video demonstrating how to use the new android sextant app by talltree software the app can be downloaded from google play this app lets you use your smartphone or tablet as a sextant to.
Some celebs and other members of high society have turned to an elite dating app called raya, where membership is by invitation only the private dating site is where movie stars, professional. Star finder for celestial navigation sun and stars position in the sky stars identifier (marine stars searcher) - day and night sky (skymap) in an excel planisphere (xls/xlbs) with animation. Download sextant apps for android reviews, screenshots and comments about sextant apps like sextant stars, sextant, sextant and more android apps. Related to the navigational sextant is the astronomer’s sextant it differs from the navigational sextant in that it is a much larger instrument and does not use mirrors to measure angles, thus meaning that it cannot measure angles any greater than its 60-degree arc. The sextant navigation for exploration missions (sextant navigation) investigation focuses on stability and star sighting opportunities in microgravity astronauts on board the international space station (iss) tests a hand-held sextant that is intended for use on future orion exploration missions.
Yacht chronometer, marine chronometer, navigation, sextant, chronometer, ocean-going yacht, yacht even in an age of gps systems and satellite navigation, a sextant and chronometer are still recommended equipment for a luxury or ocean-going yacht. This fun app lets you use your smartphone or tablet to measure your latitude and longitude, just like using a sextant like sailors of old the app displays a simple compass over the camera view to allow you to locate and measure the position of the north star and sun. Celestial navigation and trigonometry we can use a sextant, the stars, and trigonometry to find our location keywords: celestial, navigation, law of cosines, sextant, sailing, tim fitzpatrick, fitzpatrick, complementary angles, sphere, spherical trigonometry, trigonometry, shell point fl, declination.
The sextant is an instrument used to measure angles mainly used at sea, the tool is so named because its arc is one sixth of a circle – 60 degrees it adheres to the principle of double reflection hence it can measure angles up to 120 degrees. The mystery surrounding celestial navigation and sextant use will disappear before becoming an accomplished navigator, however, you will need to study those aspects of navigation which are beyond the scope of this booklet. Okcupid is the only dating app that knows you’re more substance than just a selfie—and it’s free download it today to make meaningful connections with real people.
No other celestial navigation program has the breadth and scope of functions, ease-of-use, and versatility to run on your pc, several models of hand held calculators, or the new ipod/iphone app easy - menu driven for user friendliness. A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects the primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation. Dating applications are currently part of our lives to find the perfect partner, people of such applications are prepared to uncover their name, occupation, work environment, where they get a.


High-resolution numerical relativity simulations of spinning binary neutron star mergers
In 1803.07965 we report state-of-the-art binary neutron star simulations for irrotational and spinning configurations. Key numerical requirements are the understanding of the convergence properties of the numerical data and a detailed error budget. We obtain convergent waveforms with phase errors of 0.5-1.5 rad. The waveforms have been used for the construction of a phenomenological waveform model which has been applied for the analysis of the recent binary neutron star detection.


Tsukimi or moon viewing is part of the Mid-Autumn Festival where we celebrate the harvest for the year and look forward to the coming season. This year it occurred from October 4th to 6th, so at Dai-ichi Takimotokan we prepared a few things to celebrate.
This year, we prepared luxurious flowers, including Japanese pampas grass, and some special sweets. Yunoka Manju are a specialty made for this time of year.
We distributed them to our guests who happened to be here during this time so they could enjoy them while taking in this spectacular view. They were all gone by dinner time!
This year, the moon hid in the clouds a little on the first day, but the glow it gave to the sky here in Noboribetsu was stunning. In the photograph, the outline of the moon is a little blurred, but it clearly visible to the naked eye. In the days afterward, the sky was very clear so the view was particularly good.
How did you enjoy your moon viewing day?
I hope to see the moon again next year.


February 6, Format: Blu-rayVerified Purchase I collect classic sci-fi films from the 60's on and thus purchased At the Earth's Core as soon as it was available. I was not disappointed.
The central point of the Earth is over 6,km down, and even the outermost part of the core is nearly 3, km below our feet.
All the familiar events on Earth also happen close to the surface. The lava that spews from volcanoes first melts just a few hundred kilometres down. Even diamonds, which need extreme heat and pressure to form, originate in rocks less than km deep. And yet, we know a surprising amount about the core.
We even have some idea about how it formed billions of years ago — all without a single physical sample. This is how the core was revealed.
It turns out that the mass of the Earth is 5. The At the earths core step is to ask which heavy materials make up the core. An iron core would account for all that missing mass The main evidence for this is the huge amount of iron in the universe around us.
It is one of the ten most common elements in our galaxy, and is frequently found in meteorites. Given how much there is of it, iron is much less common at the surface of the Earth than we might expect. So the theory is that when Earth formed 4.
But wait a minute. How did that iron get down there in the first place? View image of The San Andreas fault can trigger major earthquakes Credit: Most of the rest of the Earth is made up of rocks called silicates, and molten iron struggles to travel through them.
Rather like how water on a greasy surface forms droplets, the iron clings to itself in little reservoirs, refusing to spread out and flow. The pressure actually changes the properties of how iron interacts with the silicate A possible solution was discovered in by Wendy Mao of Stanford University in California and her colleagues.
They wondered what happened when the iron and silicate were both exposed to extreme pressure, as happens deep in the earth. By pinching both substances extremely tightly using diamonds, they were able to force molten iron through silicate.
At this point you might be wondering how we know the size of the core. What makes scientists think it begins km down? All the seismic stations dotted all over the Earth recorded the arrival of the tremors When an earthquake happens, it sends shockwaves throughout the planet.Oct 10, · miles below the Earth's surface, there is a vast ocean of molten iron.
The spinning outer core of the Earth generates a protective magnetic shield around the planet, defending life from. Iron is a relatively dense element under normal conditions, and under the extreme pressure at the Earth's core it would be crushed to an even higher density, so an iron core would account for all.
A century ago, science barely knew that the Earth even had a core. Today we are tantalized by the core and its connections with the rest of the planet.
Indeed, we're at the start of a golden age of core studies. We knew by the s, from the way Earth responds to the gravity of the Sun and Moon.
"At The Earth's Core" simply tells the tale of a hotshot American businessman and his former absent-minded professor - who take a test run on a giantic manned earth .
May 17, · “At The Earth’s Core,” first published in , is one of Edgar Rice Burrough’s most imaginative works. It is the first of seven books in the Pellucidar series and imagines a world inside the earth (five hundred miles beneath the surface) where the most advanced species is reptilian and the humans are still living in the stone age/5().
The Earth's core is the part of Earth in the middle of our planet. It has a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.. Outer core. The outer core of the Earth is a liquid layer about 2, kilometers thick.
It is made of iron and alphabetnyc.com is above the Earth's solid inner core and below the alphabetnyc.com outer boundary is 2, km (1, mi) beneath the Earth's surface.


Meeting in Orbit
MEETING IN ORBITSOLD
Meeting in Orbit is the final piece in the Bouncey series. The piece was inspired by the beauty of natural-pull and timely alignment of planets, in particular, the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction that finished off the marathon that was 2020.
Completed December 2020. Hand-painted.
Acrylic on 350gsm medium textured fine art paper.
Artwork size: 60 x 80 cm
Framed size: 63 x 83 cm Frame: Flat black timber, glass, white foam core back.
Read about the Series: Bouncey (2020)
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Write an essay around 200 words Some say that the government money should be spent more on social welfare instead of space exploration because it is a daily serious problem. However, I think there are numerous benefits in exploring space. Therefore, space exploration should be continued. The first reason is that we will have useful information in this scientific research. This will determine the Earth’s future, meteorites orbit and other useful minerals in the space. The second reason is that the success of the space exploration will boost national pride and honor. It will also improve our science and technology that will boost our economy as well develop new industries. As a result both children and adults will be assured of a great future. The third reason is that the technology of the space exploration can make possible international colonization. In case planet earth will be extinct in the future , then we must research on how to live in another planet. From those benefits, I think Space exploration should be continued.


22 June 2007
Rethinking Black Holes
By Rusty Rockets
There are areas of science that are speculative, and then there are those relatively solid areas considered as close to fact as possible - a scale of 1 to 10 on the science-o-meter, if you like. Despite the controversy that has surrounded the formation of black holes - largely to do with what happens at the event horizon - we've all come to regard black hole theory as being pretty close to a 10.
But general relativity and quantum mechanics are uncomfortable bedfellows when it comes to explaining black hole formation and a few researchers now contend that black holes may not actually fully form at all. If Case Western Reserve University physicists Tanmay Vachaspati, Dejan Stojkovic and Lawrence M. Krauss's new study is correct, our current concept of black holes is about to take a dramatic slide down the ol' science-o-meter. They argue that the formation of new black holes just doesn't happen. There's "nothing there," says the Case Western team.
To say, as the Case team does, that the black hole conundrum is "complicated and very complex" - in reference to the overall problem, and the team's approach to solving it - is what you'd call an understatement. Nonetheless, it's a topic that's worth trying to get your head around, or at least die trying. The problem revolves around what happens once information (anything can be construed as information) enters and collapses into a black hole, and whether this information is then lost forever. Current physics says yes, it is lost, but by siding with this theory modern physics breaks another fundamental tenant; that information cannot be destroyed. "If you define the black hole as some place where you can lose objects, then there is no such thing because the black hole evaporates before anything is seen to fall in," explains Vachaspati.
Contrary to established scientific theory, the team argue in their paper that anything (detritus, light, or passing super-villains) about to undergo a bit of black hole squishing would instead forever remain perched on the event horizon, appearing to be falling inside the event horizon and collapsing, while never actually doing so.
Theoretically working from matter that was nonsingular and collapsing it, the team looked for any evidence of an event horizon, a sign that would indicate black hole formation. But working with numerous types of equations - from general relativity, quantum mechanics, and finally Schrodinger formalism - the team noted that while the mass may shrink in size, it will not collapse inside an event horizon. The reason for this, they explain, is because of the evidence of non-thermal pre-Hawking radiation emissions from black holes.
Unlike thermal radiation that destroys information, non-thermal radiation - in this case pre-Hawking radiation - allows information to be recovered from a collapsing mass. "Non-thermal radiation can carry information in it, unlike thermal radiation," explain the Case team. "This means that an outside observer watching some object collapse receives non-thermal radiation back and may be able to reconstruct all the information in the initial object and so the information never gets lost." So, if new black holes really did form, any information formed in its early stages would simply be zapped out of existence by bursts of thermal radiation. But, the team point out that: "Since an outside observer never sees formation of a horizon in a finite time, radiation observed by him is never quite thermal."
Using Schrodinger formalism, the researchers support their reasoning by showing how pre-Hawking radiation indicates that any information regarding the energy emitted from radiation evaporates before it has the chance to form an event horizon. If you didn't understand that, it basically means that you can't lose stuff down a black hole. "An outside observer will never lose an object down a black hole," says team member Stojkovic. "If you're sitting outside and throwing something into the black hole, it will never pass over but will stay outside the event horizon even if one considers the effects of quantum mechanics. In fact, since in quantum mechanics the observer plays an important role in measurement, the question of formation of an event horizon is much more subtle to consider."
It's mind-bending stuff, and it so happens that we may not have to wait very long to find out if they're right or not. In 2008, physicists will have access to a piece of equipment that Stephen Hawking, Nobel-Prize winner Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the UK's renowned scientist Arthur Eddington, and other black hole aficionados didn't have the luxury of playing with - the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Located on the CERN campus, the LHC will be able to replicate, apparently, the formation of black holes in a controlled environment. This should allow us to see if the team's theory measures up (as long as the Earth doesn't collapse in on itself first).
Could the Case team's paper be the beginning of a new era in black hole research? The Director of Case's Center for Education and Research in Cosmology, Lawrence Krauss, thinks so. "From an external viewer's point, it takes an infinite amount of time to form an event horizon and that the clock for the objects falling into the black hole appears to slow down to zero," says Krauss. "This is one of the factors that led us to rethink this problem, and we hope our proposal at the very least will stimulate a broader reconsideration of these issues." And if Krauss is correct, it means that stars don't die and implode in the way that we think they do... they just fade away.
Check out the Case paper:
"Observation of Incipient Black Holes and the Information Loss Problem"


Without a doubt, one of the greatest mysteries of life is those little lights in the sky that appear every night. The stars have been the subject of discussion for hundreds of years, they have been the protagonists of paintings, poems, films and songs. They are covered by a Sacred Cloak of mysticism and magic that no doubt makes it a very attractive subject, does so much mysticism try to convey some kind of message to us when we dream of stars?
You can see the video version below or you can keep reading the text, it is up to you, so here it is:
Video about Dreaming of stars
In this video you will see everything related to dreaming of stars, watch it to the end, maybe that’s what you are looking for, below you can continue with the article if you prefer to read.
There is to be a fan of Journey to the stars to dream of stars, in fact, is usually a dream of quite recurrent and that is why today we will talk about precisely the meaning of dreaming about stars. On different occasions we have noticed that the world symbolizes our yearnings and illusions in the form of stars, and as we already know, the dream world is very loaded with symbolic meaning so we can notice that having this kind of Dream represents our illusions, the things we want or need.
Surely you have heard the phrase that says that someone has «the head in the stars» and that means that you are living in a world full of dreams and hopes, this same situation can be represented by dreaming of stars. Basically, star dreams are usually those kind of dreams that are a very quiet and even joyous experience, or at least most of it. Dreams with stars have a great number of meanings according to the specifications of each dream, that is why today we will venture into the world of dreams to decipher their meaning.
The stars, those stars that shine in the sky for hundreds and thousands of years, are charged with strength and energy, if you want to know the meaning of your dream, we invite you to continue reading and unveiling the mysticism hidden behind them.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DREAM OF STARS?
Dreaming of stars, in the most general sense, represents your desires and illusions along with inner strength. Dreams with stars belong to dreams that augur well as all their energy is concentrated mostly on the side of good. Dreaming of stars tells us about our inner strength and how we should use it to achieve our goals or desires. If you have just seen star wars, or any film of this style, this is probably the reason why the stars are the protagonists of your dreams, even if you recently had the wonderful experience of visiting an observatory stellar could be this the reason of your dreams.
On the other hand, if you haven’t done any of these things and still had dreams about stars, it certainly means there’s a secret behind your dream. But in order to unveil the meaning of your dreams you must be as thoughtful as possible, remember every little thing as every detail is of great importance to decipher your dream. Try to sort out your ideas about your dream, whether the star is big or small, whether it shines or is off, everything is important. You must also remember that each dream has a different meaning according to the context of your life so for all people dreams have different meanings.
Dream of shooting stars
This dream occurs mostly in people who have been through calamities. Dreaming of shooting stars is a dream of good omen as it tells us that soon things will be on your side, the time of misfortune is over and you are about to reach your dreams. It can also represent new opportunities lurking. On the other hand, if you dream of falling shooting stars, it can mean that your plans are going to go the wrong way, you better be careful.
Dream of star rain
Dreaming of Star showers represents the fact that many opportunities come close in your life, but just as they come that way they go, you will have to strive and move very quickly to be able to reach those opportunities and achieve your dreams.
Dream of starfish
If what you are looking for is the meaning of dreaming of starfish, let us tell you that it means that you are living a stage of your life in which many things happen and you try to keep everything under control, you are constantly busy with two or more tasks and you keep thinking about what you can do to accomplish even more things. Try to relax a little, remember that your body is not a working machine and that you should rest. On the other hand, if you have dreams with starfish out of the water means that the water terrifies you, you have an innate fear of the water and it is something that you will have to improve as opportunities in your life approach you to the sea.
Dream of a sky full of stars
If you dream of sky full of stars means that a stage full of prosperity is approaching for you in both the professional and the loving aspect, you will have many opportunities and you will have to choose the right one, be wise before your choice and do not rush, remember that not because it is the brightest star will be the best for you.
Dream of moving stars
Dreaming of moving stars represents the opportunities that lie around you, are in constant motion and you must be very bold to take one and make it right. It can also represent the path your dreams take, if the stars rise it’s because your goal is on the right track, but if it goes down it’s because it’s not going as well as you expect.
Dream of many stars
As mentioned above, dreaming of many stars represents all the opportunities that will arise in your life, try to remember if in the dream you achieve a star, that would mean that you have achieved your goal.
Dream of shooting stars and make a wish
Dreaming of fleeting stars and making a wish is associated with you having a new project in mind and you expect destiny to conspire in your favor so that you can materialize everything you have thought, with much effort you will achieve it.
Dream of colored stars
If you have had dreams with colored stars it means that the opportunities that are approaching your life are of different appearance, such as the professional, loving and even health aspect. It represents that you will have prosperity.


If you don’t have strategies to handle your own transits, how can you expect to help others? The ancients knew that Saturn was the gatekeeper of reality, and that we must answer to his finality at the end of our stay here on earth. Now that Saturn is moving through Leo, what issues must we face? How will Saturn’s opposition to Neptune play out in our lives? How will this combine with the transits of Uranus and Pluto? The outer planets deliver various kinds of shocks as they aspect your natal chart. How can we place relative importance on each transit, especially since there is usually more than one happening simultaneously? What are the best practices when entering a period with lots of outer planet activity?


Our Rover has finished its final testing and is now being placed in its transport container ready to make the journey to Cannes, France, to meet the rest of the Spacecraft that will take it to Mars.
The Spacecraft is made up of the Lander Platform, Descent Module, and Carrier Module, and, at the moment, a Dummy Rover Model.
In Cannes, the Flight Rover will be mounted onto the Lander Platform, electrical testing performed (to make sure everything works correctly when connected to each other), as well as Platform and Spacecraft balancing (important for the Descent and Landing Dynamics).
Then the Flight Rover will be shipped to Turin, Italy, to complete some work on the Rover before shipping it to the Launch site in mid-May, where it will reunite with its Spacecraft to take it to Mars.
We, the ESA team, are currently opening the Delivery Review Board, which is a group of Customer Project managers, System Engineers and Product Assurance/Quality Engineers (a bit like an exam board!).
They will assess the Status of the Rover and whether all the integration and build work and testing is complete and the Rover is ready for delivery (with all of its relevant paperwork).
On the Spacecraft with the Dummy Rover, we have completed the Acoustic Test, where we bombard the spacecraft with sound waves/noise to simulate the launch environment as a workmanship test.
It is now under electrical testing to check that everything works properly, before going in to a Thermal Vacuum Test, another workmanship test to see everything works as expected in a Space environment.
Currently, the Spacecraft and Rover will arrive in Baikonur, the launch site in Kazakhstan, in mid-May for the Launch preparations, mating with the Proton Rocket and Roll out to the Launch Pad. The Launch window opens on the 26th Jul for 16 days. We should arrive and land on Mars 19th March 2021.


Saudi Arabia to boost space funding with eye on Moon and Mars
IslamNews – Saudi Arabia will take steps to increase investment in the space sector, according to reports of the latest meeting of the Saudi Space Commission.
The commission is working with the Saudi Investment Ministry and Public Investment Fund and is weeks away from launching a new organisation to focus on encouraging investment in the space field, the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat newspaper quoted chairman Prince Sultan bin Salman as saying.
Prince Sultan said that besides securing funds, the new entity will enable the involvement of SMEs, the daily reported, citing a statement from the commission after its fourth board meeting.
It said the commission also reviewed the kingdom’s plans to send exploratory missions to the Moon and Mars.
Prince Sultan said the kingdom would assemble an integrated crew with international space agencies within two years for exploratory missions to Mars and the Moon.
He congratulated the UAE on the Hope probe’s successful entry into Martian orbit this week.
Prince Sultan became the first Arab in space in 1985, when he was part of a seven-member international crew aboard Nasa’s Discovery space shuttle. He was appointed chairman of the SSC after it was established in 2018 to draw up and implement Saudi Arabia’s space strategy.
Saudi Arabia last year allocated $2.1 billion for its space programme under the Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.
Source: the National


Clarence Lovell Wade, Jr. passed away in Arlington, VA on November 20, 2019 at the age of 93.
Clarence was born in Clearwater, Florida to Clarence L. Wade and Johanna Dodl Wade. After moving with his family to Washington D.C. in 1934, he graduated from Anacostia High School in 1943, and Wilson Teacher’s College (Washington, DC) in 1947 with a B.S in Mathematics.
Clarence taught math at Kramer Jr High in Anacostia before being hired by the National Bureau of Standards in 1956. Upon the establishment of NASA, he transferred in 1959, being one of the original employees at Goddard Space Flight Center. As a mathematician and computer scientist, Clarence was involved in the development of numerical analysis algorithms and science data processing systems for scientific research for over four decades. He made significant contributions to the initial programs to determine the orbital characteristics of the Russian Sputnik satellite. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, he contributed to the development of orbit determination and particle scattering algorithms used by the Center’s Solar Physics and Astrophysics departments. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, he played a key role in the development and maintenance of the science data archives for the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). This system provided astronomers access to the IUE spectra for subsequent comparison and analysis. In 2000, he continued to support the science data processing and science data analysis initiatives in the Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics. Especially noteworthy were his analysis routines to predict solar irradiance variation over a complete solar cycle. In addition, Clarence worked with several NASA scientists on the Hubble Telescope and was one of the few programmers authorized to submit problems to the Cray Super Computer when it was first installed and activated at NASA. He stayed at NASA for over 46 years, and retired in 2005 at the age of 79, the longest career of any NASA computer programmer.
Clarence was preceded in death by his two brothers, C. Wallace Wade and Earl V. Wade. He is survived by his sister, Ruth W. Taylor of Ocean Springs, MS, and nieces, Debra Trobaugh (Walt), Doria Taylor-Chang (Evan), Jennifer McLaughlin (Tom), Renee Sandstrum (John), Joanna Miller, Terri Elliott, Shannon Wade, and additionally, sister-in-law’s Geneva Wade and Eula Wade. Clarence belonged to the Christadelphian Ecclesia in Arlington, Virginia for 75 years. A memorial service will be held on December 10, 2019 at 11:00 at Everly Funeral Home in Falls Church, VA.
To send flowers to Clarence's family, please visit our floral section.


2019 Great Expectations: Security, structure and belonging
Most of us begin a new year with hope of a better time to come and longing for a year that has fewer pitfalls than the preceding one. We may pine for less disasters and a more proactive approach to healing the planet and our human family. Perhaps we are also expecting more from ourselves in terms of being able to meet the challenges we inevitably face.
Astrology can’t tell us precisely how the year ahead will pan out, but it can isolate and describe some of the major themes that are going to emerge. This process is aided by creative reflection on previous cycles of the planets or bodies under consideration, with a view to positive developments when lessons are learnt. 2018 was notable for its powerful eclipses and a preponderance of retrograde planets. This included particularly challenging and lengthy retrogrades of the two key personal planets Mars and Venus towards the end of the year.
2019 will be a particularly earthy year with a focus on the autonomous sign of Capricorn with Pluto and Saturn and the South Node there all year and Jupiter joining them there on the 4th of December. This is a year to get physical, to be really present and to connect with earth. It is shaping up as a year to put plans into action, whilst recognizing that this may entail confronting some of our deepest fears and vulnerabilities. It’s a year to get real and to embody our authentic selves and to step into our unique and individual roles in this life.
All but one of the five eclipses of 2019 occur on the Cancer-Capricorn axis reflecting the presence of the North Node in Cancer and the South Node in Capricorn until June 2020, and highlighting issues around structure, security, and our sense of belonging. The first eclipse for 2019 is a solar eclipse at 12:41pm on the 6th of January followed two weeks later by a total lunar eclipse on 21st January. While neither of these eclipses will be visible in Australia they will nevertheless affect the zeitgeist worldwide. The 6th of January eclipse may prove to be an ideal time for starting creative, artistic and musical projects. With this New Moon exact at 12:28 pm at 16 degrees Capricorn, characterized as School Grounds Filled with Boys and Girls in Gymnasium Suits, we are being asked to establish an affinity with our body and our vitality. This is reinforced by Mars gliding through its home sign of Aries from the 1st of January until mid February, ensuring an action oriented start to the year.
The lunar nodes, points where the moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic, pertain to our individual destiny and karma through their natal placement, while also speaking to our inherited collective karma by transit. We are being challenged to learn the new lessons of the futuristic North Node while releasing the resisting energy of the past through the South Node. Achieving a balance between these two opposing lunar energies is one of the critical jobs our souls face. The North Node in Cancer is calling us home and to a better work life balance, harmonizing our need to belong (Cancer) with our need to control and excel (Capricorn), our sensitivity with our utility, and our compassion with our competence. We may anticipate a stronger sense of a global community, while some of the excesses of corporate culture are up for review. The Capricorn South Node’s karmic position is triggering collective healing work bringing us home and releasing fear, loneliness and world weariness where we have been out of balance in this respect. That this is particularly crucial work is underlined by the fact that in 2019 we are heading towards a particularly fateful and powerful cosmic meeting between Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto’s own South Node all in Capricorn which will take place in 2020. (The last time there was a Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn was in 1518, around the time of the Reformation).
On the positive side we start the year with the two transpersonal and one of the outer planets operating authentically and potently in their home signs. This spans the years 2011 until 2025 in the case of idealistic outer planet Neptune, December 2017 until March 2020 in the case of the reality check transpersonal planet Saturn and November 2018 until December 2019 in the case of optimistic Jupiter.
Both Chiron and Uranus changed signs in 2018 and are currently briefly revisiting the sign they left behind. These heavenly bodies tend to make a statement when they enter or reenter a new sign. Chiron will reenter Aries on the 19th of February where it will remain until 2026. It will briefly join Uranus in Aries before that planet moves back into Taurus on the 7th of March. Chiron moving into the first sign of the zodiac is in pioneering territory. Chiron, the wounded healer and the maverick, suggests that if we want to be healed (including healing that which we think will never be healed) we must first let the illness take form in some way. While Chiron in Pisces asked us to make a sacrifice, in Aries we are giving birth to ourselves with courage and in all our uniqueness. At this time our fears about taking action may be exposed but connecting with the breath and being in our bodies will assist n the healing process. While healing the wounded masculine, Chiron in Aries is asking us to take on the power of individual choice and heal wounds associated with competition and identity.
With Uranus the Great Awakener in Taurus from early March until July 2025, we can once again anticipate changes in values, a revolution in building, a focus on technology and the body, and breakthroughs relating to electrification and the body. Banking and finance will be under the spotlight as will the use of land. Scientific engineering at this time may bring the focus more in line with the rhythms of nature, and perhaps sound healing will find its moment.
In Chinese astrology from the 4th of February the year of the Earth Boar encourages a tranquil home and inner-life, while we each work diligently towards achievable personal goals. In 2019 it will be important to keep your eyes on our future goals, while not losing sight of what needs to be done in the here and now to get there. Happy New Year!
Gillian Dwyer is a Melbourne astrologer Agent 25 of the C*I*A and frequent participant at Kundalini House.


The earliest record of its activity appears in the Chinese annals, where it is said that in 36 AD "more than 100 meteors flew thither in the morning." Numerous references appear in Chinese, Japanese and Korean records throughout the 8th, 9th, 10 th and 11th centuries, but only sporadic references are found between the 12th and 19th centuries, inclusive. Nevertheless, August has long had a reputation for an abundance of meteors. The Perseids have been referred to as the "tears of St. Lawrence ", since meteors seemed to be in abundance during the festival of that saint on August 10th, but credit for the discovery of the shower's annual appearance is given to Quételet (Brussels), who, in 1835, reported that there was a shower occurri ng in August that emanated from the constellation Perseus.
The first observer to provide an hourly count for this shower was Eduard Heis (Münster), who found a maximum rate of 160 meteors per hour in 1839. Observations by Heis and other observers around the world continued almost annually thereafter, with ma ximum rates typically falling between 37 and 88 per hour through 1858. Interestingly, the rates jumped to between 78 and 102 in 1861, according to estimates by four different observers, and, in 1863, three observers reported rates of 109 to 215 per hour. Although rates were still somewhat high in 1864, generally "normal" rates persisted throughout the remainder of the 19th-century.
Computations of the orbit of the Perseids between 1864 and 1866 by Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910) revealed a very strong resemblance to periodic comet Swift-Tuttle (1862 III). This was the first time a meteor shower had been positively identif ied with a comet and it seems safe to speculate that the high Perseid rates of 1861-1863 were directly due to the appearance of Swift-Tuttle, which has a period of about 120 years. Multiple returns of the comet would be responsible for the distribution of the meteors throughout the orbit, but meteors should be denser in the region closest to the comet, so that meteor activity should increase when the comet is near perihelion (as has been demonstrated by the June Boötids, Draconids and Leonids).
As the 20th-century began, the maximum annual hourly rates of the Perseids seemed to be declining. Although rates were above Denning's derived average rate of 50 per hour during five years between 1901 and 1910, the observed rate in 1911 was only 4 and fo r 1912 it was 12. Denning wondered whether the shower was declining, but hourly rates seemed to return to "normal" in the years that followed. Quite unexpectedly the shower suddenly exploded in 1920, when rates were estimated to be as high as 20 0 per hour. This was extremely unusual as it came at a time when the parent comet was nearing aphelion! Although a few weaker-than-normal years occurred during the 1920's, the Perseids regained their consistency thereafter, and, except for abnormally high rates of 160 and 189 during 1931 and 1945, respectively, nothing unusual was observed up through 1960.
During 1973, Brian G. Marsden predicted Comet Swift-Tuttle would arrive at perihelion on September 16.9, 1981 (+/-1.0 years). This immediately generated excitement among meteor observers as the potential for enhanced activity unfolded. This excitement see ms to have been fully justified, as the average rate of 65 per hour during 1966-1975 suddenly jumped to over 90 per hour during 1976-1983---with the high being 187 in the latter year. Although meteor observers seemed content with their observations of the enhanced activity from Swift-Tuttle, comet observers were less enthusiastic as the comet was never recovered.
Since the 1983 peak, hourly rates for the Perseids declined. With a full moon occurring just a day before maximum in 1984, the Dutch Meteor Society still reported unexpectedly high rates of 60 meteors per hour. In 1985, reported rates generally fell betwe en 40 and 60 meteors per hour in dark skies, and results were generally the same in 1986.
As the 1990s dawned, Marsden published a new prediction. If P/Swift-Tuttle was actually the same comet seen by Kegler in 1737, then the comet might pass perihelion during December 1992. The comet was recovered late in the summer of 1992. Although not one of the most spectacular apparitions, the comet was well observed. But meteor observers were waiting for the Perseid display of 1993. Predictions indicated Europe was the place to be during the Perseid maximum of 1993. Observers from around the world flock ed into central Europe and were met with hourly rates of 200 to 500. High rates were still present during 1994, this time with the peak occurring over the United States.
From the 1860s onward, studies of the Perseids began to include more than just hourly rates. Numerous observers began to plot the paths of meteors onto star charts to derive the points from which the meteors seemed to be radiating. The most prolific obser ver of this stream was William F. Denning, who, between 1869 and 1898, observed 2409 Perseids and became the first person to derive a daily ephemeris of the radiant's movement. In 1901, he published his most precise radiant ephemeris as follows:
|Date||RA (deg)||DECL (deg)|
[A recent plotting of 102 precise photographic meteor orbits by the author supports the general accuracy of the above ephemeris with the daily motion of the radiant being computed as RA=+1.40 deg, DECL=+0.25 deg]
In addition to this main radiant near Eta Persei, there have been indications that several secondary showers are also active. Minor activity near the main Perseid radiant has been noted on several occasions up to the present time and may have been noted a s long ago as 1879, when Denning pointed out that he had "detected the existence of two other simultaneous showers from Chi and Gamma Persei." This latter shower is one of the most active of the secondary radiants and seems to have been frequent ly observed during the twentieth century---especially with telescopic aid. The following observations represent some of the details.
One of the most recent examples of the complexity of the Perseid meteor shower was revealed in three studies of the radiant conducted during 1969 to 1971, by observers in the Crimea. In addition to the main radiant near Eta Persei, they confirmed the exis tence of the major radiants near Chi and Gamma Persei, as well as minor radiants near Alpha and Beta Persei. These meteor showers are generally short-lived and possess radiants that move nearly parallel to the main radiant. The following are summaries of the most consistent of the secondary Perseid radiants.,
These secondary centers of activity have been predominantly visual displays; however, time was taken to seek out some of these other radiants during the Jodrell Bank radio-echo survey of the 1950's. Only the Alpha Perseids were noted with confidence. Detected in both 1951 and 1953, the radiant was very diffuse and 8 deg in diameter centered at RA=54 deg, DECL=+48 deg. It was detected between August 8 and 11, and the highest radio-echo rate reached 37 per hour (the main Perseid radiant reached radio-ec ho rates of 50 per hour during the same years).
Other studies conducted by amateur and professional astronomers during the last 30 to 40 years have involved specific details of shower members. One especially interesting statistic that has been brought forward was the trend that the Perseids seem to be brighter before the date of maximum than afterward. In 1953, A. Hruska (Czechoslovakia) found the average magnitude to be about 2.5 during August 8 to 12. However, on August 12/13 it had dropped to 2.8 and by August 14/15 it had fallen to 3.4. In 1956, Z denek Ceplecha also showed a similar, though less pronounced decline in brightness. During August 4 to 10, the average Perseid was near magnitude 2.68, while during August 10 to 15 it was 2.94. The extremes came on August 6/7 (magnitude 2.31) and August 1 3/14 (magnitude 3.18). Just as Hruska and Ceplecha's studies show conflicting patterns representing the decline in the Perseid magnitude distribution during August, two very recent studies seem to support both views.
During 1983, members of the Spanish astronomical group Agrupacion Astronomica Albireo, under the direction of Eduardo Martinez Moya, obtained an excellent series of Perseid magnitude observations, which seemed to support Hruska's study. Between August 1 a nd 13, 1983, the average daily magnitude varied from 1.75 to 2.04. Thereafter, it dropped to 2.19 by the 14th, 2.52 by the 15th, 2.77 by the 17th, 2.92 by the 19th and 3.45 by the 20th. Robert Mackenzie (director of the British Meteor Society) claims the magnitude distribution of the Perseids "gives an indication of the particle mass variation in the cross-section of the stream encountered by the Earth." This variation seems to support Hruska's study.
Another excellent series of magnitude estimates were made by Paul Roggemans (Brussels, Belgium) during July 27 to August 16, 1986. Observing in darker skies than the Spanish group, Roggemans detected 1315 Perseids and gave the average magnitude of the sho wer as 3.10. Roggemans' estimates were very consistent throughout the shower's duration with variations being typically less than 10% on any given day. However, there were two exceptions. The first came on August 5/6 and 6/7, when the average magnitude dr opped to a low of 3.54. The second drop occurred on August 9/10 and 10/11 when the average magnitude reached 3.71. This set of observations seems to support Ceplecha's study.
All of the above magnitude studies (and many more not discussed here) seem to have one thing in common---they point to an irregular mass distribution within the Perseid stream. Filamentary structure seems the best explanation. During some years, the filam ents are encountered in rapid succession by Earth's passage through the Perseid stream, thus accounting for the consistent magnitude estimates followed by a steady decline. In other years, the filaments are spread out across the stream's width, thus causi ng the consistent average magnitude estimates to be disrupted by periods of activity from primarily brighter or fainter meteors.
Another statistic that has been brought forward during the last 30 to 40 years has been the percentage of Perseids that possess persistent trains. This is a major factor long noted in the separation of Perseids from other active showers occurring during t he first half of August. Miroslav Plavec used the records made at the Skalnate Pleso Observatory (Czechoslovakia) to produce one of the most ambitious studies of train phenomena to date. He studied 8,028 meteors observed between 1933 and 1947, and found t he following percentages: 45% possessed trains in 1933, 60% in 1936, 35% in 1945 and 53.5% in 1947. The variations could not be correlated to sunspot numbers. Taking an average of meteor train activity noted in various publications between 1931 and 1985, the author has found the average value to be 45% for nearly 60,000 meteors.
Two major radar surveys revealed the Perseids during the 1960's. B. L. Kashcheyev and V. N. Lebedinets found the Perseids during a 1960 survey at the Kharkov Polytechnical Institute (BL1967), while Zdenek Sekanina determined an orbit from data gathered du ring the 1969 session of the Radio Meteor Project (S1976).
The orbit of periodic comet Swift-Tuttle (1862 III) is as follows:
Original material by Gary W. Kronk. Copyright ©1988, 1995
Original graphics by Eric S. Young. Copyright ©1995


Iran launched a satellite named Khayyam from a station in Kazakhstan in cooperation with Russia.
The Khayyam satellite was launched by Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The Khayyam satellite whose ownership is for Iranian Space Agency is proper for making smart different parts of the country .
The home-made satellite is also aimed at improving agricultural productivity, monitoring water resources and management of natural disasters, among other things.
Iran's Minister of Communication and Information Technology Issa Zarepour, who has traveled to Kazakhstan for launch of Khayyam, said through a video message that Iranian Space Agency will continue scientific and technological cooperation with countries which are pioneers in the space industry.
The country develops domestic capabilities and will continue such a cooperation in order to meet its needs and accelerate the process of development in space technology.


My research interest focuses on the cosmic history in the astronomical aspect, in especially, at the early stage. There is a historic milestone which mark a turning point in the early universe, so-called first star. I would like to try to uncover mystery-shrouded properties of such first-generation stars by performing numerical simulations.
Because the matter configuration in the early universe is determined by the modern cosmology, we can perform ab initio simulation of first star formation (movie on YouTube). A number of cosmological simulations show that the first star forms inside the dark matter dominated minihalo after one hundred million year of the Big-Bang.
To determine the stellar mass, we have to calculate the evolution of accreting protostar until the mass accretion ends. We determine the final mass of first star by performing coupled simulation. Calculation results show that calculated masses of first stars greatly depend on certain properties of primordial star-forming cloud.
We make a non-biased statistical sample of primordial star-formating clouds to construct the mass distribution of first stars. Results suggest a presence of average properties of star-forming clouds which results in a certain fiducial mass of first stars. We also find that such average mass decreases with decreasing redshift.
The numerical calculations and data analysis were carried out on computers at


Among the constellations seen from Earth throughout the year, there are heroes, hunters, musical instruments, royalty, and all kinds of critters, including eight birds. The biggest and brightest bird constellation seen from Minnesota/Western Wisconsin is Cygnus the Swan, flying high overhead these autumn evenings. The bright star at the tail of the high-flying swan is Deneb, nearly overhead in the early evening of this time of year. Deneb is also one of the stars of the Summer Triangle. The other stars are Vega and Altair, the brightest in their respective constellations, Lyra and Aquila. Just look for the three brightest stars you can see straight overhead and that’s it.
Deneb is the dimmest star of the Summer Triangle, but it is by no means a small star. Quite the contrary; it’s an incredibly huge star at least 1,500 light-years away, and some astronomers argue that it may be even more distant. Just one light-year equals almost 6 trillion miles. Light years are also a measure of time. Even if Deneb is just 1,500 light-years away, the light we see from it tonight left that star around 500 AD! It’s not likely, but if Deneb were to experience a very violent supernova explosion tonight, our descendants wouldn’t see the blast until the year 3500.
According to the latest data, Deneb has a diameter of at least 175 million miles. Our own sun comes nowhere near that, at only 864,000 miles. Deneb is also estimated to kick out at least 60,000 times more light and other radiation than our sun.
Cygnus the Swan contains within it a pattern of stars called the Northern Cross. Deneb marks the head of the cross, and at the foot of the cross is the not-so-impressive star Albireo, at least to the naked eye. It’s actually much easier to first see the Northern Cross before taking on the entire swan. If you’re facing south, the cross will be overhead, leaning to the left. By the way, Albireo, as benign as it appears to the naked eye, is a great telescope target. Even a small telescope reveals that Albireo is not just one star but a beautiful pair of stars, one gold and the other blue. It’s one of the best double stars in the sky.
To expand on the Northern Cross and find the rest of Cygnus is easy; extend both ends of the crosspiece. There are faint stars off both sides that convert the crosspiece into the swan’s wingspan. Deneb marks the tail of the swan and Albireo serves as the swan’s head.
I love the Greek and Roman mythology story of how Cygnus wound up as a constellation. It’s a sad one, although it has a somewhat happy ending. Apollo was one of the most important gods of Mount Olympus. He was the god of the sun, with the critical job of faithfully guiding the sun chariot across the sky every single day. The chariot was pulled gallantly by a fleet of flying white horses. The sun rode inside the giant glass chariot. Apollo loved his job and was rewarded handsomely by Zeus, the king of the gods.
One of the sun god’s kids was Phaethon, who at 10 years old idolized his dad and hoped to someday take over the reins of the sun chariot. Phaethon repeatedly begged his dad to take the sun chariot for a ride, but Apollo refused. He was just too young. Phaethon, though, was convinced he could handle it. One morning temptation set in, and disaster quickly followed.
It was about an hour before Apollo was to take the reins of his sun chariot. Phaethon was up early that morning and broke into the hangar where the sun chariot spent the night. This was his chance! He climbed in, backed it out of the hangar, and bellowed out a big giddy-up! Before he knew it, Phaethon was airborne with the sun chariot and flying quite well until he started to hotdog it, zigzagging and pulling celestial wheelies. He soon lost control and was on his way to a horrible crash.
From Mount Olympus, Zeus saw what was happening and took immediate action. He thought some scoundrel had stolen the chariot, not knowing his grandson was in the driver’s seat. He shouted down to Apollo, finally waking him, and then shot a lightning bolt at Phaethon, spearing him out of the driver’s seat and on the way to a fatal plunge. With the sun chariot totally out of control and within minutes of crashing, Apollo quickly borrowed his sister Diana’s moon chariot to catch up with his sun chariot and soon had it under control.
Phaethon plunged into the river Po and drowned. Other gods took great pity on the young lad. Instantly, they raised his body out of the river and magically transformed it into a beautiful celestial swan winging its way in our night sky.
Celestial Happening this week: The very bright planet Jupiter is on the rise in the eastern evening sky, rising at sunset. You can’t miss it! Jupiter’s by far the bright starlight object in the evening sky. This week Jupiter’s is the closest it’s been to Earth since 1951! Even with a good pair of binoculars you may see up to four of Jupiter’s largest moons that appear as little “stars” either side of Jupiter. You may even see some of Jupiter’s cloud bands. I’ll have much more about Jupiter in the coming weeks in Skywatch
Monday, Sept. 26, (weather backup date Sept. 28) 7:30-8:30 pm, at Patriot Park in Marshall, Minn. For more information, call Marshall Public Library at 507-537-7003 or visit www.marshalllyonlibrary.org.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 7:30-9:30 pm, Hutchinson Middle School, Hutchinson, Minn. Call Community Education at 320-587-2975 or visit www.hutch.k12.mn.us/pageView.cfm?pageID=7.
Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30-9:30 pm, Sandburg Learning Center in Golden Valley, Minn. For more information or reservations, call 763-504-4170 or visit ced.rdale.org/.
Friday, Sept. 30, 7:30-9:30 pm, Sauk City, Wis., through Sauk Prairie Schools. For location and reservations call, 608-643-8346 or visit cc.saukprairieschools.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=478607&type=d.
Saturday, Oct. 1, 7:30-9:30 p.m., at Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Coleraine, Minn. Reservations required Call 218-245-6232 or visit www.getlearning.org/.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at firstname.lastname@example.org.


For now, the strongest scientific argument that supports the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings is only a statistic: the Universe is so big that there has to be other life forms that possess intelligence and abilities to shape their environment. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, comprises over 100 billion stars, and the known Universe comprises over 100 billion galaxies. Hypothetically, if one in a million planets capable to support life would be indeed populated with life, and if one in a million planets that would be populated with life would also shelter intelligent life, then there would be millions of intelligent species in the Universe. So, following this reasoning, it is unlikely that Earth is the only planet that supports life and man is the only intelligent being in the Universe. The statistics, however, regardless of their kind, cannot serve as an indisputable proof that we are not alone, a proof that has been missing to this day. Accordingly, believing or not believing in aliens is a personal choice.
The current cultural image of aliens is chaotic and even hilarious, being formed of inexhaustible theories, countless “evidence” and lots of contradictions. On the one hand, huge funds and efforts are invested in scientific research to find microorganisms on various celestial bodies or to intercept a signal from unearthly intelligent beings. On the other hand, there is the media circus with flying saucers, aliens who violate our private property, enter houses without knocking at the door, disturb people’s sleep, sample cells, have fun raping or kidnapping humans, conspire to destroy us all, more aliens, secret experiments and human history rewritten. Since the beginning of the 20th century an industry that exploits our fascination and passion for the sensational has been developed. Compared to other paranormal topics (magic, Spiritism, fortune-telling, ghosts), aliens are at the top of the public’s preferences. Figuratively, we assist at an alien “invasion” in our everyday life: on TV, on


When the brilliant but troubled cosmologist Dr. Jack Martins built the world’s first spherical hologram, he created a 3 dimensional image that was so real, it scared the daylights out of an assembled panel of scientists, politicians, and media in Washington DC
Further research enabled him to prove the validity of the Holographic Principle, which states that the reality of our 3 dimensional universe can be described on a 2 dimensional boundary.
With his spherical holograms, Dr. Martins demonstrated that the universe we see through our telescopes might not really exist-- that it might just be a very real, very sophisticated illusion!
Dr. Martins was pilloried as a kook, until an astronomical event occurred that blew the minds of every single person on earth...
A spherical hologram is generated not on the 2 dimensional surface of a flat, light sensitive plate, but on the surface of a 3 dimensional sphere. Such a hologram would exhibit amazing and unexpected properties, and be as far superior to a standard 2 dimensional holographic image as a child's drawing is to the intricacies and complexity of a high-definition image.
Dr. Martins showed that the 2 dimensional boundary of a spherical hologram does indeed describe the reality of our 3 dimensional universe, so vividly that it is indistinguishable from reality.
When Jack extended his theory to encompass the Holographic Principle -- and postulated that the universe we see through our telescopes may not exist -- he was pilloried by the scientific community and the popular media. There was only one problem: when a probe was sent out to Alpha Centauri, as part of NASA's deep-space exploration program, the probe disappeared at exactly the spot where Martins predicted the boundary of a theoretical spherical hologram 4.618 light years in diameter! A second probe also disappeared at the exact same spot.
As the earth descends into chaos and Jack Martins' own turbulent life comes crashing down around his ears, humanity discovers the truth about the universe and what's really "out there!"


Posted byDarrell Etherington
SpaceX is launching its Falcon Heavy rocket tomorrow, and if it’s successful, it’ll be twice as powerful in terms of cargo capacity as its next closest active rival. That will help give SpaceX an edge in the growing private space race, and open up new opportunities in terms of potential clients, as well as set the stage for traveling to Mars.
The launch itself is happening on Tuesday, February 6 at 1:30 PM EST, weather permitting. The window lasts until 4 PM EST, however, so if conditions are good within that time the lunch should go off as planned. There’s a backup window on February 7, which also starts at 1:30 PM EST, and we’ll be there live to watch it happen and report back all the news right here on TechCrunch.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy set up at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, with a cherry red Model 3 in the foreground.
TechCrunch video producer Veanne Cao frames up the Falcon Heavy at one of our first footage stops.
The full Falcon Heavy rocket from front on, with the logo clearly visible on the top faring.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket with the visible support and service scaffolding nearby.
The SpaceX launch facility near the LC-39A pad from which Falcon Heavy will launch.
This is the Falcon Heavy viewer form the back angle, where it was hauled in on huge heavy sleds.
The base of the Falcon Heavy from the rear, with the support strut visible.
The Falcon Heavy with the SpaceX water tower in near proximity.
The nose cone of the Falcon Heavy and its outer boosters.
A full view of the Falcon Heavy on the launch support from the rear.
The Falcon Heavy, SpaceX water tower and broad view of the launch facility with the changing sky.
Side boosters have grid fins for redirecting the Heavy Falcon side boosters back to Earth.
At the top of Falcon Heavy.
The SpaceX name is prominently displayed on the bottom of each of Falcon Heavy’s three boosters.
The Falcon Heavy takes off from a concrete bridge of sorts covering over an exhaust escape gap.
Falcon Heavy’s all set up as it catches the afternoon light amid Cape Canaveral’s brackish swampland.
This colorful optical phenomenon is called a Sundog, caused under ice crystals in the atmosphere and appearing 22 degrees away from the sun. (At night, they’re Moondogs.)
Darrell Etherington taking a photo of the Falcon Heavy at one of the media sites.
This is in place to help stabilize the rocket pre-launch, and it will pull back before the rocket takes off.
Kennedy Space Center hosts famous and impressive Vehicle Assembly Building, but if you know where to look, you can see signs that it’s all been around for quite a while. I’m not sure whether this next is real or artificial but one thing I do know is there were a LOT of vultures around there.
Unfortunately we don’t have a cool little house to put our cameras in, so we had to shoot in the limited time we had and then jump back on the bus.
These are a few of the huge lights that keep the rocket lit for dramatic effect at night. It looks like they’re crooked but that’s the way they’re mounted.
There were tons of remote cameras, which will be set off by (probably) the sound of the launch. You have to protect them from the elements, of course (it was rainy this week on the Florida coast) — but really some of these just have trash bags wrapped in gaff tape for rain jackets.
Pros know you have to get lots of different angles for important things like rocket launches. That’s why Matt went one step the right and Darrell went one step to the left.
This official camera (if the label is to be trusted) was located at one of the remote camera sites we stopped at. (SpaceX phone number on bottom part of tape clonestamped out.)
This remote camera setup area had two good spots to shoot from, the better of which was already occupied by this shielded SpaceX camera. It was sitting RIGHT on top of a fire ant nest, though.
The “Vehicle Assembly Building” or VAB at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is a staging area where rockets area assembled before rolling out to their launch pads.


Astronomy for Kids Constellations with Memoria Press Homeschool Curriculum
Super Hero has always been fascinated with space. Since very little, he’s been learning about the stars, and the Universe. For a long while, we went religiously to the Miami Science Museum’s Planetarium during their monthly open telescope nights. Interestingly, we haven’t really followed the constellations all that close, so when Memoria Press offered its Book of Astronomy Set, we just had to take it.
What We Received
Memoria Press sent us the Book of Astronomy Set free of charge in exchange for my honest, complete and unbiased review. So, I’m happy to post our opinions here after using these books for the last few weeks. The Book of Astronomy Set retails for $31.90, and it is intended for grades 3 to 5.
What to Expect
The Book of Astronomy Set comprises 2 books: The Teacher’s Guide, and the Student Book. The Student Book is a consumable 164-page workbook broken up into 4 units. The units cover the constellations, the motion of the Earth, the names of the brightest stars. The Teacher’s Guide is almost identical to the Student Book, except of course it contains all answer keys. A handy pronunciation guide and overhead graphs/charts are found in the Appendix. We’ve used the pronunciation guide –essential for the often unfamiliar words. We do not have an overhead projector, and even if we did, gone are the days in which we would’ve thought to pull such a relic out. Nowadays, we just google any tingling curiosities.
This Is How We Use It
Using the Book of Astronomy Set is as easy as it gets. We just opened the book and started reading the chapter. I read aloud, and Super Hero follows along in his own book. Naturally, since the constellations are all about Greek and Roman mythology, the readings reference important details nicely pairing them with the classic book D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. Then after so many readings, each introducing a star and the constellation where it belongs. the exercises follow. So far they’ve been pretty simple, just drawing the constellation again as explained before in the reading, and writing down the Greek (or Roman) and English names. Each drawing appears twice side by side, so that the child can draw the constellation on the left, and envision it as it’d appear in the sky on the right. I like that the drawings are simple, so it’s easy for Super Hero to replicate them. Most importantly though, the exercise have been so effective in helping cement this information that can be oh-so slippery.
Part of the exercises require listing the stars in order of brilliance. Each time a new star is introduced within a new constellation, the stars must be written again in a new table that looks exactly like that of the previous one. Super Hero found this to be extremely repetitive. Needless to say, he was unwilling to write the stars over and over again. Since I shy away from the writing part becoming a struggle in our homeschool. And most of all, since having fun while learning is our true “North Star” (no pun intended!) I allow him to just write the stars that have been studied so far. This keeps the study fun and the mood light. Otherwise, believe me, I’ll hear a dreaded “tis not fun anymore!” pouting and all. Still, even with that much less repetition that the authors intended, Super Hero, and myself, have memorized the stars and constellations studied so far quite effortlessly. I’m certain that as we progress we will memorize and cement learning of the entire list as well.
Have We Enjoyed This?
We have both been enjoying this fun study of the stars and constellations. I’m learning right along with Super Hero about them all. It’s curious how the ancients came up with such peculiar figures in the sky. I still have a hard time seeing some of the figures they –and the entire world have seen from times inmemorial.
We have certainly tweaked and customized the lessons to accommodate our own style and preferences. For example, I don’t require him to write down everything, as mentioned earlier. We go over the questions orally for the most part. I use them to spark discussions rather than a must-fill worksheet (a staunch interest-killer in our homeschool.) Tests have been included as well. Tests are something I generally take with a grain of salt. I am not usually inclined to use them as “tests”. In this case for instance, I can glean so much of his understanding just with our conversations about what we’ve learned. Nevertheless, Super Hero does love to take tests sometimes, well actually he loves quizzes more so than tests. For this reason it’s good to have them available in case he feels up to the test! 😉
As you might know, Memoria Press is a Christian publisher. Since we’ve used –and enjoyed– some of their products with a secular perspective in the past, I was willing to give the Book of Astronomy Set a try. I’m glad I did. For although this set is not completely devoid of Christian remarks, they’re not intrusive or actually woven into the lesson. So far, we’ve encountered a few Christian notes that can easily be omitted or even taken as an opportunity for study of Christianity, if desired.
In a Nutshell
In Super Hero's Own Words
I liked it because it was fun to draw the constellations and to learn more about them.
If your child has been interested in astronomy and the constellations, you can’t go wrong with this Book of Astronomy Set.
In Case You’re Interested
If your child is interested in astronomy and the constellations, this is definitely a solid resource. It’s fun and effective. I appreciate the flexibility it’s afforded me in tweaking it to make it work for us. Or, if you prefer a traditional approach, with structured worksheets and lots of repetition then this totally fits the bill.
To read more reviews from my fellow Crew members you can visit here. Or just pay these folks a visit at any of their social media accounts. That’ll give you an immediate feel for what they’re all about:
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I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was i compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.


The waxing moon was cloaked in a haze of deep auburn Wednesday night. Last month, the darkened skies over the Bay Area turned an ominous shade of orange.
They’re part of the same deeply troubling climate trend, scientists said: climate change spurring intense wildfires spurring air pollution.
“That moon was a signpost that the fires are putting tremendous amounts of pollution into the air,” said Ronald C. Cohen, a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley.
The red color was caused by smoke particles — and is not to be confused with a blood moon, the colloquial term for the reddish tinge of a lunar eclipse. All eyes will be on the full moon Thursday night to see if the phenomenon repeats itself.
The high volume of pollutants and debris spewed from the nearby Glass Fire scattered particles the human eye would normally have perceived as blue, casting the moon in an otherworldly red.
The smoke blanketing Bay Area skies Wednesday night mimicked the conditions that typically exist during a vivid sunset.
As the sun descends at sunset, light from the sun passes through a greater distance of the Earth’s atmosphere to reach the human eye. The blue is scattered away, and the remaining long wavelengths make the sun look red.
“Smoke particles are better at scattering than air, so the same effects are stronger and the sun or moon can look red when we look directly at them,” said Cohen.
The crimson moon may have looked pretty, but to Cohen it was just one more ominous indicator of poor air quality cloaking the Bay Area.
“Even if there wasn’t COVID, this would be the time to wear a mask,” he said.
Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org Twitter: @NMishanec
Read More: Air pollution from wildfire smoke creates crimson moon, worrying scientists


Join the park staff and the Louisville Astronomical Society for an eclipse viewing party! The Solar Eclipse will be a 96% coverage at 2:29 p.m. Viewers will have the opportunity to remember the occasion forever by making their very own Galaxy tubes, a fun craft that can be worn as a necklace or used as a key chain, for only $3.00 per person. KY State Park eclipse viewing glasses will be included with the craft.
Party goers are invited to bring food, drinks, and chairs for your comfort.
Don't miss your chance to experience this once in a lifetime event!


Begun in 2003, International Dark Sky Week celebrates the awesome glory of the night sky while also informing the public of threats from sky glow, glare, and other forms of light pollution. In 2015, International Dark Sky Week takes place from April 13-April 19.
Goals of the week include the following:
Dark Sky Week Goals
- Inspire people to celebrate the beauty of the night sky
- Raise awareness about the negative effects of light pollution
- Embolden folks to Take Action!
With lovely spring weather across much of the nation, it should be a great time to spend an evening or two admiring and enjoying the heavens above, while also remembering the need to limit light pollution. Otherwise, the amazing image at the beginning of this post, which was taken at Arches National Park in Utah, will become more and more difficult to replicate in the future. Salud!
The sky was a bit darker than normal last Thursday after 8 tornadoes hit northern Illinois. My main concerns are with proper cleanup and better rebuilding. I’m working hard to spread the URL of my website, but so far no one seems to be biting. Dark Sky Week suggests another consideration for post-tornado rebuilding: use lighting choices which keep the sky as dark as possible. If anyone can reach out to those people responsible for rebuilding – not just private buildings, but also any public lighting – it would help.


We’ve all seen photos of planets floating around in space, but have you ever considered what a snapshot of a black hole might look like? Not the computer-generated renderings you see on Google Images or your standard desktop background but an actual, real life photo of the thing.
It may seem like a far-fetched concept, but the Event Horizon Telescope project is doing just that. It’s an extraordinary collision of photography and space science.
It’s like standing outside and trying to take a photo of a DVD on the moon.
The Event Horizon Telescope team plans to capture the world’s first ever photo of the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Sagittarius A* (pronounced Sagittarius “A” Star.) Despite its daunting name, the black hole itself measures 24 million km across, making it 17 times bigger than the Sun. That may sound huge, but it’s pretty measly when compared to the largest black hole ever found, estimated to be 21 billion times the size of the Sun.
“Our challenge is that we’re trying to take a picture of something that is very, very far away,” says Feryal Ozel, EHT team member and professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Arizona. “Our subject is so far away and so small in the sky that it’s like standing outside and trying to take a photo of a DVD on the moon.”
A modelled black hole shadow (left) and two simulated observations of Sgr A* using a 7-telescope and 13-telescope array (Fish & Doeleman)
And far it is, indeed. The Sagittarius A* sits a cool 25,000 light years away from us here on Earth. In theory, a telescope measuring the same size as our planet would be able to capture an image of the elusive black hole. Because this kind of undertaking is literally impossible, the only way for scientists to capture a photo of Sagittarius A* is to coordinate nine different telescopes to observe and form an image of the black hole over a short time.
The telescopes are positioned around the world, with stations in Antarctica, Chile, Hawaii, Germany, Spain, Mexico and Arizona. Each of the telescopes will record the signal at different times over the period of about a week in the spring of next year, a strategy that will create the same kind of final product an Earth-sized apparatus would create.
Though there isn’t room for a huge amount of creativity with this project, the way that the telescopes are being hooked up across the Earth and the communication that is being enabled between them are pretty unique. The team is using special recording techniques to effectively build a camera the size of the Earth with these telescopes. If that’s not big picture thinking, we’re not sure what is.
We think we know what a black hole should look like but there is gas swirling around it and that gas might do somewhat crazy things.
“My favourite part of working on this is trying to prepare for what it is we might see,” explains Ozel. “Because our telescopes are so spread out across the Earth, we’re going to have to work on making our image as crisp as possible. When you know roughly what you’re looking for, there are image reconstruction techniques that you can use. The part that I have been most heavily working on is trying to prepare for all possibilities. We think we know what a black hole should look like but there is gas swirling around it and that gas might do somewhat crazy things.”
Swirling gas isn’t the only oddity Ozel and her team face with the Event Horizon project. The EHT team has a series of challenges, both scientific and otherwise, that need to be overcome in order to make this photo a reality. For starters, the equipment that goes on each telescope is so specialized that it needs to be custom built for each apparatus involved in the project. Each telescope also needs an atomic clock that can record with an accuracy of a billionth of a second—just a tad bit more precise than your average Casio.
Each telescope observing the black hole only has a finite observing time window, since the telescopes themselves aren’t mobile. This poses another major challenge, since Sagittarius A* is not static but rather moves around in the sky. With the team trying to coordinate specific telescopes around the Earth, observations can span for up to twelve hours. “You can compare it to filling an image in pixel by pixel,” explains Ozel.
The full array image will be “shot” over one week in early March or April of 2017. That week may not be enough time for the team to form a clear image, however, since they’d like to repeat the experiment and get even more data over time. “We want to make sure we’re not looking at the black hole at a specific time. In science we’re always hoping to repeat things so we’re hoping to do this again in the coming years,” she says.
The human aspect of the Event Horizon project is another major challenge for Ozel and her team. The collaborative effort involved in photographing Sagittarius A* is nothing short of astronomic. Ozel is working on this project with a team of over 200 scientists at over 20 different institutions around the globe. It’s a massive group undertaking that requires a keen understanding of different cultures around the world, a strong grasp of the politics involved in using different instruments and a sharp awareness of the fact that all scientists don’t necessarily work or communicate in the same way.
Making sure everyone gets credit is definitely a huge challenge. Imagine trying to take one image with 200 photographers who all want their names on it!
“Not all scientists are trained to be working collaboratively in big groups so the sociological aspect of it makes it challenging,” explains Ozel. “There are lots of introverted people or people with different constraints on the institution they’re working with. Making sure everyone gets credit is definitely a huge challenge. Imagine trying to take one image with 200 photographers who all want their names on it!”
Anticipation continues to build for the Event Horizon Telescope project as the world’s first ever photograph of a black hole is only a few short months away from potentially becoming a reality. Regardless of the image produced by this global team effort, we’re certain that the final product of the Event Horizon venture will leave the world starry-eyed.
Artist concept of black hole (ESO/L. Calçada)


Awhile back J took an interest in science and, specifically, “star gazing”. AT Mom responded with this amazing art project. While it may not technically be Assistive Tech, it is pretty darn cool. Sometimes it really is just about discovering our children’s interests and making those things accessible to their imagination. Planting a seed, or a spark, of creativity. This is one of those projects.
Back to J’s interest in “star gazing”. J’s school was currently working on a theme that involved “star gazing” and J was really interested in the activities at school. Also, late at night we would allow J to watch some quiet time television as part of our bedtime routine. The channel we watched (PBS Sprout) was running a particular commercial pretty regularly for “Dream Lites”. Every time the song came on, J would quiet down and pay special attention to the commercial.
For those that do not know Dream Lites, they are a series of stuffed animals that have colored LEDs inside and a hard shell on top that has stars cut out of it. When you turn them on, the LEDs turn on in a changing color pattern (yellow, green, blue – I think) and project stars onto the ceiling. This gave AT Mom an idea. What if we put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling for J to sleep under?
I chuckled and thought it was a great idea (little did I know what would happen next). AT Mom was not finished. A couple of days later some packages arrived. They included a couple of glow-in-the-dark star sets as well as a 3D glow-in-the-dark solar system pack.
Now I knew I was in a little bit of trouble.
AT Mom described her idea to me. Using a tri-fold poster board (think science fair display), we would draw out (by hand) the constellations in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer night sky. We would put glow-in-the-dark stars in place on the constellations, and add a few extra to fill the sky. We would then attach the planets in the correct order, and somewhat proportional distance from the center of the board as if they were orbiting the center. (For those detail oriented and perfectionists out there, we would use one distance scale for the inner planets and another for the outer planets.)
It was a great project and J loved it. The solar system came with diagrams of the night sky of the two hemispheres in summer and winter. This is what gave AT Mom the idea of being so accurate.
Getting started on the project. The Northern Hemisphere Summer diagram came with the solar system set. The big star is the center and represents the sun.
Of course I took the accuracy a bit further. I asked AT Mom to be sure and label the four corners with the cardinal directions from the diagram. That allowed me to mount the project to the ceiling with the proper compass alignment. (Have we lost you yet?) AT Mom did all of the drawing of the constellations and some of the glow-in-the-dark star application. I followed her drawing attaching the stars. J kept us in line with smiles and encouragement.
Finished with the constellations and stars. Now to hang the planets.
When we finished with the constellations it was time to attach the planets. AT Mom again led the way by doing the distance scaling and putting dots where she wanted each planet to hang (labeling the dots reducing that chance that AT Dad would hang the planets in the wrong order). I cut 9 pieces of fishing line to the approximate same length I attached each of these lines to a planet on one end (each planet had a loop just for this purpose) and a toothpick on the other. I poked a hole at each dot AT Mom drew for me and pushed the toothpick attached to the right planet through each hole. I could adjust the hang length of each planet by winding the fishing line around the toothpick. When I had the hang lengths I liked, I used blue masking tape to fix the toothpicks flat in place (just in case).
Planets added. AT Mom took this photo from underneath while I held it up outside. Yes, there are nine planets. AT Mom and I still count Pluto – don’t be a Pluto Hater!
Then came hanging the project over J’s bed. I did that one afternoon as a surprise for J. I used the hangers commonly used to hang bathroom mirrors. I used a total of 11. The first 10 were because of the tri-fold presentation board. I used 4 on each long side (2 on each center fold side, 1 on every short fold side), and 1 on each short side. The eleventh was to reinforce a fold that had started to tear. It was a “simple” process of using my compass to find magnetic North, holding the project up to the ceiling with the correct cardinal orientation, having AT Mom trace the outside of the project onto the ceiling, taking down the project, and attaching the hangers to the ceiling using drywall anchors.
Here it is attached to the ceiling above J’s bed. I used mirror hangers.
I know that to many people this may seem like a little over the top for an art project. However, it only took J’s first reaction to staring up from bed at the stars and solar system overhead to make the effort worth it. When we turned out the lights so J could see it all glow… Pure joy!
The view from J’s pillow.
J now enjoys a view of the summer night sky every night. I have to admit that I get a kick of J’s joy every time I see it myself. Oh, and remember the “Dream Lites” that helped start this whole thing? The next time Nana and Papa came to visit, they brought J a little gift – a giraffe that projects even more stars on the ceiling. Thank you Nana and Papa!


What does the sun sound like?
An interesting question, and one that would get your ears burned off if you tried to answer it literally.
What does Jupiter sound like or meteors hitting the atmosphere?
Tom Ashcraft had the same questions. And unlike most people, he decided to find out the answers.
Ashcraft set up his own radio telescope array at his New Mexico home and interfaced it with an audio recorder. He has recorded (and dated) mono files at select frequencies of celestial events. He often combines differing frequencies of the same event into a “stereo” file.
He often records solar flares and other “bursts” from our much larger neighbor. You’ll be forgiven if you think they sound like a rainstorm beating on a tin roof, or eggs frying.
Meteors pelting our upper atmosphere sound like a freeform music experiment involving wind chimes or MIDI notes.
His Heliotown Web site has his recordings and other links reflecting his variety of interests (some audio-oriented). There is even an NPR “All Things Considered” profile of him available.


Happened to sit at a table this morning at the Public Affairs Steering Committee with two gentlemen from Ball Corp. Last night they had been to a NASA screening of the new Hubble photos. Why?
“Ball Aerospace Instruments Enable Early Observations from NASA’s Restored Hubble Space Telescope”
Boulder, Colo. September 9, 2009 – The Hubble Space Telescope’s newest instruments built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. are demonstrating early promise for spectacular long-term results. NASA has released early observations from Hubble following installation of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), revealing new details about a variety of objects including interacting galaxies, globular clusters, and giant clouds of gas between distant galaxies.
“Ball Aerospace and Hubble have traveled three billion miles together since the launch in 1990 to provide NASA with astronomical discoveries that have proven pivotal to our understanding of the universe,” said David L. Taylor, President and CEO of Ball Aerospace. “We’re very proud to be a part of such an historic and successful NASA mission.”
Hubble’s new super powers are due to state-of-the-art instruments installed by astronauts during Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009. Astronauts also repaired two instruments previously built by Ball: the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. COS and the latest Wide Field Camera are equipped with the most advanced detector capabilities ever flown in space.
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SRP Kickoff Party
Wednesday, June 19
6:00 – 7:30 pm
Kick-off this year’s Summer Reading Program with an evening of face painting and extraterrestrial bingo. Come in your best space-themed costume, pick up a crafting kit to create an entry for our Peeps in Space Diorama Contest and register for the Summer Reading Program! All ages welcome.
Track Your Summer Reading
Read throughout the summer to earn books, t-shirts, and prizes. Reading records can be picked up at Jefferson County Library, the Bookmobile, or Port Townsend Public Library. Prizes can be collected at all locations.
Summer Reading Program events are free and encourage all ages to explore a wide range of space-related topics based on the theme, A Universe of Stories. Sign-up to take part in activities, attend library events, and – of course – read!