Nasa’s Juno Mission Enters Jupiter’s Magnetic Fieldadmin | July 1, 2016 | 0 | Tech Updates
Nasa’s Jupiter-sure Juno spacecraft has entered the planet’s magnetosphere, where the movement of debris in area is managed by way of what’s going on interior Jupiter.
Juno is on path to swing into orbit around Jupiter on July 4.
“we’ve simply crossed the boundary into Jupiter’s home turf. we’re closing in fast on the earth itself and already gaining precious facts,” said Scott Bolton, Juno primary investigator, from Southwest research Institute, San Antonio, in a statement on Thursday.
technology gadgets on board detected adjustments inside the debris and fields around the spacecraft because it handed from an surroundings ruled with the aid of the interplanetary solar wind into Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
The impediment is Jupiter’s magnetosphere, that is the largest structure within the sun device.
“If Jupiter’s magnetosphere glowed in seen mild, it would be two times the dimensions of the total moon as seen from Earth,” Kurth said.
Out inside the solar wind some days ago, Juno turned into speeding thru an surroundings that has approximately sixteen debris in step with cubic inch (one in keeping with cubic centimetre).
as soon as it crossed into the magnetosphere, the density became about a hundredfold much less.
The density is anticipated to climb again, inside the magnetosphere, because the spacecraft receives in the direction of Jupiter itself.
The motions of these particles traveling below the control of Jupiter’s magnetic discipline can be one kind of proof Juno examines for clues about Jupiter’s deep interior.
The Juno spacecraft became launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August five, 2011,


Ascendant Holidays love to offer tips on destinations. Located in the northern region of Alabama, 2 hours south of Nashville Tennessee and two hours north of Birmingham Alabama, Huntsville is “Rocket City” USA.
This city is all about space exploration and technology while offering the convenience of a big city and the outdoor activities of the country.
Ascendant Holidays invite you to Rocket City
Whether you want to advance your knowledge of space exploration or just enjoy the breathtaking countryside, Huntsville offers attractions, activities, and amenities for all tastes.
U.S. Space and Rocket Center
From the early beginnings of rocket and space technology in the 1950s, this industry put Huntsville on the map and grew it into the metropolitan area it is now.
Ascendant Holidays explains as part of this evolution, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center was opened in 1970 to welcome guests from all over the world to see and understand the technology, theories, and creation of space flight and rocket propulsion.
The museum offers artifacts from the space race such as a moon rock from the Apollo 12 mission and the Apollo 16 command module. This comprehension center is the must-see destination in Huntsville for anyone who ever dreamed of being an astronaut or fighter pilot. The center is also home to a world-renowned space camp program.
Plan to spend a week at Space Camp solo, with your family or even with a work team. If you’ve dreamed of rocketing to the moon or seeing the earth as a small globe from the window of a space station, the Space Camps at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center will teach you the skills it takes to be one the few who get to advance space exploration.
The center also offers camps on robotics or aviation. If astronaut food makes you queasy, the robotics camp will teach you the skills to engineer the robotics that help others achieve their dreams in space.
Aviation camp will teach students the science of aerodynamics and the effects mach speeds have on pilots. Incorporating a military-like structure, the aviation camp is the ideal place to show pride and leadership while learning valuable hands-on skills. Ascendant Holidays is one of the foremost leaders in vacation fulfillment.


SOLAR ECLIPSE Celebration!
the SOLAR ECLIPSE is coming through Etowah!
Etowah Chamber of Commerce is hosting an ALL-DAY Event Celebration for this once-in-a-lifetime experience in Downtown Etowah!
The Eclipse will pass through our town @ 2:21PM EST but the festivities will be an All-Day Celebration.
Contact The Chamber: 423.263.2228 or @: email@example.com
Etowah Chamber of Commerce
Website Design by Erika Collins


NGC 6528 is one other globular cluster, situated simply to the southwest of NGC 6522. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 utilizing his 18-inch telescopes. The cluster has an obvious magnitude of 10.sixty five and lies 25,800 light years from Earth. NGC 6540 is a globular cluster with an apparent magnitude of 9.30, located at a distance of 17,300 gentle years from Earth. The cluster was found by William Herschel on May 24, 1784.
It has an obvious magnitude of 13 and lies at an estimated distance between three,000 and eight,000 mild years from Earth. Terzan 5 is a globular cluster about 18,800 light years away within the Milky Way bulge. The cluster is heavily obscured and has an obvious magnitude of 12.eight. It has a half-mass diameter of 1’02” and linear radius of 2.7 gentle years. The cluster is one of six globulars discovered by the French-Armenian astronomer Agop Terzan in 1968. The planetary nebula Henize , additionally catalogued as IRAS , lies at an approximate distance of 18,000 light years from Earth. NGC 6578 is a planetary nebula occupying an area of eight arc seconds.
It’s positively all worth it—you’re never bored with Aquarius as a associate. Their genuine eccentricity and kookiness promises to keep you fascinated and coming again for more. Scorpios value solitude and alone time, just like you do. You’ll join through your capability to sit down with one another in silence and really feel completely understood. Scorpios love the deep, intense conversations and mental stimulation you deliver to the relationship.
It incorporates areas of huge H II emission, large clouds of partly ionized fuel which present evidence of current star forming activity. NGC 6565 is a planetary nebula, a cloud of fuel expelled by a dying central star, situated about 14,000 light years away in Sagittarius. Messier 70 is a globular cluster in Sagittarius, positioned close https://asiansbrides.com/iranian-brides to the Galactic centre. Charles Messier discovered it in 1780 and subsequently included it in his catalogue. Messier 28 was the primary globular star cluster by which a milisecond pulsar was found in 1986. These are pulsating stars belonging to the spectral class A , usually with a mass of about half the Sun’s, used as standard candles to measure galactic distances.
Nobody complains about you being annoying or too PDA, and you can be with them with out feeling like any less of an impartial individual. Aquarius is an endlessly fascinating signal so that you can be with. Your perspective is strictly your individual—you form your opinions primarily based on your lived experiences and no one else can tell you otherwise. Aquarius is an skilled at detaching and seeing the massive image and stubbornly refuses to accept your version of the reality because the actual truth. This can result in conflict, certain, but both of you like a good verbal debate and feeding off one another’s power is one thing you’re hopelessly interested in!
It has an obvious magnitude of thirteen.5 and may be seen near the star 16 Sagittarii. The Quintuplet Cluster is one other dense open cluster located in similar area as the Arches Cluster, about 26,000 mild years from Earth and one hundred mild years from the centre of the Milky Way. Named for its most prominent five stars, the cluster was solely found in 1990. It cannot be seen visually, however must be observed in radio, X-ray and infrared bands.
Omega Sagittarii is a G-kind subgiant marking the northeast corner of the Terebellum, about 78 mild years distant from Earth. fifty nine Sagittarii is a K-type bright big at the southeast corner, about 1,200 light years distant.
With this potent Taurus energy, we’ve the chance to make necessary changes in our lives. We can be animated and enjoyable however can also keep our distance on an emotional stage. Attractions now may begin with phrases, as we are likely to bond more readily on a psychological stage with Venus in Gemini. Venus moves into the signal of Gemini tonight, and it will continue its transit until June 2nd. With Venus in Gemini, curiosity motivates us on romantic and social ranges. We seek variety, and we’re particularly sociable, engaged, involved, and communicative.
This is the star’s fashionable name, which is both Babylonian or Assyrian in origin. The significance of the name is unknown, except that it’s a proper name.
Messier 75 is a globular star cluster about 67,500 mild years from Earth. It was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1780. Messier 54 is a dense globular cluster with an apparent magnitude of eight.37, roughly 87,four hundred gentle years distant and about a hundred and fifty mild years across.
At the time of discovery, LBV was considered essentially the most luminous and most huge star ever discovered. It has a mass of about 36 solar plenty, which now puts it behind more than a dozen massive stars, together with four members of the Arches Cluster.
Messier 23 is an open star cluster, found by Charles Messier in June 1764. It was initially found by Charles Messier in 1764. Sagittarius B2 is a very large molecular cloud of dust and gas approximately 390 gentle years from the centre of the Milky Way. Spanning an space of one hundred fifty light years throughout, Sagittarius B is one of the largest molecular clouds in our galaxy and the single largest one in the neighborhood of the galaxy’s core. The stars are positioned at totally different distances from the photo voltaic system and are not gravitationally certain. It is considered one of only 4 star techniques known to be hydrogen-poor, which makes it tough to classify U Sgr. Most probably, the first component is an A type supergiant.


The earth receives more energy from the Sun in just one hour than the world’s population uses in a whole year. The total solar energy flux intercepted by the earth on any particular day is 4.2 X 1018 Watthours or 1.5 X 1022 Joules (or 6.26 X 1020 Joules per hour ). This is equivalent to burning 360 billion tons of oil ( toe ) per day or 15 Billion toe per hour. In fact the world’s total energy consumption of all forms in the year 2000 was only 4.24 X 1020 Joules. In year 2005 it was 10,537 Mtoe (Source BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2006)
Sunlight comes in many colours, combining low-energy infrared photons (1.1 eV) with high-energy ultraviolet photons (3.5 eV) and all the visible-light photons between.
The graph below shows the spectrum of the solar energy impinging on a plane, directly facing the sun, outside the Earth’s atmosphere at the Earth’s mean distance from the Sun. The area under the curve represents the total energy in the spectrum. Known as the “Solar Constant” G0, it is equal to 1367 Watts per square metre (W/m2).


We all want athat shines as bright as a . But what about a gemstone that actually is a star?
Astronomers have discovered a rare white dwarf star undergoing a—very—slow process that would theoretically create a dense cosmic diamond at its core. According to a yet-to-be-peer-review study posted on the preprint database, the star (dubbed HD 190412 C) is primarily made up of carbon and metallic oxygen and located about 104 light years away from Earth.
When some celestial bodies approach the end of their lives, they become what is known as a white dwarf,reports. The stars are incredibly hot when they form, but because they have exhausted their nuclear fuel, they begin to cool down and radiate their energy. This causes them to gradually get harder and even crystallize.
But should HD 190412 C actually become a gigantic piece of bling, we certainly won’t be able to rock the resulting jewelry. Scientists estimate the process would take one quadrillion years, which is a thousand trillions—and a trillion is a thousand billions. That’s even longer than the estimated age of the universe (13.6 billion years),
“In this work, we present the discovery of a new Sirius-like quadruple system at 32 parsecs distance, composed of a crystallizing white dwarf companion to the previously known triple HD 190412,” astronomers wrote in the study, which has accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. To wrap your mind around that distance, 1 parsec is equal to 3.26 light years or about 206,265 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
Our blingy celestial body’s age has been estimated to be about 4.2 billion years. A key part of this calculation is determining its distance from Earth, which researchers can determine from the brightness of the star. The scientists also used data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia Mission, which is hoping to create a. This data allowed the team behind the finding to model the white dwarf’s cooling over time.


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Beginning from the cosmic chaos, astrophysics will delineate the foundation goals of the field by tracing the evolution of the universe from its origins through to modern times and probing into its future fate.
Students will delve into the depths of the cosmos to push their understanding to the very frontier of the unknown, and perchance beyond that! Students embarking on this adventure will be introduced to the wave-particle duality of light, radiation, and stellar evolution, illuminating their curiosities in the process. They will then explore advanced topics in cosmology such as supermassive black holes, spacetime fabric, and mapping the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Studies will culminate with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
The curriculum is supported by computational simulations of dark matter and galactic formation, physical demonstration, student-led discussions, and thought experiments. Observational astronomy will be interlaced into the course using solar and night sky observational telescopes, focusing on techniques for identifying the constellations and naked-eye astronomy. Students will pursue their final research in a self-selected specification of interest. Projects vary but are all relevant to modern professional research and exploration, such as observational astrophysics, astro-particle physics, or physical cosmology. Their final research projects will incorporate real data from working telescopes and research laboratories.
The high school course covers various topics in modern astrophysics, both conceptually and mathematically. While students are expected to cover approximately 100 pages of the student manual, mastery of every topic is not necessary. Grades are not given in this class, allowing students to focus on what they are ready for now and leave room for future exploration. They are encouraged to repeat the class in subsequent summers to deepen their understanding further.
The curriculum covers the celestial sphere, the scale of thKey topics covered in the curriculum include the celestial sphere, the scale of the universe, blackbody radiation, energy quantization, the photoelectric effect, wave properties of matter and electron diffraction, stellar colors, distances, absolute/relative magnitudes, spectral lines/spectral types, the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, redshift, cosmic microwave background, stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, lifetime consequences of gravitational collapse, introduction to cosmology, spacetime fabric, spacetime and relativity, black holes, and cosmology.
As a culmination of their learning, students will complete a cumulative research project of their choice for their final presentation. Projects may involve using publicly available live data from satellites to verify the theories covered in the course or coding computer programs that calculate distances to galaxies. The goal is to provide hands-on experience and reinforce the practical applications of astrophysics concepts.


Brown Dwarf Stars
A sub-stellar object, intermediate in mass between a star and a planet; brown dwarfs – actually dull red in colour - are "failed stars" because they are not massive enough to have initiated hydrogen fusion in their cores. The first brown dwarf to be confirmed, in 1995, on the basis of a combination of mass determination, spectroscopic studies, and direct imaging was Gliese 229B. Hundreds are now known.
A brown dwarf may be defined by its mass or its origin. The upper mass for a brown dwarf is that which is just insufficient for normal hydrogen fusion to be triggered in the core. This is believed to be between 0.075 and 0.080 solar masses, or 75 to 80 times the mass of Jupiter. The lower mass limit is somewhat arbitrary as there is no obvious point of transition between a high-mass planet and a low-mass brown dwarf, but it is generally taken to be about 0.013 solar masses, or 13 times the mass of Jupiter. Some astronomers argue that a more significant distinction between planets and brown dwarfs is their mode of formation. By this criterion, brown dwarfs are held to form in the same way as stars, as condensations in an interstellar gas cloud while planets accrete from material in a circumstellar disk.
Brown dwarfs are too cool to give off much visible light but they do emit substantial amounts of infrared radiation as a result of slow gravitational contraction and small-scale deuterium fusion. They can be detected by ground-based and spaceborne infrared telescopes and can also be found if they happen to be orbiting a star; the presence of the brown dwarf is indicated by wobbles that it causes in the motion of its companion star across the sky. The radial velocity method has been successful in identifying a large number of brown dwarfs in orbit around stars. Telescopes equipped with coronagraphs may be able to image the candidate brown dwarf at visible wavelengths, as was the case with Gliese 229B. Brown dwarfs do not glow, even dully for very long. As soon as they have used up their meager supply of deuterium, which takes about 10 million years, they fade from dim dark red to black. However, there are stars that start out as ordinary hydrogen-fusing red dwarfs and then get whittled away to brown dwarf size. The binary systems LL Andromedae and EF Eridani both contain white dwarf primaries that have looted material from their partners and reduced them to 40-Jupiter-mass objects, with surface temperatures of about 1,300 K and 1,650 K, respectively.
While some brown dwarfs, like Gliese 229B, are part of binary systems, others having been found floating around on their own, including a number in the Pleiades, the Sigma Orionis star cluster, and the Trapezium. PPl 15, in the Pleiades, is a binary system in which both components are brown dwarfs. S Ori 47, in the Sigma Orionis cluster, holds the record for the brown dwarf with the smallest known mass – a mere 0.015 solar mass. Some objects, such as the companion of HD 114762, lie close to the borderline between massive planets and low-mass brown dwarfs. A surprisingly high proportion of brown dwarfs have been found as companions to low-mass (red dwarf or other brown dwarf) stars, and, within these systems, the separation between the two components is typically very small, averaging about 4 AU. This goes against the prediction by some theorists that most very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs are solo objects, wandering though space alone after being ejected out of their stellar nurseries during the star formation process. Very few brown dwarf companions of larger, Sun-like stars have been found inside 5 AU, a deficiency that has been dubbed the "brown dwarf desert;" however, there is no such desert associated with low-mass stars. The observations to date strongly support the idea that low-mass binaries form in a process similar to that of more massive binaries, and that the percentage of binary systems is similar for bodies spanning the range from one solar mass to as little as 0.05 solar masses. There are also many lone brown dwarfs, such as KELU-1, discovered in 1997, only 33 light-years from the Sun. Such solitary dwarfs could be ejected stellar embryos – small infant stars that were still accreting material when they were ejected by the other bodies in multiple stellar systems. On the other hand, observations of some brown dwarfs in the Orion Nebula, which show an excess of near-infrared radiation, point to the presence of dusty disks around these objects. Not only does this suggest a normal stellar formation process but also the possibility that brown dwarfs might develop planetary systems.


Over the Moon: The Launch of Chandrayaan-1
In the midst of a global financial meltdown and a stock market crash, the historic launch of India’s first unmanned spacecraft bound for the Moon has brought some cheer, writes Priyanka Bhardwaj.
(Above): PSLV-C11 liftoff. [ISRO photo]
Chandrayaan-1 (the word means Moon-vehicle in Sanskrit) has left for the Moon.
In the midst of a global financial meltdown and a stock market crash, there has been some cheer as India has demonstrated its prowess in joining the elite nuclear and now space club.
India successfully put its first unmanned spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, using an indigenously manufactured Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, into its initial orbit, at 6:22 a.m. Oct. 22, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the eastern coast.
India thus completes the Asian triangle in the space race among Asian economic powerhouses, as Chandrayaan-1 follows China’s Chang’e and Japan’s Kaguya missions.
Indian observers see a continued space engagement as crucial from civilian, military, economic and strategic senses. India also wants to be prepared should the global arms race extends further into space, due to inter-related dual use technologies.
The government-run Indian Space Research Organization has worked against tough odds to achieve this historical moment and the beginning of a new era.
The Moon craft is scheduled to reach its final destination in three weeks.
Weighing about 1,380 kg (3,042 lbs), the cube-shaped spacecraft, on a two-year mission, will be “looking for basic signatures of the evolution of the earth and Moon, the exploration of the terrain for its three-dimensional topography and the different quantities of minerals present there,” said G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO.
This unique topographical and chemical analysis never undertaken on such a scale before.
India joins the ranks of the former Soviet Union, the United States, the European Space Agency, and Japan who have to their credit 60 individual lunar missions and China, whose third manned space mission went off without a hitch in September. The Shenzhou-7 is now safely in orbit..
The spacecraft will drop the Indian flag on the surface of the Moon. The country’s tricolor is painted on the side of the probe and, if successful, India will become the fourth country after the U.S., Russia and Japan to place its national flag on the lunar surface.
India now has plans for a robotic mission next year and a manned lunar mission by 2012-2013. Preparations for an Indian mission to the Mars are in full swing.
Roddam Narasimaiah, a member of the Bangalore-based Indian Space Commission said, “The success of the Moon mission will lead to a second wave of adventure in space in line with the vision of the founding fathers of the Indian space program like Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan.’’
In the words of K. Kasturirangan, former head of the ISRO, the Moon mission will further strengthen India’s resolve to fight her problems of hunger, poverty, energy and illiteracy.
(Above): Chandrayaan-I spacecraft undergoing pre-launch tests. [ISRO photo]
David Southwood, director of science and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency congratulated India’s space agency on the launch.
“While the exploration of space calls for new challenges to be overcome, joining forces is becoming more and more a key to future successes,” he said.
Barry Kellett, project scientist on the C1XS instrument, which was built at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in the U.K., said: “Chandrayaan-1 has a very competitive set of instruments... it will certainly do good science.”
C1XS will map the abundance of different elements in the lunar crust to help answer key questions about the origin and evolution of Earth’s only natural satellite.
- Cuboid in shape of approximately 1.5 m side.
- Weight 1380 kg at launch and 675 kg at lunar orbit.
- Accommodates eleven science payloads.
- 3-axis stabilized spacecraft using two star sensors, gyros and four reaction wheels
- Deployable single panel solar array generates 750W power.
- During eclipse, spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion batteries.
- X-band, 0.7m diameter parabolic antenna for payload data transmission.
- The antenna employs a dual gimbal mechanism to track the earth station when the spacecraft is in lunar orbit.
- Propulsion system carries required propellant for a mission life of 2 years, with adequate margin.
- The Telemetry, Tracking & Command communication is in S-band frequency.
- Scientific payload data transmission is in X-band frequency
- Spacecraft has three Solid State Recorders Onboard to record data from various payloads.
U.S. scientists have been watching the Moon missions by Asian economic giants with some trepidation as the scramble for a place in the Moon heats up.
U.S. astrophysicists, space engineers and scientists have warned that its superpower status may be lost if it ignored the Asian space race.
The U.S. government has announced its intention of revisiting its lunar program and sending a manned mission to Mars in the coming decades.
It has noted with caution that in the interest of its economic and strategic security, it needs to address a growing deficit in funds and enthusiasm as the Asian emerging nations power ahead with their space programs.
According to a report from the U.S. National Academy of Science, the number of Chinese and Indian scientists graduating in 2004 is 200,000 and 50,000 respectively, compared to the 70,000 in the U.S.
(Above): PSLV-C11 coming out of the Vehicle Assembly Building. [ISRO photo]
At an estimated cost of $80 million, Chandrayaan-1 is a brave marketing accomplishment that heralds promising business opportunities for India.
It consolidates India’s brand power in terms of its capability of carrying out complex projects with cost effective and quality launches. It furthers India’s credentials in space technology, indigenous development of powerful launch vehicles.
The Chandrayaan-1 cost was 10 percent of the annual ISRO budget. Out of nearly Rs 4 billion, Rs 1 billion was for the Deep Space Network, over Rs. 1 billion for the satellite and the rest for the launch vehicle.
V.M. Trehan, chairman of the Indian Science Congress, described Chandrayaan-1 as a huge economic and strategic achievement for India.
The launch vehicle business of heavier payloads is a commercially attractive option as the GSLV and PSLV services of India costs 70-80 percent of international rates.
The commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation, could fetch business for its 32m dish antenna installed at Bangalore and from the GSLV and PSLV launches.
Indian manufactured satellites already have buyers from Germany, Indonesia, Belgium and Argentina since 2001.
The business of payloads has attracted nations like Britain, the U.S., Germany, Sweden, Bulgaria and the data vending mileage that Antrix hopes to achieve is also substantial.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre projects director S. Ramakrishnan estimates that the PSLV can take a 250 kg spacecraft to the Mars and the GSLV-mark III can put a 1 metric ton spacecraft in orbit around the Mars.
|Recent Missions to the Moon
- CHANDRAYAAN-1 — was launched from Sriharikota in India Oct. 22, 2008.
- CHANG’E 1 — was launched from Xichang in China on Oct. 24, 2007.
- KAGUYA — was launched from Tanegashima in Japan on Sept. 14, 2007.
- SMART 1 — was launched from Kourou in French Guiana on Sept. 27, 2003.
- LUNAR PROSPECTOR — was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre Jan. 7, 1998.
- ASIASAT 3/HGS-1 — A project funded by Asia Satellite Telecommunications (Peoples Republic of China) and Pan American Satellite (United States), it was launched from Tyuratam in Kazakhstan Dec. 24, 1997.
- CLEMENTINE — A joint project between the Strategic Defense Initiative Organisation and NASA, it was launched from Vandenberg AFB aboard a Titan IIG rocket Jan. 25, 1994.
- HITEN — A project of the Japanese Space Agency, it was launched from the Uchinaoura Space Center in Japan on January 24, 1990.
The Indian Moon saga has demonstrated a high-level cooperation in space technology, as 6 out of the 11 scientific instruments were contributed by the foreign nations; two from NASA and three from the European Space Agency and one from Bulgaria.
It proves that space faring countries have confidence in India’s ability to venture into space explorations.
The spectrum of coverage of the 11 instruments on board the Moon spacecraft is also remarkable.
The Lunar Laser Ranging instrument would send high energy lasers to the Moon’s surface that are bounced back to reveal the depth of craters and height of mountains even in permanently shadowed regions never explored before.
The task of digital mapping of the Moon may act as a springboard to explore other planets and lay out a clear roadmap for future lunar exploration, says Jitendra Goswami, chief scientist of the Indian Moon program.
The Moon impact probe with a mass spectrometer, a video camera and an altimeter will analyze atmospheric constituents, take pictures and also facilitate with data for India’s future manned Moon mission to land on the lunar surface with accuracy.
Experts believe that the IT industry, civilian nuclear program, military applications will receive a boost.
The presence of Helium 3 in the Moon’s crust and its probable exploitation may furnish nuclear fuel that could provide a critical energy breakthrough.


A simulated view of what Mars’ night sky might look like at its poles.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.– E. W. Knutsen
The night sky at Mars’ poles looks nothing like our own. Instead of an inky black spread, those who eventually step foot on these Martian regions will likely find themselves under a vast expanse of glowing green. For the first time, researchers in Europe have witnessed Mars’ green night sky in the visible light spectrum, further confirming a decades-old suspicion about the Red Planet’s eerie atmosphere.
The bizarre shade is made possible by airglow, an effect that occurs both on and off Earth. Airglow is produced via two routes: Atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere shed their excess energy or capture free electrons after sunlight ionizes them. Both phenomena involve the ejection of photons, the tiny packs of electromagnetic energy we call light. The resulting effect is similar to that behind auroras, which are driven by solar wind instead of everyday solar radiation; the visible difference is that airglow occurs constantly, while auroras are more sporadic.
Airglow and an aurora occurring over Earth.
Scientists have wondered about Mars’ capacity for airglow since the early 1980s, when researchers in the United States and Belgium observed airglow spectra within the ultraviolet spectrometer data from multiple Mariner spacecraft. In 2012, the OMEGA spectro-imaging instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express detected similar tell-tale patterns within the infrared spectrum. Finally, in 2020, researchers used the ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) to see via visible light that airglow occurs during the daytime at Mars’ poles.
Now, researchers have confirmed the eerie phenomenon’s presence at night, too. Experts from Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom used the ExoMars TGO again to spot airglow—which they call “nightglow”—at Mars’ poles. The effect occurs between 40 and 60 kilometers (roughly 25 to 37 miles) in the winter during the three-body recombination of oxygen atoms.
“This O2 nightglow should be observable from a Martian orbiter as well as from the Martian surface with the naked eye under clear sky conditions,” the team writes in a paper for Nature Astronomy.
This means future astronauts who arrive on Mars might work under a glowing green sky—quite the adjustment, especially for those who try to make a new home on the Red Planet.


According to scientists and researchers, the moon is about 384,403 kilometers (238,857 mi) from Earth. वैज्ञानिकों एवं शोधकर्ताओं के अनुसार चाँद धरती से लगभग 384,403 किलोमीटर (238,857 मील) दूर है। For more information related to the moon, watch the video given below.
The exact distance is mentioned in Hindu Mythology in Hanuman Chalisa as follows:-
जुग सहस्र जोजन पर भानु ।
लील्यो ताहि मधुर फल जानू ॥18॥
“जुग सहस्र जोजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहि मधुर फल जानू” The simple meaning of this couplet is that God Hanuman had eaten Bhanu i.e. Sun, situated at a distance of one Yuga Sahastra Yojna, considering it to be a sweet fruit. This math is hidden, in the couplet of Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman ji had eaten Bhanu i.e. Sun, situated at a distance of a thousand years, considering it to be a sweet fruit. This couplet is written by Sant Tulsi Das thousands of years ago.


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Elizabeth suffered greatly as a result of her experiences: Elizabeth was given a standing ovation at the 11th International Congress of UFO Research Groups at Weisbaden inand her speech as guest of honor was applauded by scientists of twenty-two nations.
Published on May 22, Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Refresh and try again. Links to YouTube UFO channels that actively poach videos from other channels without credit or eljzabeth links are subject to removal. He can live in the water, and it is said that this being has been seen on the banks of the Umzinduzi River near Umkam- bati, beyond Pietermaritzburg. A great, elizabeth klarer beyond the light barrier cloud billowed up over the sea with a curtain of rain at its base. Read reviews that eluzabeth planet space details akon contact truth romance subject earth account ufo alien travel scientific understanding science winjes tells somewhat message.
Mariana Theunissen marked it as to-read Jan 10, John Lenihan rated it it was amazing Sep 11, At these high latitudes, the deviation of the compass needle and radio fadeouts occur also during the cycle of minimum solar activity. These heaven dwellers will return with the lightning bird whose scales glitter in many colors.
There was complete peace and quiet, with not even a murmur from the vast spaceship! I climbed the steep incline to the top where I saw the silver spaceship resting on the ground in the bowl at the top of the hill. I’ll give this 2 stars cause this woman is from my country, her native is afrikaans yet she elizabeth klarer beyond the light barrier adapted quite well to the english language.
The description of the planet that she was taken to sounded like a utopia that one would choose if given a choice. I feel that the writer had a message to give to humenaty, which was beutiful!
Elizabeth Klarer: BEYOND THE LIGHT BARRIER
To the west, the clouds had moved away from the vast profile of Giant’s Castle and the sleeping face was outlined against the blue sky. To the memory llight my sister, May Flower, who struggled for existence in a hostile world, and dedicated with love to Akon, who made it possible for this book to be klarre.
They rattled as he pranced within the shafts of his carriage. Do you elizabeth klarer beyond the light barrier in the afterlife?
They have lost the art of their barirer tongue through laziness and the continuous watching of television, and by never taking part in anything themselves. In its output of light in the far ultraviolet range of the spectrum, unobservable at the Earth’s surface, the Sun is a variable star.
Elizabeth Klarer – Wikipedia
eizabeth But expansion of thought will only come in the wavelength of time when the insight of humans has reached a deeper and more spiritual level. For as long as man has lived in this world, from the days elizabeth klarer beyond the light barrier he lived in a cave, he has searched for knowledge. His only anxiety was to shield me from them. The whole is a combination of cosmic forces—electric, magnetic, tempic and resonating. Sherbon rated it it was amazing Mar 25, Long sleeves closed tightly around his elizabeth klarer beyond the light barrier, and a high round neckline fitted him like a polo-neck sweater.
Silently we passed over the rich, thick carpeting and down a spacious passageway. Essays on Earth’s Alien Presence. I love you as you are.
Abby marked it as to-read Jul 22, klarerr Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Jets of glowing hydrogen erupted, reaching out with immense tentacles to engulf us.
I found solace, however, in the quiet beauty and peace of the scented park. And this is why we keep apart and away from people of Earth, for we kparer never share the secrets of light with them. The story is very well written and sometimes excruciating in the scientific details.
Having said that, I’m sure some of the encounter was real as I also believe that Aliens have visited the planet.


What is another word for moon orbiting a planet? orbit. To orbit is to follow a circular or elliptical path around a central body. Usually a planet, moon or satellite is described as orbiting, but a child who has too much sugar can sometimes orbit around his parents in an annoying fashion. Click to see full answer Earth rotating about its axis. other words for orbiting. sputnik. What are the limitations of the EOQ formula? moons orbit the full-size planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), while moons orbit the smaller dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris)
By convention, bodies orbiting other planets and asteroids are called moons. Moons orbit bodies that already orbit the Sun. The technical term is natural satellite, which differentiates them from the man-made satellites launched into space by space agencies. There are dozens of these natural satellites throughout the solar system For a moon orbiting its planet, rp is the shortest distance between the moon and its planet andra is the longest distance between the moon and its planet. What is a moon's orbital eccentricity if rp is equal to 0.27r.? (1 point) 0.57 O 0.48 O 0.27 0.65 Which statements about the geocentric model are false Difference between a moon and a planet If an object revolves around the Sun, it is called a planet; however, if it circles some other heavenly body (generally a planet) other than the Sun, it is called a moon But Kollmeier tells Natasha Frost at Quartz that usage was just a personal choice, and that there is no official word, yet. Other terms for the moon of moon have been suggested, including..
A natural satellite, or moon, is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet or minor planet (or sometimes another small Solar System body). In the Solar System, there are six planetary satellite systems containing 205 known natural satellites What second moon, you ask? Astronomers call it 2020 SO — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites. . Find more similar words at wordhippo.com
. But it certainly has some of the characteristics of a planet. And really, the issue is more about the meaning we assign to the word than about objective astronomical or physical reality. Any definition of the word planet is necessarily arbitrary What happens when a moon turns into a planet, for example? Researchers have a new word for the phenomena: It becomes a ploonet. To understand a ploonet, you must first understand moons outside.
By the 17th century, astronomers (aided by the invention of the telescope) realized that the Sun was the celestial object around which all the planets—including Earth—orbit, and that the moon is not a planet, but a satellite (moon) of Earth. Uranus was added as a planet in 1781 and Neptune was discovered in 1846 It's pretty clear that if the Moon was orbiting the Sun, without the Earth around, it would be called a planet. Or if we found a Moon-sized object orbiting another star, it would be called a planet
For the Moon or a satellite orbiting Earth (gee in Greek), the corresponding terms are perigee and apogee. (In this book, we use the word moon for a natural object that goes around a planet and the word satellite to mean a human-made object that revolves around a planet.) Orbits of the Planets The wordplanet has meant many different things calledThe Woman in the Moon with currently more than1,000 such icy bodies spotted in a disk-shaped region beyond the orbit.
In other words, a quasi-satellite is orbiting the sun, just as Earth is. Its orbit around the sun takes exactly the same time as Earth's orbit, but the shape of the orbit is slightly different. Define orbiting. orbiting synonyms, orbiting pronunciation, orbiting translation, English dictionary definition of orbiting. n. 1. a. The moon orbits around the Earth; The planets are orbiting the sun; electrons orbit the nucleus orb, revolve. retrograde - move backward in an orbit,.
New 'mini-moon' orbiting Earth — for now, astronomers say. The object measures about 6 feet to 11 feet across, and its orbit suggests that it entered Earth's orbit around three years ago. A. According to the paper, what they found is that in most cases there's just not enough space for a submoon to orbit another moon. Tidal forces would pull the little moon toward the host planet.
A new proposal that defines planet as a round body in orbit around a star would add a former asteroid, Pluto's moon and Xena to the solar system's pantheon of planets The planets are too far away to make a difference. But there are objects orbiting other objects with a much smaller distance. For example, the Moon orbits the Earth much more closely than the Earth orbits the Sun. In the case of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, the Spirograph effect is much bigger Moon definition is - the earth's natural satellite that shines by the sun's reflected light, revolves about the earth from west to east in about 291/2 days with reference to the sun or about 271/3 days with reference to the stars, and has a diameter of 2160 miles (3475 kilometers), a mean distance from the earth of about 238,900 miles (384,400 kilometers), and a mass about one eightieth that. What causes an orbit to happen? Orbits are the result of a perfect balance between the forward motion of a body in space, such as a planet or moon, and the pull of gravity on it from another body in space, such as a large planet or star. An object with a lot of mass goes forward and wants to keep going forward; however, the gravity of another.
Moons in the Solar System. There are currently 181 known moons in our solar system orbiting the various planets and dwarf planets. Of the 13 planets and dwarf planets, there are four which don't have any moons. These are the planets Mercury and Venus, and the dwarf planets Ceres and Makemake. List of Moons in the Solar System Planets outside your original orbit. If you are meeting with a planet whose orbit is outside of your starting orbit, create a transfer orbit such that your apoapsis is as close as possible to your target planet's orbit. Next, make a few orbits until the target planet is slightly in front of you when you reach your apoapsis
⚳ Dwarf Ceres moons = 0 Dwarf Hygiea moons = 0. Ceres and Hygiea are the only dwarf planets located in the asteroid belt and have no moons surprisingly. A number of smaller asteroids (also called minor planets) do have moons, but they are all too faint to see in any amateur telescope Diameter: 2,326 km. Mass: 1.66 × 10^22 kg (0.23 Moons) Orbit Distance: 10,120,000,000 km (68.01 AU) Orbital Period: 560.9 years. Surface Temperature: -231 degrees C. Moons: 1. Pluto is the largest dwarf planet in our solar system and they follow in size order with: Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and Ceres. Eris is the farthest away from the sun and.
12 New Moons Found Orbiting Jupiter. Astronomers went looking for a far-off mystery planet and found a cadre of worlds much closer to home Moon definition, the earth's natural satellite, orbiting the earth at a mean distance of 238,857 miles (384,393 km) and having a diameter of 2,160 miles (3,476 km). See more To orbit is to follow a circular or elliptical path around a central body. Usually a planet, moon or satellite is described as orbiting, but a child who has too much sugar can sometimes orbit around his parents in an annoying fashion 'Once it enters orbit, it will begin a four-year scientific tour of the planet and its moons.' 'Two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, were discovered orbiting Mars in 1877.' 'As the science of robotics advances, the search for resources and signs of life on distant planets and moons will be carried out increasingly by rovers and other robots.
Words in This Story. original - adj. existing since the beginning. asteroid - n. a space rock, either small or the size of a large moon, that orbits the sun. comet - n. an outer space object. The word planet comes from the Greek word for wanderer. But astronomers now know of hosts of large objects orbiting the Sun in the outer reaches of our Solar System. Finally, the IAU decided it was time to agree on a scientific definition of the word
As the object passed by Earth on its path through space, the planet's gravity pulled it close. And in that moment, it became a moon. At first, astronomers thought the new moon could be a piece. Moons are common in our solar system. In simple terms, a moon is a natural satellite caught in a planet's orbit. Based on that definition, a second moon—a mini-moon—has been circling Earth for. 1.35 use the relationship between orbital speed, orbital radius and time period; 1.34 describe the differences in the orbits of comets, moons and planets; 1.33 explain gravitational force; 1.32 understand gravitational field strength, g, and recall that it is different on other planets and the moon from that on the Eart
Pin. Eclipse; An eclipse of the moon is a rare phenomenon. Universe; Some people believe the universe was created by a big explosion. Black hole Into the black hole, the earth lipped fissure in the wall - front. Constellation The constellation appears as a cone-shaped configuration of bright stars. Ecliptic Spread out plane of the ecliptic are Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn Orbital inclination is the minimum[Clarification needed]angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of an object in orbit around another object. 1 Orbits 1.1 Natural and artificial satellites 1.2 Exoplanets and multiple star systems 2 Other meanings 3 Calculation 4 See also 5 References The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and. When we look into the night sky at the brightest object and or closest neighbor, the moon, we may ask how long it takes the moon to orbit around the earth. It takes just short of a calendar month, 27.3 days, for the moon to orbit around the Earth. However, it takes 29.5 days for the moon to go from new moon to new moon This is also known as the orbital period. Unsurprisingly the the length of each planet's year correlates with its distance from the Sun as seen in the graph above. The precise amount of time in Earth days it takes for each planet to complete its orbit can be seen below. Mercury: 87.97 days (0.2 years) Venus : 224.70 days (0.6 years
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune. This brings the number of known satellites circling the giant planet to 14. The body is estimated to be no more than 12 miles across, making it the smallest known moon in the Neptunian system. It's so small that it escaped detection by NASA's. Solution for The gravitational force between a planet and its moon is 6*10^16 N. For another moon orbiting the same planet with twice the orbital radius and The planets are too far away to make a difference. But there are objects orbiting other objects with a much smaller distance. For example, the Moon orbits the Earth much more closely than the Earth orbits the Sun. In the case of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, the Spirograph effect is much bigger A new NASA mission called the Roman Space Telescope (RST), is an astrophysics and exoplanets mission that could launch as early as 2025 and will be able to detect Earth-sized, rocky worlds.The Trump administration has tried and failed to cancel RST in 3 recent NASA budget proposals. One of the main goals of exoplanet research is to planets that resemble Earth. You'll often hear the term.
Using NASA's Hubble and Kepler space telescopes, astronomers have uncovered tantalizing evidence of what could be the first discovery of a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system.. This moon candidate, which is 8,000 light-years from Earth in the Cygnus constellation, orbits a gas-giant planet that, in turn, orbits a star called Kepler-1625 Astronomers have found 20 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the planet's total number of moons to 82. That surpasses Jupiter, which has 79 The moon is circling a point about 3,000 miles from our planet's center, just below its surface. Earth is wobbling around that point, too, making its own circles. That spot is the Earth-moon. Until 1992, with the discovery of a pair of planets orbiting the memorably named PSR B1257+12, a pulsar a thousand light years away, all the planets whose existence we were certain of resided in. But the case of Pluto does bring up an important point and that is the shape of a planet's orbit. The orbits of the planets look spectacularly circular, and they are, more or less. But they're not. So, this brings us to the point where we re-examine some things that we once learned. The orbits of planets are, strictly speaking, ellipses
For much of human history, it was the only Moon known, so there was no need to have a word that referred to one celestial body orbiting another. This changed when Galileo discovered four large. A) 0.3 B) 0.5 C) 0.7 D) 1.4 5.The diagram below represents the elliptical orbit of a moon revolving around a planet. The foci of this orbit are the points labeled F1 and F2. What is the approximate eccentricity of this elliptica The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research from the University of Central Florida.. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to clear its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in its orbit For the first time, eight planets have been found orbiting another star, tying with our solar system for the most known planets around a single star. The Kepler-90 system is in the constellation.
Orbit Simulator. An interactive demonstration of an orbit. The above demo shows how a body behaves when under the influence of the gravity of a much more massive object. In our example, we have chosen this to be a moon orbiting a planet, but it could equally be a planet orbiting a star. You can click anywhere on the demo to reposition the moon The most commonly used technique is to observe a body orbiting or passing close to the planet and see how its path is affected by the planet's gravity. For example, if we see a moon orbiting a planet at certain distance from it, the orbital period of the moon at that particular distance will mainly depend on the planet's mass
A team discovered a haul of 20 new moons orbiting the ringed planet, bringing its total to 82; Jupiter, by contrast, has 79 natural satellites It might be a planet, slowly orbiting, and pitched away from the rest of the solar system. The only evidence comes from a half dozen dwarf planets circling the sun in strange, skewed, far-away orbits First Evidence of a Planet in Another Galaxy. The M51 Whirpool Galaxy (Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith/STScI and the Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA) Since the first detection of the first exoplanet in 1992, astronomers have found thousands of others. Indeed, they estimate that the Milky Way is home to 40 billion worlds With Copernicus's heliocentric astronomy, published in 1543, the moon ceased to be a typical planet. Uniquely, as Copernicus's critics pointed out, its orbit was centred on the Earth, not the sun Astronomers say a Neptune-sized planet lurks beyond Pluto. The solar system appears to have a new ninth planet. Today, two scientists announced evidence that a body nearly the size of Neptune.


The Top 5 Spaceships in Science Fiction
Debut author and huge Sci Fi geek, Laura Liddell Nolen is here to share her top five science-fiction spaceships, and their real-life counterparts with us, to celebrate the launch of her first ever novel, The Ark – all about, you guessed it, an incredible spaceship. Read her views below, and you can buy the brilliant The Ark, on its publication day today, here!
The Death Star and the ISS
Now, technically, these are space stations, not space ships, since they lack thrusters, but they’re way too awesome to leave off a list like this. In the 1977 movie Star Wars, the Death Star, arguably the coolest space station ever conceived in fiction, was commissioned by Emperor Palpatine to solidify his iron grip on the universe through intimidation. It was huge – the size of a small moon – taking immeasurable resources from the rest of the Empire’s operations, and worse: it was armed. And we’re not talking standard-grade nukes here, either: The Death Star was capable of destroying an entire planet in minutes. Its spectacular end, an achievement in visual effects in its own right, was among the most exciting climaxes in any movie, ever. (Even before the 1997 computer-generated enhancements of the explosion.)
The International Space Station is no less a marvel. Rather than representing fear, it’s one of the most recognizable symbols of unity in existence. Russian cosmonauts work alongside American scientists and other spacefarers from around the globe. The current crew, Expedition 42, also boasts an Italian engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti.
Luxury Space Liners and Virgin Galactic
Ah, the luxuries of travelling in space. The allure of space sickness, balance disorders, decreased production of red blood cells, a weakened immune system, and the near-constant threat of death are apparently too much for certain fictional characters to resist. Television series like Firefly, Doctor Who, and Battlestar Galactica make references to the extreme upper classes taking their holidays on elite spacecraft designed to delight the senses and cater to their every whim. Space tourism sounds like fun, right?
Reality agrees! In 2004, Virgin CEO and real-life corporate cowboy Richard Branson announced that he’d be taking applications from wealthy civilians who’d like to tour space. His announcement was met with great enthusiasm from all over, including, of all people, Lance Bass. You know, from *Nsync.
The Dune Sandcrawlers and The Mars Curiosity Rover
Not all space-related missions are big enough to block out the sun. In Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune, sandcrawlers are small craft that land on the surface of the planet Arrakis and look for the spice melange, the control of which is the central external conflict in the novel.
They remind me of the Curiosity, a Mars rover designed to answer one awesome question: could Mars ever have supported life? In this case, the real-life spacecraft is far cooler than the fictional one. For one thing, the Curiosity is adorable – like if Wall-E and Eve had a robo-baby – and even better, it tweets! With Britney Spears, no less, in what can only be described as a valiant attempt at redefining the word random. Follow it to your delight @
Fictional Lunar Journeys and The Apollo Program
Fiction loves the moon. As early as Juan Maldonado’s Somnium, published in 1541, authors have created stories involving missions to and settlements on its surface. Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, C.S. Lewis, and even George R.R. Martin have all written stories along this theme, and that’s just for starters.
One of my favorite moon-based stories is George Melies’ 1902 film “A Trip to the Moon,” which is also one of the first movies ever made. In it, a group of astronomers load themselves into a cannon and blast into space, eventually landing on the moon. While they sleep, the moonscape awakens, full of comets, sentient constellations, and a moon goddess who swings around while creating snow.
The fantastically imaginative, ethereal quality of the moonlings’ culture speaks volumes (no pun intended, as the film is silent) about humanity’s fascination with our biggest satellite.
Keep in mind, this movie was made in 1902: more than half a century before moon travel became reality. That last part bears repeating: moon travel became reality. In the decades that followed “A Trip to the Moon,” humanity pooled our collective resources and literally placed human beings on the surface of the moon, a feat no less astonishing in 2015 than it was in 1969.
The Ark and The Mars One Mission
Having “conquered” the moon, science has since turned its gaze farther out. In a shocking 2012 announcement, a Dutch company called for volunteers for a manned mission to Mars. In a twist worthy of Stephen King, the announcement featured a major departure from similar, previously planned missions: their journey will be a one-way trip.
That’s right: prospective Mars settlers can never return to Earth.
Whether or not the program meets its goal, one thing’s for sure: people love the idea. In the months following the announcement, a staggering 202,586 hopefuls applied. It’s done wonders in raising awareness, and by extension, funding, for space exploration. By that metric alone, Mars One is already a success.
In writing The Ark, I had in mind a hybrid of all of the above spacecrafts. The five Arks in the novel are too heavy to blast off of Earth, so they had to be assembled in space, like the ISS and the Death Star. But unlike a typical space station, Arks have propulsion systems. They’re meant to save as many humans as possible, along with as much of our culture as we can salvage, and they must also take us to our next home: a planetoid in the Kuiper belt called Eirenea.
Like the Mars One mission, it’s a one-way trip, and the application process is highly competitive.
Unlike the Mars One mission, in The Ark, humanity doesn’t have much of a choice in deciding whether to apply: you leave Earth or you die.
At the center of the action is a young girl named Char. She’s chronically indisposed to following the rules, so she probably wouldn’t do so well on an Ark, but that’s beside the point: Char is a criminal. And the one thing humanity has agreed upon is that we have no business saving criminals.
Char’s plan is to say goodbye to her family and accept her fate on Earth. It’s what everyone says she deserves, anyway, and they’re probably right.
Only, the goodbyes turn out to be a little more complicated than that.
The Ark is about our quest for peace amid constant warfare, and as the above spacecraft illustrate, anything is possible. We’re bound only by the limits of our own imagination.
Which is to say, almost not at all.


Via Assymetrical Information comes this Discover article on just how Earth-bound we may be as a species, because of the damage caused by cosmic rays.
Planetside, here, we're protected by the Earth's magnetic field, but out in space, we don't have that gigantic damping field. Metal shields made of lead or iron turn out to make the problem worse, because when cosmic rays collide with them, they release a cascade of charged particles that can cause the same kind of damage as the cosmic rays themselves.
In 1950, brilliant science fiction writer Cordwainer Smith wrote a haunting short story, Scanners Live in Vain, which all hinged on the fact that traveling through space caused irreversible dementia -- much like the kind of brain damage the article discusses as a distinct possibility.
I wonder if Adam Stone's solution to the problem in "Scanners" could work for us? It's certainly worth looking into. I'm sure the oysters won't mind.


(The Natural Extension of the calendar system)
= the First 8 months of 2024
+ the Last 4 months of 2029
+ SEP 1 as the Extra Sunday
+ DEC 31 as the Leap Sunday
It keeps consistent 13 weeks every quarter & still uses the same set of dates and months of the current calendar. People already know how to use it.
Same calendar & same 52 weeks apply to any year. Because of the least subtle change (< 1%), it can be the simplest and seamless calendar upgrade ever.
It is simple, memory friendly, pragmatic, cost saving, and benefiting all people and business.
Indeed, the calendar will be reformed!
Unusual Multiple Calendar Versions
Our memory is confused by the multiple calendar versions. Do you know why the current calendar system has 14 calendar versions in use? It is because it needs 7 versions with 365 days for common years and 7 versions with 366 days for leap years. They are swapped annually to keep the right order of weekdays. However, the unusual multiple calendar versions are neither astronomical nor scientific, just complicated. It is ironic that we dogmatically follow and use it.
Extreme Long Calendar Cycle
Why does nobody know that the basic calendar cycle of the Gregorian calendar is 28 years or exact 1,461 weeks long? Moreover, due to three leap days fewer in every 400 years, the complete calendar cycle is 400 years or exact 20,871 weeks long. These general facts were not explained in any textbook, because the extreme long calendar cycle is embarrassingly neither the best nor the most accurate approach but just complicated. The extreme long calendar cycle and the complicated calendar patterns request all people and organizations to handle the clumsy annual differences.
Confusing, Wasteful & Redundant
Many people feel that the calendar looks like incomplete. It has uneven month lengths and it changes annually. The 14 calendar versions and the 400-year long calendar cycle are neither astronomical nor scientific, just complicated and somehow redundant. That happened from the dictated constraint of using the strict 7-day week. "Before the official adoption of the strict 7-day week in 321 CE, the calendar was mixed with 7-day weeks and some 8-day weeks in a much simple pattern." The introduced annual calendar renewal is certainly the worst and most complicated calendar feature. It always confuses our memory & continuously wastes our effort and resource to deal with the annual calendar variations.
the Gregorian Calendar
Basic calendar cycle
Complete calendar cycle
Complete Calendar cycle
There are many proposals of calendar reform. Only NexCalendar introduces the least subtle change. It is the simplest & seamless calendar upgrade ever.
Simply Same Calendar for Any Year
NexCalendar = the First 8 months of 2024 + the Last 4 months of 2029 + September 1 as the Extra Sunday + December 31 as the Leap Sunday. It is a user-friendly perennial calendar. Instead of using 14 calendar versions of the Gregorian calendar, same calendar version for any year is much simple and practical for all people & business.
Since no annual calendar variations, no confusion and wasting will happen again. The majority of holidays and observances without designated dates will be easily fixed on some dates. Annual scheduling is much simplified for all people, business and organizations. Particularly, parents, students, and teachers are very happy to see the school terms and school breaks can fall on the same dates every year.
13 Weeks per Quarter & Same 52 Weeks any Year
NexCalendar can maintain consistent 13 weeks per quarter and the same 52 weeks for any year. February always has 29 days so as to keep the first quarter with 91 days or 13 weeks. Both the third quarter and the fourth quarter have 92 days (or 1 extra day after 13 weeks). September 1 is set as an annual Extra Sunday. It is between the Saturday of August 31 and the Sunday of September 2, which can maintain the third quarter with exact 13 weeks. September 1 was a special day, as it was the New Year's day in some countries and religions. It is the first day of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. The Extra Sunday could be an extended Sabbath or extra worship day on the first day of the third season.
December 31 is the last day of the year. It is set as the Leap Sunday after the Sunday of December 30 in the Leap Year, which can maintain the fourth quarter with exact 13 weeks. Again, the Leap Sunday could be an extended Sabbath or extra worship day at the end of the 4-year leap cycle.
The consistent calendar structure can make business statistics, periodical analysis, and quarterly forecasts more relevant. For people, it is a no-brainer to instantly work out the weekday of any date. The simple and consistent week system brings great convenience to all people, business and organizations.
From Monday to Sunday in Every Quarter
NexCalendar is naturally and neutrally extended from the current calendar. It is compatible with the current Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar because they use the same set of dates and months. Only the week system is subtly extended and standardized. Effectively, all quarters can start from Monday and end on Sunday. People can already know how to use the simple and pragmatic NexCalendar without any further explanation.
NexCalendar has the most preferred calendar structure for all people & business. The adoption is certainly super simple, and the transition is seamless as having a regular swap to the next calendar version as usual. Then no further calendar renewal is required as the simple NexCalendar is applicable to any year. Any country can afford this seamless calendar upgrade for the sake of the great benefits to all people, business and organizations.
February with 28 days is weird. It should always have 29 days so that the first quarter can have 91 days or 13 weeks.
September 1 is the annual Extra Sunday on the first day of the third season. It is between Aug 31 (SAT) and Sep 2 (SUN).
December 31 is the Leap Sunday since the leap day is rationally and bestly set on the last day of the 4-year leap cycle.
Why are there still many proposals of calendar reform?
Whenever a date is mentioned, we instantly need to know the corresponding weekday. Although we can easily get help from any calendar software or application, the varying weekdays still cause much troubles. It confuses our memory and wastes our effort & resource to deal with the annual calendar variations. Because the varying weekdays are neither astronomical nor scientific, but complicated and somehow redundant, all calendrical research and studies suggest reforming the calendar into a perennial calendar. A perennial calendar is a calendar that applies to any year, keeping the same dates, weekdays and other features. Since no annual calendar variations in the perennial calendar, no confusion and wasting will happen again. It is quite pragmatic, economical and beneficial to all people, business and organizations. For the great contributions, the calendar should eventually be reformed. Thus, there are still many proposals of calendar reform.
Will the Vatican and the United Nations discuss and accept any proposal of calendar reform?
Yes, since the old and odd issues of the current calendar are affirmed, they will discuss and accept any viable proposal of calendar reform. In 1963 the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican already declared that the Vatican "did not oppose efforts designed to introduce a permanent calendar into civil society." In 1955, the United Nations almost accepted the proposed "World Calendar" but postponed the issue after a veto from the government of the United States. The topic of calendar reform is still being explored and discussed. There are several proposals of calendar reform actively advocating to the public.
Why were all proposals of calendar reform not accepted?
In June of 1954, the Roman Catholic Church was prepared to collaborate with the United Nations for a reform of the calendar, but there were still some other religious groups opposed the adoption of the proposed "World Calendar". Nowadays, the major challenges of calendar reform should be "the seamless transition and the least transition cost". Without solving these two main concerns, it is not possible for all countries to afford any calendar reform. Currently, all existing proposals tend to introduce a different month system, such as the concept of using "leap weeks" instead of "leap days" or defining 13 months per year (with 28 days per month) instead of 12 months. Any attempt of reforming the month system (i.e. the dates and months) is equivalent to ignoring the thousand years history, culture, traditions, and religious beliefs already blended into the Gregorian calendar. Any change of the existing dates and months is significant and unaffordable. The transition will be extremely complicated and absolutely non-seamless. The transition cost will certainly be unaffordable by countries.
Why can NexCalendar be the most viable proposal and offer seamless transition?
The Gregorian calendar kept the same set of dates and months of the Julian calendar with just three leap days fewer in every 400 years. NexCalendar was solely designed to be compatible with both the Gregorian calendar, as well as the Julian calendar. All existing dates and months are also retained. Only the week system is subtly extended and standardized. Everyone will certainly know how to use the familiar NexCalendar. The Extra Sunday and the Leap Sunday are happy features for all people and they are more compliant with the religious practice. Since NexCalendar uses the same set of dates and months, the impact of change is certainly the minimum. All existing birth certificates, identity cards, passports, visas, legal documents, publications, and any documents won't be affected. All history, culture, traditions, and religious beliefs already blended into the existing calendar will be retained.
Besides benefiting all people, there are significant economic advantages to business and organizations. Particularly, those business statistics, periodical analysis and quarterly forecasts should be more relevant because of the consistent structure of quarters and years in NexCalendar. Moreover, the transition from the Gregorian calendar to the NexCalendar is super simple. It could be equivalent to a regular swap to the next calendar version as usual. While you may think that it is a centennial IT project, the algorithms and programmes are well prepared for seamless software upgrade which assure the software transition can be much simpler and cheaper than the Y2K problem fix. While we can afford the Y2K problem fix, we definitely can afford the upgrade to the NexCalendar system. The transition cost will be the least and affordable by any country. Thus, the adoption of NexCalendar is merely considered as a simple calendar upgrade or calendar extension.
Why is Monday the first day of the week in NexCalendar?
NexCalendar supports and follows the International Standard of ISO-8601 that Monday is named as the first day of the week. In fact, the Gregorian calendar was also designed beginning from Monday. On January 1 of 2001, it was Monday. The date was the first day of a new calendar cycle. Although United States, South America, China and some countries show Sunday first in the week, they practically treat every week starting from Monday for work and take rest on Sunday. Certainly, NexCalendar can also be presented with Sunday first. Besides naming in English, the weekdays can be named according to different culture and religions, so that we work on the first 5 days and rest on the last 2 days of the week. Thus, the Islam and Muslim-majority countries can name the days of the week accordingly so that they can pray on the sixth day to the seventh day of the week and may coincide with the working calendars of international financial markets. Furthermore, since Monday to Friday are working days in the major countries, NexCalendar sometimes presents both Saturday and Sunday in red color so as to match the current weekend practice.
Why should the leap day be arranged on the last day of the leap year?
The leap day is an extra day in the leap year for maintaining the correct average length of the solar year (i.e. the tropical year). Considering that the common year has 365 days and the leap year has 366 days, the difference is one leap day and obviously the leap day is the last day of the leap year. It is also the last day of the 4-year leap cycle. Thus, the leap day should be rationally arranged on the last day of the leap year so that it will not affect the ordinal sequence of any days in the year and through the 4-year leap cycle. February 29 is the leap day because it was supposed to be the last day of the leap year. In the Roman age, the original Roman calendar had ten months only from March to December counting only 304 days (or exact 38 weeks with 8 days per week) per year. It is obviously that September, October, November and December actually mean the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months from the Latin meaning. And it was reasonable that the year started from the first day of Spring, which was the first day of March. Even the year length was inaccurate, it was a simple and consistent perennial calendar.
Later, while people had grasped more accurate measure of the year length, January and February were appended as the 11th and 12th months. Thus, the leap day was set on the final day of February because it was considered as the final month. For some reasons, January was officially treated as the first month of the year and then every year oddly begins from the deep Winter. Somehow the leap day was still retained on the final day of February without probably rearranged. We all know that February is weirdly the shortest month in the year with 28 days only. It also causes some issues, such as in the "Day-Count Convention" for finance, accounting and payroll. Thus, NexCalendar maintains February with regular 29 days, which also makes the first quarter having the consistent 13 weeks. December 31 is then set as the Leap Sunday. Since December 31 is part of the double Sundays, people born on December 31 will fairly find no difference to celebrate birthday on the Sunday of December 30 in the common year.
Will it be fair for people not born in the weekend or on a public holiday?
Birthday Leave is a common practice in many companies and countries. For people born on a working day, they will be entitled for a paid birthday leave. That makes sure all people may have a birthday off. The policy can even be extended to the spouse or parents, so that they may celebrate birthdays with their spouse or parents. It is easy and feasible to ensure all days are good birthdays. (By the way, the superstition of bad luck Friday 13th does not exist in NexCalendar.) Furthermore, it is also common for people to celebrate birthday in the weekend.
Which years are good for adopting NexCalendar?
NexCalendar is compatible with the current calendar system. The switch between NexCalendar and the Gregorian calendar is super simple. It could be similar to countries with different time zones. It is easy to adopt NexCalendar in any year. For seamless transition and adoption, it will be better to transit in those years starting on Monday, such as 2024 and 2029. There will have 4 years starting on Monday in every 28 years. If the year starting from Monday is a leap year (such as 2024), the first 8 months of NexCalendar will be same as the 8 months of Gregorian calendar (i.e. 66% identical). If the year starting from Monday is a common year (such as 2029), the first 2 months and the last 4 months of NexCalendar will be same as the corresponding 6 months of Gregorian calendar (i.e. 50% identical). If its next year is a common year that starts from Tuesday (such as 2030), the months from March to August of NexCalendar will also be same as the corresponding 6 months of Gregorian calendar (i.e. 50% identical). People will almost find no significant difference during the transition. After the seamless transition, every year will use the same calendar version forever. All people and business will gain the significant benefits from using the simple NexCalendar.
How was NexCalendar initiated and rigorously developed?
In 2018, when I taught my eight years old son about the current calendar system in Auckland, he intuitively asked me several simple questions that I could not answer. Those questions included why February is particularly short, why August is a long month, why we need to renew the calendar every year, and whether the month lengths relate to any astronomical observation. Ironically, those simple questions are not explained in any textbook. Then, I started the research on calendar systems and found out that the design of the Gregorian calendar was neither astronomical nor scientific, but somehow arbitrary. The annual calendar renewal is the worse and most arguable calendar feature, which is annoying and redundant. It confuses our memory and wastes our continuous effort and resource to deal with the annual calendar variations. However, we seem have no choice and just dogmatically follow the Gregorian calendar. In fact, such old and odd calendar system should have been reformed. And there were some trials of using different calendar systems and there were many proposals of calendar reform. All suggested aborting the annual calendar renewal and adopting a perennial calendar system. However, none of them were accepted. Besides the religious concerns, those proposals introduced different month systems that will lead to significant impact of change and enormous transition cost.
Our calendar system is combined with a month system and a week system. If these two systems are not aligned, annual calendar renewal is required. If they are aligned, it is a perennial calendar system. All proposals focused on revising the month system because of the uneven month lengths, but all troubles actually come from the strict 7-day week. Thus, NexCalendar was designed to adopt the same month system with a subtly extended week system. Having taken two years rigorously design and verified by thousands of people of different ages, religions, and background, NexCalendar was developed to be the most viable solution with the least subtle change. There are just 1% rational and insignificant differences, but the improvement and contributions are forever.
The two new features of Extra Sunday and Leap Sunday are happy features that can eliminate the annual calendar renewal and maintain the consistent calendar structure with 13 weeks per quarter and same 52 weeks for any year. Still these features are more compliant with the religious practice. In Bible and many religions, there are special eight-day periods, such as Octave and the eighth day sabbath. In history, there were calendars maintaining every month with exact four weeks by the first three weeks with 7 days and the last week with 8 or 9 days. The early Julian calendar also mixed 8-day weeks and 7-day weeks before the official adoption of the strict 7-day week in 321 CE. As the principle design, NexCalendar is compatible with the Gregorian calendar, as well as the Julian calendar, because of using the same set of dates and months. With the simple and consistent structure, NexCalendar can offer the equivalent practical advantages and benefits of other proposals. Only NexCalendar can offer seamless transition with the least transition cost that any countries and organizations can afford it. It is the simplest and most viable calendar upgrade ever.
How is NexCalenar compliant to the religious beliefs?
The Gregorian calendar has been adopted as the civil calendar by all countries. It was reformed from the Julian calendar in 45 BCE. The reform retained the same set of dates and months of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar merely removed three leap days from the Julian calendar in every 400 years. Thus, NexCalendar also retains the same set of dates and months of the Gregorian calendar. Only five weeks are subtly extended in every 4-year leap cycle. The least subtle extension can reserve the thousand years history, culture, traditions, and religious beliefs already blended in the calendar. That also represents the highest respect to the religions.
Concerning the subtly extended week system, 97.6% are normal seven-day weeks. Merely 2.4% are long weeks (5 long weeks out of 208 weeks in 4 years). The long week contains an extra Sunday that religions may arrange extended Sabbaths or extra worship days on the first day of the third season (Spring of the Southern Hemisphere) and at the end of the 4-year leap cycle. That arrangement is the best alignment with astronomical fact that a year has around 365.25 days, in which there have one extra day per year and one extra day per 4-year leap cycle.
Religions initially believed that "Seven" is the special number arranged for the lunar cycle and the solar cycle. Therefore, months were assigned with around 28 days. Nowadays, we know that the lunar cycle has the average of 29.53 days, which is neither a whole number nor a multiple of seven. The solar cycle has the average of 365.2422 days, which is also neither a whole number nor a multiple of seven. The alignment between the lunar cycle and the solar cycle must take around 19 years, which is not a multiple of seven as well. It means God (the creator of the Universe) never applied the whole number of seven into any cycles. Now, we can preciously measure the cycle of a year. However, due to the ancient belief of the designated multiple of seven, the weird annual variated weeks significantly cause the calendar system over-complicated and confusing. For example, the Easter day falls on Sunday but the date is different every year. It can be in April or in late March. The Christmas day is on December 25 but the day of the week is variated every year. It seems these two important days were inconsistently set by two different religious groups. That were obviously because of the deficiency of the calendar system.
The seven-day week analogously corresponds to the seven days of creation. But God didn't strictly apply the rule of seven into the lunar and solar cycles. It is controversial that the confusing annual variated weeks may not be the best to meet God's preference. Thus, NexCalendar takes the best compliance to the seven-day week with subtle extension to embed the exact day per year and the extra day per 4-year leap cycle with the concept of Extra Sunday and Leap Sunday. While we check the history, the mix of weeks with 7 and 8 days had been used in the early Julian calendar during the transition from the 8-day week to the strict 7-day week which was before the offical adoption of the strict 7-day week in 321 CE. It means the mixed weeks also existed in the age of Jesus Christ. In the Bible and many religions, there are special eight-day periods, such as the Octave in Christian liturgy and the Eighth day Sabbath. NexCalendar ensures one simple calendar version applicable to any year and benefiting all people and all religions. The precise and consistent days of sabbath in every year plus the reasonable Extra Sunday and Leap Sunday for extended Sabbaths present the higher respect to the religions than using the clumsy annual variated weeks.
What challenges will encounter while advocating NexCalendar?
There are three main challenges while advocating NexCalendar.
1. People don't know they don't know the annoying issues of the current calendar system. Even we are using the Gregorian calendar daily, only few people aware of the issues because we born to dogmatically use it without choice. The embarrassing facts of the calendar system, the weird design, and the disadvantages are not explained in any textbook. Thus, we generally believe that the varying weekdays of dates are unalterable and normal, but the annual variations are over-complicated and somehow redundant. We need to let people recognize the odd design and the annoying features of the Gregorian calendar ahead of explaining any proposal of calendar reform.
2. People don't know the calendar can be reformed. Major people think that the current calendar system is much astronomically related and scientifically proven to be effective. They believe the calendar system is unalterable. However, the Gregorian calendar was reformed from the Julian calendar just for changing the date of the Easter as well as improving the incorrect year length. However, the "Reform of the date of the Easter" is still being discussed and the Gregorian calendar is not the most accurate solar calendar system. The Gregorian calendar simply has three leap days fewer than the Julian calendar in every 400 years. Even they are using the same set of dates and months, the calendar cycle of the Julian calendar is 28 years while the calendar cycle of the Gregorian calendar is 400 years long. The Gregorian calendar was not reformed for any astronomical or scientific reason. The reform made the calendar system much complicated that should be corrected and simplified for this modern age. Thus, there are still many proposals of calendar reform.
3. People don't know the calendar can be seamlessly reformed. People think that whatever reform on the calendar system will be a complicated transition with dramatic impact that no country can afford. However, NexCalendar was designed to achieve the least subtle change, seamless transition, and the lowest transition cost because it uses the same set of dates and months as the current calendar. NexCalendar is the only proposal that is compatible with the current calendar. Furthermore, these two calendar systems can co-exist and inter-convertible. Countries using these two calendar systems will be like countries in different time zones. Besides the seamless transition, the least transaction cost can be insignificant and is affordable by any country and organization.
Call To Action
It is very challenging to disseminate the message of NexCalendar to all people in the world, we sincerely need your support and sponsor for our advocacy campaigns.
NexCalendar was rigorously designed and verified since 2018. During the process, we found that almost no one can explain why and how the current calendar was evolved from and designed for because people dogmatically follow and use the calendar. They certainly don't understand why the calendar should be reformed. Once they know the facts, they will question why we keep using such weird calendar system without any reform.
Please share and discuss the calendar issues with your friends, family members, relatives, neighbours, classmates, and colleagues. Please mention about the proposal of NexCalendar and its great contributions to all human beings. It is the only proposal that can seamlessly upgrade the current calendar into a much practical perennial calendar system. NexCalendar can definitely benefit all people and business. It is super simple, familiar, pragmatic, memory-friendly, and cost-saving.
There are several ways to sponsor our advocacy campaigns. You may kindly offer or donate some funding to us so that we can organize more campaigns and advocacy activities. You may sponsor us to make some souvenirs, such as T-shirts or cup mugs. With NexCalendar printed on the T-shirts or cup mugs, the souvenirs can be useful in our whole life because NexCalendar is applicable for every year.
It is certainly very challenging to arrange advocacy campaigns in all countries. Besides using the internet media, we hope NexCalendar can be disseminated and discussed in all schools, universities, associations and organizations. Eventually, the proposal of NexCalendar should be discussed and adopted by countries as the world's civil calendar. Please let us know if you may help us to effectively realize the mission.


On 25 September James launched the 3rd Norfolk Coast Dark Skies Festival at Thornham Village Hill starting fortnight of events focused on the theme of Wildlife and Dark Skies.
Norfolk is home to four Dark Skies Discovery Sites including at Titchwell and Brancaster - where it is possible to see the Milky Way.
The Festival was started and organised by the Norfolk Coast Partnership which helps to cherish and protect the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Details of the events and how to apply are available here.
James' remarks at the launch:
"It’s a great pleasure to be here this evening and see so many people celebrating the dark skies we are lucky to enjoy.
Growing up in North Norfolk, I’ve always had an appreciation of the wonder of the sky and have fond memories of laying on the ground looking up at the sights above.
Now I’ll admit I may be biased, but in my opinion, Norfolk has the best Coastline in the UK with rich habitats within stunning landscapes.
That’s why it has been recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for over 50 years to be cherished and enjoyed.
And, the Norfolk Coast Partnership which started this festival plays a crucial role in managing the AONB - bringing together conservation charities, local authorities, landowners, and others to look after the coast for everyone living, working, and visiting here.
People love Norfolk’s unspoilt coastline, our famous Big Skies, panoramic views and – dare I say it - the Wildness.
This evening we’re celebrating Norfolk’s Dark Skies – and the four Discovery sites - where outstanding views can be had in part due to the lack of major development or artificial lighting.
That darkness, with the brilliance of the stars above is part of our rural character and brings with it a sense of remoteness and tranquillity.
During Covid and lockdowns, more people embraced the night skies seeing the international space station, satellites being launched, and of course the Comet Neowise.
Fewer planes and less light and air pollution have certainly helped.
Darkness brings many benefits for wildlife and that is the theme of this year’s festival.
Activities and events during the next fortnight will explore how nocturnal creatures use the dark, how daytime animals need it to rest, and how light pollution can affect them.
We are lucky to be able to see constellations, meteor showers, and the Milky Way – or Sky River as it is known in Japan – on our doorstep.
Sadly more than half the population in the UK are unable to see the Milky Way.
The British Astronomical Society has said “the light from the rest of the universe takes hundreds, thousands, and millions of years to reach our eyes. What a pity to lose it in that last millisecond of its journey.”
I agree and in Parliament I am a member of the All Party Dark Skies Group – alongside the Astronomer Royal, Lord Rees - because I want future generations to be able to see the stars and sights that first captured my imagination when I was young.
Our report based on contributions from the Coast Partnership and others calls for changes …to planning law to control obtrusive lighting, …to improve standards for lighting,
…and incentives to preserve dark skies.
Less and better lighting will help save carbon too.
John Craythorne and the King’s Lynn Astronomical Society will be giving us a tour of the skies later along members of the North Norfolk Astronomy Society.
Under the expertise of these skilled astronomers, we’re in for a real treat!
Combining dark skies and beer sounds like a winning formula to me – and Norfolk Brewhouse have brewed a special ‘Dark Skies’ ale in honour of the festival which will be on sale over the next few weeks.
So, in closing I want to say a huge thank to everyone who has made this festival possible.
Now I have great pleasure in declaring this the 3rd Norfolk Coast Dark Skies Festival open "


A moonbow (lunar rainbow, white rainbow, lunar bow, or space rainbow), it looks rather like something from fantasy art or a background scene for the Hobbit. It’s a rainbow that reflects light off the surface of the moon rather than direct sunlight. A very rare occurance, very specific lunar and weather conditions are necessary to be able to even catch a glimpse of these. Because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone color receptors in human eyes, it is difficult for the human eye to discern colors in a moonbow. As a result, they often appear to be white. However, the colors in a moonbow do appear in long exposure photographs.
Moonbows are most easily viewed when the moon is near to full. For true moonbows, other than those produced by waterfalls or sprays, the moon must be low in the sky, about 42 degrees, and the sky must be very dark. Since the sky is still light on a rising full moon, this means they can only be observed 2 to 3 hours before sunrise, a time with few observers. And, of course, there must be rain falling opposite the moon. This combination of requirements makes moonbows much rarer than rainbows produced by the sun. Moonbows may also be visible when rain falls during full moonrise at extreme latitudes during the winter months, when the prevalence of the hours of darkness give more opportunity for the phenomenon to be observed.


Available Cyber Monday
Without warning, bombs pour through a rip in the night sky, devastating the Earth. A strange constellation visible through the breach provides the only clue to the identity of the enemy.
Survivors huddle in bunkers, waiting for the radiation to reach them and put an end to mankind’s history.
In the middle of the chaos, an astronomer solves the mystery and offers the world one last hope of survival. However, it means risking any chance for Earth’s future.
What lengths will humanity go to for one last chance to save our species?