In a year when the sun has been utterly blank 80% of the time, the sudden emergence of two large sunspots in a single day is a noteworthy event. Today is such a day. NASA satellites and amateur astronomers are monitoring a pair of growing sunspots, both apparently members of long-overdue Solar Cycle 24. The emergence of these active regions … Read the rest of this article
New Sunspots (Finally!)
September 22, 2009
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Possible Perseid Meteor Outburst
August 5, 2009
This year’s Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual. According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, a filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth’s path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 – 2 am PDT) on August 12th, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value.
Perseids On … Read the rest of this article
Celebrating Apollo 11’s 40th Anniversary
July 19, 2009
40 years on from the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in 1969, we’re still no closer to returning to the moon than we were when Apollo 17 left the Moon on 1972.
We’re further from where we were in 1972, if anything. At least back then, there was still the rocketry expertise and infrastructure to support it. That’s pretty much all … Read the rest of this article
Apollo 11 Diatribe
July 17, 2009
40 years on from the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in 1969, we’re still no closer to returning to the moon than we were when Apollo 17 left the Moon on 1972.
We’re further from where we were in 1972, if anything. At least back then, there was still the rocketry expertise and infrastructure to support it. That’s pretty much all … Read the rest of this article
Apollo 11 40th Anniversary Documentaries
July 12, 2009
This is a list of Apollo 11 related programmes to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, that are airing on the Sky and Freesat platforms in Europe over the coming days. If you live in the US and would like me to update this list with programmes available to a US audience, please use the Contact Us form … Read the rest of this article
On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the historic first moon landing, NASA is seeking ideas from the public, academia, and industry about how to analyze and catalog notes from spaceflight pioneer Wernher von Braun into an electronic, searchable database or other system.
Von Braun was the first director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and … Read the rest of this article
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: February 9 2009
February 1, 2009
This month sees a penumbral eclipse of the Moon. It is the first of four eclipse this year (penumbral eclipses also occur in July and August, and there’s a Partial eclipse in December). The eclipse details are shown below. Times are in UT. The diagram (slightly reduced in size) was created with LunarPhase Pro.
In a Penumbral Eclipse the … Read the rest of this article
“In the Shadow of the Moon” DVD Review
August 14, 2008
In the Shadow of the Moon (DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray)
Starring: Colonel Buzz Aldrin, USAF, R, Captain Alan Bean, USN, R, Captain Eugene Cernan, USN, R, Brig. Gen. Michael Collins, USAF, R, Brig. Gen. Charles Duke, USAF
Update, June 2009: In the Shadow of the Moon is now available on Blu-Ray in the United Kingdom. It’s unclear if it will play on … Read the rest of this article
Sky at Night: July 2008 – Rise of the Phoenix
July 30, 2008
July 2008 – Rise of the Phoenix: Patrick Moore has an update on the NASA spacecraft Phoenix’s mission to Mars. After a month on the planet’s surface it has sent back unique images of the frozen ice caps. Chris Lintott travels to Tucson, Arizona, from where the NASA Phoenix team are operating the lander. He finds out how the spacecraft … Read the rest of this article
Sky at Night: March 2008 – Return to the Moon
March 31, 2008
March 2008 – Return to the Moon: With a new era of lunar exploration dawning as more probes are launched to try to unlock the Moon’s darkest secrets, Patrick Moore finds out about British ambitions to get there. Dr Chris Lintott travels to NASA to hear about plans to blast a crater in the lunar surface and and meets the … Read the rest of this article
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