EXPLORING MARS

Got this link from my friend Matt,

http://mesaartscenter.com/index.php/performances/natlgeographic/ExploringMars

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Monday morning thoughts

This was posted on line. Thought is was humorous enough to share today.
Enjoy!

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8238401/

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Meteor Shower & Solar Eclipse on Jan 4

Space Weather News for Jan. 3, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER: Sky watchers in the northern hemisphere should be alert for meteors before sunrise on Tuesday, Jan. 4th. Earth is about to pass through a narrow stream of debris from shattered comet 2003 EH1, the parent of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Forecasters say the encounter could produce a fast flurry of 100 meteors per hour during the early hours of Jan. 4th. Details and observing tips may be found at http://spaceweather.com .

GOT CLOUDS? No problem. You can stay inside and listen to the Quadrantids. Tune into SpaceWeather Radio for live meteor echoes from the US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas: http://spaceweatherradio.com .

PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: After the meteor shower, observers in Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia can witness a partial eclipse of the sun. In western Europe, as much as 86% of the solar disk will be covered by the Moon at dawn, producing a fantastic crescent sunrise on Jan. 4th. Check http://spaceweather.com for details, animated maps and live webcasts.

Please note, this eclipse is NOT visible in Phoenix AZ.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Storms on Saturn

Space Weather News for Dec. 28, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

BIG STORM ON SATURN: Got a telescope for Christmas? Point it at Saturn. A giant storm even brighter than Saturn's rings is raging through the planet's cloudtops. Amateur images and sky maps are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS: At the time this alert is being written (mid-day UT on Dec. 28), a polar geomagnetic storm is in progress (Kindex=5). Observers report electric currents in the ground and intensifying Northern Lights over Scandinavia. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras: http://spaceweathertext.com .

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Voyager has out distanced the Solar Wind

http://www.universetoday.com/81662/voyager-1-has-outdistanced-the-solar-wind/

Received this link from a friend, Matt.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Earth like Alien planets

Got this link from Matt. Enjoy!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20101116/sc_space/lookingforearthlikealienplanetsfocusontheblueones

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Trips to Mars

received this info via email from our friend Matt:

Scientists propose one-way trips to Mars
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press

Invoking the spirit of "Star Trek" in a scholarly article entitled "To Boldly Go," two scientists contend human travel to Mars could happen much more quickly and cheaply if the missions are made one-way. They argue that it would be little different from early settlers to North America, who left Europe with little expectation of return.

"The main point is to get Mars exploration moving," said Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University, who wrote the article in the latest "Journal of Cosmology" with Paul Davies of Arizona State University. The colleagues state — in one of 55 articles in the issue devoted to exploring Mars — that humans must begin colonizing another planet as a hedge against a catastrophe on Earth.

Mars is a six-month flight away, possesses surface gravity, an atmosphere, abundant water, carbon dioxide and essential minerals. They propose the missions start by sending two two-person teams, in separate ships, to Mars. More colonists and regular supply ships would follow.

The technology already exists, or is within easy reach, they wrote.

An official for NASA said the space agency envisions manned missions to Mars in the next few decades, but that the planning decidedly involves round trips.

President Obama informed NASA last April that he "'believed by the mid-2030s that we could send humans to orbit Mars and safely return them to Earth. And that a landing would soon follow,'" said agency spokesman Michael Braukus.


No where did Obama suggest the astronauts be left behind.


"We want our people back," Braukus said.


Retired Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell, who walked on the Moon, was also critical of the one-way idea.


"This is premature," Mitchell wrote in an e-mail. "We aren't ready for this yet."


Davies and Schulze-Makuch say it's important to realize they're not proposing a "suicide mission."


"The astronauts would go to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers of a permanent human Mars colony," they wrote, while acknowledging the proposal is a tough sell for NASA, with its intense focus on safety.


They think the private sector might be a better place to try their plan.

"What we would need is an eccentric billionaire," Schulze-Makuch said. "There are people who have the money to put this into reality."


Indeed, British tycoon Richard Branson, PayPal founder Elon Musk and Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos are among the rich who are involved in private space ventures.


Isolated humans in space have long been a staple of science fiction movies, from "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" to "2001: A Space Odyssey" to a flurry of recent movies such as "Solaris" and "Moon." In many of the plots, the lonely astronauts fall victim to computers, madness or aliens.


Psychological profiling and training of the astronauts, plus constant communication with Earth, will reduce debilitating mental strains, the two scientists said.


"They would in fact feel more connected to home than the early Antarctic explorers," according to the article.


But the mental health of humans who spent time in space has been extensively studied. Depression can set in, people become irritated with each other, and sleep can be disrupted, the studies have found. The knowledge that there is no quick return to Earth would likely make that worse.


Davies is a physicist whose research focuses on cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology. He was an early proponent of the theory that life on Earth may have come from Mars in rocks ejected by asteroid and comet impacts.


Schulze-Makuch works in the Earth Sciences department at WSU and is the author of two books about life on other planets. His focus is eco-hydrogeology, which includes the study of water on planets and moons of our solar system and how those could serve as a potential habitat for microbial life.


The peer-reviewed Journal of Cosmology covers astronomy, astrobiology, Earth sciences and life.


Schulze-Makuch and Davies contend that Mars has abundant resources to help the colonists become self-sufficient over time. The colony should be next to a large ice cave, to provide shelter from radiation, plus water and oxygen, they wrote.


They believe the one-way trips could start in two decades.


"You would send a little bit older folks, around 60 or something like that," Schulze-Makuch said, bringing to mind the aging heroes who save the day in "Space Cowboys."


That's because the mission would undoubtedly reduce a person's lifespan, from a lack of medical care and exposure to radiation. That radiation would also damage human reproductive organs, so sending people of childbearing age is not a good idea, he said.


There have been seniors in space, including John Glenn, who was 77 when he flew on the space shuttle in 1998.


Still, Schulze-Makuch believes many people would be willing to make the sacrifice.


The Mars base would offer humanity a "lifeboat" in the event Earth becomes uninhabitable, they said.


"We are on a vulnerable planet," Schulze-Makuch said. "Asteroid impact can threaten us, or a supernova explosion. If we want to survive as a species, we have to expand into the solar system and likely beyond."
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Online:

http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars108.html

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Jupiter's Stripe

Space Weather News for Nov. 11, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

JUPITER'S MISSING STRIPE, RETURNING? Earlier this year when Jupiter's great South Equatorial Belt (SEB) vanished, researchers urged amateur astronomers to be alert for its eventual return. The SEB had come and gone before, they noted, and the revival was something to behold. Alert: It might be happening now. An energetic white plume is rising above Jupiter's cloudtops, possibly heralding the return of the giant planet's missing stripe. Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

SPACE STATION FLYBY ALERT: The International Space Station is about to begin a series of bright evening flybys over North America. It's easy to see. Let your cell phone tell you when to look using our Simple Flybys app for Android and iPhone: http://simpleflybys.com/

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

PAS is at the Desert Botanical Gardens 11/5 and 11/6

Good afternoon and happy Friday to you.

The Phoenix Astronomical Society will be at the Desert Botanical Gardens on

Friday Nov 5 from 7pm to 9pm for an Adult Event
and
Sat Nov 6 from 6pm to 8pm for a Kids Event.

The Desert Botanical Gardent address is:
1201 N. Galvin Parkway Phoenix, AZ 85008 ...

Fo

And here is what's visible for both nights.
Sun set is 5:20
Mercury is visible at 5:30 and sets 5:50.
Mars is visible 5:30 and sets 6:30.
Jupiter is visible 5:30 and then throughout the night.
Dark is 6:50.

We hope to see you there!
For more fun Astronomy related events, be sure to visit the PAS Website Calendar
where you will find the event listed, on the date it is happening, and a forum link
to give you more details about the events. Some events require RSVP prior to attending,
while others, like the DBG events mentioned above are Public events hosted by the
location we are doing the event at, and so no RSVP is required for attendance.

The link directly to the PAS website calendar is:
http://www.pasaz.org/forums/calendar.php

HAVE A SUPER FRIDAY!!!

Terri, Event Coordinator

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Phoenix Art Museum "Space Odyssey" Nov 5, 2010 6pm to 10pm

TONIGHT - Join us!!!

The Phoenix Art Museum is putting on SPACE ODYSSEY.
From 6pm to 10pm, tonight Nov 5, 2010, you can enjoy many of these activities & more:

* Making Foil Helmets and get your photo taken while wearing yours.
* Kids will launch air rockets and play with glow sticks
* Airbrush space tattoo-ist available

Plus the PHOENIX ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
will be there, out front to show you the night sky.

Please note, we are near the Museum building to our East, so
objects rising in the East, such as Jupiter may do earlier in the evening,
may not be visible until later in the evening. But this is what we hope to
show tonight through 3 telescopes. Come visit us there!!!

Sun set is 5:20
Mercury is visible to the West at 5:30 and sets 5:50. We hope to have some scopes
set up prior to Mercury setting for the night.
Mars is visible to the West at 5:30 and sets 6:30.
Jupiter is visible 5:30 and then throughout the night, the building might
be in the way earlier in the evening. It will be at the Zenith at 9:14pm. I predict we will
be able to see Jupiter come over the Museum building by about 7:30.
Dark is 6:50.

Address of the Phoenix Art Museum is:
1625 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004

More details can be found in the PAS public forums at this link:
http://www.pasaz.org/forums/showthread.php?t=479

We would love to see you there, tonight!!!

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society