Phoenix Astronomical Society Blog

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Upcoming Free Telescope Workshops at Bookmans

March 18th
http://bookmans.com/content/telescope-training-workshop-1

February 12th
http://bookmans.com/content/telescope-training-workshop-0?mini=events/2012-02

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

Friday, January 20, 2012

4 cool astronomy links

Here's an amazing IMAX-quality film of Saturn, assembled from Cassini images. This was created by a single individual, working from his home, and is still a work-in-progress. You may have seen this when it went viral last year, but the filmmaker recently released an updated version:
http://vimeo.com/33933151

New footage (Earth & Moon):
http://vimeo.com/34001144

More info:
http://www.outsideinthemovie.com

There's a great interview with the filmmaker on the latest episode of Planetary Radio (starting at 7m25s), which is how I heard about it:
http://planetary.org/radio/show/00000480/

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

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Solar Flare headed our way

Space Weather News for Jan. 19, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

EARTH-DIRECTED FLARE: Active sunspot 1401 erupted today, Jan. 19th, for more than an hour around 16:00 UT. The long-duration blast produced an M3-class solar flare and a CME that appears to be heading toward Earth. Forecasters say strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives during the late hours of Jan. 21st. High-latitude (and possibly middle-latitude) sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend. Check http://spaceweather.com for movies and updates.

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

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Meteor Shower Wednesday

Space Weather News for Jan. 3, 2012
http://spaceweather.com

FIRST METEOR SHOWER OF 2012: The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday morning, Jan. 4th, when Earth passes through a narrow stream of debris from a comet thought to have broken apart some 500 years ago. The shower is expected to be strong (as many as 100 meteors per hour), but elusive, with a peak that lasts no longer than a couple of hours. The shower's radiant near Polaris favors observers in the northern hemisphere. Images, live audio from a meteor radar, and more information are available on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

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

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cool Astronomy links

Surface of Pluto May Contain Organic Molecules
http://news.yahoo.com/surface-pluto-may-contain-organic-molecules-151008586.html

Twin probes to circle moon to study gravity field
http://news.yahoo.com/twin-probes-circle-moon-study-gravity-field-151047672.html

Upcoming Space Missions for 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/upcoming-space-missions-2012-212600401.html

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

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sundiving Comet

Space Weather News for Dec. 15, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

SUNDIVING COMET: Comet Lovejoy is plunging toward the sun, and its ~200-meter wide core is vaporizing furiously as it approaches the hot star. So far the comet's brightness seems to be exceeding expectations. Indeed, there is a slim chance that the sundiver will brighten enough to be seen with the naked eye in broad daylight on Dec. 15th. Check http://spaceweather.com for further discussion and the latest movies from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

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

Sunday, November 27, 2011

December Newsletter ready for download

Happy Sunday morning to everyone,

The December PAStimes Newsletter is ready
for download. Please enjoy!

http://www.pasaz.org/PAStimes/2011-2012/2011-12.pdf

Terri

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