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Contact me: Events@pasaz.org
Welcome to the PHOENIX ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY BLOG.
Located in Phoenix, Arizona. We welcome everyone to enjoy the night sky with us!
This is YOUR link to what's happening with PAS: PASAZ.ORG. By joining this blog, you will receive info on Astronomy plus updates on PAS events.
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Space Weather News for June 2, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
ECLIPSE OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN: A solar eclipse at midnight? It's not only possible, it actually happened last night. On June 1st, the new Moon passed in front of the midnight sun above the Arctic circle, producing a partial eclipse of exquisite beauty. Images of the event are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com .
Posted by Terri at 10:39 AM
Space Weather News for May 27, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
SOLAR SAIL FLASHES: NASA's Nanosail-D, the first solar sail to orbit Earth, is flashing as it glides through the night sky. Observers in Europe report luminous peaks as bright as a 1st magnitude star. The irregular period of the flashes suggests that the sail might be tumbling, although no one is certain at this moment what is causing the phenomenon. Sky watchers are encouraged to check the Simple Satellite Tracker for local flyby times and watch this unique spacecraft strobe overhead: http://spaceweather.com/flybys
DON'T FORGET THE SPACE SHUTTLE: Meanwhile, space shuttle Endeavour and the ISS are putting on a show of their own. The docked spacecraft are making a series of brilliant dawn flybys over North America and Europe, providing early risers with a chance to see Endeavour one last time before it returns to Earth for retirement. Tracking them is easy; just use your cell phone: http://simpleflybys.com.
Posted by Terri at 3:21 PM
Space Weather News for May 24, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
COMET FIREBALL: Bright fireballs appear somewhere on Earth every day. Most are caused by rocky asteroids. On Friday, May 20th, however, a less common object struck. Sky watchers in the southeastern USA watched a big but fragile piece of comet break apart in Earth's atmosphere. The resulting fireball was the brightest meteor observed in nearly 3 years by NASA's all-sky network of meteor cameras. Videos and more information are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com
HOLD A METEORITE IN YOUR HAND: Certified authentic meteorites are now available in the Space Weather Store. Details at http://www.shopspaceweather.com/meteorite-sets.aspx
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Along the lines of holding a meteorite in your hand, you can do that at any of our events that PAS"s own Meteorite Man is attending. He has many different types of meteorites for you to hold, touch, feel, compare, and he has info to tell you about each one. He is worth checking out.. Mike is our Meteorite Man. Come to a PAS event and experience METEORITES! The experience is free, but the memories will last a lifetime!
Posted by Terri at 10:47 AM
Received this link from Matt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110329/sc_space/nasaspacecraftsnaps1stphotoofmercuryfromorbit
Posted by Terri at 3:28 PM
Received this link from Matt.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_night_sky
Posted by Terri at 5:56 PM
Lonely Rogue Worlds Surprisingly Outnumber Planets with Suns
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110518/sc_space/lonelyrogueworldssurprisinglyoutnumberplanetswithsuns
Space Fest
http://www.spacefest.info/III/autog.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=Facebook2Spacefest&utm_campaign=AdGroup&Network=Content&SiteTarget=facebook
Monster Storm Rearranges Saturn Before Our Eyes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110519/sc_space/monsterstormrearrangessaturnbeforeoureyes
Posted by Terri at 12:36 PM
Received this article from Matt:
Why some planets spin backward
Fri, May 13 08:55 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some planets are just flipping backward.
Of the more than 500 planets detected around stars besides our Sun, the vast majority appear to spin the same way the star does, scientists reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
But some of these extrasolar planets spin in the opposite direction of the stars they orbit, astronomers found. These strange, backward-spinning planets are usually gassy giants called hot Jupiters, not rocky orbs like Earth.
Besides their backwards twirling, which the astronomers call flipped orbits, these big planets huddle close to their stars, unlike Jupiter, which is about 483 million miles (778 million km) from the Sun, more than five times as distant from the Sun as Earth.
"That's really weird, and it's even weirder because the planet is so close to the star," Frederic Rasio of Northwestern University said in a statement.
"How can one be spinning one way and the other orbiting exactly the other way? It's crazy. It so obviously violates our most basic picture of planet and star formation."
Astronomers have long theorized that big gas planets form further away from their stars, while Earth-like rocks are born closer in.
But just because a Jupiter-like planet forms in the planetary boondocks doesn't mean it stays there, Rasio and his colleagues reported.
When planetary systems contain more than one planet, in addition to a star, each planet has its own gravitational force, causing the planets to interact and eventually pulling the gas giants close to the star and even reversing its orbit, the scientists found.
This process is known as gravitational perturbation, or an exchange of angular momentum.
Astronomers have been detecting extrasolar planets since 1995, but have seen only a handful. The others are inferred by the gravitational pull they exert on the stars they orbit, creating a starry wobble that indicates one or more planets present but unseen in the planetary system.
The National Science Foundation supported this research.
(Editing by Todd Eastham)
Posted by Terri at 2:18 PM
Space Weather News for April 30, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field during the early hours of April 30th, sparking a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Northern Lights descended as far south as Michigan in the United States. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras (http://spaceweatherphone.com) tonight as the solar wind continues to blow. Photos of the April 30th display are highlighted on today's edition of http://SpaceWeather.com.
TRACK THE SPACE SHUTTLE: Space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, May 2nd, on a two-week mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle and station will make many visible passes over Europe and North America during the mission--the trick is knowing when to look. You can turn your cell phone into a field tested shuttle tracker by downloading our Simple Flybys app. Details at http://simpleflybys.com
Posted by Terri at 6:15 PM
Space Weather News for March 28, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
SOLAR RADIO STORM: A profusion of emerging sunspots has kicked off a days-long radio storm on the sun. VHF receivers on Earth are picking up loud bursts that sound like waves crashing on a beach. This ongoing event continues a recent trend of increasing activity as Solar Cycle 24 heats up. Check http://spaceweather.com for audio and images of the instigating sunspots.
OUT-OF-THE-BOX SOLAR TELESCOPE: Spaceweather.com is pleased to offer an affordable solar telescope that allows you to safely observe sunspots with minimal setup or previous experience. Unlike other solar telescopes, this one works at night, too! Visit the Space Weather Store for details:
http://www.shopspaceweather.com/explore-scientific-white-light-solar-observer-system.aspx
Posted by Terri at 10:06 AM
Space Weather News for March 11, 2011
http://spaceweather.com
AURORAS IN THE USA: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on March 10th. The impact set off a G1-class geomagnetic storm and sent Northern Lights rippling over the US-Canadian border into states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Sky watchers who hadn't seen auroras in years captured beautiful photos of green and purple streamers. This is another sign that Solar Cycle 24 is heating up. Check http://spaceweather.com for photos and updates.
GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERTS: Would you like a call when geomagnetic storms erupt? Sign up for Space Weather PHONE (http://spaceweatherphone.com) or Space Weather TEXT (http://spaceweathertext.com) and never miss another aurora surprise.
Posted by Terri at 12:46 PM
