Archives for the 'Astronomy' Category
Posted by Davin Flateau on 18 Apr 2007 at 9:05 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Event, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
If it’s April, that must mean it’s time for Exploration Place’s “Spring Spaceout”, also known as AstroFest 2007! Kansas’ largest celebration of National Astronomy Day is on Saturday, April 21 from 10am - 2pm, and is a packed fun-filled day of activities, demonstrations, special guest lectures, and digital space theater shows for the whole […]
Read ‘AstroFest - April 21 - Out of This World!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 11 Sep 2006 at 3:11 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
NASA has announced a new contest for students ages 11-18: create your own audio or video podcast!
It’s an exciting time for educators and students. Before the end of the next decade, NASA astronauts will return to the moon. This time, we’re planning to stay, building outposts and paving the way for eventual journeys to […]
Read ‘NASA Podcast Contest for Students’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 11 Sep 2006 at 10:11 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Leonard David of Space.com reports that the sequel to the X-Prize winning Spaceship 1 is about to enter the test flight stage:
The Mojave, California Spaceport is preparing to handle test flights of the SpaceShipTwo – a passenger carrying suborbital craft, according to Bill Deaver, editor and publisher of the Mojave Desert News.
The newspaper on Thursday […]
Read ‘Get Ready for SpaceshipTwo’
Posted by Vicki Sieglen on 24 Aug 2006 at 2:20 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Over the last two weeks, The International Astronomical Union as been discussing, in Prague, The Czech Republic, about the redefinition of the word planet, as well as the fate of Pluto.
The new definition of the word planet is as follows: A) The object in question has to orbit the Sun. […]
Posted by Vicki Sieglen on 18 Aug 2006 at 11:14 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
The first open debate regarding the redefining of the word planet at the General Assembly for the International Astronomical Union has failed! In this debate only planetary scientists took part. The proposal was voted down approximately 60 to 40, the term “plutons” was also knocked down in an overwhelming majority vote.
“Most […]
Read ‘Planet redefinition fails in first open debate at IAU!’
Posted by Vicki Sieglen on 17 Aug 2006 at 2:15 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Currently in Prague, Czech Republic, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is discussing a new definition for the word “planet”. By the end of next week the solar system may have three new planetary additions taking our current planet total from 9 planets to 12. The three additions to earn the crown planet-hood would […]
Read ‘Astronomers Add New Planets to Solar System’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 19 Apr 2006 at 8:49 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
10am-5pm
Exploration Place
Wichita, Kansas
Get all the details!
No doubt you’ve noticed the scarceness of posts over the past few weeks. No, we weren’t hit by a rogue meteor, or swallowed up by merging black holes, but we still had a pretty good reason. We’ve been busy planning Kansas’ largest Astronomy Day festival […]
Read ‘Announcing: AstroFest 2006 at Exploration Place!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 31 Mar 2006 at 10:20 am.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
No foolin - tomorrow night, April 1, the thin, beautiful crescent moon will slowly move in front of the bright fuzzy star cluster The Pleiades. The event will be visible for most of the eastern part of the U.S. during dusk, and extreme eastern Kansas including Kansas City should get to see a few […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 29 Mar 2006 at 10:12 am.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Space.com has a page up with several pics from today’s total solar eclipse. Enjoy!
Posted by Davin Flateau on 29 Mar 2006 at 8:21 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Oops - last night, I forgot to post about the Total Sclipse that was over Europe and Asia. But I did have a post up about awhile ago, so I hope everyone caught that!
Posted by Davin Flateau on 25 Mar 2006 at 10:27 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Thanks for an incredible run, Shockers.
While it seems that everyone in south central Kansas is caught up in the NCAA basketball tournament, did you know that March brings “Astronomy’s March Madness” to the entire northern hemisphere? It’s the Messier Marathon! The sky is aligned just right, allowing you to see all 110 Messier objects […]
Read ‘Astronomy’s March Madness’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 24 Mar 2006 at 12:34 pm.
3 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Being a big hub for observational astronomy, this can probably be said for most nights in Tuscon, Arizona: there are a lot of tired astronomers down there today. Mars’ newest artificial satellite, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, sent back its first images from its high powered camera last night and early this morning. Engineers […]
Read ‘Mars Recon Orbiter - First Images’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 24 Mar 2006 at 11:32 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
I recently saw a full page ad in the Sunday New York Times placed by the Ad Council for the Girl Scouts of America. That’s probably the largest printed public service message you can get on the planet. Click on the ad for a larger view:
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (resung by science)
Twinkle, twinkle […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 22 Mar 2006 at 5:04 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Yes, astronomy and space fans, here’s a list of recent articles worthy of your unwavering attention. It’s the return of our Astronomy News Roundup!
Phil Plait “The Bad Astronomer” gets into a spin about Sirius.
British astronomers use a computer simulation to show how solar systems can form big rocky planets, like have been observed around other […]
Read ‘Astro News Roundup March 22’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 21 Mar 2006 at 10:43 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
I was just watching NASA TV, and caught a nice summary of Discovery class missions to asteroids and comets. The dual asteroid orbiting mission DAWN was still in there. Take that as either a good sign or someone at NASA TV didn’t realize that their agency had cancelled the program. Hmm!
Posted by Davin Flateau on 20 Mar 2006 at 5:51 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
In between dodging trucks in the morning highway traffic, and somewhere between a left turn signal and a stop sign, I was briefly thrown out of my car, transported to the clear, cold dark sky of the Utah night. On NPR’s Morning Edition today, author Craig Childs shared with listeners the lost beauty of […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 20 Mar 2006 at 12:21 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Happy vernal equinox! Time to break out the Nox Nog, and raise a glass to the first day of spring. Just in time for a snow storm to dump feet of snow here in Kansas. I can smell the snowblower exhaust and road salt wafting through the fragrant spring air already.
The term […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 17 Mar 2006 at 12:31 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Right on the heels of my previous post about NASA’s termination of the asteroid-orbiting mission DAWN, CNN reports that NASA is taking a second look at the mission.
NASA’s unusual step to review Dawn’s termination came after the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which manages the mission, presented new evidence in support of it, the space […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 15 Mar 2006 at 11:03 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Even though I produce astronomy documentaries for the really big screen, I’m generally not a huge fan of ones produced for the small screen. Some TV astronomy documentaries go out of their way to bore the viewer, playing right into that stereotype that astronomy is an abstract and meaningless topic best left to the […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 14 Mar 2006 at 1:13 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
In yesterday’s post, I meant to write a followup and mention that Google used Lowell’s birthday to launch Google Mars, a way cool way to learn about Mars. Go there now and start clicking and zooming on stuff!
One really great feature is “Stories” which links geographic features on the red planet to […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 14 Mar 2006 at 11:19 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It’s Albert Einstein’s 127th birthday! He looks good for that age.
The centenary of his famous scientific revolution last year was the focus of a huge worldwide celebration. But hey, that doesn’t mean we have to wait another 100 to truly appreciate what he did.
Among other things, he opened our eyes […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 9 Mar 2006 at 12:09 pm.
2 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Update 1:23pm CST: From the offical press release from NASA:
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon.
“We realize that this is a radical […]
Read ‘Breaking News: Liquid Water on Saturn Moon?’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 9 Mar 2006 at 11:46 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
On Friday at 3:25 p.m. CST, the largest satellite ever sent to Mars will fire its propellant for 27 minutes to gently fall into its invisible orbit around the red planet. The truck-sized Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will join the three satellites and two rovers already poking and prodding the planet for its many secrets.
Mars […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 6 Mar 2006 at 11:24 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Many people know about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, the huge atmospheric storm three times the size of the Earth that’s been churning away for at least 300 years. Astronomers report that the planet’s cauldron of gasses has recently produced another red spot not far from the first. The new superstorm is officially called […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Mar 2006 at 6:01 pm.
2 Comments. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Lunacy:
The word is borrowed via French from Latin “lunaticus”, which gains its stem from “luna” for moon, which denotes the traditional link made in folklore between madness and the phases of the moon.
The association of craziness and the Moon may be outdated, but today, many lunar astronomers would tell you they’re crazy for the […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 28 Feb 2006 at 4:14 pm.
2 Comments. Filed under General, Astronomy.
On March 29, the moon’s shadow will fall silently onto the earth’s surface. The dark circle will cruise at over 1500 miles per hour across the western shores of Brazil, over the Atlantic Ocean, and darken a narrow swath across Africa, central Asia, before finally disappearing into darkness when the sun sets on the horizon […]
Read ‘Total Solar Eclipse Webcast’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 27 Feb 2006 at 4:04 pm.
4 Comments. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Andrew Shaner of the University of Arizona writes us that great things happen when kids and space get together:
This image was taken by a camera on a high altitude balloon two weeks ago. This image was taken at an altitude of over 95,000 ft.
This balloon launch was part of the Changes in Altitude program […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 23 Feb 2006 at 9:18 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have taken images that reveal two new moons around the solar system’s tiniest planet, Pluto. The observations also hint at a possible faint ring around the planet. From a press release:
In a paper published today in Nature, a team of U.S. scientists led by Dr. S. Alan […]
Read ‘Pluto Adds Two Moons, Maybe a Ring’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 22 Feb 2006 at 11:36 am.
1 Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Space.com has a cool mini-documentary movie about black holes. It includes great animations and interviews with astronomers and astrophysicists. Quicktime is required, and you do have to sit through an ad at the beginning and at the end, but well worth checking out.
Read ‘Black Hole Mini Documentary’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 21 Feb 2006 at 5:22 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
In the previous post, I talked about astronomers figuring out the cause of the extragalactic glow of x-rays. But in a separate discovery, astronomers have discovered what’s causing the glow of x-rays observed from within our galaxy. It’s not black holes this time, but huge numbers of white dwarfs, another fate of dying […]
Read ‘X-Rays in the Milky Way’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 21 Feb 2006 at 10:33 am.
3 Comments. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Supermassive black holes — the huge black holes at the centers of galaxies — appear to litter the Universe, according to astronomers using the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory at an announcement at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis last week.
These deep, extragalactic X-ray surveys looked at carefully chosen patches of […]
Read ‘My God! It’s Full of Black Holes!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 20 Feb 2006 at 11:13 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
University of Arizona astronomer Dr. Fulvio Melia spoke under the giant 60-foot dome of Exploration Place’s CyberDome Theater on February 17 and 18. The assembled audiences were treated to a deep but down to earth explanation of one of the most exotic, cutting-edge topics in science today - the supermassive black holes found at […]
Read ‘Supermassive Black Holes with Fulvio Melia’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 17 Feb 2006 at 2:32 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Comedian and The Daily Show star Lewis Black is angry, in case you didn’t know. Last night on The Daily Show, he had some choice words for the New Horizons mission to Pluto slated to arrive there in 2015.
“I can’t wait that long!! I need to know what’s going on at […]
Read ‘Lewis Black Yells Into Space’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 16 Feb 2006 at 5:53 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
There’s a theory that subatomic particles from space hitting our atmosphere may create incredibly tiny short-lived subatomic black holes right here inside Earth’s own air supply. It’s a wild theory that has has a lot of implications, from the possibility of scientists creating their own tiny black holes in the lab, to the confirmation […]
Read ‘Atmospheric Black Holes’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 15 Feb 2006 at 4:41 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
The great Italian astronomer and philosopher Galileo Galileii was born on this day in 1564. His work and invention in astronomy was nothing short of revolutionary, as he observed and recorded details about Jupiter, the Moon, sunspots, and the stars that would rock our view of the Universe from that moment on.
His […]
Read ‘Happy 442nd Birthday Galileo’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 14 Feb 2006 at 10:15 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
The theories were there; the thousands of pages of equations telling its story could plaster the inside of an aircraft hanger from floor to ceiling. Science had written a tale of black holes that would seem completely absurd if it weren’t backed up by so much physics. Black holes were an inescapable celestial abyss that would crush […]
Read ‘Black Holes: A Massive Birth Part 3’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 10 Feb 2006 at 12:06 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
This is the second article in a series about black holes, in conjunction with the release of the new Black Holes CyberDome show at Exploration Place on February 17.
The History of Black Holes, Part 2
In the first part of our history of black holes, we covered an amazing 228 years in the development of physics, […]
Read ‘Black Holes: A Massive Birth Part 2’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Feb 2006 at 11:03 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
To celebrate the opening of the new CyberDome Theater show Black Holes on Friday, February 17, we’ll be featuring articles about these mysterious and powerful objects all month long. By the time March rolls around, you’ll be a an expert, ready to roll into your next cocktail party talking about event horizons and Hawking […]
Read ‘Black Holes All February!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 30 Jan 2006 at 5:59 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
As the New Horizons probe launched last week hurtles toward it’s 2015 flyby of Pluto, it’s cosmic serendipity that we celebrate the centennial of the planet’s discoverer, Kansan Clyde Tombaugh. He will be honored at 8pm this Saturday, February 4 in KU’s Alderson Auditorium. Special guest speaker and New Horizon’s Principal Investigator Alan […]
Read ‘Clyde Tombaugh’s 100th Birthday’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 11 Nov 2005 at 11:35 am.
2 Comments. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Beccy Tanner at The Wichita Eagle reported today that what may be the largest meteorite found in the U.S. may have been found in western Kansas!
Meteorite hunter and former Wichitan Steve Arnold found the 1,400 pound monster a few weeks ago in Kiowa county under 7 feet of earth.
“It is aesthetically the type of meteorite […]
Read ‘Largest U.S. Meteorite Found in Kansas’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 2 Nov 2005 at 3:56 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
See Mars at Exploration Place through our telescopes from 6-9pm on Friday, November 4, and put your mind at ease!
It seems like just about everyone got a copy of that recent hoax email that claiming that Mars was going to come very close to earth and grow “as big as the Moon,”,and cause all kinds […]
Read ‘Mars Observing at Exploration Place on Friday’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 15 Sep 2005 at 3:01 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Space.com is reporting that NASA has briefed the White House on its plan to return to the moon by 2018.
NASA briefed senior White House officials Wednesday on its plan to spend $100 billion and the next 12 years building the spacecraft and rockets it needs to put humans back on the Moon by 2018.
The […]
Read ‘NASA Manned Moon Mission in 2018’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 7 Sep 2005 at 4:46 pm.
3 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Huge solar flare Sept 7.
Read ‘Sun lets rip a big one!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 7 Sep 2005 at 4:00 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
A fast-spinning pulsar is devouring its companion
Read ‘Yummy! Star eats companion’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 2 Sep 2005 at 9:37 am.
3 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
The panoramic view of Gusev crater from the top of Husband Hill is spectacular.
Read ‘Spirit rover tops Husband Hill’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Sep 2005 at 2:46 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Jupiter and Venus Closest in evening sky
Posted by Davin Flateau on 17 Aug 2005 at 10:02 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
The Milky Way Galaxy is home to our sun, and billions of our closest friends and neighbors.
So what does the Milky Way look like? You’d think it would be an easy question to answer about our own galaxy, but astronomers have an interesting problem in trying to this out from our vantage […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 11 Aug 2005 at 1:51 pm.
4 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
It’s that time of year again! Right around August 12 , the Earth floats through the dust deposited from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and we get a spectacular show in the form of the Perseid meteor shower! This is usually the best meteor shower of the year, and this year’s no exception.
To see the meteor […]
Read ‘Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 10 Aug 2005 at 1:45 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It seems that objects in our Universe are rarely alone. Most of the stars you see in the night sky are actually made up of two or more stars, we know that planets in our own solar systems often have one or more moons. We’ve even discovered double asteroids orbiting one […]
Read ‘Triple Asteroid Discovered!’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 9 Aug 2005 at 10:38 am.
2 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
I’ve had more than a few people come up to me recently asking about an email forwarded to them by a friend. The email got their attention because it talks about an upcoming spectacular view of Mars. Maybe you’ve seen the email, which includes the claims:
“The Red Planet is about to be […]
Read ‘The Great Mars Hoax of 2005’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 3 Aug 2005 at 3:03 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
With no service station in sight, the Shuttle astronauts had to improvise a repair on the spacecraft’s underbelly armed with a Canadian robotic arm, a hacksaw and of course, duct tape. As it turned out, astronaut Steve Robinson only needed his hands, as he plucked the offending tile “filler” from its protruding position. […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 2 Aug 2005 at 2:17 pm.
3 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Argh! I had a busy weekend/end of week, and wasn’t able to post about all the cool stuff that suddenly happened. Let’s start with a biggie you’ve undoubtedly heard about - NASA has found a tenth planet in the solar system!
Check out this FAQ from one Mike Brown, one of the co-discoverers of […]
Read ‘Xena The Warrior Planet’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 29 Jul 2005 at 2:37 pm.
5 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
The Space Shuttle Discovery performed a pirouette in front of the International Space Station yesterday so that the station’s crew could photograph the shuttle’s underbelly and check for any damage. My brain instantly started playing Strauss’ “The Blue Danube”, the waltz that’s from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” See if you […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 27 Jul 2005 at 11:03 am.
3 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Here’s a beautiful shot of the External Tank falling away from the Space Shuttle Discovery yesterday. Click on the image for a high resolution version.
Everything’s going well on the mission so far. The crew spent the day inspecting the shuttle with lasers and cameras on the shuttle’s robotic arm, as per the mission […]
Read ‘Discovery’s External Tank’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 26 Jul 2005 at 2:33 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
The team at the Cassini-Huygens mission has released a stunning movie of Cassini’s July 14 flyby of Saturn’s strange icy moon Enceladus. At first glance, it looks like a replay of the Deep Impact movie, where the Impactor spacecraft took images all the way into its impact with Comet Tempel 1. No such […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 26 Jul 2005 at 10:16 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
About 160 people in the CyberDome Theater erupted in applause as the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 9:39 a.m. CDT! The picture perfect launch marked the United States’ return to manned spaceflight after more than two years! Participants in today’s show were treated to a special presentation about […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 22 Jul 2005 at 4:15 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Tuesday may be the next launch attempt for Discovery, but the other two orbiters are in motion, going through the long process of readying for launch. Today, the Space Shuttle Atlantis was moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated to its solid rocket boosters and […]
Read ‘Shuttle Atlantis Moved to VAB Today’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 22 Jul 2005 at 3:13 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
Whew - it’s been a little while since our last update - things have been quite busy here at Exploration Place.
First of all, everyone should know about our special event coming up this Sunday, July 24 “Super Free Sundae Sunday“. We’re opening up the entire building for free, plus cooling you off with free […]
Read ‘Shuttle Launch at Exploration Place Tuesday 7/26 9am’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 15 Jul 2005 at 11:35 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
The team at the Cassini-Huygens mission has just released new images of yesterday’s close enounter with the icy moon Enceladus. These are raw images, and haven’t been “prettied” up and adjusted yet. These are hot off the presses, and there are more to be released. You can browse the raw image gallery […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 14 Jul 2005 at 7:33 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
James Oberg on MSBNC.com writes a fascinating piece detailing the importance of the intermittent fuel sensors that caused the Shuttle scrub on Wednesday. The low level sensors inside the liquid hydrogen fuel tank saved the shuttle from disaster in 1999 during Columbia’s STS-93 mission to deploy the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The […]
Read ‘Sensors Helped Save Shuttle Before’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 13 Jul 2005 at 1:04 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Spaceflightnow posted this update about exactly what the misbehaving sensor on Disocvery does.
The problem involves the engine cutoff sensors that serve as fuel guages in the external tank.
“We really don’t want the engine to be running at high speed and suddenly run out of fuel. That can lead to a devastating breakdown of the […]
Read ‘Shuttle Sensor Problem Explained’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 13 Jul 2005 at 12:40 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
The Shuttle launch for today has been scrubbed due to a problem with the early cut-off fuel sensor. A problem with these sensors was discovered during fueling tests on Discovery early this spring.
There is no word yet on how long the mission will be delayed. NASA has until July 31 to launch the […]
Read ‘Shuttle Scrubbed - Sensor Problems’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 13 Jul 2005 at 9:02 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Lots going on here in the CyberDome, but the postings should become more regular soon! We have the shuttle launch today, hopefully, and the closest Cassini flyby of the mission so far tomorrow when it flies by Enceladus!
Yesterday, NASA released a movie of Cassini’s encounter with Saturn’s moon Hyperion. As the moon orbits […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 12 Jul 2005 at 4:46 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Time to pull out the binoculars, the telescope, or even just a lawn chair. Courtesey of our friends at Universe Today, What’s in the Sky This Week!
Read ‘What’s in the Sky This Week 7/12’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 11 Jul 2005 at 1:24 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
Wednesday, July 13, 2pm - Experience America’s Return to Flight on the big screen in Exploration Place’s CyberDome Theater as the Space Shuttle roars into the sky after more than 2 years. See a special edition of “Stars Over Kansas”, receive a book about space exploration, followed by live coverage of the Space […]
Read ‘See Shuttle Flight at Exploration Place’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 8 Jul 2005 at 2:43 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Take a look at these nifty 1890s photographs of Jupiter shot from Lick Observatory. I can’t read French all that well, but I assume it’s taken from the 36-inch refractor.
Read ‘Jupiter Pics from the 1890s’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 8 Jul 2005 at 2:10 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
CyberDome Presenter and WSU Physics student Vicki Sieglen lets us know about a special event going on at Lake Afton Public Observatory this weekend.
Former Observatory Assistant Director, Melanie Melton Knocke, will be available to sign copies of her recently published book From Blue Moons to Black Holes. This book is a treasure of clear […]
Read ‘Book Signing at Lake Afton on Saturday’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 5 Jul 2005 at 3:50 pm.
4 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
[Updated on 7/8 with a newly processed image]
Deep Impact isn’t the only celestial explosion in the sky right now. As we reported last week, a new supernova designated SN2005cs has been discovered in M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy. Exploration Place’s Martin Ratcliffe captured the incredibly bright exploding star on July 1 from the grounds […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 5 Jul 2005 at 12:47 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, is a short movie worth 400,000 words or so? That sure will save me a lot of typing.
Check out the Deep Impact Impactor movie, made of still images taken by the impactor all the way until 3 seconds before hitting the comet. […]
Read ‘Deep Impact: Home Movies’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 4 Jul 2005 at 11:00 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
NASA sums up the spectacular event like this: “After 172 days and 431 million kilometers (268 million miles) of deep space stalking, Deep Impact successfully reached out and touched comet Tempel 1.”
Comet Tempel 1 at 12:52 pm, just 13 seconds after impact.
Comet Tempel 1, 16 seconds after impact.
The Hubble Space Telescope sees the results of […]
Read ‘Deep Impact: Rocket’s Red Glare’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 4 Jul 2005 at 1:47 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
A CCD image is worth a thousand words.
Taken from the flyby spacecraft moments after impact. The ejecta plume is far brighter than most scientists were expecting.
One of the final images the Impactor spacecraft took as it hurdled toward its death at 23,000 mph toward Tempel 1’s surface.
More images here.
Read ‘Deep Impact: The Grand Finale’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 3 Jul 2005 at 9:31 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Deep Impact successfully released its Impactor spacecraft - the 820-pound probe that will smash into Comet Tempel 1 tonight. Spaceflight Now reports:
“It went great. Went like clockwork. Very good, we’re very excited,” Rick Grammier, Deep Impact project manager, says of this evening’s events.
“It looked just like one of our simulations,” added Keyur Patel, […]
Read ‘Deep Impact Fires Bullet’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Jul 2005 at 10:17 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
Welcome to the Stars Over Kansas Deep Impact Guide to Comet Crash Happiness brought to you by… the good folks at Newton’s Third Law: “Equal and opposite reactions for 14 billion years”… and Mathematics: “See? It’s Good for Something!”
The Deep Impact spacecraft is headed for a cosmic collision with a comet on […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Jul 2005 at 2:54 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Exploration Place Director of Theater and Media Services and Astronomy Magazine Contributing Editor Martin Ratcliffe shares this image of the Eagle Nebula, M16, taken a few nights ago from the grounds of Lake Afton Observatory near Wichita. Martin writes:
On Wednesday evening, Chad Hanson and I spent all night adjacent to Lake Afton Public Observatory […]
Read ‘Eagle Nebula from Lake Afton’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Jul 2005 at 2:28 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy, Exploration Place.
The summer is off to a hot start in Kansas with the temperature climbing to almost 100 F just about every day. If you’d like to personally “thank” the big ball of gas that’s responsible, make sure to come to Exploration Place on Saturdays between 10:30am and 12:30pm for live solar viewing! […]
Read ‘Solar Observing in Wichita on Saturdays’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Jul 2005 at 10:38 am.
4 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
On June 28, German amateur astronomer Wolfgang Kloehr reported discovering an exploded star in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. The British Astronomical Association reports that the supernova has brightened to magnitude 13.5 - putting it in reach of astrophotography and CCD imaging. If you have the means, it would be a great time […]
Read ‘New Supernova in Whirlpool Galaxy’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 29 Jun 2005 at 9:28 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Even before the Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn, scientists thought that cloud-covered Titan might harbor lakes or seas of organic liquid. The Huygens lander that parachuted to the surface in January didn’t reveal anything like that directly, but there was plenty of evidence that something liquid had once poured over the surface of this […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 28 Jun 2005 at 1:23 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Just about everything in astronomy is big - billions of light years here, millions of galaxies there. So it’s no surprise that the instruments we use to study the Universe are equally as mammoth. The University of Arizona Steward Observatory Mirror Lab’s enormous mirror-making furnace is getting ready to make the first […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 28 Jun 2005 at 11:30 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Did you get a good look at the conjunction? Down where I live, a thin band of clouds at sunset obscured the event over the weekend, but Monday was spectacular.
There’s more going on in the sky. Courtesy of our friends at Universe Today, it’s the sky events for this week. Put […]
Read ‘What’s in the Sky This Week 6/28’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 27 Jun 2005 at 1:34 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Don’t forget - the conjunction of Venus, Mercury and Saturn is at its best tonight, just after sunset in the west. If you have any photographs you’d like to share with other readers, email them to me. Check out our conjunction guide for more information! May the skies be clear…
Read ‘Conjunction Shines Tonight’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 23 Jun 2005 at 11:52 pm.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
UFO reports are about to spike, as earthlings are treated to a spectacular sight in the sky this weekend. The planets Venus, Mercury and Saturn are coming together in the sky just after sunset to form a brilliant light.
Simply go outside and look to the west just after sunset. Hanging near the […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 23 Jun 2005 at 1:17 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Apologies for the lack of posts in the past few weeks - I’ve been out of the office. But I’m back, and ready to share wonderful gobs of astronomy goodness dripping with wonder and sticky with awe.
Well, Kansanauts, it’s another week’s worth of astronomy news and breakthroughs, brought to you by:
The Scientific Method: […]
Read ‘Astronomy News Roundup 6/23’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 16 Jun 2005 at 9:39 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
When most people think of amateur astronomy, they think of a small group of people gathering in a parking lot or a field somewhere, setting up scopes for people to look through. But when’s the last time you heard of an amateur astronomer setting up an antenna or parabolic dish? Some […]
Read ‘Amateur Radio Astronomy’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 14 Jun 2005 at 12:38 pm.
2 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
The skies have cleared here in Kansas! What a great time to go out and see some celestial sights. From our good friends at Universe Today: What’s In the Sky the week of June 13.
Posted by Davin Flateau on 13 Jun 2005 at 6:53 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Up to now, just about every planet discovered around other stars has been a big gas giant - Jupiter, and Neptune sized or larger. But the big prize seemed beyond our current technological reach: Earth-like planets that are miniscule in comparison to their more massive cousins. The technological limts were redefined today, as […]
Read ‘Earth-Sized Planet Discovered’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 13 Jun 2005 at 8:04 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Back in May, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this spectacular image of the sun setting behind the rim of Gusev Crater. Since Mars is farther away from the sun than the Earth, the sun appears about 2/3 the size as our earthly sunsets. The colors in the image are close to what […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 10 Jun 2005 at 3:12 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It looks like a stormy weekend here in Kansas, which means that stargazers will be staring at ceiling tiles rather than stars. In between reading through the latest issues of your favorite astronomy magazines, take a trip with us to the past.
Gander at a collection of translated Soviet press reports from 1961 about the […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 9 Jun 2005 at 3:27 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Alan MacRobert at Sky and Telescope has written an excellent article detailing the different scientific searches for extraterrestrial intelligence going on today.
Several large searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are currently scanning the stars, looking for both radio and laser transmissions from distant civilizations. Either type of signal could be sent across interstellar distances […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 9 Jun 2005 at 11:47 am.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It’s time again for this week’s round-up of cool, awesome, surprising, shocking, amazing and otherwise outstanding otherworldly announcements!
Martian Lights - The Mars Express orbiter has confirmed that the red planet has its own version of aurora, much like the northern and southern lights here on earth. The discovery is especially curious because Mars really […]
Read ‘Astronomy News Roundup 6/9’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 7 Jun 2005 at 3:42 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It seems that for as long as we’ve looked up to that bright reddish-pink light in the sky, we’ve been dreaming about going to Mars. And while rovers and probes are useful for gathering information by remote control, nothing is like actually being there. A keyboard and mouse will pale in comparison to […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 6 Jun 2005 at 9:20 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
After a month of being stuck in a martian sand dune, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity finally worked its way free on Saturday.
“We’re out!…all six wheels are on top of the soil,” said Steve Squyres in an online status report he posted on Saturday.
“Boy, this has been a good day. We’ve had […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 3 Jun 2005 at 9:45 pm.
2 Comments. Filed under Astronomy.
Today, I was reminded of a fantastic passage from Carl Sagan’s book Pale Blue Dot – one of his last books before he passed away in 1996. I thought it would be good food for thought as we all depart our separate ways for the weekend.
It’s a comment on a picture from the Voyager […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 2 Jun 2005 at 3:52 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
It’s been a busy week in astronomy and space news. The American Astronomical Society meeting is wrapping up in Minneapolis, where many interesting discoveries were announced, and NASA was also busy with the shuttle and new space missions. Here’s a wrap-up of some of the more interesting stories this week.
NASA’s Going Back to […]
Read ‘Astronomy News Roundup 6/2’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 2 Jun 2005 at 11:19 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Boeing Wichita’s Ted Bates has spent nearly thirty years repairing the aging airframes in such planes as the B-52, the KC-10 and even Air Force One. After the shuttle Columbia was destroyed in 2003, NASA needed to assess the aging shuttle fleet, and Bates was tapped to apply his aviation expertise to the three […]
Read ‘Wichita Man Helps Aging Shuttle’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 1 Jun 2005 at 12:12 pm.
Make a Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
Stars spin. For instance, our own sun takes about a month to rotate , but that’s a snail’s pace compared to some. Pulsars, the leftover cores of exploded stars, can spin hundreds of times a second. This rotational energy changes the shape of a star from spherical to somewhat egg-shaped. Actually measuring […]
Posted by Davin Flateau on 31 May 2005 at 10:29 am.
1 Comment. Filed under Astronomy.
June is a busy month for observing and star parties! Keep up with Kansas astronomy and space events. Click “Read more right here…” for the full list of upcoming events. We’ll add events as they come in, so please submit any you know about!
JUNE 2005
[…]
Read ‘June Astronomy Events in Kansas’
Posted by Davin Flateau on 29 May 2005 at 10:22 am.
Make a Comment. Filed under General, Astronomy.
Late spring and early summer is a special time in Kansas. The warm weather and long days with the sun high in the sky invigorate everything with needed energy. In just a few days, endless expanses of wheat fade from a growing green to a mature amber. A constant but invisible wind […]