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Link: http://gizmodo.com/5478787/the-most-accurate-highest-resolution-earth-view-to-date

Definite desktop wallpaper stuff here.

Link: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Stellarium_for-Windows/1122897455/1

I've linked this before but since then it's got some updates and some of you might not have heard of it -

Stellarium renders 3D photo-realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It displays stars, constellations, planets, nebulas and others things like ground, landscape, atmosphere, etc.

Tonight is a good night for sky-gazers - the biggest full moon of 2010 will grace the skies.

Astronomers call it a "perigee Moon," some 14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons of the year.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35017956/ns/technology_and_science-space/

If you head outside around 8 p.m. this week and face due east, you'll see a brilliant, fiery-colored, non-twinkling "star" that immediately will attract your attention. It's not a star, however, but the planet Mars.

Mars, the most Earthlike planet of all the planets, has been absent from our evening sky for well over a year. Now it's coming back.

It's large and pretty spiffy - and now you know what that new yellowish dot is. Turn a telescope towards it - or heck, just a pair of binoculars for a treat.

One of the things you'll want to see in your lifetime. National Geographic Gets us all googly eyed.

Link: http://www.theday.com/article/20100103/ENT07/301039960/-1/ENT

There's a new planet in town that you'll notice if you look up at night this month.

The red planet plays a major role in the sky during the first month of 2010. Mars rises in the east around 9 p.m. at the beginning of January and will be visible in the sky all night.

Following the ecliptic, or path of the sun, the planet will set in the west around 8 a.m. By the end of January, Mars will rise a little after 6 p.m. and set around 6 a.m.

Link: http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20091228/blue-moon-new-year-s-eve-id-1095278.html

Now before you get the camera out know that the term Blue Moon means it's a full moon of rare occurance, it is not blue in color.

It's the 13th Full Moon of the Year.

“Blue Moon” is the term used to the second full moon in a calendar month. It’s an event that occurs every two and a half years but this Thursday’s blue moon is even rarer. It’s happening right on New Year’s Eve and that’s roughly once in every two decades.

If you're in Europe or South America it will also be a partial eclipse. Cool eh?

Monday is winter solstice, meaning it's the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The event happens officially today at 12:47 pm EST. While you might be bummed out that it's the first day of winter, you'll find a bit of relief in the fact that after today days start getting longer.

We just saw a blazing bright white meteor and I almost forgot to remind ya - look to the skies this weekend...

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on This Weekend when Earth passes through a stream of debris from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon. The Geminids have been intensifying in recent years, and 2009 could be the best year yet. Forecasters expect 140+ meteors per hour under the dark skies of a new Moon.

Check it out - they're hot!

If you're outside tonight take a look at the full moon - it's quite nice.

The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

Hold on to your astronomical hats, this year might be a good one for the Geminids.....

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on Dec. 13th and 14th when Earth passes through a stream of debris from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon. The Geminids have been intensifying in recent years, and 2009 could be the best year yet. Forecasters expect 140+ meteors per hour under the dark skies of a new Moon.

I'll remind you again when they peak so you don't miss 'em.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10397711-239.html

It's official, there's water on the moon. Can it be used for a moon base? mined for return and use on Earth? I don't know. But finding water there in any case is pretty darn interesting.

"I'm here today to tell you that indeed, yes, we found water," said Anthony Colaprete, the project scientist and principal investigator for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. "And we didn't find just a little bit, we found a significant amount."

Holding up water jugs to make the point, he said "if you remember, a month ago we were talking about teaspoons going into glasses over football fields. Well, now I can say today that in the 20- to 30-meter (65- to 100-foot-wide) crater LCROSS made, we found maybe about a dozen of these two-gallon buckets worth of water."

Link: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10nov_leonids2009.htm

While not the biggest show in town, you do have the benefit of clearer skies....

This year's Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst over Asia. The phase of the Moon will be new, setting the stage for what could be one of the best Leonid showers in years.

Link: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/091101-leonid-meteor-shower-2009.html

For you star gazers out there....

Circle Nov. 17 on your calendar, for early that morning a moderate to possibly very strong showing of annual Leonid meteor shower is likely.

The very strong display will favor those living across most of central and eastern Asia. In this region, meteor rates might briefly rise to a few hundred per hour (the time frame for the most intense activity is anticipated sometime around 21:40 GMT).

A far more modest, but still potentially enjoyable display of a few dozen Leonid meteors per hour is expected to favor North America. In the United States and Canada, eastern observers will be particularly well-positioned for maximum activity, expected sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. EST, when the radiant of the Leonid shower will be well up in the dark southeastern sky.

This doesn't exactly favor us in the states but since GeeG caters to everyone.....

Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091020-2009-orionids-meteor-shower-peak.html

Take a moment to look (or stare) at the sky tonight, we're hurtling through the tail of Halley's comet.

At its peak before sunrise Wednesday morning, the Orionids shower should produce 20 to 25 meteors an hour—a "relatively decent show," according to astronomer Anita Cochran, of the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory.

And don't worry if you miss the Wednesday peak: The Orionids are currently being created by a broad stream of debris, which means the best views should be available several nights around the peak, experts say.

Link: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0910/iss_sts128_big.jpg

Yeah, how cool are us earthlings now eh? Very cool.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091006/sc_space/howtowatchnasasprobesmackthemoonfriday

Get ready for a unique cosmic collision! Early this coming Friday morning (Oct. 9), NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will end its mission with a bang — literally.

Currently carrying with it the upper stage of the rocket that launched it on its way to the moon on June 18, the game plan is to send that spent rocket motor on a course to smash into the lunar surface.

The impact is scheduled to occur this Friday, Oct. 9 at 11:30 UT. That's 7:30 a.m. EDT; 4:30 a.m. PDT. To convert Universal Time to your local time, go here.

Don't have a telescope? No worries - you can watch it live on NASA TV right HERE

Link: http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/harvest-moon-2

Why is the Harvest Moon special?

It’s more than just a connection to the season of harvest. In fact, nature is particularly cooperative during the months of autumn to make the Harvest Moon unique.

Here’s what happens. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. But near the time of the autumnal equinox, the moon rises only about 30 minutes later each day. Why? The reason is that the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – makes a narrow angle with the evening horizon during the autumn months. The narrow angle of the ecliptic in on autumn evenings results in a shorter-than-usual rising time between successive moonrises around the time of the autumn full moons.

These moonrises are what make every Harvest Moon special. Every full moon rises around the time of sunset. Around the time of this full moon in autumn, you’ll see the moon ascending in the east close to the time of sunset for several evenings in a row. There’s a short time between successive moonrises as described in the paragraph above. Because of this, it seem as if there are several full moons – for several nights in a row – around the time of the Harvest Moon.

Go outside this weekend and get a glimpse of this beauty. Worth the trip. - Course don't forget the sweatshirt, you'll probably need it.

Link: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/wtic-ufo-sighting-09-21,0,2298639.story

Apparently we had us a minor scare right here (with video) - and as usual it was explained... but it looked hella cool and I missed it.... grrrr.

btw thanks Osh !

Link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

And this is by far my favorite image - amazing.

Link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html

Like, maybe you can concentrate your energy on Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster now... It's over.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

Oh and

A camera on board India's maiden unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has recorded images of the landing site of US spacecraft Apollo 15

To Boot - the LROC will be returning high res images of the sites later on.

So enough, I call NASA FTW.

Oh I know, the image had nuttin to do with nuttin - but neither did those conspiracy arguments. And that's the news for today. Goodnight.

First time I've seen this -

The full Moon of September is often called the "Harvest Moon" because farmers used its light to harvest crops late into the night. But September's full Moon is not the Harvest Moon. It occurs too many days before the autumnal equinox, Sept 22nd, to have that name. Instead, the Harvest Moon of 2009 will be on Oct. 4th.

The actual full moon was last night (Thursday) but all weekend the Moon will be full, clear, and gorgeous. If you're outside or even looking out a window - don't forget to enjoy the view!

Oh, and the moons close companion is Jupiter.

- thanks to spaceweather.com

Link: http://www.earthsky.org/tonighthome/2009-08-30/andromeda-galaxy-visible-again-each-evening

You might have noticed Orion out there in the early morning too.

The Square of Pegasus is a great jumping off point for finding the famous Andromeda galaxy, also known to astronomers as M31. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the Square of Pegasus looks like a baseball diamond whenever it resides in the eastern sky. Imagine the farthest star to the left – Alpheratz – as the third-base star. A line drawn from the first-base star through Alpheratz points in the general direction of the Andromeda galaxy.

The only negative being the full moon - which won't get in the way of your entire night...

The Perseid meteor rate is increasing as Earth plunges deeper into the debris stream of Comet Swift-Tuttle. International Meteor Organization observers are now counting 20 per hour: data. Forecasters say the rate could increase another tenfold to 200 per hour on peak night, Aug. 11th and 12th.

Enjoy the moon tonight if you can - and if you're wondering why it's called what it is...

The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Apparently the Sturgeon is a big freakin fish - Google it

From Spaceweather.com

This year might be an extra special viewing for (IMHO) the best meteor shower of the year...

This year's Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual. "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," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. The following profile is based on the debris stream models of veteran forecasters Jeremie Vaubaillon and Mikhail Maslov:

The filament was shed by Perseid parent comet Swift-Tuttle in the year 1610, and this is one of Earth's first encounters with it. "In addition," notes Cooke, "the main Perseid debris stream, which we run into every year, may be denser than normal due to a gravitational enhancement by Saturn. The total combination of these effects could result in as many as 200 meteors per hour (ZHR)."

Link: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/31jul_perseids2009.htm

And Nasa has the goods

"Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream sometime on August 12th. Then, you could see dozens of meteors per hour."

For sky watchers in North America, the watch begins after nightfall on August 11th and continues until sunrise on the 12th. Veteran observers suggest the following strategy: Unfold a blanket on a flat patch of ground. (Note: The middle of your street is not a good choice.) Lie down and look up. Perseids can appear in any part of the sky, their tails all pointing back to the shower's radiant in the constellation Perseus. Get away from city lights if you can.

Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, the source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the shower won't peak until August 11th and 12th, the show is already underway...

By far my favorite meteor shower and most often the best one too - It's already throwing cosmic debris at us. If you're out at night anytime between now and Aug 20th or so you have a decent chance of seeing a "shooting star" or two.

Link: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/07/20/google-earth-now-includes-moon-lunar-landing-happening-40-years-ago-now/

I can only assume that the newer resolution flyby data will eventually end up in there as well.... Googles added all the moon landing data and some other cool stuff.... Fire up Google Earth, hit the planet- select moon and go exploring!

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10289551-239.html

Bam, we now have shots of the Apollo landing sites complete with footprints. End of story... Now will you "we faked the moon landing" nutjobs go and find something creative to do?

Launched June 18, the Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter braked into an initially elliptical orbit around the moon on June 23. It eventually will be maneuvered into a circular 31-mile-high orbit, allowing it to photograph surface features - including the Apollo landing sites - with three times greater resolution than the pictures released Friday.

So these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Full moon tonight “Buck” moon July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

Oooh -Thunder Moon, that sounds cool.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/06/lro_moon_snaps/

There's a flyby happening right now on a mission that will be able to take pics of the Apollo landing site -

The LROC is in fact three cameras: Two narrow-angle instruments, designed to capture "high-resolution, black-and-white images of the surface, capturing images of the poles with resolutions down to 1 meter (about 3.3 feet)".

Wonder if the footprints are still intact?

No word on what the flyby schedule will be over that area...

here's the first test photo - (or part of it)

Link: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/110442/WORLD-EXCLUSIVE-NASA-finds-missing-moon-landing-tapes

This is rather incredible news - it should really put the nail in the coffin for the moon landing conspiracy folks....

viewers have only ever seen such poor quality footage because the original analogue tapes containing the pictures beamed direct from the lunar surface were lost almost as soon as they were recorded.

Instead, a poor quality copy made from a 16mm camera pointing at a heavily compressed image on a black and white TV screen has been the only record of the event.

The Sunday Express can now reveal that the missing tapes containing the original high quality images have been found.

If the visual data can be retrieved, Nasa is set to reveal them to the world as a key plank of celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the landings next month.

The tapes show in much more detail than almost anyone has previously seen the surface of the moon beneath the patriotic symbol of the US flag.

Link: http://weinterrupt.com/2009/06/nasa-aims-to-crash-rocket-into-moon/

NASA has unveiled plans for an extraordinary experiment, one that will hopefully come to a dramatic conclusion with the crash a rocket booster into the surface of the moon followed by a six-mile high explosion.

LCROSS will separate from the Centaur booster less than 10 hours before impact and will be less than 400 miles above the moon when the spent rocket booster collides at a speed five times faster than a bullet from a .44 Magnum. NASA plans to stream a live view from LCROSS as the Centaur, followed by the spacecraft, plows into the moon.

I really hope this happens at night when the moon is in view - it would be a hella cool thing to watch.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html

I think there's only one other recorded case of someone being hit by a meteorite and living and that wasn't nearly coming in as hot as this one - this one was traveling 30,000 miles per hour.