Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve Time Balls

This evening, thousands of spectators in New York City's Times Square will view the New Year's Eve Time Ball drop to mark the beginning of the year 2012, with millions of other people viewing the event on television. In Pittsburgh, to be a little different, the Time Ball above the Christmas Tree mounted on the corner of the former Joseph Horne Company Department Store will move up to the top of a pole to mark the beginning of the new year.

Historically, time balls were used daily, in coastal cities, to provide a standard time for ship captains to set their clocks from their ships, as a way for these sailors to keep precise time and to determine their longitude at sea.

MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF TIME BALLS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_ball 

 

MORE ABOUT THE TIMES SQUARE TIME BALL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball

 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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First of NASA's GRAIL Spacecraft Enters Moon Orbit

Artist concept of GRAIL mission Artist concept of GRAIL mission. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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December 31, 2011

PASADENA, Calif. - The first of two NASA spacecraft to study the moon in unprecedented detail has entered lunar orbit.
NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)-A spacecraft successfully completed its planned main engine burn at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) today. As of 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST), GRAIL-A is in an orbit of 56 miles by 5,197 miles (90 kilometers by 8,363 kilometers) around the moon that takes approximately 11.5 hours to complete.
"My resolution for the new year is to unlock lunar mysteries and understand how the moon, Earth and other rocky planets evolved," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "Now, with GRAIL-A successfully placed in orbit around the moon, we are one step closer to achieving that goal."

MORE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-398&cid=release_2011-398&msource=11398&tr=y&auid=10089138

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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Friday, December 30, 2011

Pseudo-moons Orbit Earth

Earth may be going steady with the Moon, but it has a bit of a wanderer’s relationship with some other nearby objects. A study by an international trio of scientists suggests that, at any given time, there is at least one meter-sized mini asteroid temporarily orbiting our planet. Caught from the population of near-Earth objects (NEOs), the “satellite” completes on average three whirls around us in less than a year before the planet and meteoroid go their separate ways.

near-Earth objects
Earth may regularly catch and release nearby meteoroids as temporary satellites.
IAU
The results, to appear in Icarus, are based on supercomputer simulations; no real asteroids were involved. But the conclusions match a real temporary satellite seen a few years ago, 6R10DB9 (also known as 2006 RH120), which made a handful of orbits in 2006 and 2007 before sailing back out to circle the Sun again.
MORE: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Pseudo-moons-Orbit-Earth-136435308.html

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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Twin Gravity Spacecraft Set to Enter Lunar Orbit

Dec. 30, 2011: NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft, on a mission to study the moon's gravitational field, are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit.
Named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), the spacecraft are scheduled to be placed into orbit beginning at 1:21 p.m. PST (4:21 p.m. EST) for GRAIL-A on Dec. 31, and 2:05 p.m. PST (5:05 p.m. EST) on Jan. 1 for GRAIL-B.
"Our team may not get to partake in a traditional New Year's celebration, but I expect seeing our two spacecraft safely in lunar orbit should give us all the excitement we need," said David Lehman, project manager for GRAIL at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
 
An artist's concept of the GRAIL spacecraft in action. [more]
 
MORE: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/30dec_grail/

Lunar Arrival

StarDate
December 30, 2011
Artist's concept of GRAIL spacecraft measuring the Moon's gravitational field
Lunar Arrival
The Moon will get two new visitors from Earth, one on December 31, the other on January 1. The twin spacecraft, which form the GRAIL mission, will make the most precise measurements to date of the Moon's gravitational field, which is quite "lumpy." Mapping the lumps will provide new information about the history and evolution of the lunar surface. The measurements also provide a look deep into the Moon's interior. This artist's concept shows the two spacecraft flying in formation, with differences in the Moon's gravity represented by different colors on the surface. [NASA/JPL]
LAUNCH CONTROL: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero, and liftoff of the Delta II with GRAIL, a journey to the center of the Moon.
 A pair of twins is preparing to greet the new year in a special way — by entering orbit around the Moon. The first will arrive tomorrow, with the other following on New Year’s Day.

MORE: http://stardate.org/radio/program/lunar-arrival

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Offbeat News_20100508112947_JPG
…

Talk About Your Lost Days: Samoa to Completely Skip Friday

Updated: Wednesday, 28 Dec 2011, 5:24 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 28 Dec 2011, 5:24 PM EST
    (NewsCore) - On Thursday night, the residents of the Polynesian nation of Samoa will quite literally go back to the future. It will be December 29 when they go to bed and Saturday Dec 31 when they awaken -- meaning they'll skip Friday forever.
    This neat bit of time travel is the result of a very contemporary concern: trade and economic relations with Pacific neighbors Australia and New Zealand, who are currently nearly a day ahead on the clock.

    MORE: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/news/offbeat/samoa-to-completely-skip-friday-dpgonc-20111228-to_16649220

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    New calendar proposes to make every year identical - and we'd all save money too (so long as we could stand Christmas falling on the same day)

    • Calendar designed by economists to keep world running smoothly
    • No leap years, and year lasts 364 days
    • Christmas, birthdays and holidays on same day
    • Predictability would save billions
    By Rob Waugh
    Last updated at 9:01 PM on 28th December 2011

    The new leap-year-free calendar would mean that holidays, birthdays and days off would fall on the same days every year - and the resulting predictability would save economies billions
    The new leap-year-free calendar would mean that holidays, birthdays and days off would fall on the same days every year - and the resulting predictability would save economies billions
    Mathematicians and economists at the John Hopkins University in Baltimore have designed a new, leap-year-free calendar.
    It means that birthdays, holidays and Christmas would fall on the same day every year.
    It is different from the Gregorian calendar, also known as the Christian calendar, that is used by the western world.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2079474/Hanke-Henry-Permanent-Calendar-proposes-make-year-identical.html#ixzz1hxwQaz4E
    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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    Monday, December 26, 2011

    We have drift off: Balloons to the edge of space

    Read full article
    Continue reading page |1 |2
     
    Space tourism doesn't have to be rocket science
    "T minus 10 seconds."           
    Imagine you're a space tourist, preparing for lift-off. Yet rather than a deafening roar, followed by shaking and shuddering as the rocket engine fires up, you experience a serene stillness as the countdown continues.
    "5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." And you're away. You are pressed into your seat as the spacecraft ascends into the sky. But it's a gentle push, not a blood-draining, face-distorting squeeze. And apart from the voices of the pilots beside you and the rush of air around the capsule, there is only silence. Outside, the darkening sky outlines the steadily growing curvature of the Earth. Before long, the sky is completely black, while the planet below has turned blue. You have reached the edge of space, and there's not a rocket in sight.

    MORE: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228440.600-we-have-drift-off-balloons-to-the-edge-of-space.html

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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    Soyuz Rocket’s Comet-like Re-Entry Captured on Video

    by Nancy Atkinson on December 26, 2011

    Part of the Soyuz rocket that brought the latest trio of crew members to the International Space Station fell back to Earth on Dec. 24, and its fiery re-entry was captured by several skywatchers in Europe.

    MORE AND  IMAGES: http://www.universetoday.com/92125/soyuz-rockets-comet-like-re-entry-captured-on-video/


    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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    China Lofts New Satellite, Breaks US Rocket Launch Record

    Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now
    Date: 26 December 2011 Time: 10:46 AM ET
    Spaceflight-now
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    A Chinese Long March 4B rocket lifts off from Taiyuan launching base in Shanxi province on Dec. 22, 2011 to launch a new Earth-mapping satellite.
    A Chinese Long March 4B rocket lifts off from Taiyuan launching base in Shanxi province on Dec. 22, 2011 to launch a new Earth-mapping satellite. It was the 18th successful launch for China in 2011.
    CREDIT: Chinese Ministry of Defense
    For the first time since the dawn of the space age, China's Long March rocket family eclipsed the annual flight rate of the U.S. fleet of space launchers Thursday with the successful deployment of a high-resolution mapping satellite.

    A Long March 4B booster lifted off at 0326 GMT Thursday (10:26 p.m. EST Wednesday) from the Taiyuan launching base in Shanxi province, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
    MORE: http://www.space.com/14048-china-satellite-launch-breaks-rocket-record.html





    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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    Cold War Spy Satellite Secrets Revealed


    AP News:
    Dec 25, 10:26 AM EST

    Decades later, a Cold War secret is revealed 
     
    By HELEN O'NEILL
    AP Special Correspondent

    US Video
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    Buy AP Photo Reprints
    DANBURY, Conn. (AP) -- For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets.
    They wore protective white jumpsuits, and had to walk through air-shower chambers before entering the sanitized "cleanroom" where the equipment was stored.
    They spoke in code.
    Few knew the true identity of "the customer" they met in a smoke-filled, wood-paneled conference room where the phone lines were scrambled. When they traveled, they sometimes used false names.
    At one point in the 1970s there were more than 1,000 people in the Danbury area working on The Secret. And though they worked long hours under intense deadlines, sometimes missing family holidays and anniversaries, they could tell no one - not even their wives and children - what they did.
    They were engineers, scientists, draftsmen and inventors - "real cloak-and-dagger guys," says Fred Marra, 78, with a hearty laugh.

    MORE: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_THE_SECRET?SITE=NCJAC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
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    Saturday, December 24, 2011

    What was the Star of Bethlehem?
    Recollections from Buhl & Hayden Planetaria


    The following article was written by Joe Rao, a Planetarium Lecturer at New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

    And, at this link, you can find information regarding the "Star of Bethlehem" Planetarium Sky Drama (including the entire show script) which was presented at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science from 1939 to 1990:

    >>> http://buhlplanetarium3.tripod.com/skyshow/bethlehem/

    Was the Star of Bethlehem a Star, Comet ... or Miracle?

    by Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
    Date: 23 December 2011 Time: 07:00 AM ET
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    This image by Charles H. Coles from the cover of "The Sky" in December 1937 depicts the triangle pattern of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars as it could have appeared on Feb. 6, B.C. Some astronomers have speculated that this pattern may have been the
    This image by Charles H. Coles from the cover of "The Sky" in December 1937 depicts the triangle pattern of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars as it could have appeared on Feb. 6, B.C. Some astronomers have speculated that this pattern may have been the famed Star of Bethlehem. The skyline of New York, including the R.C.A. (now called the G.E.) Building and the Empire State Building was part of the Hayden Planetarium's man-made sky.
    CREDIT: Sky & Telescope Magazine, used with permission.
    As a young boy, one of my highlights of the Christmas season was visiting New York's Hayden Planetarium where they would stage their traditional sky show in which astronomers pondered the age-old question of the possible origin of the Star of Bethlehem.
    Between 1935 and 1959, Hayden's very first Zeiss projector (three others have been installed since) was run back some 2,000 years in an attempt to reproduce the positions of the planets around the time of the birth of Christ. The entire procedure would take four hours with the planets engaged in an incredible fast-moving dance while the moon flipped around the sky a hundred times a minute!
    Ultimately, the projector was brought to a halt on Feb. 25 in the year 6 BC with the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars forming a triangle low in the western sky.
    In those days, a silhouette of the skyline of New York was a permanent fixture around the periphery of the planetarium dome, so the planet trio was depicted not above a Middle East desert, but Midtown Manhattan. The audience was then asked: "Was the star seen by the Wise Men an unusual, eye-catching gathering of naked eye planets, or was that fabled 'sign in the sky' a meteor, comet, nova, or something supernatural?"

    MORE: http://www.space.com/14036-christmas-star-bethlehem-comet-planet-theories.html

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    Friday, December 23, 2011

    The Night After Christmas Sky Show

    Dec. 23, 2011:T'was the Night after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring ...

    ...because everyone was outside watching the planets align?

    It's true. On Dec. 26th, the night after Christmas, Venus and the slender crescent Moon will gather for a jaw-dropping conjunction in the western sky.

    Night After Christmas (splash)
    A Venus-Moon conjunction photographed in Nov. 2011 by Thad V'Soske of Fruita, CO. The "Night After Christmas" conjunction will look about the same. Copyright: T. V'Soske/Cosmotions.com

    The action begins shortly before sunset. Around 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm local time, just as the sky is assuming its evening hue, Venus will pop into view, glistening bright in the deepening twilight. No more than 6 degrees to the right lies the crescent Moon, exquisitely slender, grinning like the Cheshire cat with his head cocked at humorous attention. This is a wonderful time to look; there are very few sights in the heavens as splendid as Venus and the Moon gathered close and surrounded by twilight blue.

    MORE: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/23dec_nightafter/

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    Thursday, December 22, 2011

    Have Complex Molecules Been Found on Pluto’s Surface?

    by Paul Scott Anderson on December 22, 2011

    Artist's conception of New Horizons during its flyby of Pluto in 2015. Credit:Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute (JHUAPL/SwRI)

    First there was the recent story about evidence for a possible subsurface ocean on Pluto, of all places. Now there is a new report regarding evidence for complex molecules on its surface, from scientists at Southwest Research Institute and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Little enigmatic Pluto is starting to get even more interesting…


    MORE: http://www.universetoday.com/92060/have-complex-molecules-been-found-on-plutos-surface

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    New Space Station Crew Set for Holiday Arrival Friday

    by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
    Date: 22 December 2011 Time: 03:45 PM ET
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    Expedition 30 Soyuz Crew
    Expedition 30 crew members from left; NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and ESA Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers are seen following a press conference held at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 30 NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers is scheduled for Wednesday. The young student designed the crew patch for the expedition.
    CREDIT: NASA/Carla Cioffi
    Three spaceflyers who launched on a Russian rocket Wednesday (Dec. 21) are preparing to dock at the International Space Station tomorrow (Dec. 23), just in time for the holidays.
    NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency (ESA) are due to join the long-duration crew of the orbiting outpost for about five months.
    The trio lifted off atop the Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft from the snowy Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:16 a.m. EST (1316 GMT) on Wednesday. They are expected at the space station on Friday at 10:22 a.m. EST.

    MORE: http://www.space.com/14020-astronaut-crew-approaching-space-station-holidays.html






    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    Stonehenge app offers virtual solstice tour

    LONDON | Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:16am EST
     
    LONDON (Reuters) - For those who couldn't quite make it to Stonehenge to watch the sun rise on Thursday's winter solstice, a new app could offer some consolation by offering a virtual tour around the mysterious stones.
    Features include a Google Maps image of the circle of stones giving different views, allowing users to stand within the virtual stones and physically move about the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:

    Unidentified "Space ball" drops on Namibia

    AFP – 10 hrs ago

    A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA and the European space agency.
    The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to police forensics director Paul Ludik.
    Locals had heard several small explosions a few days beforehand, he said.

    MORE: http://news.yahoo.com/space-ball-drops-namibia-133326985.html

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments:
    Space Station Commander Captures Unprecedented View Of Comet
     
     
    HOUSTON -- International Space Station Commander Dan Burbank captured spectacular imagery of Comet Lovejoy, viewed from about 240 miles above the Earth’s horizon on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

    Today Burbank described seeing the comet as “the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space,” in an interview with WDIV-TV in Detroit. Burbank took hundreds of still images of the comet.
    MORE: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/dec/HQ_M11-255_ISS_Lovejoy.html

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at 1 comment:

    NASA's Cassini Delivers Holiday Treats From Saturn

    Titan and Dione
    Photo 1 of 5
    Titan and Dione
    Saturn's third-largest moon Dione can be seen through the haze of its largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
    › Full image and caption

    • Share76
    December 22, 2011
    The release includes images of satellite conjunctions in which one moon passes in front of or behind another. Cassini scientists regularly make these observations to study the ever-changing orbits of the planet's moons. But even in these routine images, the Saturnian system shines. A few of Saturn's stark, airless, icy moons appear to dangle next to the orange orb of Titan, the only moon in the solar system with a substantial atmosphere. Titan's atmosphere is of great interest because of its similarities to the atmosphere believed to exist long ago on the early Earth.

    The images are online at: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini , http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .

    MORE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-393&cid=release_2011-393&msource=11393&tr=y&auid=10062273

    gaw

    Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
    Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
    Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
    SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
      < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
    Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
    Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
    Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
    Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
    * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
      < http://www.planetarium.cc >
    * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
      < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
    * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
      < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
    * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
      < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
    * Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
      < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
    * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
      < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
    * Public Transit:
      < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
    at No comments: