SETI bioastro: Fw: Astronomy.com Newsletter 9/23/2005

From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Sun Sep 25 2005 - 03:16:41 UTC

  • Next message: LARRY KLAES: "SETI bioastro: FW: Latest News from the Astrobiology Magazine"

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: AstronomyNewsletter<mailto:AstronomyNewsletter_at_maillist.astronomymail.com>
    To: ljk4_at_msn.com<mailto:ljk4_at_msn.com>
    Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 6:14 PM
    Subject: Astronomy.com Newsletter 9/23/2005

    September 23, 2005

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    NEWS
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    THE SKY WAS FALLING

    About 4 billion years ago, the inner solar system was an
    inhospitable place. Incredible numbers of large objects pounded
    the terrestrial planets - including Earth and the Moon - during a
    period of some 100 million years. Although this is a brief amount
    of time in geologic terms, this pounding, which astronomers call
    the Late Heavy Bombardment, left permanent scars - craters on the
    Moon, Mars, and Mercury. But why was the Late Heavy Bombardment
    so intense? Where did the meteoroids and asteroids come from? A
    team of astronomers may supply some answers in a paper published
    in the journal Science (September 16, 2005) ...

    READ MORE:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.1.278623>

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    MYSTERIES OF THE RINGS

    During the Cassini spacecraft's first season of ring studies, the
    Saturn-circling observatory has yielded remarkable findings, from
    new structures to a rediscovery of the mercurial spokes the Voyager
    spacecraft spotted two decades earlier. Cassini imaging team member
    Joseph Spitale says, "We're seeing things that were theorized about
    but never seen. This stuff is right out of a textbook simulation."

    The revelations paint a portrait of rings that's more dynamic and
    fluid than scientists thought ...

    READ MORE:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.2.278623>
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    APOLLO ON STEROIDS

    On January 14, 2004, the Bush administration declared a new mandate
    that refocused NASA on human exploration. The bold initiative called
    for a return to the Moon and then a journey on to Mars. For the first
    time since this announcement, NASA gave a preview of how it will get there.

    NASA Administrator Mike Griffin revealed the space shuttle's successor.
    Looking at the architecture, the spacecraft is reminiscent of Apollo
    mission spacecraft. However, this is not your father's Apollo module ...

    READ MORE:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.3.278623>
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    SEPTEMBER 2005 ASTRO BYTES

    >>Planet, schmanet?: Nothing seems to have stirred the International
    Astronomical Union (IAU) to define a planet quite like Caltech
    astronomer Mike Brown's July 29 declaration that a new object his
    team discovered should be considered a tenth planet. The object,
    temporarily known as 2003 UB313 and nicknamed "Xena" by Brown and
    his colleagues, is larger than Pluto.

    >>Hurricane season affects NASA again: Less than a month after
    Hurricane Katrina damaged NASA's Stennis Space Center in southern
    Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the space
    agency is bracing for another storm. With the threat posed by Hurricane
    Rita to the greater Houston area, NASA closed Johnson Space Center today.

    READ MORE:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.4.278623>

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    READER GALLERY
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    David Haworth captured a Harvest Moon rising September 17, 2005,
    above the Columbia River near Washougal, Washington.
    Click here to view:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.5.278623>

    Laurence Harry imaged an aurora from his home in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
    Click here to view:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.6.278623>

    Jean-Yves Beninger imaged the emission nebula NGC 6357 from Singapore
    July 14, 2005.
    Click here to view:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.7.278623>

    If you have images you'd like to share with other
    newsletter readers, attach them to an e-mail sent to
    mailto:
    jmcgovern_at_astronomy.com<mailto:jmcgovern_at_astronomy.com>. Make sure you include
    the date, location, equipment, and methods used in
    taking and processing each image in your e-mail.

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    THE SKY THIS MONTH
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    JUMPING ON THE SCALES

    The solar system's largest asteroid, 1 Ceres, measures 595 miles across.
    Not surprisingly, it was the first asteroid to be discovered. Although
    it currently plies the modestly rich star fields of Libra the Scales,
    Ceres glows at 9th magnitude, so it remains brighter than the typical
    background star in this area.

    To find Ceres, jump from Gamma Librae southward through the Zeta
    triplet to the area depicted on the finder chart at right. Then zoom
    in on the big rock's track. Chances are the first point of light you
    see close to the predicted position will be Ceres. To be sure, make
    a quick sketch of the region and return a night or 2 later to confirm
    that your suspect object has moved slightly.

    Although watching an asteroid blot out the light from a distant star for
    a few seconds used to be a rare event, it now occurs almost monthly. No,
    such events aren't becoming more common, we just can predict them for
    fainter stars and asteroids thanks to improvements in star catalogs,
    accuracy of asteroid orbits, and computer speed.

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    WINTER SWEEPSTAKES
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    Enter our 2005 Winter Sweepstakes today for a chance to view the
    stars like never before!

    You could WIN the grand prize - an 8" Meade LX90! This extraordinary
    telescope includes many exciting features and is a favorite of
    astrophotographers and observers! The LX90 makes alignment a breeze
    and includes superior optics, AutoStar controller, red-dot finder,
    Periodic Error Correction, and much more. This telescope has a retail
    value of $1,974.00!

    Or win other great prizes from Meade! Click here for details:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.8.278623>

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    HOBBY TIP OF THE WEEK
    *****************************************************************

    >>Hot solutions to dew

    Many companies offer battery-powered heated ropes or straps specifically
    designed for dew-fighting. Warp them around edges of optics and you'll
    solve to the problem of them cooling off. Not only does this fix work
    for Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, but for Newtonian and Dobsonian
    telescopes that have secondary mirrors prone to fog-up. (The main mirror
    lies deep inside a "dew shield" of its own, at the bottom of a tube or
    shroud-lined network of trusses.)

    It's important to note here that heat ropes don't appreciably heat up the
    glass or metal they're touching. If such were the case, the telescope
    might give off so much heat that distortions from air turbulence could
    ruin the view through the eyepiece.

    These dew-fighters supply just enough heat to stave off rampant heat loss
    from the optics. If the night is particularly cool and damp, just dial up
    the heater's output to keep even the heaviest dew under control. Even when
    the heater is going full-throttle, however, the optics are hardly warm to
    the touch.

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    THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION
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    RETURN TO THE MOON

    With NASA's announcement of its new manned-spacecraft design,
    are you confident of a return to the Moon by 2020?

    Discuss here:
    http://list.astronomy.com/UM/T.asp?A12.80.210.9.278623>

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