Category Archives: Astronomy

Astronomy, Space participation, Space Science

Looking in on some Citizen Science projects

March 9, 2013 TopSpacer

Checking the blogs at some citizen science projects:

* Moon Zoo:

A review of the goals of the project: Moon Zoo Science Goals – Moon Zoo – March.4.13
This older post has an interesting discussion of how strings of craters can be created: Crater Chains – Moon Zoo – Aug.30.10

* Planet Hunters

A video on the development of online community type projects: Planet Hunters: An Online Community – Planet Hunters – March.2.13
An answer to the question of whether sunspots can produce simliar affect as the transit of a planet across the face of a star: Starspots and Transits – Planet Hunters – Feb.11.13

* Galaxy Zoo:

The latest Galaxy Zoo hangout dealt with the Hertzsprung-Russell plot, the Initial Mass Function (IMF), and called Stellar Population Synthesis (SPS): Jargon Alert: Your IMF Just Messed With My SPS! – Galaxy Zoo – Mar.8.13

* Planet Four :

A discussion of the color filtering used with the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and how it creates images different that you would see in person: Let’s talk about color – Planet Four Blog – March.5.13
A description of Martian days and years: Martian Timekeeping – Planet Four Blog – Feb.11.13

Astronomy

Comet PANSTARRS brightens up

March 4, 2013 TopSpacer

Comet PANSTARRS is now visible in the southern hemisphere: Get Your Camera: Spectacular Comet Views Lighting Up the Night Sky – Wired Science/Wired.com

Here’s an earlier NASA ScienceCasts report on the comet:

Astronomy, Space Science

NASA ScienceCasts: What Exploded Over Russia?

February 26, 2013 TopSpacer

NASA’s ScienceCast program looks at what has been determined so far from studies of the asteroid that led to the meteor fireball over Chelyabinsk:

Amateur/Student Satellite, Astronomy, Space Systems

Canadian asteroid finder to be launched on Monday

February 24, 2013 TopSpacer

On Monday at 1226 GMT (7:26 a.m. EST), or 5:56 p.m. local time, India will launch six satellites on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The PSLV will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island, which is India’s main launch site.

Included in the batch of satellites is the Canadian NEOSSat spacecraft, which has a small telescope that will be used to find Atira class asteroids, which orbit the sun entirely within the earth’s orbit: Asteroid Hunter: An Interview with NEOSSat Scientist Alan Hildebrand – Space.com.

NEOSSat will also scan for satellites and debris circling the earth.

NEOSSat was built by MSCI (Microsat Systems Canada, Inc), which previously built the MOST (The Microviability and Oscillation of Stars) microsatellite, a low cost spacecraft that is still in operation several years past its originally planned lifespan.

Here are two Canadian Space Agency videos about NEOSSat:

Astronomy, Events, Space Science

Video: Lessons from the Chelyabinsk meteor

February 23, 2013 TopSpacer

Here’s an interesting discussion [with Dr. David Morrison and Dr. Guy Consolmagno] at the SETI Institute about “What Lessons to Learn from the Chelyabinsk Meteor?”