RIP Sir Patrick Moore

Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore CBE, FRS, FRAS (4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012)[1] was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominent status in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter
ASTRONOMER Patrick Moore, renowned for his work mapping the Moon’s surface and for having popularised his subject with the British public, died Sunday at the age of 89, friends and colleagues announced.

Moore, whose lunar research was used by both the US and Soviets space programs, died peacefully at his home in Selsey on the southern English coast.

He had succumbed to an infection, colleagues said in a statement.

“After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home,” they said.

Besides his skill at explaining the universe, his monocle, wit, raised eyebrow and idiosyncratic style of speech endeared him to an army of space fans.

Moore fronted the monthly BBC program “The Sky At Night” from its launch in 1957 and still running today, making him the world’s longest-running presenter of the same television show. His last program was broadcast on Monday.

The NAS Eclipse Chasers

Next NAS Meeting

Friday 2nd November 2012

“NAS Eclipse Chasers”

( Come and learn how the real Eclipse Chasers take their images of the eclipse.)

Warning never look directly at the Sun

University of Newcastle GP2.1

7.30pm-9pm

Viewing night at St Phillips Christian College Salamanda Bay

The NAS was invited by the St Phillips Christian College to an astronomy viewing last Thursday night, members that attended were NAS president David Hough, his son Brad, Brad Le Brocque, Petro Holowinskyj and yours truly.

The weather wasn’t looking too crash hot, though it cleared up a lot there was still a thin layer of cloud around which made viewing difficult. NAS members made good with what they were given and the new Moon was viewed through a variety of telescopes (got plenty of WOW’s). NAS president David Hough did an astronomy talk in the hall for the students which by all accounts was a huge success. Members were asked a lot of questions by students while viewing and discussions on “Moon distance” and “why is there a shadow on the Moon?” could be heard….

We were fed and watered and it was simply an enjoyable evening doing what we amateur astronomers love to do -view the night sky:)

Discovery! Earth-Size Alien Planet at Alpha Centauri Is Closest Ever Seen

http://www.space.com/18089-earth-size-alien-planet-alpha-centauri.html

 

The star system closest to our own sun hosts a planet with roughly Earth’s mass and may harbor other alien worlds as well, a new study reports.

Astronomers detected the alien planet around the sunlike star Alpha Centauri B, which is part of a three-star system just 4.3 light-years away from us. The newfound world is about as massive as Earth, but it’s no Earth twin; its heat-blasted surface may be covered with molten rock, researchers said.

The mere existence of the planet, known as Alpha Centauri Bb, suggests that undiscovered worlds may lurk farther away from its star — perhaps in the habitable zone, that just-right range of distances where liquid water can exist.

Rest in Peace Sally Ride

Sally Kristen Ride, physicist and astronaut, born 26 May 1951; died 23 July 2012
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html

The Real Colors of Venus without the Clouds

 

posted 2 hours ago by Abel Mendez Torres  

http://phl.upr.edu/library/media/therealcolorsofvenuswithouttheclouds

Here we tried to reproduce the global surface color of Venus as seen by the human eye based on radar imagery from the Magellan spacecraft and surface images by the Venera missions. There are no color global images of the surface of Venus due to its thick atmospheric coverage and colorized radar images are used instead. We combined radar topography and emissivity to generate the surface texture assuming a generalized basalt composition with gray to light brown tones, depending on the iron and sulfur content. In the images we also included the effect of the ‘orange sky’ of Venus thus given its surface a more dark brown appearance (Figure 1). Under white light the surface should look grayish and more similar to the Moon. We also created a fictional version with a nearly 70% ocean coverage, as Earth, to emphatize the extent of the ‘continental’ areas (Figure 2). SER was used to create the images at five particular angles used by terrestrial geostationary satellites. High resolution versions (48 megapixels) of these images are available upon request. CREDIT: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA.

 

Figure 1. Approximate representation of the real colors, as seen by human eyes, of the surface of Venus without clouds but considering atmospherics effects (i.e. Rayleigh Scattering).

 

Figure 2. Fictional representation of Venus today with a nearly 70% ocean coverage. Its two main ‘continental’ landmasses, Ishtar Terra in the North and Aphrodite Terra in the equator, are recognizable.

transit of venus2012

Transit of Venus 6th June 2012

Hello world!