January, 2003

Friday, January 31st, 2003

Aurora Watch

A large Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is expected to sweep past Earth on Saturday, February 1st. Astronomers are calling for a 15% chance of severe geomagnetic activity. 
For more information checkout Spaceweather.com

Thursday, January 30th, 2003

Introducing Comet C/2002 V1 NEAT

NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab recently announced the discovery of comet C/2002 V1 NEAT. When it was discovered, the comet was estimated at about mag17. This is beyond the visual limits of all but the very largest amateur telescopes. It has brightened steadily though... and is now approaching mag6... just about naked eye visible. You can find the comet cruising through the constellation Pisces. To do so, you'll need a clear view towards the western horizon. It is located about 7.5° due south of Alpha Pegasi, the southwestern most star in the Great Square of Pegasus. 
For more information checkout Cometography.com

Wednesday, January 29th, 2003

Light Pollution Resolution Stalled in Committee

Utah's First Ever Light Pollution Control Resolution (SCR001) was voted down 3-2 in the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee yesterday.  This doesn't mean, however, that Light Pollution is no longer a problem!  The incredible public turn out at the Committee hearing for this resolution is a clear indication that Light Pollution has people's attention.  Stay tuned for the next steps...

Tuesday, January 28th, 2003

Light Pollution Resolution Goes Before Senate Committee Today!

Utah's First Ever Light Pollution Control Resolution (SCR001) is on the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee's agenda today (1/28). Public testimony will be heard. Your attendance as a show of support is required! The committee meets in room 131 of the State Capitol Building at 3:00pm.
If you are unable to attend, please contact your legislators and urge them to support this groundbreaking legislation!

Monday, January 27th, 2003

Space Shuttle Columbia Visible This Week

The Space Shuttle Columbia will pass overhead each morning this week! 
To find out when, check out NASA's Space Flight website for more details...

Comet Kudo-Fujikawa and SOHO

Comet C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa) is plunging toward the Sun. On Jan. 29th, it will be 0.19 AU from our star--even closer than Mercury! Intense sunlight will hide the encounter from sky watchers, but not from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Check out Spaceweather.com for more details...

Saturday, January 25th, 2003

The Moon and the Morning Planets

The Moon poses with our three nearest solar system neighbors this week. Look for the Moon near Mars on Monday, Venus on Tuesday and Mercury on Wednesday. For more info, visit Space.com.

Friday, January 24th, 2003

Utah's First Ever Light Pollution Prevention Resolution Moves Forward in the Senate

Utah State Senator Ron Allen's Light Pollution Prevention Resolution continues to move through the Senate. Designated SCR1, the resolution has been assigned to the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee.  Show your support by contacting your legislators and urging support of this important resolution.

Tuesday, January 21th, 2003

Project Starshine Mission Over -- Student Built Satellite Burns Up In Re-entry As Expected

Starshine 3 burned up in the the earth's upper atmosphere sometime between 0504 and 0534 UTC today. It had made 7434 revolutions around the earth between the date of its launch from Kodiak, Alaska, on September 29, 2001, and its fiery end on January 21, 2003.

Tuesday, January 14th, 2003

Three new moons for Neptune

Three new moons were found orbiting the planet, Neptune. This brings the total number of satellites orbiting the 8th planet to 11.
For more information, checkout MSNBC

Huge Solar Flare

A solar flare erupted on Monday, January 13th. The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this image of the huge flare. How big was it you may be wondering? Well, the blue dot represents the size of planet Earth. The flare was not Earth-directed... so there'll be no northern lights :(

Thursday, January 9th, 2003

Eclipses on Jupiter

Last night Ganymede and Io passed between the Sun and Jupiter, resulting in a double shadow transit! Don Brown of Park City, UT captured this beautiful image of the eclipses with a Takahashi FS102 at f/24 and an SBIG STV.

Wednesday, January 8th, 2003

Einstein was right... again!

The speed of gravity matches the speed of light, according to astronomers who took advantage of a rare planetary alignment to measure one of the fundamental forces of nature.
Checkout CNN.com/SPACE to find out more!

Tuesday, January 7th, 2003

It's raining... iron?

Using a new technique that will be used to search for Earthlike planets, astronomers have found a distant extrasolar planet, a bizarre place of torrid heat, with clouds and raindrops made of iron. 
Checkout CNN.com/SPACE to find out more!.

Comet Kudo-Fujikawa Not Brightening as Expected

As is often the case in astronomy, initial estimates and predictions of comet orbits and brightness may not be entirely accurate.  This was true with Comet C/2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa, where nearly 40 independent observations confirmed that the comet isn't as bright as it was predicted to be.  Go to Utah Skies' Kudo-Fujikawa page to find out more!

Monday, January 6th, 2003

Solar Analemma

This beautiful image is referred to as a Solar Analemma. It represents an image of the Sun as it travels through the sky at the same time each day for a year. Why isn't the Sun in the same spot at the same time? Well, the Earth is tilted 23.5° on it's axis... and it has an elliptical orbit. Want to find out more?

Comet Kudo-Fujikawa

This is how the comet appeared at about 5:45am MST this morning, January 6th, 2003 in Park City, Utah. Visible at mag 5.2, the comet is brightening daily as it approaches perihelion on Jan 29th.  Checkout the comet's ephemeris and visit the Gary W. Kronk's Cometography Website for more details.

Saturday, January 4th, 2003

Saturn meets The Crab Nebula

Checkout this awesome shot by Delphi Kwok of Hong Kong. The bright planet Saturn (mag-0.4) is drifting across The Crab Nebula mag(8.4). Saturn is over 3800 times brighter than The Crab, so viewing the event is tough.
Checkout Sky & Telescope for more information.

Friday, January 3rd, 2003

40th moon of Jupiter spotted

Using an observatory on top of a Hawaiian mountain peak, an astronomer has detected a small moon orbiting Jupiter, bringing the number of known satellites around the king of planets to 40.
For more info, checkout CNN.com/SPACE.