October, 2004

Sunday, October 31st, 2004
Aurora Watch
A series of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) erupted yesterday from sunspot #691. Skywatchers, especially those in the north, should be alert for northern lights after midnight tonight.

Galactic Ghoul

Happy Halloween! The Spitzer Space Telescope imaged this ghoulish image. Click here to see it transformed into a scary Halloween monster. 

Saturday, October 30th, 2004
Cassini Reveals Titan's Young and Active Surface

Using it's radar imaging system, Cassini was able peer through Titan's hazy atmosphere revealing a diverse and very complex geography. Read more by visiting the Cassini Website.  

Friday, October 29th, 2004
Titan May Be Geologically Active

Evidence uncovered by the recent Cassini flyby of Saturn's moon Titan indicates that the giant moon may be quite active geologically speaking. There is even the possibility that liquids may exist on its surface. This false-color image shows Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. It was taken during Cassini's successful flyby on Oct. 26, 2004. For more details on the image, checkout the Cassini-Huygens website..

Thursday, October 28th, 2004
Eclipse (and curse) Is History

Now we know what it took to end the Curse of the Bambino: a lunar eclipse. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series on Wednesday night under a lunar eclipse that turned the moon a vivid shade of Red Sox red. Sox-fan Bob Colwell of Somersworth, New Hampshire, took this picture during the game. For more awesome shots of the event, which was unseen here in Park City :(  Checkout Spaceweather.com.

Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
Lunar Eclipse Tonight!!

Tonight's full moon will be a special one... marked by a total lunar eclipse visible across 6 continents. By 7:15pm MDT, the Earth's shadow will begin to take a noticeable bite out of the moon. Totality will occur around 8:20pm and continue until 9:45pm. Let's hope for a few hours of clear skies!! Checkout our Lunar Eclipse Guide for more information. 

Tuesday, October 26th, 2004
Cassini Makes Closest Pass Ever

The Cassini Spacecraft flew within 750 miles of Saturn's moon Titan early Tuesday afternoon... snapping some truly impressive pictures in the process This shot, taken in infrared, peers through Titan's hazy clouds revealing significant surface detail. Click here to view more images including an animation made from images across various infrared wavelengths.   

Monday, October 25th, 2004
Cassini Set For Titan Flyby

The Cassini Spacecraft will fly within 750 miles of Saturn's moon Titan early Tuesday afternoon. Cassini will snap infrared and radar images 100 times sharper than any taken so far of Titan, said JPL mission scientists. During this flyby, Cassini will be out of communication with ground controllers. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more details. 

Sunday, October 24th, 2004
Growing Sunspots

Sunspot #684 is just rotating into view...and growing rapidly in the process. It was barely visible on Saturday... by Sunday it was 5x the size of Earth. Sunspots which grow this rapidly often become unstable and erupt. Keep an eye on Spaceweather.com for the latest on this evolving giant. 

Friday, October 22nd, 2004
Lunar Eclipse Coming Wednesday

We've got quite a treat coming up on Wednesday (10/27)... a total lunar eclipse... the last until sometime in 2007. Skywatchers everywhere except Australia will get to see a least a piece of it. For us here in Park City, the event is pretty close to perfectly timed. Checkout Science@NASA for more details including viewing times in your area. This interesting shot, taken by the Mir 27 crew, shows what a lunar eclipse looks like from space. 

Thursday, October 21st, 2004
Saturn On Display

Checkout the Photo Essay created by the Cassini Team. It contains some of the finest images of Saturn ever released.

Wednesday, October 20th, 2004
Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight


The annual Orionid Meteor Shower peaks tonight and into the wee hours on Thursday morning 10/21. Best views will be when Orion is high... and the moon is low (or gone)... from about 2:30am until first light (6:00am). The Orionids are so named because shower meteors appear to radiate from a point within the constellation Orion. The shower typically produces about 15 meteors per hour at its peak. 

Sunday, October 17th, 2004
Star Party A Big Hit


Showing that persistence can pay off, star party attendees were treated to some awesome deep sky views as cloudy skies gave way to a beautiful star filled sky. Thanks to all who make this another great season!

Friday, October 15th, 2004
90 Day Roundtrip to Mars?

Scientists at the University of Washington are developing a new means of propulsion that could dramatically cut the time needed for astronauts to travel to between the planets. This evolving technology could herald a new era in human space travel. Checkout SpaceDaily.com for more details.

Thursday, October 14th, 2004
New Crew for ISS

A Soyuz rocket lifted off today with the International Space Station's 10th crew. The astronauts will spend 6 months in orbit.

Tuesday, October 12th, 2004
Partial Solar Eclipse

A partial solar elcipse will occur on Thursday, October 14th. Unfortunately for us, the event will only be visible to parts of NE Asia, Hawaii and portions of Alaska. At the point of maximum eclipse, near Kenai Alaska, 92% of the sun's diameter will be obscured. Interestingly, the eclipse will start on Thursday... and end on Wednesday :-\ Checkout Space.com for more info.

Monday, October 11th, 2004
Cassini Details Saturn's Southern Bands

The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft snapped this exquisite shot of Saturn's southern hemisphere on Sept. 3rd, 2004. The image details the delicate equatorial bands which wrap the planet. Looking much like giant Jupiter's equatorial bands in the shot, Saturn's bands are in fact much fainter. Checkout the Cassini website for more info.

Saturday, October 9th, 2004
The Moon and Venus

Look for a small (18% illuminated) waning crescent Moon to pose alongside the planet Venus on Sunday morning. The two will be high in the eastern sky before sunrise... and look much like the accompanying shot taken in May of 2005.

Friday, October 8th, 2004
New Orbiting Observatory To Scan The Cosmos


NASA officials announced the approval of a mission to scan the cosmos in infrared light. Dubbed the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the orbiting observatory will be more than 500,000 times more sensitive than previous surveys. With its exceptional capabilities, astronomers hope to catalog the roughly 2/3 of all nearby stars that are too cool to see invisible light... study planet forming regions around nearby stars... and examine some of the most energetic galactic collisions in the universe. Checkout this NASA News Release for more details. 

Thursday, October 7th, 2004
Great Observatories Unravel Kepler's Mystery


Astronomers combined images from 3 of the worlds most powerful telescopes (Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer) to unravel a 400 year old mystery. The mystery was the appearance of a new star in the western sky. We now know this event to have been a supernova... one of the most powerful events in the universe. For more information on Kepler's Supernova, checkout this NASA Press Release. 

Wednesday, October 6th, 2004
Newly Discovered Object Puzzles Astronomers


Astronomers using the the Gemini and Keck telescopes have discovered an object that is neither a star nor a planet. At one point in time, it was a star in a binary system... but gravity from its more massive companion stripped it of so much mass that it became unable to sustain nuclear fusion. It has become "a cool, dark ember about the size of Jupiter" that resembles no known star types. Click here to see what it looks like now... and here for a map to help you find it in the sky. For more information, checkout the Gemini Press Release. 

Tuesday, October 5th, 2004
Blue Moon Over Washington


It's only fitting that the first blue moon spotted during the recent alert was found very near the source of the alert... the Mt. St. Helens area. Volcanic particles of just the can right size filter out the red portion of the spectrum... leaving blue light to dominate. The result is captured in this Oct. 2nd shot by Ryan Tiedeman at Bonney Lake, Washington. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more information.

Monday, October 4th, 2004
SpaceShipOne Claims X-Prize


Scaled Composites and its SpaceShipOne soared into history yesterday claiming the $10 million X-Prize by making two manned space flights inside a two week window. This incredible feat marks the beginning of a new era in space travel and tourism. Find out more on CNN.com/SPACE.

Sunday, October 3rd, 2004
Blue Moon Alert


We're serious about this. With all the particulate matter being pumped into the atmosphere by Mt. St. Helens (see story below), conditions are ripe for seeing a blue moon! Volcanic particles can act as filters to red light... leaving the moon to turn blue. Tom King of Texas snagged this blue moon last October. Checkout Spaceweather.com for all the details.

Saturday, October 2nd, 2004
Our Active Planet


In a sign that we too live on a very active planet, Mount St. Helens blows a large cloud of smoke and ash into the sky. Scientists fear that a major eruption could be imminent. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more details.