[Astronews] IAAS Monthly Astronomy Newsletter

Tue Jul 31 20:09:59 EDT 2012

IAAS Monthly Astronomy Newsletter
August 2012

The International Association for Astronomical Studies provides this newsletter as a service for interested persons worldwide.

This newsletter is published on the World Wide Web at http://www.ki0ar.com/astro.html - The Home of KI0AR - and is received nationally and internationally. A PDF formatted downloadable version of the newsletter is at http://www.ki0ar.com/current_nl.pdf.

This newsletter is now available as an iTunes podcast. Visit http://www.apple.com, download and install iTunes (for either Mac or Windows). Search for "IAAS" and subscribe to the podcast. You may also go to http://www.ki0ar.com/astro.html and click on the Subscribe/RSS link. Update your smart phone, iPod or mp3 player and listen to the newsletter at your leisure. Comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

An Open Invitation - For amateur radio operators and scanner enthusiasts, when in the Denver metro area, please join the Colorado Astronomy Net on the Rocky Mountain Radio League's (http://rmrl.hamradios.com/) 146.94 MHz repeater on Tuesday nights at 7 P.M. local time.

Special Notice to Denver, CO area residents and visitors to the area: The Plains Conservation Center in Aurora hosts Full Moon Walks every month, weather permitting, on or near the night of the full Moon. Visit http://www.plainsconservationcenter.org for more information and directions.

Excerpts from JPL mission updates are provided as a public service as part of the JPL Solar System Ambassador / NASA Outreach program. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/index.html

In This Newsletter...

* The Moon
* The Planets
* Astronomical Events
* Planetary/Lunar Exploration Missions
* Web Sites of Interest
* Acknowledgments and References
* Subscription Information

The Month At-A-Glance at http://www.ki0ar.com/ataglance.html
A calendar displaying the daily astronomical events.

The Moon

Phases:
* Full Moon occurs on the 1st.
* Last Quarter Moon occurs on the 9th.
* New Moon occurs on the 17th.
* First Quarter Moon occurs on the 24th.
* Full Moon occurs on the 31st.

* The Moon is at Apogee on the 10th, 251,110 miles from Earth.
* The Moon is at Perigee on the 23rd, 229,739 miles from Earth.

Moon/Planet Pairs:
* Jupiter passes 5° north of Aldebaran on the 3rd.
* The Moon passes 6° north of Neptune on the 3rd.
* The Moon passes 5° north of Uranus on the 6th.
* The Moon passes 0.1° south of Jupiter on the 11th.
* Mars passes 1.9° north of Spica on the 12th.
* The Moon passes 0.6° north of Venus on the 13th.
* The Moon passes 4° south of Mercury on the 16th.
* Mars passes 3° south of Saturn on the 17th.
* The Moon passes 1.0° south of Spica on the 21st.
* The Moon passes 5° south of Saturn on the 21st.
* The Moon passes 2° south of Mars on the 22nd.
* The Moon passes 0.7° south of Pluto on the 26th.
* The Moon passes 6° north of Neptune on the 31st.

For reference: The Full Moon subtends an angle of 0.5°.

The Planets & Dwarf Planets
Planetary Reports are generated by "TheSky" software. (http://www.ki0ar.com/planrpts.html) These reports provide predicted data for the planets on the first of each month for the current year. The rise and set times for the Sun and the Moon for each day of the month are also included in the reports. These reports have been optimized for the Denver, Colorado location, however, the times will be approximate for other locations on Earth.

(All times are local unless otherwise noted.)

* Planetary Highlights for August - Look for Mars and Saturn soon after sunset. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus follow in the late evening skies. Jupiter, Ceres, Venus and Mercury gather together before sunrise. One of the best meteor showers, the Perseids, peaks on the 12th with minimal lunar interference and should provide a great show this year. This is also a month of the "Blue" Moon. There is a Full Moon on the 1st and the 31st.

* Mercury - Is stationary on the 7th. Mercury is at greatest western elongation (19° above the eastern horizon) on the 16th. Look for Mercury low on the eastern horizon about 30 minutes before sunrise this month. Mercury rises at 5:43 a.m. on the 1st and about 5:43 a.m. by month's end. Mercury moves from the constellation of Cancer into Leo shining at magnitude 0.2.

* Venus - Is at greatest western elongation (46° above the eastern horizon) on the 15th. Venus is visible in the early morning sky before sunrise. Venus rises at 2:45 a.m. on the 1st and about 2:49 a.m. by month's end. Venus moves from the constellation of Taurus into Gemini shining at magnitude -4.4.

* Earth - N/A.

* Mars - Sets at 10:57 p.m. on the 1st and about 9:43 p.m. by month's end. Look to the west to spot the Red Planet soon after sunset. Mars is in the constellation of Virgo shining at magnitude 1.1.

* Jupiter - Rises at 1:36 a.m. on the 1st and about 11:46 p.m. by month's end. Look for Jupiter in the early morning sky after midnight. Jupiter is in the constellation of Taurus shining at magnitude -2.2.

* Saturn - Sets at 11:27 p.m. on the 1st and about 9:30 p.m. by month's end. Look for Saturn in the west soon after sunset. Saturn is in the constellation of Virgo shining at magnitude 0.8.

* Uranus - Rises at 10:35 p.m. on the 1st and about 8:32 p.m. by month's end. By the time Mars sets, Uranus will be rising in the east, enjoy Saturn a little while longer in the west or Neptune in the east while Uranus climbs higher in the east to view this greenish-blue planet. Uranus is in the constellation of Cetus shining at magnitude 5.8.

* Neptune - Is at opposition on the 24th, rising as the sun sets. Neptune rises at 9:09 p.m. on the 1st and about 7:05 p.m. by month's end. Neptune is at its best for the year. Look for bluish-green Neptune in the east while waiting for Uranus to rise. Neptune is in the constellation of Aquarius shining at magnitude 7.8. 

Dwarf Planets
* Ceres - Rises at 2:03 a.m. on the 1st and about 12:33 a.m. by month's end. Look for Ceres in the east in the early morning hours before sunrise. Ceres is in the constellation of Taurus shining at magnitude 9.0.

* Pluto - Sets at 3:44 a.m. on the 1st and about 1:40 a.m. by month's end. Pluto is in the constellation of Sagittarius shining at magnitude 14.0.

As always, good luck at spotting these two, a large telescope and dark skies will be needed.

Astronomical Events

Meteor Showers

* The Northern Delta Aquarids extends from July 16 to September 10. Maximum occurs on August 13. The hourly rates reach a high of 10.

* The Perseids meteor shower is generally visible between July 23 and August 22. Maximum occurs during August 12/13. The hourly rate typically reaches 80, although some years have been as low as 4 and as high as 200. The meteors tend to be very fast, possess an average magnitude of 2.3 and leave persistent trains.

Perseids set to put on a great show 
"If weeknight observing leaves you tired and cranky, here’s some good news: One of this month’s premier events occurs Saturday night, August 11/12, when the Perseid meteor shower reaches its annual peak. Start observing around midnight local daylight time. Although a waning crescent Moon rises shortly after 1 a.m., it won’t have much impact because the shower consistently produces lots of bright, fast-moving meteors.

Observers under clear dark skies likely will see 60 to 80 meteors per hour streaking across a spectacular predawn sky that includes the bright planets Venus and Jupiter. Perseid meteors are tiny chunks of rock and dust from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. When Earth plows through this debris stream each August, our planet’s atmosphere incinerates these particles." from Astronomy Magazine, August 2012, p. 37.

* For more information about Meteor Showers, visit Gary Kronk's Meteor Showers Online web page at http://meteorshowersonline.com/.

Comets
* Comet 96P/Machholz passes from the constellation of Leo through Virgo in the west-northwest this month. Look for Comet Machholz in the early evening soon after sunset.

* Comet C/2011 F1 LINEAR travels through the constellation of Boötes shining at a dim 11th magnitude. At least a 6 inch telescope will be needed to spot this tiny fuzzball.

* For information, orbital elements and ephemerides on observable comets visit the Observable Comets page from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/index.html).

* For more information about Comets, visit Gary Kronk's Cometography.com web page at http://cometography.com/.

Eclipses
* No eclipse activity this month.

Observational Opportunities
* Watch Mars and Saturn descend to the western horizon as the month progresses.
* On the morning of the 12th, the Perseid meteor shower peaks. The week before and after are still good times to look for the Perseids.
* Check out Neptune during this month of opposition.
* Early mornings are great times to spot Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Ceres.

Asteroids (From west to east)
* Melpomene is in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
* Hygiea is at opposition on the 21st in the constellation of Aquarius.
* Parthenope is in the constellation of Aquarius.
* Pallus is in the constellation of Pisces.
* Vesta is in the constellation of Taurus.

* Information about the Minor Planets can be found at http://www.minorplanetobserver.com the Minor Planet Observer web site.

Occultations
* Information on various occultations can be found at http://lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm , the International Occultation Timing Association's (IOTA) web site.
Planetary/Lunar Exploration Missions
(Excerpts from recent mission updates)

* Cassini - July 24, 2012
Titan Flyby (T-85): Watching the Lakes

"During the July 24, 2012, close Titan flyby, called T-85, the Cassini spacecraft looked for a glint of sun light reflecting off a methane lake. 

The lake, named Kivu Lacus, is one of Titan's northern small lakes, and the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) instrument team hopes to image the specular reflection. VIMS was prime at closest approach and was set to acquire close-up imaging of Kivu Lacus and Punga Mare, the third largest body of liquid on Titan. Next, the instrument acquired a close-up image of the Huygens landing site, which scientists will be able to use to look for geological changes.  

This was one of VIMS' so-called "10-pointer" flybys, i.e. one of the two scientifically most significant Titan flybys for VIMS during the Solstice mission."

Cassini Imaging Team's website - http://ciclops.org.

For the latest mission status reports, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The speed and location of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Present Position" web page.
(http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm)

* New Horizons - July 11, 2012
Gimme Five!

"A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is reporting the discovery of another moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto.

The moon is estimated to be irregular in shape and 6 to 15 miles across. It is in a 58,000-mile-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to be co-planar with the other satellites in the system.

"The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls," said team lead Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif.

The discovery increases the number of known moons orbiting Pluto to five."

Find New Horizons in the iTunes App Store here. (http://itunes.com/apps/newhorizonsanasavoyagetopluto)

New Horizons gallery http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/.

For more information on the New Horizons mission - the first mission to the ninth planet - visit the New Horizons home page: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/.

* Dawn - June 14, 2012
Dawn Easing into its Final Science Orbit

"After successfully completing nearly five months scrutinizing the giant asteroid Vesta at its lowest orbit altitude, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will begin its final major science data-gathering phase at Vesta on June 15, at an average altitude of 420 miles (680 kilometers) above the surface.

This artist's concept shows NASA's Dawn
spacecraft orbiting the giant asteroid Vesta. 
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Full image and caption

Over the past six weeks, Dawn has been gently spiraling up from its lowest orbit – 130 miles, or 210 kilometers, above the surface - to the final planned science orbit, known as high-altitude mapping orbit 2. Observations obtained from this orbit will provide a companion set of data and images to those obtained during the first high-altitude mapping orbit phase, completed in October 2011. A key difference will be that the angle of sunlight hitting Vesta has changed, illuminating more of its northern region. The principal science observations planned in this new orbit will be obtained with the framing camera and the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer."

Dawn's Virtual Flight over Vesta

A gallery of images can be found online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/multimedia/gallery-index.html.

For more information on the Dawn mission, visit the Dawn home page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html.

* MESSENGER - June 22, 2012
MESSENGER Completes Its 1,000th Orbit of Mercury

"MESSENGER will complete its 1,000th orbit of the planet closest to the Sun at 11:22 p.m. EDT tonight [June 22, 2012]. "Reaching this milestone is yet another testimony to the hard work and dedication of the full MESSENGER team that has designed, launched, and operated this highly successful spacecraft," says the mission trajectory lead Jim McAdams of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

The spacecraft was inserted into orbit around Mercury in mid-March 2011, after traveling more than 15 times around the Sun through the inner solar system and completing six planetary flybys. "Since arriving at Mercury, MESSENGER took a little more than 15 months to reach this mark," McAdams notes. "But because the orbital period has been reduced from just under 12 hours to 8 hours, it will take only 11 months to complete the next 1,000 orbits."

During its primary mission, which concluded on March 17, 2012, MESSENGER performed the first global reconnaissance of the geochemistry, geophysics, geologic history, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and plasma environment of Mercury. The spacecraft is now more than one-quarter of the way into a one-year extended mission that is building on this knowledge to address new questions raised by the initial orbital observations."

The new app is available for download at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/messenger-nasas-mission-to/id510144229?ls=1&mt=8.

For more information on the MESSENGER mission, visit the MESSENGER home page: http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/.

* Pack Your Backpack
Calling all explorers! Tour JPL with our new Virtual Field Trip site. Stops include Mission Control and the Rover Lab. Your guided tour starts when you select a "face" that will be yours throughout the visit. Cool space images and souvenirs are all included in your visit.
+ http://virtualfieldtrip.jpl.nasa.gov/ 
* Past, Present, Future and Proposed JPL Missions - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions.

* For special JPL programs and presentations in your area visit the JPL Solar System Ambassador web site at http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/index.html.
Mars Missions

Be A Martian

* JMARS - https://jmars.mars.asu.edu/
JMARS is an acronym that stands for Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing. It is a geospatial information system (GIS) developed by ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility to provide mission planning and data-analysis tools to NASA's orbiters, instrument team members, students of all ages, and the general public.

* Mars Science Laboratory - July 30, 2012
NASA Announces News Activities For Mars Landing

"PASADENA, Calif. – The public is invited to tune in for a series of news briefings from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the upcoming landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission will deliver the nearly 2,000-pound (1-ton), car-size robotic roving laboratory to the surface of Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). Curiosity's landing will mark the start of a two-year prime mission to investigate whether one of the most intriguing places on Mars ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

NEWS BRIEFING AND TELEVISED EVENT SCHEDULE

News briefings will be held at JPL beginning Thursday, Aug. 2, and carried live on NASA Television. Additional events, including a NASA Social Media event Aug. 1 and landing commentary Aug. 5, will be televised. A full schedule of live news briefings is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntvnews and http://www.nasa.gov/msl."

 Mars Rover Landing - Free for the Xbox (requires Kinect)

Visit the Mars Science Laboratory page at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

* Mars Exploration Rover Mission (Spirit and Opportunity) - July 24, 2012

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy - sols 2621-2627, May 18-24, 2011:

"No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

More than 1,300 commands were radiated to Spirit as part of the recovery effort in an attempt to elicit a response from the rover. No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010). The project concluded the Spirit recovery efforts on May 25, 2011. The remaining, pre-sequenced ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes scheduled for Spirit on board the Odyssey orbiter will complete on June 8, 2011.

Total odometry is unchanged at 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles)."

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Picks Up the Pace With Several Drives This Week - sols 3017-3022, July 19-24, 2012:

"Opportunity is roving at the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

Progress was again impacted by a second safe mode entry by the Mars Odyssey orbiter. With normal Ultra-High Frequency relay with Odyssey restored, Opportunity was able to drive on Sol 3019 (July 21, 2012).

That drive, of over 138 feet (42 meters), was a "V" trajectory with the rover first driving toward the small impact crater named "Sao Gabriel" for mid-drive imaging, then a near reverse drive away toward the geologic cut called "Whim Creek."

On Sol 3021 (July 23, 2012), Opportunity drove across Whim Creek with a 33 foot (10 meter) drive toward some surface targets. On the next Sol, the rover collected a Microscopic Imager mosaic of the target "Mons Cupri" before placing the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer down on the same. The plan ahead is some more driving before the operational stand-down around the time of the landing for Curiosity.

As of Sol 3022 (July 24, 2012), the solar array energy production was 507 watt-hours with an elevated atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.772 and an improved solar array dust factor of 0.727.

Total odometry is 21.52 miles (34,633.40 meters)."

Landing sites link - http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/ 

Visit the Mars Exploration Rover page at
 http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html.

* Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission - May 09, 2012
NASA Spacecraft Detects Changes in Martian Sand Dunes

"PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed that movement in sand dune fields on the Red Planet occurs on a surprisingly large scale, about the same as in dune fields on Earth.

This is unexpected because Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth, is only about one percent as dense, and its high-speed winds are less frequent and weaker than Earth's.

For years, researchers debated whether sand dunes observed on Mars were mostly fossil features related to past climate, rather than currently active. In the past two years, researchers using images from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera have detected and reported sand movement."

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/.

More information about the MRO mission is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro.

* Mars Odyssey Orbiter - July 25, 2012
Mars Orbiter Repositioned to Phone Mars Landing

"PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has successfully adjusted its orbital location to be in a better position to provide prompt confirmation of the August landing of the Curiosity rover.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft carrying Curiosity can send limited information directly to Earth as it enters Mars' atmosphere. Before the landing, Earth will set below the Martian horizon from the descending spacecraft's perspective, ending that direct route of communication. Odyssey will help to speed up the indirect communication process.

NASA reported during a July 16 news conference that Odyssey, which originally was planned to provide a near-real-time communication link with Curiosity, had entered safe mode July 11. This situation would have affected communication operations, but not the rover's landing. Without a repositioning maneuver, Odyssey would have arrived over the landing area about two minutes after Curiosity landed.

A spacecraft thruster burn Tuesday, July 24, lasting about six seconds has nudged Odyssey about six minutes ahead in its orbit. Odyssey is now operating normally, and confirmation of Curiosity's landing is expected to reach Earth at about 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (early Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time), as originally planned."

Global Martian Map: http://www.mars.asu.edu/maps/?layer=thm_dayir_100m_v11.

"A simulated fly-through using the newly assembled imagery is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/missions/odyssey/20060313.html.

The fly-through plus tools for wandering across and zooming into the large image are at http://themis.asu.edu/."

DAILY MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) web site: (http://themis.asu.edu/gallery)

The Odyssey data are available through a new online access system established by the Planetary Data System at: http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov/pds/ 

Visit the Mars Odyssey Mission page at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/index.html.

* Mars Missions Status - New Mars missions are being planned to include several new rover and sample collection missions. Check out the Mars Missions web page: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ and the Mars Exploration page: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Links and Other Space News
(If you have a link you would like to recommend to our readers, please feel free to submit it.)

* Astronomy 2009 - http://www.surveillance-video.com/astronomy-sept-2009.html - This site has some good links a young, interested student wishes to share.

* "TheSky" Software - http://www.bisque.com - Astronomy software by Software Bisque.

* A Short Guide to Celestial Navigation - http://www.celnav.de/ - Celestial navigation is the art and science of finding one's geographic position by means of astronomical observations, particularly by measuring altitudes of celestial objects − sun, moon, planets, or stars.

* Astrogirl Homepage - http://www.astrogirl.org - Family-friendly educational astronomy website.

* Astronomical Lexicon - http://www.ki0ar.com/astrolex.html - Many of the astronomical terms used in this newsletter are defined here.

* Astronomy Picture of the Day - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html - A different picture of the cosmos every day.

* Black Hole Encyclopedia - http://blackholes.stardate.org/ - Excellent site from StarDate - University of Texas McDonald Observatory (http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/)

* Celestron Telescopes - http://www.celestron.com/ - Celestron telescopes.

* Cloudbait Observatory, Guffey Colorado - http://www.cloudbait.com - Submit your fireball reports here. Interesting, knowledgeable site.

* The Constellations and Their Stars - http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations.html - Good site for finding out more about the 88 constellations and their associated stars.

* Denver Astronomical Society - http://www.denverastrosociety.org - Promotes the enjoyment and understanding of astronomical phenomena, history and lore by providing educational and observing opportunities for our members, general public, and outreach activities at the University of Denver's historic Chamberlin Observatory, schools, and nature centers.

* Distant Suns - http://www.distantsuns.com/ - Desktop Astronomy package for PCs.

* Green Laser - http://www.greenlaser.com - If you're looking for a reasonably priced laser pointer that is great for astronomy work, visit this site.

* Groovy Adventures - http://www.groovyadventures.com - Unique adventures and vacations including astronomy related vacations.

* Heavens Above - http://www.heavens-above.com - As the name implies - What's up in the heavens, particularly satellite passes.

* The International Dark-Sky Association - http://www.darksky.org - To preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies.

* JPL Solar System Ambassador Program - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador/front.html - "Volunteers Bringing the Solar System to the Public"

* JPL Solar System - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/ - Jet Propulsion Laboratory information on our solar system.

* Meade Advanced Products Users Group - http://www.mapug-astronomy.net/ - Mapug-Astronomy Topical Archive & information resource, containing a massive 335 page archive of discussions about Meade equipment, and much more: observatories, observing lists, permanent piers, equatorial wedges, remote operations, software, eyepieces, etc.

* My Stars Live - http://www.mystarslive.com/ - Interactive Star Chart

* NASA Science News - http://science.nasa.gov/ - NASA missions, updates, astronomy news, excellent resource.

* Northern Colorado Astronomical Society - http://ncastro.org/ - The purpose of our organization is to encourage the understanding & interest in the science & hobby of astronomy.

* Sangre Stargazers - http://sangrestargazers.skymtn.com/ - New astronomy club in the Wet Mountain Valley of Custer County (about 45 miles due west of Pueblo, CO).

* Sky and Space - http://www.skyandspace.com.au/public/home.ehtml 
Astronomy from Down Under - The Southern Hemisphere's first astronomy and space magazine.

* Skymaps.com - http://www.skymaps.com - Free sky maps each month.

* Skywatch Sightings from NASA - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ - This site gives you the best times to watch the ISS pass over or near your location.

* Southern Colorado Astronomical Society - http://www.scasastronomy.info/ - Site under construction.

* Space.com - http://space.com - Interesting space and astronomy articles.

* SpaceLinks/Space Careers - http://www.spacelinks.com/SpaceCareers/ - SPACELINKS is a specialist staffing consultancy sourcing and supplying high caliber professionals for a wide range of world class organizations in the Space and Defense industry.

* Spaceflight Now - http://spaceflightnow.com/ - Launches and satellite news.

* "SpaceRef.com" - http://www.spaceref.com/ - SpaceRef's 21 news and reference web sites are designed to allow both the novice and specialist alike to explore outer space and Earth observation.

* Space Weather - http://www.spaceweather.com - Check out what the Sun is doing as seen from space.

* Stellarium - http://www.stellarium.org - Free, downloadable planetarium/astronomy software.

* Universe Today - http://www.universetoday.com - Short, interesting articles about space and related topics.

* Wikisky - http://www.wikisky.org - WIKISKY is a non-commercial project. The main purpose of WIKISKY is to consolidate astronomical, astrophysical and other information about different space objects and astrophysical facts.

Acknowledgments and References

Much of the information in this newsletter is from "Astronomy Magazine" (Kalmbach Publishing), JPL mission status reports, "Meteor Showers - A Descriptive Catalog" by Gary W. Kronk and other astronomical sources that I have stashed on my book shelves.

The author will accept any suggestions, constructive criticisms, and corrections. Please feel free to send me any new links or articles to share as well. I will try to accommodate any reasonable requests. Please feel free to send questions, comments, criticisms, or donations to the email address listed below. Enjoy!

Subscription Information

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- The latest version of the newsletter is accessible from http://www.ki0ar.com/astro.html.

Keep looking UP!
73 from KI0AR

Created by Burness F. Ansell, III
ki0ar at yahoo.com

COO, Director of Aerospace Technologies, IAAS
JPL Solar System Ambassador, Colorado
Last modified: July 31, 2012

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