ASTRONOMY UPDATE (22 September 2011)

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Dennis Mammana

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Sep 22, 2011, 3:31:57 PM9/22/11

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Recently I’ve received many notes from fans telling me that the “San Diego Union-Tribune” no longer regularly carries my weekly “Stargazers” column. While there’s nothing I can do to correct this—the column has been nationally syndicated since 1995—there IS something YOU can do. Please let the newspaper know you read and enjoy this column (assuming, of course, that you do!) and that you expect it to appear every week as it has done for the past 19+ years. If they hear nothing from readers, they’ll figure that no one misses it; it’s only human nature. Judging from recent e-mails, there seems to be many who are not happy about it not appearing regularly.

If you are so inclined, you may contact the following

John

sci...@uniontrib.com

(619) 293-1374

and/or

Jim Watters, topic editor

jim.w...@uniontrib.com

(619) 293-2156

And thank you to all! --Dennis

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Definitely worth checking out…

01) Current “Sky Photo of the Week”

02) UARS re-entry on Friday?

03)   Fly over asteroid Vesta
04)   Ride the ISS
05)   Family portrait

06) Buh-bye doomsday comet!
07) Tour the solar system
08) Spectacular aurora display from ISS

Travel with me…

09) Alaska Aurora Borealis (2012)

10) The Great Dreamtime Total Solar Eclipse! (Nov 2012)

11) Rare and historic Venus transit (June 2012)
12) Other Cosmic Adventures…

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01) Current “Sky Photo of the Week”

Who says I’m out with a camera only in clear weather… check out my current Sky Photo of the Week. http://www.dennismammana.com/spow110922.htm

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02) UARS re-entry on Friday?

As of this morning, re-entry of the wayward UARS satellite is expected sometime tomorrow afternoon (EDT). The satellite will not pass over North America during that time period. http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2011/22sep11/UARS_decay_2011_Sep_23_UTC_v1.jpg?PHPSESSID=1q8oa8eao8djivgi9akqvr7fk4

It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with more certainty, but numbers will become more refined in the next few hours. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/

In the meantime, here are some terrific telescopic photos and video of UARS tumbling to its ultimate demise...
http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/uars_110915.html

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03) Fly over asteroid Vesta

Take a breathtaking flyover of the giant asteroid Vesta in this very cool video by NASA.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16sep_vestaflyaround/

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04) Ride the ISS

Ride the International Space Station in an amazing time-lapse sequence that takes you over North and South America. Check out all the great lightning storms going on in the clouds below!

http://www.universetoday.com/88998/amazing-timelapse-video-from-the-space-station/

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05) Family portrait

Now on its long voyage to Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft recently turned back over its shoulder and photographed its home world. I just love images like this... they really offer a unique perspective on things!

http://www.space.com/12789-jupiter-probe-photo-earth-moon-juno.html

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06) Buh-bye doomsday comet!

Those who believe that the big, bad comet known as Elenin has "doomsday for Earth" written all over it may have a hard time reading that message now... the comet reached its closest point to the sun earlier in the month and may not have survived.

http://www.universetoday.com/88927/comet-elenin-is-now-fading-away/

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07) Tour the solar system

Another amazing computer "journey" from our friends at NASA. Settle in and tour the solar system like never before! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/

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08) Spectacular aurora display from ISS

Space station astronauts witnessed an explosion of green light over the southern hemisphere during a geomagnetic storm on Sept. 17th. All I can say is WOWWWW!!!

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2011/22sep11/media.mp4 Note now ISS reflects the green light from the aurora!

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09) Alaska Aurora Borealis (Feb 25 – Mar 1, 2012)

Want to see an amazing display of the northern lights for yourself, don’t miss this exciting trip to view and photograph Mother Nature’s most spectacular celestial light show from the Fairbanks, Alaska—the Aurora Capital of the World. For details, visit
http://www.melitatrips.com/destinations/2012/alaska/alaska2012.html But hurry... this one is sure to sell out!

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10) The Great Dreamtime Total Solar Eclipse! (Nov 2012)

Filling fast! Our next total solar eclipse adventure will take us to the wonderful Land Down Under. Join me and other fantastic astronomical lecturers on one of several possible itineraries across Australia and New Zealand, for a once-in-a-lifetime experience as day becomes night… and then day again: a rare total eclipse of the sun. If you’ve never experienced these remarkable places—or Nature’s most awe-inspiring sky show (not to mention the spectacular Southern Hemisphere night sky)—now’s your chance! Visit http://melitatrips.com/australia for more info.

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11) Rare and historic Venus transit (June 2012)

Mark your calendars now to join me for the rare and historic 2012 Venus Transit right here in the U.S. Desert Southwest... details to come! Or plan to accompany my colleagues David Eicher (Editor, Astronomy Magazine) and Dr. Alex Filippenko (Astronomy Professor at UC Berkeley) for an exciting celestial journey to Hawaii! http://www.melitatrips.com/hawaii/index.html

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12) Other Cosmic Adventures…

While I’d love to have you join me on my cosmic adventures, many other astronomically-related travel options are also available. MWT Associates is one of the best tour companies who specializes in astronomical travel, and features a stable of some of the world’s finest and most popular lecturers. I’m honored to have been part of this “stellar” team for the past 17 years, and I encourage you to check out which other exciting programs might interest you: http://www.melitatrips.com

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