Max Q astronaut band, Sun in constellation Ophiuchus, NewScientist interactive movies

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Nostromics Newsletter

Nostromics science gifts product news, educational resources & science tidbits

Nostromics Newsletter, 15 December 2010 - You are welcome to share this mail

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The Max Q astronaut rock band

Astronauts are persons with many skills and interests besides their more widely known professional space explorers activities. Among such interests is music, and a group of NASA astronauts founded in 1987 the Max Q rock band, whose members are all astronauts. One of the best known members is Tracy Caldwell, a vocalist, whose famous, awe inspiring photo in the International Space Station Cupola has become iconic. The band name comes from the engineering term denoting the point of a rocket flight in which it experiences the maximum aerodynamic stresses in atmospheric flight.

As astronaut Robert Gibson, one of the Max Q founders, put it, the band "makes lots of noise but no music". You can decide for yourself whether this is so by watching a video of a Max Q performance.

Astronauts rock!

The Sun in constellation Ophiuchus

In what part of the sky is the Sun moving across stars in late fall? In Ophiuchus, the 13th constellation of the Zodiac.

Ophiuchus is between Scorpius and Sagittarius. In its apparent annual path across the sky along the ecliptic, it takes the Sun from November 30 to December 17 to cross Ophiuchus, more time than it spends in Scorpius. Since astrological zodiacs divide the 360 degrees ecliptic into abstract areas spanning 30 degrees each, with no regard to what is actually in the sky, there can be at most 12 such areas or signs. So, although Ophiuchus has been known since antiquity, and was mentioned in Ptolemy's influential astronomical treatise Almagest, it was not included in astrological zodiacs.

The Ophiuchus Dark T-Shirt, hooded sweatshirt and related gifts in the Libra > Sagittarius section of Nostromics Store feature a map of this constellation showing its shape, brightest stars and some of their names. More science gifts and products at Nostromics Store.

NewScientist interactive movies

The web site of the NewScientist science magazine provides Interactive Movies, a collection of interactive, educational online animations. The page lists available animations and provides short explanations of what they are about. Covered topics include astronomy and space, illusions, environment, history of science, technology and more.

To start a movie, click its title in the Interactive Movies page. The level of interactivity varies among movies. Some just require you to hoover the mouse over specific parts, others can be configured and controlled by clicking buttons. Be sure to check instructions when available.

-- Paolo Amoroso & Mauro Arpino (Nostromics), science educators - Milan, Italy