Latest issue of Skymaps

Welcome to the latest issue of Skymaps.com Update!

IN THIS ISSUE:
* The Evening Sky Map -- May 2008
* Save on Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories
* Compare Printed Star Atlases
* Astronomy a Go-Go! Podcast
* Distribution of Printed Handouts

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THE EVENING SKY MAP -- MAY 2008

The latest issue of The Evening Sky Map is now available!

This month's Sky Calendar features:
* Saturn closes in on Regulus
* Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower
* Occultation of Mars
* Mercury well placed in the evening sky (Northern Hemisphere)
* Occultation of Antares
* Locate Saturn and Mars in the evening sky
* plus... the best celestial objects for binoculars, telescope, or using just your eyes.

Sky Calendar and event links:
http://www.skymaps.com/articles/n0805.html

Download The Evening Sky Map:
http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
Click your browser's Reload/Refresh button if you do not see the May 2008 links.

Thank you for your support and generous donations.
http://www.skymaps.com/donate/

Clear skies!

Kym Thalassoudis
http://Skymaps.com
Quality sky maps each month to explore, learn & enjoy the night sky.

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SAVE ON TELESCOPES, BINOCULARS & ACCESSORIES

http://www.skymaps.com/store/cat05a.html

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COMPARE PRINTED STAR ATLASES

Quickly compare the key features of all current printed star altases.
http://www.skymaps.com/compare_star_atlases/

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ASTRONOMY A GO-GO! PODCAST

AaGG is a weekly podcast that covers what you can see in the sky for the
month, astronomy news, astronomy how-to, music and more. A podcast is an
Internet audio program you can listen to on your computer or portable audio
player (iPod). AaGG is free just like the vast majority of podcasts. Have a
listen, I'm sure you will agree that Alice Few does an excellent job at
producing AaGG. Look out for this month's Guided Tour of the Sky due to be
released in the next few days. We'll have a direct link from Skymaps.com
once it's out.

You can listen to the show online at the AaGG Web Site:
http://astronomy.libsyn.com/

or subscribe using a free tool, such as iTunes:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/

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DISTRIBUTION OF TESM PRINTED HANDOUTS

Skymaps.com has a new policy for the distribution of printed handouts of
The Evening Sky Map (TESM). Commencing with the January 2006 issue,
Individuals and Astronomy Education Groups wishing to distribute printed
handouts of TESM no longer need to submit a Copyright Permission Form for
non-commercial educational use.

Under the new Non-Commercial Educational Use policy, Individuals may make
and distribute up to 30 printed handouts of TESM each month for use by
their family or friends. Astronomy Education Groups may make and distribute
up to 300 copies of TESM each month for non-commercial educational use.

Individuals or Astronomy Education Groups wishing to make use of the new
policy must comply by the Terms of Use detailed at:


The new policy makes it quicker and easier for Astronomy-related groups and
educators to make timely use of The Evening Sky Map. Please contact me if
you have any questions or comments regarding the new policy.


Note, reprint fees *may* apply in the following cases:
* Any use of a commercial nature
* Publication including bundling with other publications
* More than 300 copies per month

got this via email

The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (29 April 2008)

In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
Sulfur Dioxide and Vog from Kilauea
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18013

La Nina and Pacific Decadal Oscillation Cool the Pacific
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18012

Flooding on the White River
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18011

Cerro Culiacan, Mexico
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18010

Porto Primavera Reservoir, Brazil
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18009

Coal Sludge Impoundments, West Virginia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18008

Burn Scar Near Fort Carson, Colorado
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18007

Fires Spread Smoke over Buenos Aires
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18006

* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- NASA Web Tool Enhances Airborne Earth Science Mission
- NASA Satellites Aid in Chesapeake Bay Recovery
- Larger Pacific Climate Event Helps Current La Nina Linger


got this via email..

Space Weather News for April 27, 2008

Space Weather News for April 27, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

STRANGE SOLAR FLARE: No sunspots? No problem. Yesterday the blank sun unleashed a solar flare without the usual aid of a sunspot. At 1408 UT on April 26th, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a surge of X-rays registering B3.8 on the "Richter scale" of solar flares. That's a relatively minor flare; nevertheless, the blast sent a "solar tsunami" shock wave rippling through the sun's atmosphere and also launched a coronal mass ejection. The CME is expected to reach Earth late on April 28th or April 29th, possibly sparking high latitude auroras when it arrives. Visit http://spaceweather.com to view images, movies and updates.



got this via email

The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (22 April 2008)

In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
Fires Spread Smoke over Buenos Aires
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18006

Tokyo at Night
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18005

Cananea Copper Mine, Sonora, Mexico
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18004

Spider Crater Close-up
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18003

The Nardo Ring
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18000

Rainfall in Typhoon Neoguri
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17999

Fires in Amur Oblast', Russia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17998

Plume over the Caspian Sea
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17997

* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- Researchers Warm Up to Melt's Role in Greenland Ice Loss
- New Atlases Use NASA Data to Chart Ocean Winds

* Media Alerts
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- Tiny Tremors Can Track Extreme Storms in a Warming Planet
- Methane Sources Over the Last 30,000 Years
- Changing Jet Streams May Alter Paths of Storms and Hurricanes
- Absence of Clouds Caused Pre-Human Supergreenhouse Periods
- Flowers' Fragrance Diminished by Air Pollution
- How Strong is a Hurricane? Just Listen

* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- Ocean Salinity Evidence of Climate Change
- Forecast for Big Sea Level Rise
- Major California Earthquake Likely to Hit Within 30 Years
- Melting Mountains a Time Bomb for Water Shortages
- Undersea Quake Swarm Puzzles Experts
- Scientists Discover 8,000-Year-Old Trees
- Curious Cloud Formations Linked to Quakes
- Melting Causes Lake in Chile to Empty
- Lack of Clouds Amplified Dinosaur-Era Warming
- Solomons Quake First Seen to Jump Tectonic Barrier
- Packed Hurricane Season Ahead
- Underwater Ears Warn of Hurricane Strength
- Earth's Crust Shows Long-Term Wiggle Room
- Climate Change Risk for Endangered Animals

* New Research Highlights
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/

got this via email.. :)

NASA Broadcasts Earth Views in High Definition

http://www.space.com/news/080418-nasa-hd.html

NASA Broadcasts Earth Views in High Definition
By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 18 April 2008
05:38 pm ET


NASA is giving Earth folk a new view of their home planet in high-definition (HD), as seen through the eyes of astronauts of past shuttle and International Space Station missions.

The hour-long special includes crisp views of Earth's oceans and continents that only astronauts have been privy to while floating in orbit.

NASA aired the HD broadcast on NASA TV early Friday as a silent film of serene Earth views. A replay is scheduled for the same time on Monday, and will air all day long from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT (1000-1200 GMT) on April 22. The replays include a discussion of the Earth views by Justin Wilkinson, a scientist with the Crew Earth Observations Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The footage will also run on standard NASA TV during regularly scheduled Video File broadcasts.

The astronaut-shot Earth views mark the latest in a series of efforts to view space in high-definition video, whether looking at Earth, the moon or spacecraft interiors.

Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter captured HD video of Earth-rise while orbiting the moon on April 5, and Japan's tour bus-sized Kibo laboratory on the International Space Station will also host an HD camera once it is completely assembled. The Kibo lab's large pressurized segment is slated for launch in late May aboard a NASA shuttle.

The Discovery Channel also plans on airing a miniseries this year featuring never-before-seen footage of NASA missions restored in high-definition.

Click here for a button to access NASA TV feed on SPACE.com's ISS mission updates.

NASA Science News for April 21, 2008

I got this in email today and wanted to share with you all. This is very interesting,huh? who would have thunk of that? Yes that is a redneck thing, LOL! Happy Reading! ~Ginger :)

NASA Science News for April 21, 2008
Going to the Moon? Don't forget your duct tape. Thirty-six years ago when Apollo 17 astronauts found themselves a quarter million miles from home with a damaged moonbuggy, a roll of "good old fashioned American gray tape" saved the day.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/21apr_ducttape.htm?list874246

The Sky this month...

A tale of two streams





Seeing meteors pepper the sky from the direction of Lyra is a regular April event. Unfortunately, moonlight significantly hinders observations of this year's Lyrid meteor shower. The Lyrids peak near midnight EDT the night of April 21/22, when a waning gibbous Moon stands in Libra. To get a decent view, watch before dawn April 22 from a spot where trees or buildings block the Moon. A better opportunity to see meteors arises in April's final days. Although the Eta Aquarid shower doesn't peak until May's first week, its annual run begins late this month. The meteors come from debris left behind by Comet 1P/Halley during its passages through the inner solar system. The International Meteor Organization reports an apparent 12-year activity cycle for the Eta Aquarids. This could boost rates from 2008 to 2010. So, despite the radiant's low altitude from the Northern Hemisphere, watch for the Eta Aquarids' typically long streaks.

Strange things may be happening on the full Moon when it gets hit by Earth's magnetic tail.

NASA-supported researchers have realized that strange things may be happening on the full Moon when it gets hit by Earth's magnetic tail.

FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/17apr_magnetotail.htm?list874246



The Moon and the Magnetotail
04.17.2008

April 17, 2008: Behold the full Moon. Ancient craters and frozen lava seas lie motionless under an airless sky of profound quiet. It's a slow-motion world where even a human footprint may last millions of years. Nothing ever seems to happen there.

Right?

Wrong. NASA-supported scientists have realized that something does happen every month when the Moon gets a lashing from Earth's magnetic tail.

"Earth's magnetotail extends well beyond the orbit of the Moon and, once a month, the Moon orbits through it," says Tim Stubbs, a University of Maryland scientist working at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "This can have consequences ranging from lunar 'dust storms' to electrostatic discharges."

Yes, Earth does have a magnetic tail. It is an extension of the same familiar magnetic field we experience when using a Boy Scout compass. Our entire planet is enveloped in a bubble of magnetism, which springs from a molten dynamo in Earth's core. Out in space, the solar wind presses against this bubble and stretches it, creating a long "magnetotail" in the downwind direction: diagram.

Anyone can tell when the Moon is inside the magnetotail. Just look: "If the Moon is full, it is inside the magnetotail," says Stubbs. "The Moon enters the magnetotail three days before it is full and takes about six days to cross and exit on the other side."

It is during those six days that strange things can happen.

During the crossing, the Moon comes in contact with a gigantic "plasma sheet" of hot charged particles trapped in the tail. The lightest and most mobile of these particles, electrons, pepper the Moon's surface and give the Moon a negative charge.

On the Moon's dayside this effect is counteracted to a degree by sunlight: UV photons knock electrons back off the surface, keeping the build-up of charge at relatively low levels. But on the nightside, in the cold lunar dark, electrons accumulate and voltages can climb to hundreds or thousands of volts.

Walking across the dusty charged-up lunar terrain, astronauts may find themselves crackling with electricity like a sock pulled out of a hot dryer. Touching another astronaut, a doorknob, a piece of sensitive electronics—any of these simple actions could produce an unwelcome zap. "Proper grounding is strongly recommended," advises Stubbs.

The ground, meanwhile, may leap into the sky. There is compelling evidence (see, e.g., the Surveyor 7 image below) that fine particles of moondust, when sufficiently charged-up, actually float above the lunar surface. This could create a temporary nighttime atmosphere of dust ready to blacken spacesuits, clog machinery, scratch faceplates (moondust is very abrasive) and generally make life difficult for astronauts.

Stranger still, moondust might gather itself into a sort of diaphanous wind. Drawn by differences in global charge accumulation, floating dust would naturally fly from the strongly-negative nightside to the weakly-negative dayside. This "dust storm" effect would be strongest at the Moon's terminator, the dividing line between day and night.

Much of this is pure speculation, Stubbs cautions. No one can say for sure what happens on the Moon when the magnetotail hits, because no one has been there at the crucial time. "Apollo astronauts never landed on a full Moon and they never experienced the magnetotail."
The best direct evidence comes from NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft, which orbited the Moon in 1998-99 and monitored many magnetotail crossings. During some crossings, the spacecraft sensed big changes in the lunar nightside voltage, jumping "typically from -200 V to -1000 V," says Jasper Halekas of UC Berkeley who has been studying the decade-old data.


"It is important to note," says Halekas, "that the plasma sheet (where all the electrons come from) is a very dynamic structure. The plasma sheet is in a constant state of motion, flapping up and down all the time. So as the Moon orbits through the magnetotail, the plasma sheet can sweep across it over and over again. Depending on how dynamic things are, we can encounter the plasma sheet many times during a single pass through the magnetotail with encounters lasting anywhere from minutes to hours or even days."

"As a result, you can imagine how dynamic the charging environment on the Moon is. The Moon can be just sitting there in a quiet region of the magnetotail and then suddenly all this hot plasma goes sweeping by causing the nightside potential to spike to a kilovolt. Then it drops back again just as quickly."

The roller coaster of charge would be at its most dizzying during solar and geomagnetic storms. "That is a very dynamic time for the plasma sheet and we need to study what happens then," he says.

What happens then? Next-generation astronauts are going to find out. NASA is returning to the Moon in the decades ahead and plans to establish an outpost for long-term lunar exploration. It turns out they'll be exploring the magnetotail, too.
SEND THIS STORY TO A FRIEND
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips Credit: Science@NASA

more information

Solar Wind vs. Magnetotail: Earth's magnetotail isn't the only source of plasma to charge the Moon. Solar wind can provide charged particles, too; indeed, most of the time, the solar wind is the primary source. But when the Moon enters the magnetotail, the solar wind is pushed back and the plasma sheet takes over. The plasma sheet is about 10 times hotter than the solar wind and that gives it more "punch" when it comes to altering the charge balance of the Moon's surface. Two million degree electrons in the plasma sheet race around like crazy and many of them hit the Moon's surface. Solar wind electrons are relatively cool at only 140 thousand degrees, and fewer of them zip all the way down to the shadowed surface of the Moon's nightside.
Right: Electrostatic forces acting on moondust may cause the dust to float off the Moon's surface. Credit: Tim Stubbs/U. Maryland/GSFC. [Larger image]

Moon Fountains -- (Science@NASA) When astronauts return to the Moon, they might encounter electrified fountains and other strange things.

Moondust in the Wind -- (Science@NASA) What happens when moondust is exposed to solar wind? NASA scientists have found some surprising answers.

Moon Storms -- (Science@NASA) An old Apollo experiment is telling researchers something new and surprising about the moon.

The Mysterious Smell of Moondust -- (Science@NASA) Decades after the Apollo program, scientists are still trying to figure out why moondust smells like gunpowder.

NASA's Future: US Space Exploration Policy


got this via email.. :)

Latest Images from Earth Observatory

In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
Plume over the Caspian Sea
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17997

Gulf of St. Lawrence
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17996

Akimiski Island, Canada
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17995

Lonar Crater, India
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17994

Harrat Khaybar Volcanic Field
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17993

Dust Plume over the Eastern Mediterranean
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17992

Canyons of the Andes Mountains, Southern Peru
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17991

Floods in Northeast Brazil
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17990

* Media Alerts
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- 'Revolutionary' CO2 Maps Zoom in on Greenhouse Gas Sources
- Climate Change – Research Suggests it is Not a Swindle

Pictures & Space Station Flybys

http://www.allthesky.com/atmosphere/atmosphere.html


http://www.geocities.com/bowlturner/my_weatherpics.html


I thought this is very interesting pictures and wanted to share that with you all. It is beautiful and strange phenomena.

I hope you will enjoy looking thru. :)


SPACE STATION FLYBYS: Sky watchers in North America might notice a bright light streaking across the evening sky this weekend. It's the International Space Station. The busily expanding station is now as luminous as Venus even when it doesn't fly directly overhead; some observers report seeing it through clouds.

source from Www.spaceweather.com

I hope you have a clear sky. :)

As always,
Ginger :)

My New Astronomy Page

I have decided to separate my Astronomy page and my other blog Freaky4cat blogger as I think it would be better that way? I hope this will work out for best. This will be all about events that will happen on a certain day or coming months etc so you can be on the look out for the special event. Let me know what you think? I would sure appreciate any feedbacks. But meanwhile I hope you will enjoy this. Have a Great day! :) AS always, Ginger :)