Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... 7.01.2007 . ... This common question frequently precedes the rediscovery of one of the most commonly recognized configurations of stars on the northern sky: the Big Dipper . ... Although part of the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), the Big Dipper is an asterism that has been known by different names to different societies. ... January 2007 . ... Publications with keywords: Big Dipper - asterism . Publications with words: Big Dipper - asterism . ...

... 2007 January 8 . The Big Dipper . ... This common question frequently precedes the rediscovery of one of the most commonly recognized configurations of stars on the northern sky: the Big Dipper . ... Although part of the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), the Big Dipper is an asterism that has been known by different names to different societies. ... Connecting two stars in the far part of the Big Dipper will lead one to Polaris , the North Star, which is part of the Little Dipper . ...

... Now, think about a much bigger move: What do you think it would be like if the Earth moved to a different part of our Galaxy? Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is shaped like a whirlpool: It has bands of stars that spiral around the centre, which astronomers call the Galaxy s arms . ... We live in the outer parts of the Milky Way, in one of its spiral arms. ... The small centre of the Milky Way is a much more crowded place, as this is where most of its stars are found. ...

Astronotes Armagh Planetarium's Stellar Blog! ... Solar System . ... Space Flight . ... Posted on October 4, 2013 | ... Continue Reading.. Posted on September 9, 2013 | ... No Comments Now that summertime in the Northern hemisphere is in full swing a whole new batch of constellations can be seen in the south. ... Posted on June 3, 2013 | ... 111 Comments Zeta Reticuli, a dim binary system of Sun-like stars only 39.5 light years away in the little constellation of Reticulum is strangely well-known. ...

... Be honest: Do the stars all look the same to you? If you look up at the night sky, you can see anything from dozens to thousands of them, depending on where you live. ... Star science, which is what astrophysics is, sounds much more friendly. The following activities will introduce you to star science as you ramble across the autumn sky. ... When you can look at a star and see more than a point of light, the night sky will come alive. ... Finding your way with a star map . ...

... Bad Astronomy . Misconceptions . ... Bad Astronomy : "That's as remote as the dark side of the Moon!" ... As the tired, hackneyed refrains went on, one in particular caught my ear: " Fly me away to the bright side of the moon, and meet me on the other side." ... As the Moon orbits the Earth, different parts of it get illuminated by the Sun. ... Bad Addendum : At the end of the album "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd, there is a voiceover that actually says "There is no dark side of the moon. ...

... Users . ... Data Collection and Analysis . ... This particular part of the analysis has been disabled since the code is struggling to cope with the number of users seen this year, in particular the large contingent of people who have re-tweeted NASA. ... Order accounts: by user number (effectively random) by number of tweets (includes retweets) by number of followers by number of followers that also tweeted about AAS225 by number of friends that also tweeted about AAS225 . ... by user number . ...

... Nashville. ... Is it my fault that I can't reap what I sow? Nashville, did you give me half a chance With your southern style, and your hidden dance away? ... Nashville , I'd like to know your fate I'd like to stay a while But I've seen your lowered states today ( I've seen them today , honey, I swear I've seen them today ) Now I'm leaving - I've got all these debts to pay You know we all have our dues - I'll pay 'em some other place I'd ...

... My interest in astronomy and physics likely had early roots in growing up in a dark suburb where the summer nights unveiled the rich tapestry of stars overhead. ... I grew to like the sciences as my favorite subjects - opening new ways to view the world around us. ... Therefore, Heritage is a natural extension of my interest in bringing science, particularly astronomy to the public in new, better, and unusual ways. Science is art. My current passion is science visualization. ...

... The task first computes a background image in order to identify pixels that may be part of a source. The task uses two different algorithms for detecting ``point'' and ``extended'' sources. ... This is necessary because some faint ``point'' sources may have been missed by the point-source detection algorithm, but picked up by the extended-source detection algorithm. ... When the detection process is finished a check is made on extended sources to see if they can be split into two or more sources. ...

... July 7, 1999 . M80: A Dense Globular Cluster . ... the Hubble Heritage Team ( AURA / STScI / NASA ) . Explanation: If our Sun were part of M80, the night sky would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. ... Most of the stars in M80 are older and redder than our Sun , but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and younger. ... As blue stragglers are now thought to be due to stars coalescing , the collision and capture rate at the dense center of M80 must be very high. ... About APOD > . ...

An introduction to the celestial sphere, describing its . apparent rotation and the special role of the pole star. ... This lesson plan supplements the web page listed below. Originally named "The sky above us" , it was split into two parts, each of which now has a lesson plan. ... Celestial sphere, constellation, zodiac, celestial pole, the Pole Star ("Polaris"), celestial equator, rotation of the Earth, planets [theodolite, equatorial axis]. ... What makes the Pole Star special? ...

The IAO-type events have to stimulte the science-educating style of the Olympiads. To follow the main science-educating principles of the IAO-type events and Schools for Young Astrophysicists , particularly: . ... The minimum duration of the IAO-type event is defined as 5 days (4 nights). ... foreign language teams for an international IAO-type event - 1 / 2. ... The full text of the current Supplementary Instructions N 4 IAO-type events and Schools for Young Astrophysicists to be presented later. ...

... The Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is a conspicuous object in the night sky with a prominent place in ancient mythology . ... The stars in the Pleiades are thought to have formed together around 100 million years ago, making them 1/50th the age of our sun, and they lie some 130 parsecs (425 light years ) away. ... Data for these stars are listed in a table below. ... Yes . ... WEBDA Pleiades cluster data . ... M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster (2007 November 18) ...

... This page contains pictures and text to accompany the press release entitled "some black holes are pink", which was presented as part of the Fresh Science event, ScienceNow! ... I first show colour pictures of the pink black holes (and of some blue and yellow ones for comparison. ... If you are having this trouble, I've included pictures below with stretched colour maps, to emphasise the colours: these should print better. (jpeg image, 29kb) . ... Quasar (black hole) PKS 1133-172. ...

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... Like the night sky on the Earth, the martian sky hosts a plethora of astronomical phenomena occurring around the clock in a neverending space opera played out for the benefit of robotic and future human observers alike. ... Moons . Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos . ... Under the same conditions, Deimos would be as bright as -5, somewhat brighter than the planet Venus appears in Earth's sky. ... The moons are also eclipsed by Mars itself (a situation analogous to lunar eclipses at the Earth). ...

... Tonight's Sky . ... Sky this Month . ... Astronomy for Kids . ... Sky Guide . ... NGC 2736: Part of a celestial witchт??s broom? ... This oddly shaped cloud, which is also known as NGC 2736, is a small part of a supernova remnant in the southern constellation of Vela the Sails. The brightest part resembles a pencil т?? hence the name т?? but the whole structure looks rather more like a traditional witchт??s broom. ... Only registered members of Astronomy.com are allowed to comment on this article. ...

The "ring of fire" seen by satellite cameras around the polar caps (picture below) is probably created by electrons leaking from the tail's plasma sheet, whose magnetic field lines form a somewhat imperfect trap. ... One possible explanation involves the close association between auroral arcs and electric currents which flow along field lines between the ionosphere and distant space ( Birkeland currents ). ... That produces an extra resistance to the flow of current. ...

The Astronomy Shop . ... Home | ... Software | Starry Night Enthusiast - Astronomy Software . ... Brilliantly realistic, but designed for anyone with an interest in the night sky, Starry Night Enthusiast lets novice space explorers instantly launch themselves into the fascinating world of astronomy right from their desktops, with or without a telescope. ... See the comparison sheet on all three levels of Starry Night astronomy programs at . ... www.astronomy.net . About Astronomy Net | ...