Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute

Here’s the first sample scooped up from the Martian surface by the Phoenix Lander.  What’s interesting here is the white deposits…are they salts?….frozen water?….hmmmm.  I’m impatiently waiting to see.  More info about the Phoenix mission can be found here.

Picture Credit:  NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona

This desolate plain is one of the first views from the Mars Phoenix lander which touched down on Sunday May 25th.  Unlike the previous Mars Exploration Rovers which used gas-filled bags to cushion the landing, Phoenix used rockets to gently set down on the martian surface. It was crossed fingers and held breath by mission scientists until they received confirmation that Phoenix landed safely in the north polar region of Mars.  The mission is to search for traces of water, determine the hydrological history of the region and the possibility that the planet can support life.  The polar climate will be monitored through a sophisticated weather station developed in Canada.

There’s much to explore and I’m sure there’s a lot to see in the near future.

Jupiter from Oshawa Ontario October 8th at 8 PM.  (Click on picture to enlarge)

October marks the final days of viewing the summer delights.  Take a look to the southwest after dark.  Scorpius is diving below the horizon with the gas giant planet Jupiter shining like a bright star immediately above.  The teapot which designates Sagittarius also marks the location of some of my favorite objects.  This region is rich in nebulae -stellar nurseries of incredible detail- and both open and globular star clusters.

Now let’s take a look at the skies in New Zealand.  It looks totally different doesn’t it?  Take a look at the top of the second picture and you can see that teapot shape of Sagittarius, now inverted for us Northern Hemisphere residents.  Near the center of the picture is Jupiter again.  The skies of the Southern Hemisphere are seen from a totally different perspective and most of us from the Northern Hemisphere usually have a hard time adjusting to the new view.  Of course, if you live in Wellington New Zealand, it’s us Northern types that have the odd looking skies.

Pictures produced by Starry Night Pro Software, copyright IMAGINOVA Canada

 Sputnik 1 was the first man-made satellite.  Launched on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union, Sputnik was outfitted with a simple transmitter which announced the presence of man in space.  The space race it spawned and its associated technological leaps and sprints have defined much of the latter half of the 20th century.  You can argue the benefits and the potential threats of life in the post-Sputnik age but you cannot deny that the world changed on that date.  The world became a small place.  A more dangerous place.  And to me, a more hopeful one as well.

Want to know what’s up in October’s Skies?  Casey and I produced this piece for IMAGINOVA Canada.

 Image Credit:  SOHO

This picture of the sun was taken by the SOHO space observatory and shows what is known as a “Coronal Hole”.  Basically, it’s an area where the magnetic field doesn’t loop back into the sun but extends out into space along with the solar wind continually streaming from the sun.  This process allows charge particles to escape and travel with the stream.  Why is this important?  Well when these particles reach Earth’s magnetic field there’s an interplay that may result in a show of the Northern Lights.  If you have a chance tonight and tomorrow night take a look outside around midnight.  If you are looking northward and have dark skies you might just be rewarded with nature’s light show.

 Picture Credit:  NASA, ESA, C.R. O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough STScI

This is a picture of the Helix Nebula as taken by the Hubble Space telescope.  What you are looking at is the remains of a star the puffed off it’s outer atmosphere as it collapsed in on itself and died.  You see this picture fairly often with the heading “The Eye of God”. 

 Picture Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ J. Hora (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)

Here’s the same object taken in infrared light by the Spitzer Space Telescope.  Spitzer is a companion telescope to Hubble. Details which are hidden by dust in the visible light spectrum are revealed by Spitzer’s Infrared abilities.  It’s a fine compliment and equal partner to Hubble.

Beautiful eye isn’t it?

Picture Credit:  NASA

Are you an early riser?  Take a look at the moon as it sets in the west tomorrow morning.  Starting at about 4:51 AM, the Moon will enter Earth’s shadow, reaching total eclipse at 5:52 AM.  The red colour you see during an eclipse of the Moon is due to the light of sunrises and sunsets on the Earth which manage to refract around our atmosphere and continue to the moon.  Unlike an eclipse of the sun, an eclipse of the moon is safe to view with the naked eye.

Those of us on the eastern side of North America will not get the best view this time.  This event happens while our sun is rising.  For the best show, you need to be living in the pacific.