Want to know what’s up in June?  Check out this podcast!  Scripted by me….voiced by my good buddy Sandra.  Courtesy IMAGINOVA and AstroShorts

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.

It’s an exciting time when a comet becomes visible to the naked eye. Right now the opportunity to exists to see Comet 17P Holmes, now visible in the constellation Perseus. This came to us as a surprise because until late last week it was all but invisible to all but the most powerful telescopes. Literally overnight, the comet brightened by a factor of one million and of course we’re excited. Right now, you have the chance to see it as a fuzzy, yellowish star.

Where can you see Comet Holmes? Easy. Take a look at the clip above, originally posted on AstroShorts.

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.

The David Dunlap Observatory was one of the world’s leading facilities in Astronomical Research.  Situated in Richmond Hill, it provided Canadian researchers the ability to explore the universe since the 1930’s.  A lot of real scientific discovery went on at the 74 inch reflector telescope, once considered a Goliath.  Now, it is a victim of progress.  Light pollution from urban growth coupled with more advanced and more capable designs made the DDO less and less important.  It’s hard to justify spending $800,000 per year to operate something that now offers minimal returns.  The shame here is that we could have had gone further with the present facility if the political will existed on all levels of government to use better municipal lighting.  Still, it had to happen eventually.

The facility was a gift to the University of Toronto from Jessie Dunlap in memory of her husband.  The university recently announced that it has reached an agreement with the grandchildren of Jessie and David which allows the closure of the facility and sale of the lands and equipment.  A new facility built with the proceeds will be called the Dunlap Institute.  It will support future astronomical research from the U of T’s St. George Campus.  Final vote is expected in  October.

It is sad that this jewel will go missing from Richmond Hill.  A piece of history will be lost.  Progress is like that though; some good with the bad.

 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?