Astronomy thread!

[RICHARD]

On friday Nov, 27 the shutle and space station will have separated and will be seen 'chasing' each other acrioss the sky about one minute apart.

A fascinating opportunity to go outdoors and look at the stars.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata...ngs/index.html

The link is on the left hand side under "sightings"!

Pick your country and follow the instructions!

[Karen]

You know, it is almost always cloudy when the Leonids are expected overhead here. I suppose that, being that it's always happening in November, that's to be expected, but every once in a while it's a clear night. Maybe next year.

[RICHARD]

The other night I was watching a special on the Cassini/Huygens probe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini-Huygens

The tech is pretty remarkable, but, I am always facinated by the timing.

NASA took this ship, flew it to Venus and used the planet to slingshot it out to Jupiter.

They know where the planets will be in the future but to plan thing out that far in advance.......incredible.

-----------------------

The last few nights were great for watching the shuttle and ISS pass overhead.

The best possible sighting is after the split up and chase each other across the sky. Last night they were both visible for two passes.

I also got a glimpse of another satellite passing overhead.


Again, NASA tells you when and where to look and they always deliver.

(they did have a typo/error in the listings this mission, They fixed it later on!)

[RICHARD]

WOW.

I got a double dip last night.

And boy am I tired.

The Geminid meteor shower was last night and tonight, and Vandenberg AFB launched a rocket this morning that was not as spectacular as the early evening launches, but still was a sight to see.

It left a nice luminescent trail in the sky.

[RICHARD]

Blue moon on Thursday night!!

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1...eve/index.html

[Alysser]

This is one of the coolest things I've read in a long time, I want to be the first to sign up This got me so excited this morning.

Lunar Lava Tube Could Sustain Moon Colony

[smokey the elder]

Thought this was interesting, and we get Mars as a bonus! http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/201001...nof2010tonight

As a bonus, there will be a total lunar eclipse on Dec. 21, which also corresponds to the winter solstice!