Today marks the 40th anniversary of when Apollo 11's lunar module carrying Edwin "Buzz" E Aldrin Jr., Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, successfully landed on the moon. Or did they? Numerous reports of hoaxes and myths have followed this historic occurrence, and even one of the most popular phrases in American history, was misquoted. What Armstrong stated in the audio contact made from the moon on that day back in 1969 was "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." In interviews, however, Armstrong has stated that he meant to say "a man" instead of just "man." Regardless of the fact, that the crew might have never really landed on the moon, the possibility and the dream of reaching Earth's satellite, has been fulfilled in other NASA missions. NASA has plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary by broadcasting the audio of that historic moment among other activities. Check out http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/events.html for more information.
As much as I have been fascinated with weather, I have enjoyed learning and studying the night sky. Space is still considered an extension of the atmosphere (exosphere), and there are studies on the weather occurring in space, cleverly called "space weather." In fact, lighting is the only atmospheric phenomenon that can be seen from outer space and are known as blue jets. The term space weather refers to solar flares, meteor showers and the solar wind to name a few. One of my favorite past times is to watch meteor showers. Meteor showers are caused when the Earth comes in contact with debris from an object such as a comet. As this debris falls it breaks up in the Earth's atmosphere becoming dust, small pebbles and sand and never really hit the Earth's surface. Rarely during a meteor shower, there will be a large meteor that falls to the ground potentially causing harm, over the area in which the meteor shower is set to occur.
I like watching the showers with my father. The best times to watch them are after midnight and just before dawn. Each shower is different however and it is best to check the farmers handbook or a astronomy website for the best time to watch the meteor shower and when a specific one will occur. Check also to see if the meteor shower is viewable in your specific hemisphere. A good website for this information is 2009 Meteors Showers found at this link. There they give the name of the showers, the date of the occurrence, and the frequency of the meteors predicted an hour. The frequency of the meteors an hour makes for a good show. The occurrence of a clear sky and not much light around the viewing area, make for a good show as well.
According to the website the next meteor shower will be the Delta Aquarids which will be occurring from July 28 to the 29th. The frequency of the meteors will be relatively slow, assuming that 20 meteors are predicted to be observed during the night. The next shower in July is the Capricornids which will be occurring the 29th through the 30th. The rate of meteors falling for this occurrence looks to be slow as well with only 15 meteors descending per hour. The Capricornids, according to the site, are known to produce fireballs. The next meteor shower that I would recommend viewing for first time viewers or just anybody who wants to see a meteor show is the Perseids in August. The Perseids will be occurring from the 12th to the 13th with a frequency of 60 meteors per hour. If you were wondering about how these meteor showers get their names, it is because of the constellation that the meteors usually fall in. Normally the meteors will streak across the sky, with their tails pointing back towards the constellation. For more information on meteor showers check out: http://www.earthsky.org/article/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide.
Enjoy this historic day and keep an eye on that sky!
As much as I have been fascinated with weather, I have enjoyed learning and studying the night sky. Space is still considered an extension of the atmosphere (exosphere), and there are studies on the weather occurring in space, cleverly called "space weather." In fact, lighting is the only atmospheric phenomenon that can be seen from outer space and are known as blue jets. The term space weather refers to solar flares, meteor showers and the solar wind to name a few. One of my favorite past times is to watch meteor showers. Meteor showers are caused when the Earth comes in contact with debris from an object such as a comet. As this debris falls it breaks up in the Earth's atmosphere becoming dust, small pebbles and sand and never really hit the Earth's surface. Rarely during a meteor shower, there will be a large meteor that falls to the ground potentially causing harm, over the area in which the meteor shower is set to occur.
I like watching the showers with my father. The best times to watch them are after midnight and just before dawn. Each shower is different however and it is best to check the farmers handbook or a astronomy website for the best time to watch the meteor shower and when a specific one will occur. Check also to see if the meteor shower is viewable in your specific hemisphere. A good website for this information is 2009 Meteors Showers found at this link. There they give the name of the showers, the date of the occurrence, and the frequency of the meteors predicted an hour. The frequency of the meteors an hour makes for a good show. The occurrence of a clear sky and not much light around the viewing area, make for a good show as well.
According to the website the next meteor shower will be the Delta Aquarids which will be occurring from July 28 to the 29th. The frequency of the meteors will be relatively slow, assuming that 20 meteors are predicted to be observed during the night. The next shower in July is the Capricornids which will be occurring the 29th through the 30th. The rate of meteors falling for this occurrence looks to be slow as well with only 15 meteors descending per hour. The Capricornids, according to the site, are known to produce fireballs. The next meteor shower that I would recommend viewing for first time viewers or just anybody who wants to see a meteor show is the Perseids in August. The Perseids will be occurring from the 12th to the 13th with a frequency of 60 meteors per hour. If you were wondering about how these meteor showers get their names, it is because of the constellation that the meteors usually fall in. Normally the meteors will streak across the sky, with their tails pointing back towards the constellation. For more information on meteor showers check out: http://www.earthsky.org/article/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide.
Enjoy this historic day and keep an eye on that sky!
2 comments:
After looking at some new restored footage from the Apollo 11 mission, I'm starting to believe it was all a hoax. They made the quality of the video so bad that I cannot even tell where they are. They might as well have been in my back yard. ;)
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11.html
Yeah for years many people have debated if they ever really landed on the moon and that it was all a hoax, I definitely want to see that episode of MythBusters, were they test out that theory. Personally I think that regardless if they did or did not step on the moon, the mission shows that possibilities are endless and in its following many other missions have made it to the moon. Plus I'm sure there wouldn't be that much space to feel all that equipment in your back yard ;-)
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