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Tag Archives: InSight

In the Sky This Week – March 26, 2019

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 26, 2019 by Bob TrembleyMarch 27, 2019
This entry is part 89 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

My wife was awarded 2019 Teacher of the Year for her school district! Connie teaches middle-school science in New Haven, Michigan – she is a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and has an asteroid named after her – I’d like to think she’s a good influence on me. The Moon joins Saturn and Jupiter in the south-southeastern predawn sky for several days this week. The Moon will appear very near Jupiter on the 27th. And a couple days later, the Moon will appear near Saturn. The constellations Orion and Taurus are in the western sky after sunset; nearby, Mars continues a slow crawl towards the Pleiades star cluster. This week’s P.S.: It’s spring, and my parrots are now making it nearly impossible for me to even think; they are completely insufferable this time of year. Globular Cluster M3 Messier 3 (M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It was discovered on May 3, 1764, and was the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged Beresheet, Constance L. Martin-Trembley, InSight, Jupiter, M3, Moon, OSIRIS REx, Saturn, SpaceIL, Sun | Leave a reply

In the Sky This Week – February 5, 2019

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 5, 2019 by Bob TrembleyFebruary 5, 2019
This entry is part 82 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

I would just like to say that the volunteers from the Warren Astronomical Society are simply the best! Two different groups collectively froze their posteriors off running Lunar Eclipse outreach events at Stargate Observatory and assisting Cranbrook Institute of Science with their event, which saw several hundred guests! As Venus moves down towards the horizon, the several weeks-long conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the star Antares in the southeastern predawn sky is slowly spreading apart. The Moon reappears in the southwestern sky as a waxing crescent later in the week – keep an eye out for earthshine! The Moon appears near Mars high in the southwestern sky after sunset on Feb. 10th. Through binoculars, Uranus and Mars will appear in the same field of view – you may not be able to see Uranus due to the Moon washing it out tho… The Double Cluster and the constellation Cassiopeia appear to the northwest sky early in the morning. NGC 869/884 … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged bolide, Conjunction, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Cuba, Double Cluster, InSight, Landsat 7, meteorites, Moon, OSIRIS REx, Sedna, Stargate Observatory, Sun, Warren Astronomical Society | Leave a reply

In the Sky This Week – December 26, 2018

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on December 26, 2018 by Bob TrembleyDecember 26, 2018
This entry is part 76 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry this post is a tad late, I’ve been a bit preoccupied the last couple days… The multi-planet conjunction in the eastern predawn sky continues this week. Mars remains high in southern sky after sunset all week; Mars is now at magnitude 0.39, down significantly from -2.78 during opposition at the end July 2018. The stars Altair and Vega battle for the title of “evening star” in the western sky at dusk. The Moon appears in the constellation Leo at midnight Dec. 27th. Observing Target: M64 – The Black Eye Galaxy M64 is a spiral galaxy located 17 million light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. “A collision of two galaxies has left a merged star system with an unusual appearance as well as bizarre internal motions. Messier 64 (M64) has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy’s bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the “Black Eye” or “Evil Eye” galaxy. Fine details of the dark band are … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged InSight, M64, Moon, New Horizons, OSIRIS REx, Sun, Venus | Leave a reply

In the Sky This Week – December 18, 2018

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on December 18, 2018 by Bob TrembleyDecember 26, 2018
This entry is part 75 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus shines so brightly in the southeastern predawn sky, you can practically read by it! Jupiter makes its reappearance this week, joining Mercury, Venus and the star Spica. Mars is high in southern sky after sunset all week; the waxing gibbous Moon appears to the east of Mars on Dec. 18th. The star Altair is now the “evening star” to the west at dusk; Saturn has almost vanished into the glare of the Sun. The Moon appears very near the star Aldebaran high in the western sky around 3:30 AM on Dec. 21st. On Christmas Eve, the waning gibbous Moon will appear in the eastern sky after sunset. Observing Target: M1 – The Crab Nebula M1, the Crab Nebula, is a supernova remnant located in the constellation of Taurus. The supernova was so bright in 1054 that it could be seen during the day for nearly a month; the supernova was documented by astronomers in several countries. X-Ray: Chandra Ultraviolet: ASTRO-1 Visible: DSS … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged Apollo, Apollo 8, Comet 67P/ CG, Crab Nebula, InSight, Jupiter, M1, Mars, Moon, OSIRIS REx, Saturn, Sun | Leave a reply

In the Sky This Week – November 20, 2018

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on November 20, 2018 by Bob TrembleyNovember 20, 2018
This entry is part 71 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus and Spica continue their weeks-long conjunction in the eastern predawn sky. Orion and Canus Major are in the southwestern predawn sky all week. A few months ago, I remember writing about Orion just becoming visible in the eastern predawn sky; watching constellations creep across the southern sky over the course of a season is pretty interesting. I’m certainly learning a lot about the sky from writing these posts… Saturn becomes the “evening star” in the southwestern sky at dusk; if you’re lucky, and have a clear horizon, you might catch a glimpse of Mercury very low in the sky around 5:30 PM ET on Nov. 20th. Mars and Neptune will be high in southern sky after sunset all week. Here’s a close-up of where Neptune is near the red giant star Lambda Aquarii (λ-Aqr , 73 Aqr): Uranus is above the Moon! Yea, I said it! Actually, when generating images for this post, this image made me laugh pretty hard… Uranus … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged InSight, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Neptune, OSIRIS REx, Sun, Uranus, Venus | 1 Reply

In the Sky This Week – May 15, 2018

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on May 15, 2018 by Bob TrembleyMay 22, 2018
This entry is part 44 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars and Saturn agree that they rather like the early morning sky, and have decided to stay there forever… or so it seems… Jupiter just past opposition, is slowly leaving the morning planets and making its way towards being visible only in the evenings. I was playing with the equatorial grid feature of Stellarium and noticed how close Polaris was to the North Celestial Pole. So, of course, I HAD to see how the South Celestial Pole looked… and I noticed the the southern hemisphere doesn’t have a convenient star near the pole – which led me to find this article on the One-Minute Astronomer about how to find the South Celestial Pole. The Moon The Moon is new on the 15th, and joins Venus in the western sky near sunset as a thin waxing crescent on the 17th. The Moon will be high in the western sky after sunset on the 20th &21st. The Sun Although there is some impressive coronal loop … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged Asteroid, Close Encounter, Coronal Hole, InSight, Jupiter, MarCO, Mars, Moon, New Moon, North Celestial Pole, Opposition, Saturn, South Celestial Pole, Sun, Venus | Leave a reply

Send Your Name to Mars on InSight

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on August 19, 2015 by Bob TrembleyAugust 19, 2015

Mars enthusiasts around the world can participate in NASA’s journey to Mars by adding their names to a silicon microchip headed to the Red Planet aboard NASA’s InSight Mars lander, scheduled to launch next year. “Our next step in the journey to Mars is another fantastic mission to the surface,” said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By participating in this opportunity to send your name aboard InSight to the Red Planet, you’re showing that you’re part of that journey and the future of space exploration.” Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 8. To send your name to Mars aboard InSight, go to: http://go.usa.gov/3Aj3G The fly-your-name opportunity comes with “frequent-flier” points to reflect an individual’s personal participation in NASA’s journey to Mars, which will span multiple missions and multiple decades. The InSight mission offers the second such opportunity for space exploration fans to collect points by flying their names aboard a NASA mission, with more … Continue reading →

Posted in Outreach, Science, Space Exploration | Tagged InSight, Mars, NASA | 1 Reply
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Misinformative Books from Surprising Places

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 6, 2021 by Christopher M. GraneyFebruary 22, 2021

Misinformation.  It is a big topic these days, and a big problem.  And when the topic is astronomy and the Copernican Revolution, misinformation abounds, even in the relatively durable, more controlled medium of books.  “Caveat lector!” applies to this topic—“Let the reader beware!” Two recently-published books are especially disappointing in … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, History | 3 Replies

Solar Sketching in h-alpha – Prominences dancing on the limb

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 5, 2021 by Deirdre KelleghanMarch 5, 2021

                                Astronomical Sketching Astronomical sketching is not just about drawing pictures. It is about learning. This kind of sketching is about observing the subject very closely at the far end of your telescope. Sketching at … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, Education | Tagged animation, Filaments, gifs, h-alpha, Movement, Proms, PST, Solar Sketching | Leave a reply

Finding the Unexpected

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 4, 2021 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoMarch 4, 2021
This entry is part 61 of 61 in the series And Then I Wrote

And then I wrote… in 2014, the magazine US Catholic solicited a couple of articles about science fiction from me. One of them ran in 2014 under the title “Get Lost In Space” and the other they included only on their web site. I reprint both of them here… along … Continue reading…

Posted in And Then I Wrote, Popular Culture | Tagged Science fiction | Leave a reply

From the V.O. Faith and Science Pages: The Road of Science and the Ways to God

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 3, 2021 by Faith and ScienceJanuary 29, 2021

Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “The Road of Science and the Ways to God” (click here for it) A book by Stanley L. Jaki: “Originally presented as the Gifford Lectures for 1975 and 1976 at the University of Edinburgh, this challenging work illuminates the … Continue reading…

Posted in From the V.O. Faith and Science Pages | Leave a reply

In the Sky this Week – March 2, 2021

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 2, 2021 by Bob TrembleyMarch 2, 2021
This entry is part 185 of 185 in the series In the Sky This Week

This week, the Moon appears in the predawn sky, Mars is in a close conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster, and the planets Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn appear low above the horizon before dawn; Mercury and Jupiter appear in a very close conjunction – less than 1 degree apart, as they swap positions over the course of several days.

Continue reading...
Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged Conjunction, Eagle Nebula, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Pleiades, Saturn, Sun, The Pillars of Creation | Leave a reply

A Sinus condition

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 1, 2021 by Richard HillMarch 1, 2021
This entry is part 42 of 42 in the series Lunarcy

North and east of the great crater Theophilus (diam. 104km) is Sinus Asperitatis (“Bay of roughness”) that opens towards Mare Tranquilitatis to the north. Right in the middle of the sinus is the pear-shaped crater Torricelli (roughly 20x30km) sitting off center in the ruins of an ancient unnamed crater about … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, Moon, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged Craters, lunar mountains, Sinus Asperitatis, Theophilus, Torricelli | Leave a reply
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Recent Comments

  • Christopher M. Graney March 6, 2021 at 3:42 pm on Misinformative Books from Surprising PlacesThanks, Joel. And Ed, what is the source that said Galileo confirmed Copernicus? Can you give a link?
  • Joel Hopko March 6, 2021 at 11:54 am on Misinformative Books from Surprising PlacesProfessor Graney -- Ironic but perhaps understandable that the painstaking technical work of centuries should be reduced to a melodramatic contest of intrenched religious bigots bent on obscuring the truth versus "enlightened" clear seeing individuals heroically battling the establishment. After all, melodrama consistent outsells even the best technical literature. Still...
  • Ed Yepez March 6, 2021 at 7:45 am on Misinformative Books from Surprising PlacesA quick "google" come up with Galileo confirming Copernicus. If I understand correctly, they made observations that ageeed with heliocentrism, but "Confirmation" came later (Newton?)
  • Fr. James Kurzynski March 2, 2021 at 8:20 pm on Georges Lemaitre – Father of the “Big Bang”You're very welcome Fr. Madley! Thank you!
  • Fr. Jeffrey Madley March 2, 2021 at 11:57 am on Georges Lemaitre – Father of the “Big Bang”Excellent article about Msgr. Lemaitre, Fr. Jim. Nice to know people in the Church have contributed to science.
  • Fr. Bruce Wilkinson February 23, 2021 at 4:05 pm on In the Sky This Week – February 23, 2021I completely agree with you that putting cameras on EVERY space mission - without question and without fail. The ability to see the accomplishments of the various robotic missions have inspired future generations to want to become part of the space exploration crowd
  • Ed Yepez February 20, 2021 at 7:51 am on The Sun Rules!Excellent! Thank you very much for presenting this in such an understandable form. Also let me appreciate the math.(a lot of which I had forgotten) With Kepler, how you can make the correct observations, yet still come to an erroneous conclusion? But the observations remain correct, even useful for further...
  • Bob Trembley February 19, 2021 at 5:16 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021I joined a NASA Night Sky Network Zoom Watch Party - it was pretty cool! When I joined, an engineer was talking about his work on the helicopter - those wings are HUGE! I watched the the landing with my in-laws; it was cool to see the same image up...
  • Richard Hill February 19, 2021 at 12:54 am on Skyward by David Levy: February 2021Very nice meteor photo! Reminds me of one Geminid I saw as I was walking to night lunch on Kitt Peak. It passed right through Orion. Burned a memory in my brain.
  • Benjamin Goodison February 18, 2021 at 5:26 pm on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021... and three days later, Perseverance finally touched down successfully and is snapping its first images!I'm sure there were more than a few spontaneous prayers in the NASA control room in those last few minutes... there certainly were at my end :) Really looking forward to the wealth of new...
  • Bob Trembley February 16, 2021 at 8:31 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Oh my goodness! Thank you SO MUCH for the kind replies!
  • Joseph O'Donnell February 16, 2021 at 8:00 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Thank you for this. Always so helpful and enlightening.
  • Stan Sienkiewicz February 16, 2021 at 7:47 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Bob, another great post. Wonderful way to start the day. Thanks for putting in the time to create these posts. Educational, beautiful, and awe inspiring. I really appreciate seeing these each week. Thank you, Stan
  • Fr. James Kurzynski February 12, 2021 at 10:40 pm on Space Exploration As An Act Of Interfaith Dialogue.Thanks Joel! I greatly appreciate your insight and encouragement!
  • Fr. James Kurzynski February 10, 2021 at 10:46 am on Polar Vortex, Snowy Owls, Puffins, and Answering the Question: Fr. James, If Global Warming Is Real, Why Am I So Cold?Thanks for you response! My apologies if it came across that Wisconsin was the southernmost Snowy Owls travel. That was not my intent. In my prep, I saw articles of sightings as south as Texas. The point being that some birds go south, others don't, and its a bit of...
  • Jim Cook February 10, 2021 at 8:05 am on Polar Vortex, Snowy Owls, Puffins, and Answering the Question: Fr. James, If Global Warming Is Real, Why Am I So Cold?Wisconsin is actually NOT very far south to find Snowy Owls in winter, as you can see from its eBird range map: https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/snoowl1/range-map I've subscribed to eBird's Snowy Owl reports list for almost 10 years now and while some years have seen more reports of sightings than others, they typically...
  • Fr. Timothy Sauppé February 8, 2021 at 8:38 am on A telescope made by an Angel…Br. Guy: This would make a great beginning to your opening address to the Solar Eclipse Retreat in 2024 for Bishops/Priests. I am going to save this. Fr. Timothy Sauppé
  • Richard Saam February 7, 2021 at 10:20 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceI want to make an additional point on hexagons: In the realm of crystallography as described in solid state physics, there is an equivalence between real(energy) and reciprocal(momentum) hexagonal space. This was mathematically presented in Charles Kittel's (recently deceased) text "Introduction to Solid State Physics". And then something to ponder:...
  • Joel Hopko February 1, 2021 at 11:23 am on Space Exploration As An Act Of Interfaith Dialogue.Fr. Kurzynski -- I too was very moved by the Emirates and the other national efforts (Japanese, Indian etc.) Like you I found in them an expression of the human spirit and even the religious wellsprings that can inspire us toward a shared destiny beyond our fear and confusion. Thanks...
  • Richard Saam February 1, 2021 at 10:33 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceAdding to Fernando's comments 'hexagons are pretty much everywhere in the universe': It can be argued that universal space time can be expressed as oscillating virtual hexagonal (~50 cm, ~8 hr) lattice units conforming to the conservation of energy and momentum and the universe vacuum energy density. There is some...

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