Star Astronomy

Astronomy is as large as the universe that it seeks to discover. Star astronomy is just one part of the overall science and hobby. It would take a lifetime just to learn about all the objects that orbit our own small sun. Some people, then, decide to become experts on the stars.Our sun is 94,000,000 miles from Earth, and that's the closest star we know. It generates an amazing amount of heat to reach all that distance. Our own sun contains just over 98% of the total mass in the solar system. That includes all the other planets even with huge Jupiter and Saturn on our side. It would take 109 Earths to span the sun's disk, and over 1.3 million Earths would fit within the sun. The nuclear reaction at the Sun's core comes from pressure 340 billion times that at sea level on earth and temperatures of over 27,000,000°F. That would burn toast to a crisp instantly.Since it's so close to Earth, relatively compared to other suns, the Sun is the most thoroughly studied star. The next nearest star is 250,000 times further from Earth. But when you travel far from Earth star astronomy really starts to hum. A human can see about 5000 stars, all in our own Milky Way galaxy, from Earth. Using telescope, a person can see far more of the 1x10^22 stars estimated in the universe. If you're counting that's a one followed by 22 zeros. Even a small amateur telescope brings hundreds of thousands of stars to a person's view. Wow! Larger telescopes can see other galaxies that contain an estimated total of over 200 billion stars. It's a project of generations just to count each one.Star astronomy experts have now proven that many other stars have planets. Stars wobble when planets orbit them, and that wobbling can be measured. And in late 2008 astronomers finally took the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars, and even of entire solar systems. We are ever closer to finding intelligent life.

Astronomy Software

A lot of people like Astronomy. Some are serious scientists who study it for a living, or who even teach it. Others are merely hobbyists who enjoy it. Hobbyists have even made many amazing discoveries. For the longest time telescopes or at least binocular were the tools of choice. Today however, computers make it possible to practice astronomy without them thanks to astronomy software. The list of programs is almost endless.One of the most well known programs is SETI@Home. the point of this software was to use all the idle time on peoples home computers. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was set to search space for radio signals that indicated intelligent design. Scientists used supercomputers to go through all the data collected. Today, however, it's up to people's computers at home and at the office. People at home won't be having discussions with aliens when they're found. But people can take pride in being involved in the search for intelligence outside our home planet.A simple type of astronomy software is the 3D screen saver. These bring space objects to life when you're not using your computer. This can include simple views as well as navigable planets, solar systems or other objects that the user can explore from any angle and distance. Try a handy search engine to find one of these programs.Not many people know what F.I.T.S is. It's NASA's flexible image transport system that delivers data including 2-D and 3-D imaging. It's used in a lot of software. These include freeware and software for sale. Google can help you find more. Try Duke University's website.Amateur astronomers can even find help with imperfect telescopes. The software displays images that help the hobbyist adjust the telescope.

Galileo Astronomy

Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy in the late 1500's. He first became a math teacher even though he had no degree in the subject, and here he began his path to greatness. A baby step towards Galileo Galilei astronomy was when he demonstrated to students that different weight objects fell at the same speed, counter to Aristotle's teachings. He wasn't invited back to teach, and so moved to a position at the University of Padua. It was there that his ideas about astronomy truly began.In Padua, Galileo invented the compass and began studying physics. He expanded his work on falling bodies, writing formula to describe them as well as the parabolic path of projectiles. These two ideas were key to astronomy as it progressed. However except for an allegiance to the work of Copernicus over Ptolemy and Aristotle, Galileo claimed to be disinterested in astronomy. It was Copernicus who first described a solar system in which planets orbit the sun. Aristotle and Ptolemy held that the solar system was centered around the Earth, and even the sun rotated around our home. As time went by Copernicus, and Galileo, were proven correct.Galileo was the first to look at the night sky through a spyglass, thus using the first telescope. With a magnification of 20, this telescope helped Galileo discover mountains and craters on the moon. He also learned that the milky way was made up of individual stars. Next he found the four largest moons of Jupiter. He published his findings and became the court mathematician in Florence. Now he could devote full time to his studies. It took him only 9 months to discover Saturn's phases. This was another nail in the coffin for Ptolemy's and Aristotle's ideas about the solar system.Galileo's original dispute was with Aristotle's teachings. Many scientists agreed with Galileo, and so published his findings. But Aristotle was popular with the church because an Earth centered solar system put man's home, and thus man, at the center of things. A Florence priest denounced Galileo Galilei astronomy in 1614. Galileo's response was a letter stating that science was above the bible. A cardinal demanded Galileo stop talking about a moving Earth. Galileo complied, continuing his study of falling objects, comets, and methods to determine longitude at sea based on the phases of Jupiter's moons.

Astronomy Picture of the day

Astronomy is a study of outer space. It can be a serious science, but also a fun hobby. So people tend to flock to an astronomy picture of the day. There are so many things to see, that browsing such images will never become boring.NASA is a great source to find and astronomy picture of the day. There's a new image there every day. The multimedia section shows both images and videos. These could be great sources for a person to create their own site that offers a new image each day. Saturn's moon Enceladus was featured on November 5, 2008. It was taken by the Cassini space craft as it passed about 1,700 kilometers from the surface. The image is so detailed that features about the size of a bus are viewable. The ice on this moon reflects nearly 100% of all the light that hits it. Talk about snow blind. The moon is so interesting that Cassini will continue to fly by for more images later in its mission.NASA maintains an archive of all the astronomy photos of the day dating all the way back to June 16 of 1995. That image was of Earth as if it had the density of a neutron star. This photo was created by the computer. It shows Orion visible twice. Even light from behind a neutron star is visible because the dense star bends the light all the way around it. This causes some double vision.NASA's COBY satellite took a very interesting image of the center of the Milky Way galaxy on September 8, 1995. Due to space dust this would normally not be visible to the naked eye or to a telescope. But COBE's infrared imaging captured this amazing image.January 1 in 2000 and 2001 had the very same astronomy picture of the day. It's due to the fact that many people think of the year 2000 as the first day of the third millennium. In reality January 1, 2001 was the beginning of millennium #3. NASA figured it was better to just go with both. the picture now online at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010101.html is an indication of the universe as it is progressed in the mind of man.

Magazines on astronomy

Astronomy is a serious science and a popular hobby all over the world. There's a lot of new information popping up every day. A lot of this information from the image is to how to use a telescope can be found in an astronomy magazine. It's even better now that so much of this is also on the web.Astronomy Now is one of Britain's top astronomy magazines. It's a magazine for everyone that's been in publication since the late 1980s. The magazine regularly includes features on everything to do with the science, and focus articles that go further in depth into a particular subject or aspect of Astronomy. Standard in every issue are star charts, book reviews and reader images. Not only does the website include much of the same information, but the star charts there are in an even more useful format. the clock can be turned to different months, times of months and various magnifications. These charts are very useful.Sky and Telescope is another excellent astronomy magazine. The magazine claims to be like a top astronomers standing with you. Imagine gazing up at the stars while Carl Sagan, rest his soul, stood ready to deliver important tips and information. Of course the magazine not only focuses on this important information, but includes stunning imagery of outer space objects and phenomenon. For example Sky and Telescope showed an image of a planet orbiting another star in November of 2008. This marks the first time a planet has been seen orbiting another star in visible light imagery.One of the first websites people find when searching for astronomy magazines is the website for Astronomy. This one has a wealth of information online. The website for example carries images of the first ever solar system seen in visible light. There is also a podcast audio tour of the constellation Cassiopeia. The magazine is also well-known for its guides that include tips and tricks for kids who want to start with astronomy

An Indian in space in 2013.

India and Russia will launch a joint manned mission to space in 2013. After Rakesh Sharma an ISRO staff will be the second Indian to fly into space.
Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams were other two astronauts of Indian origin to go to space. Sunita Williams returned safely from space while Kalpana Chawla's space shuttle Columbia crashed killing her and her crew members.

Moon having iron minerals ?

Chandrayaan -I 's succeess continues as a Nasa payload on board has revealed some aspect's of moon's surface through Moon Mineralogy Mapper that was inaugurated on 22nd November 2008. Nasa says the details beamed by the M3 throws light on changes in the rock and mineral composition of the moon and also abundance of iron-bearing minerals such as pyroxene. M3 was the the first instrument to provide highly uniform imaging of the lunar surface and it also provides us with compositional information across the moon.

Astronomy Pictures

Astronomy is the study of space objects such as planets, galaxies and stars. Some people do it for a living, others just to pass the time. That's why when a web site or magazine offers an astronomy picture of the day it's likely to attract a great deal of attention. There are plenty of such pictures to choose from, and plenty of interesting objects out there to keep people looking.The first place to look for and astronomy picture of the day is NASA's website. This site NASA.gov shows a new image each and every day. It also has a multimedia center with video and images. These could be great sources for a person to create their own site that offers a new image each day. On November 5, 2008, NASA's picture of the day was a close view of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. It was taken by the Cassini space craft as it passed about 1,700 kilometers from the surface. It gets down to details the size of the bus. One interesting feature of the ice on Enceladus is that it reflects 99% of the light that falls onto it. Talk about bright. The moon is so interesting that Cassini will continue to fly by for more images later in its mission.NASA maintains an archive of all the astronomy photos of the day dating all the way back to June 16 of 1995. It was a representation of the earth as if it were as dense as a neutron star. This photo was created by the computer. It shows Orion visible twice. That's because a neutron star is dense enough to bend light from behind it to the front of it. This distortion causes double images of some objects.September 8, 1995 brought a very interesting image of the central part of our own Milky Way galaxy from the NASA COBE Satellite. This image would normally not be visible because the dust in the galaxy obscures it in the visible spectrum. But COBE scans in infrared, so produced the amazing image of our very symmetrical galaxy.The astronomy picture of the day was the same on January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2001. That's because most people believe the year 2000 was the first year of the new millennium. However the third millennium actually began on January 1, 2001.

Astronomy fun facts

For many people astronomy is an interesting science filled with many astronomy fun facts. Everything from the size and temperature of our own star, the Sun, to the makeup of distant planets is recorded. People can get a lot of enjoyment from all of this data.There are many astronomy fun facts about this sun. Our own star that supplies our heat and light is between 91 and 94.5 million miles from Earth. Our orbit is elliptical. The distance between us grows larger and smaller throughout the year.The sun is only average size for a star, yet it's size is another terrific source of astronomy fun facts. It's contains 98% of all the stuff in the solar system, even though it's not large for a star. Everything else, counting the earth and all the planets, is a tiny 2%. It would take about 100 Earths to make it across this average sun. The solar wind produced by the sun extends to about 50 times the distance from the Earth to the sun from the sun. In other words those solar winds go out about 50 AU's, with an AU being the distance from the Earth to the sun.

What about astronomy fun facts that don't have to do with the sun? How about the moon? In the entire universe man has only walked upon the earth and the moon. And one human man actually traveled to the moon but never left it.
There are more astronomy fun facts about the moon. It's the site of what may become the oldest footprint. Neil Armstrong's “giant leap for mankind” left a print in the moon dust that will like still be there in 10 million years. The astronauts who walked on the moon wore suits that weighed 180 pounds on earth but a mere 30 pounds on the lunar surface.
Astronomy fun facts aren't limited to our close neighbors. Stars bring the past to life. It can take millions of years for light from some stars to reach us. It could be that some of those stars blinked out long ago. The number of stars in the sky is expressed by a one with 22 zeros following it.

Astronomy magazine

Astronomy is a serious professional business and enjoyed by people who are enthusiastic to know about it.. There are millions of information about astronomy every month which are published in their magazines .

In the UK many people read Astronomy Now. It's been around for 20 years and caters to both hobbyists and the professionals. In addition to standard articles there are focus features that give the whole scoop on certain aspects of astronomy. Reader images, star charts and book reviews are standard in every issue of this magazine. Not only does the website include much of the same information, but the star charts there are in an even more useful format. The sky can be shown for any month, period of the month (early or late,) time and at various magnifications. It's a real help to anyone with a telescope.

Sky and Telescope is an important magazine on astronomy. The magazine includes stunning images of outer space objects and phenomenon. One exciting piece of imagery Sky and Telescope delivered in November of 2008 was images of a planet orbiting another star.

One of the first websites people find when searching for astronomy magazines is the website for Astronomy. The website for example carries images of the first ever solar system seen in visible light. Also posted is an audio tour, in the form of a podcast, of the constellation Cassiopeia. The magazine is also well-known for its guides that include tips and tricks for kids who want to start with astronomy. Both the print magazine and website are of top quality.

You can also get information about astronomy for free from internet.