Jacobin Pigeon – Native to India. That is one fancy bird! Characterized by a large hood and mane of feathers that flares out from its neck and over its head, the Jacobin pigeon is a domesticated bird bred primarily for show. Named after the Jacobin order of monks who date from 1100 and were known… Continue reading
October 12, 2022 NASA’s Space Shuttle program saw 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The first Space Shuttle to launch to space was Columbia in 1981. The last shuttle mission was STS-135 which involved the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The space shuttle Atlantis as seen from the International Space Station prior to docking. Atlantis can be… Continue reading
October 11, 2022 Looking to the south around 6 am, you will see the bright winter star Sirius. This is the brightest star of the night sky as viewed from Earth. Sirius is a double star system but the primary in this double star is so bright that its companion is difficult to see with… Continue reading
October 10, 2022 Looking east around 11 pm you will see an orangish red star called Aldebaran. This star is part of the constellation Taurus the Bull and is about 65 light years away. North of this star will be a brighter orange/red object which is Mars. You can tell the difference between stars and… Continue reading
October 9, 2022 Full moon occurs today at 3:55 pm CDT. Full moons occur roughly 29.5 days apart. This cycle of the Moon is called a synodic month which is still the basis for our calendar month. Because there are 12.4 lunar cycles in a calendar year, it is possible to have more than 12… Continue reading
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, October 7, 2022. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
October 8, 2022 Tonight you will find the Moon near the bright planet Jupiter. The Moon was the only moon we knew about until Galileo pointed a telescope at Jupiter observing the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The sky as it will appear tonight at 10 pm. The Moon and Jupiter can be found… Continue reading
October 7, 2022 On this date in 1958, NASA officially set up Project Mercury. The goals of this project were to: (1) place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth; (2) investigate man’s performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space; and (3) recover both man and spacecraft safely.… Continue reading
October 6, 2022 Sometimes the Moon appears orange as it rises. This is due to atmospheric scattering of light. When the moon is low, we are looking through more atmosphere and as such we lose more colors of the rainbow due to scattering. The orange color of the Moon is due to atmospheric scattering. Image… Continue reading
October 5, 2022 On this date in 1967, statues commemorating the tenth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik are revealed in Moscow. Additionally, a new film devoted to the Soviet space program was shown. This is the first time the design and configuration of the Vostok booster and spacecraft – which were used in previous… Continue reading
