October 9, 2021 Today in 2009, NASA’s Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was intentionally crashed into a permanently shadowed region of Cabeus crater near the Moon’s south pole. This impact created a plume of material from the bottom of the crater containing frozen water which had not seen sunlight in billions of years.… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 8, 2021
October 8, 2021 Tonight is the peak of the Draconid Meteor Shower. The Draconids are a variable meteor shower cause by comet 21P/ Giacobini-Zinner. Most years the Draconids, will not produce many meteors but it does periodically have outburst years with visible rates up to 1000 meteors per hour. This typically happens when the source… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 7, 2021
October 7, 2021 Today in 1906, James E. Webb was born. As NASA Administrator from 1961 to 1968, Webb helped NASA achieve the goal of landing humans on the Moon by 1970. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), named in his honor, is scheduled to launch in late 2021. For more information on the James… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 6, 2021
October 6, 2021 The variable star Algol will be at minima tonight at 10:23 pm CDT. You can find Algol in the northeast by 7:30 pm. If you start watching Algol around 9:30 pm, you should notice the star begin to fade. Algol is an eclipsing binary star of which you can learn more about… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 5, 2021
October 5, 2021 Today in 1984, Space Shuttle Challenger launched on the eight-day STS-41G mission. On this mission, Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk. The shuttle’s crew of seven was the largest ever to fly on a single spacecraft at that time. STS-41G completed 132 orbits of the Earth… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 4, 2021
October 4, 2021 The moon takes 29.5 days to complete its cycle of phases. This is called a synodic month of which there are 12.4 of each year. The synodic month that starts in October 2021, is lunation 1222. A waning crescent moon rose on October 4, 2021, at 5 am. The next new moon… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 3, 2021
October 3, 2021 Today in 1962, the Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7 was launched. Aboard the craft, Astronaut Walter M. “Wally” Schirra completed nearly six orbits of the Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean 9 hours, 13 minutes after liftoff. All Mercury capsules were built in St. Louis by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Pictured above are… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 2, 2021
October 2, 2021 The brightest star we see at night is called Sirius. You can find this bright star rising in the southeast around 3 am this month. The bright Star Sirius rising in the southeast around 3 am. Image created using Stellarium
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 1, 2021
October 1, 2021 Today in 1958, NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) officially became NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). On that day William H. Dana reported to work as an engineer at the High-Speed Flight Station as the first NASA employee. For a timeline of NASA’s history, visit here. The original logo of the… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: September 30, 2021
September 30, 2021 At 9 pm you will find Jupiter and Saturn in the south. You can confirm that you have found these planets with the twinkle test. Generally, stars appear to twinkle, planets do not. The bright star to the northwest of Jupiter and Saturn is Altair and the bright star to their southeast… Continue reading