Wednesday 16 June 2010

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101 Amazing Earth Facts

The Top 10 Views of Earth From Space


The Top 10 Views of Earth From Space
Humans have sent many missions, both manned and robotic, beyond our planet to explore our neighboring celestial bodies. Now and then, these intrepid explorers have glanced home to provide us with sometimes stunning and always thought-provoking images. The following is a compilation of ten of those homeward glances, from the moon and beyond. - Justin Jernigan
 Bafana verloor 0 - 3 teen Urugay. Hartseer!

Hubble scrutinises site of mysterious flash and missing cloud belt on Jupiter

 Click on image to enlarge

New and detailed observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have provided insights into two recent events on Jupiter: the mysterious flash of light seen on 3 June and the recent disappearance of the planet’s dark Southern Equatorial Belt.


  • Urugay het nou net die 1ste doel teen Bavana aangeteken. Disaster!  

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Hopes High for Asteroid Samples From Japanese Space Capsule




By Tariq Malik
SPACE.com Managing Editor, posted: 14 June 2010, 01:57 pm ET www.space.com
The triumphant Sunday landing of a Japanese space capsule that visited an asteroid and returned to Earth despite near-overwhelming  malfunctions now has scientists around the world asking one final question: Did it actually capture a piece of asteroid Itokawa?

"First, the sample container will be inspected, and then the content will be extracted," said Keiji Tachikawa, president of Japan's space agency JAXA, in a Monday statement.  "We hope to find the Itokawa's surface material in the capsule, and contribute to understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system."



 This still from a NASA video shows the Hayabusa spacecraft as it burned up over Australia during re-entry on June 13, 2010 to cap a 7-year mission to the asteroid Itokawa. Hayabusa ejected a sample return capsule (bright dot at lower right) before burning up. It landed in the Australian outback and has been recovered. Credit: NASA/SETI


 Japan's Hayabusa asteroid sample capsule and parachute are seen in the Australian outback after its historic June 13, 2010 landing. The capsule was jettisoned from its Hayabusa mother ship after a 7-year voyage to the asteroid Itokawa to collect samples. Credit: JAXA


 An artist's concept of Japan's Hayabusa landing on the asteroid Itokawa. Credit: ©Akihiro Ikeshita/JAXA

Source: www.space.com

Stellarium 0.10.5 released!



The Stellarium team is very proud to announce the release of stable version 0.10.5. This is an important bug fix release closing more than 30 bugs in the main application and in the plugins. It also brings small GUI usability improvements, as well as a much reduced starting time.

A huge thanks to all community bug reporters who helped us a lot finding bugs!

Star Party at Mountain Sanctuary Park, Magaliesberg, from 6-8 August 2010


The West Rand Astronomy Club will be hosting a Star Party at Mountain Sanctuary Park, Magaliesberg, from 6-8 August 2010.
All are welcome, and we would like to invite members of ASSA Bloemfontein.
See attached Invite for more information and bookings. Also attached are maps and details for Mountain Sanctuary Park.
The West Rand Astronomy Club will be hosting a Weekend Away Star Party at the Mountain Sanctuary Park from 6th to 8th August 2010.


The Mountain Sanctuary Park is a private nature reserve in the Magaliesberg Mountains, about 120km north-west of Johannesburg and 90km west of Pretoria.


The night sky is beautiful from this site and if conditions are favourable, the Coal Sack in the Southern Cross and the Small Magellanic Cloud can be seen.
Accommodation options are chalets, log cabins or camping.
Those bringing telescopes stay free, if camping. 10 large campsites have been reserved for those with telescopes. These campsites border a central field where the telescopes will be set up. Please join us for a weekend of star gazing under dark skies.
Bookings
Please contact Elizabeth at Mountain Sanctuary Park by 30 June 2010.
Tel: (014) 534-0114 (08H00 - 17H00, 7 Days a week)
eMail: owen@mountain-sanctuary.co.za
Website: www.mountain-sanctuary.co.za
Be sure to mention you are booking for the WRAC Star Party and whether you are bringing a telescope.

For more information contact
Kenny Nevill on 082 335 1983, email: kenny@wrac.org.za.
If bringing a telescope, please email Doryn Jolly, doryn@wrac.org.za to let
her know you are bringing a telescope and the type of telescope.
Terms and conditions apply.
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