Welcome to MacAstrofix ....... Astronomy Diary for June ........ Preparation of China's First Mars Spacecraft ........ Martian Polar Ice Sheets: Clues to Ancient History? ........ Oor big braw cosmos:Tae infinity an ayont …! Curiosity Finds Clay On Mars ..... Weather Data to Download ........

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Astronomy Diary for June

Some astronomy highlights for viewing this month

can be seen here...

 

Oor big braw cosmos:

Tae infinity an ayont …!

Image: Luath Press

Coming soon: a new book celeberating the beauty

of the cosmos in science, images, and poetry. The

book is a collaboration between Prof John C Brown,

Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and Scots poet

Rab Wilson and is available in book stores from May.

The book "combines a beginner's introduction to the

scientific workings of the universe together with

inspired poems and haikus, and superb imagery

from astro-photographers and artists." (Amazon)

 

What`s in the Shetland Sky in 2019 ?

Weather Today Mossbank Shetland

Live Video Stream and Weather Data

Astro Imaging without a Telescope

 

Some Suggestions for Binoculars

 

Free Online Courses

Free courses in Astronomy, Physics, Astrobiology and more

 

The Voice of Jupiter 2014

Our first attempt to record Jupiter`s radio emissions

on 20.1Mhz ( June 2014 ) Listen to the files here .

 

Meteor Shower Camelopardalids 2014

Did you know you can also listen to meteor showers ?

Plots and Audio samples from the Camelopardalids !

 

Preliminary Report

Hurlers Stone Circles Project - Cornwall

Original Hurlers Story Here !

 

News from Around the Web

Oor big braw cosmos:

Tae infinity an ayont …!

Image: Luath Press

Coming soon: a new book celeberating the beauty

of the cosmos in science, images, and poetry. The

book is a collaboration between Prof John C Brown,

Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and Scots poet

Rab Wilson and is available in book stores from May.

The book "combines a beginner's introduction to the

scientific workings of the universe together with

inspired poems and haikus, and superb imagery

from astro-photographers and artists." (Amazon)

 

Preparation of China's First Mars

Spacecraft

Render of China's Mars 2020 rover ahead of deployment
(Image: © Xinhua/CNSA)

China remains on schedule to ready its first

independent mission to Mars in time for a

short launch window in mid-2020. The

mission includes both an orbiter and a

rover with 13 science payloads

 

Martian Polar Ice Sheets :

Clues to Ancient History?

Mars' north polar ice cap Image © dottedyeti

Newly discovered layers of ice far beneath

the martian north pole are the remnants of

ancient polar ice sheets and could be one

of the largest water reservoirs on the planet.

The layers of ice are a record of past climate

on Mars.

 

Curiosity Finds Clay On Mars

A selfie take by Curiosity on May 12. in the lower region of

Mount Sharp ( NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS )

Curiosity, the Martian rover, has drilled into

two target rocks from the lower region of

Mount Sharp and found high amounts of

clay minerals. The discovery of clay in

the region hints that water was abundant

in the area during Mars' ancient past. 

Galaxies without Dark Matter

Image: NASA, ESA, and P. van Dokkum (Yale University)

New study confirms original Yale finding that

galaxy DF2 has almost no dark matter

Andromeda Galaxy Downsized

Andromeda galaxy. Image: NASA

Australian astronomers' research suggests

the Andromeda galaxy is smaller than previously

thought. Their calculations suggest Andromeda

is actually about the same size as the Milky Way

and not three times as massive.

Israeli Spacecraft On Way to the Moon

Image: SpaceX

Israel's first moon mission has successfully launched

from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The Beresheet spacecraft, which is privately built, is

taking a long fuel-efficient route, gradually elongating its

orbit until passing close to the Moon to be captured by

its gravity. The spacecraft is also a time-capsule, with

hundreds of digital files on board, including a full version

of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. It will attempt a lunar

landing in April.

 

Hayabusa2 Touches Down on

Asteroid Ryugu

Image: JAXA - Sampler horn for collecting material for return to Earth in 2020

Image JAXA:Sampler horn to collect material for return to Earth 2020

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

announces that the Hayabusa2 spacecraft has

successfully touched down and taken a sample

of asteroid Ryugu which it has accompanied

since mid 2018. It fired a "bullet" into Ryugu at

close range, then gathered pieces of ejected

material using a "sampling horn".

The mission has made contact with the surface

several times before. The mothership previously

dropped two hopping rovers onto the asteroid

and a small lander (MASCOT) a few weeks later.

JAXA has a main mission page here

 

Goodbye Opportunity

Image from Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera:

NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Eight months after losing contact with the Opportunity

Rover on Mars, NASA announces that the mission has

come to an end.

"It is because of trailblazing missions such as

Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave

astronauts walk on the surface of Mars," said NASA

Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "And when that day

arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be

owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and

a little rover that defied the odds and did so much

in the name of exploration."

 

NASA Remembers: 7th February

Credit: NASA

On their annual day of remembrance, NASA

will pay tribute to agency members who lost

their lives while furthering the cause of

exploration and discovery. Those remembered

include the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and

Columbia.

Video of Meteor over Sumburgh Head

Webcams at Sumburgh Head, Shetland, capture

a bright meteor streaming across the night sky.

 

Chinese Probe Chang'e 4 Lands on

Far Side of Moon

Credit: CNSA: First image taken by Chang'e 4 probe


China's robotic Chang'e 4 mission touched

down in the 115-mile-wide Von Kármán

Crater on 2nd Jan - the first soft landing on

the far side of the Moon. Chang'e 4 will

perform experiments to help improve our

understanding of the structure, formation

and evolution of our natural satellite

Read a report from the Chinese National Space Agency here

 

First 5Kg Scottish Satellites Launched

Image credit Credit: Isro

First two Glasgow built satellites, funded by UK

Space Agency, are launched. The tiny satellites

are designed to monitor weather and help combat

global climate change

 

InSight Lands Successfully on Mars

Mars Lander, InSight, lands successfully on Mars

and sends back first photo of its surroundings.

Its tweet on @NASAInSight:

"My first picture on #Mars! My lens cover isn’t off

yet, but I just had to show you a first look at my

new home. More status updates:

http://go.nasa.gov/InSightStatus  #MarsLanding"

Updates and background info are available

on NASA's InSight mission page: Here

 

26th November : Landing Day on Mars

NASA's InSight spacecraft is scheduled to land

on Mars on 26th November - the first landing for

6 years. NASA will be streaming coverage

from Mission Control here.

read more
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