NightSky.ie » Information

Kepler won’t be finding earth sized exoplanets for a while yet

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:57:57 +0000

Kepler has some calibration requirements before it is ready to find Earth sized planets. It may be a year or more before the issue is resolved. However this does not mean it won’t be functioning or finding planets. Just not an earth twin…yet. William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator, reported the following on Ian O’Neill’s SpaceDisco site in response to the recent Nature article.

“There is a mistake in the Nature article. The Kepler Mission is actually doing very well and is producing planet discoveries that will be announced early next year. Data from 3 of the 84 channels that have more noise than the others will be corrected or the data flagged to avoid being mixed in with the low noise data prior to the time an Earth twin could be discovered.”

We just have to be patient! The software fix is on the way….now where have I heard that before???

When Galaxies Collide – Fun Video

paul — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:17:54 +0000

Amusing video by Felica Day who hits lots of the stereo typical beliefs of cosmology while getting some good science in at the same time. For example, when Andromeda and the Milky Way collide, will there be a big explosion? Watch and find out!

Chasing Comets

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:55:57 +0000

Nasa are not the only space agency doing cool stuff. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) are planning to land on a comet in 2014.

The Rosetta comet chaser will swing by Earth November 13 to pick up orbital energy and begin the final leg of its 10-year journey to the outer solar system. Several observations of the Earth-Moon system are planned before the spacecraft heads out to for its rendevez with comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will then drop a lander onto the object and study the comet for 2 years on it’s way back to the sun.

Kids Space/Art Event – Dublin (Draiocht) Nov 14

paul — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:40:31 +0000

For those of you with Children over 5….

Family day: Rockets, Stars & Planets
Draíocht
Celebrating 2009 as the International year of Astronomy, come and explore space with us through art – why not create a night sky of your own! Age 5 – 10 years, all children must be accompanied by an adult. No booking necessary, please wear old clothes.12-3pm.

01 885 2622
www.draiocht.ie

View Draíocht, The Blanchardstown Centre in a larger map

Watch LCROSS hit the moon live on NASA TV

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:28:28 +0000

If you are in Ireland (or Europe) you won’t be able to pull out a telescope and see the lunar impact live. The event starts about 12:15 lunchtime GMT.

BUT you can see it live on NASA TV. So dont miss it ! Oh and make a copy in case they lose this footage too…

For details on when its going to happen you can check out the Countdown

Using Satellites to check the cloud cover

paul — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:46:10 +0000

So how do you check for cloud cover using an IR Satellite image? Turns out there are many satellites beaming information back to earth which is accessible via the internet. A great use for these images is to check the viewing conditions for viewing the stars. I’ve done a few searches and came up a website which stays reasonably up to date.

I have posted a permanent page on the blog for viewing cloud cover. If you have any other sources let me know and I’ll take a look and maybe add them to the page.

Satellite images of Ireland for sky viewing

If you are looking for rainfall in the UK or Ireland, try this link

Click for recent rainfall.

Sputnik launched on this day, Oct 1957

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:03:55 +0000

Sputnik launched on October 4th 1957. The space race began …

Quote of the day…

paul — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:20:50 +0000

“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” – Carl Sagan

Test 1

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:45:24 +0000

iPhone word press post to test rss retweet

Testing RSS – Again….

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:40:24 +0000

testing astoblogger redired to twitter via hootsuite

Testing rss feed

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:09:39 +0000

nothing to say now – testing twitter feed when posting a blog. entry

Welcome

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:13:53 +0000

Welcome to Night Sky. The aim of this blog is to provide an educational resource for amatuers like myself who want to setup telscopes, take pictures and learn about the night sky in Ireland.