Space at
your fingertips.
"I want to know why the universe exist, why there is something greater than nothing."
Steven Hawking
Scientist, Space Lover
Today the Sun reaches its southernmost point in planet Earth's sky at 13:37 UT. This celestial event is known as a solstice, marking the beginning of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere and Winter in the North. But this year, the solstice will be followed, on December 25th, by another geocentric celestial event -- the last eclipse of the millennium! The Christmas day eclipse will only be a partial one as the silhouetted disk of the Moon obscures the Sun's edge. Visible from much of Canada, The United States and Mexico, the appearance of the partially eclipsed Sun might remind you of the last holiday cookie you took a bite from. Still, the exact timing and degree of the eclipse will depend very much on your location. This image, from an annular eclipse in 1994, shows the lunar disk covering around 55% of the Sun's diameter. It is representative of what could be seen from Washington D. C. during the December 25 eclipse maximum which, for that location, occurs at 12:41 PM ET. As always, if you view the eclipse be extremely careful to protect your eyes.
If you could look at Venus with radar eyes - this is what you might see. This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft. Magellan orbited Venus and used radar to map our neighboring planet's surface between 1990 and 1994. Magellan found many interesting surface features, including the large circular domes, typically 25-kilometers across, that are depicted above. Volcanism is thought to have created the domes, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. Venus' surface is so hot and hostile that no surface probe has lasted more than a few minutes.
What's in the sky tonight? When strolling outside just after sunset, even if just going out to your car, a casual glance upwards can reveal a beautiful night sky also seen by many people across the Earth. To see your local version of the above image, start by facing south, and then tilt your head back. Visible nearly above you, during springtime at sunset in much of the northern hemisphere, will be the Big Dipper, part of the constellation of the Big Bear. The cup end of the Big Dipper will point to the North Star Polaris, the star around which the whole sky would seem to spin, if you could watch for hours. Polaris is at the tip of the Little Dipper, otherwise known as the constellation of the Little Bear. Depending on the time of night, other visible constellations would include Bootes, Leo, Gemini, and Auriga. The above fisheye image was taken from Germany last week. Visible around the entire image edge is the courtyard of Hirsau Abbey, once a Benedictine Monastery founded in the year 830. Moving your cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version of the above image, including the location of the planet Saturn.
Expanse