The Backyard Stargazer :: The Guide for the Backyard Astronomy Enthusiast

July 12, 2011
by David Parmet
2 Comments

Happy Birthday Neptune

Wizard's Eye, the smaller storm that looks lik...

Image via Wikipedia

Today marks one year, in Neptunian years, since our most distant planetary neighbor’s discovery in 1846. Actually, Galileo saw Neptune in his telescope while viewing Jupiter in 1612 but didn’t realize he was looking at a undiscovered planet.

The story of Neptune’s discovery is a great read – it was the first time an astronomical body was discovered after it’s location was predicted mathematically. And at the time there was a bit of controversy over who exactly should get the credit for finding Neptune. You can read the whole story here.

Happy birthday, Neptune! (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
Neptune Is About to Turn One Year Old. What? [Astronomy] (gizmodo.com)
Neptune’s first orbit: a turning point in astronomy (guardian.co.uk)
Neptune begins to give up its secrets (nature.com)

July 8, 2011
by David Parmet
1 Comment

End Of An Era

I had the privilege of attending the final launch of the Orbiter Atlantis and the final Shuttle launch this morning at Kennedy Space Center.

Here are two pictures, more to come.

A Era In Space Travel Comes To An End, With The Lift Off Of Atlantis: UPDATE (annem040359.wordpress.com)
The End Of An Era (earthandsolarsystem.wordpress.com)
Shuttle Atlantis Successfully Lifts Off (scientificamerican.com)
Atlantis lifts off on last space shuttle mission (cbsnews.com)
End of an Era: Shuttle Lifts Off for Final Flight (abcnews.go.com)

June 7, 2011
by David Parmet
1 Comment

Shuttle And Station

Shuttle and Station

from NASA.gov

Newly released portraits show the International Space Station together with the space shuttle, the vehicle that helped build the complex during the last decade. The pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked to the station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

On May 23, the Soyuz was carrying Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli back to Earth. Once their vehicle was about 600 feet from the station, Mission Control Moscow, outside the Russian capital, commanded the orbiting laboratory to rotate 130 degrees. This move allowed Nespoli to capture digital photographs and high definition video of shuttle Endeavour docked to the station.

Historic Photo Op: Shuttle Endeavour, Space Station Photographed as Soyuz Departs (space.com)
NASA, Russia Give ‘Go’ for Shuttle-Station Photo Op (space.com)

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