Differences Between Astrology And Astronomy
Astrology
Astrology is in short a superstition that originated in Babylon around 1000BC. Having a look at the movement of the planets the ancients believed that the position of the planets during your birth determined your life. Though there are more complicated permutations behind the belief, the basis is the movement of the planets along the band of stars we know as the Zodiac. Read more
Astronomy, you gotta love it
Don’t you just love Astronomy. As we move deeper into autumn and throughout the winter, the dark skies will become clear and provide us an unparalleled opportunity to view the many wonders of our solar system.
You don’t need a lot of equipment. A dark location, comfortable lounge chair, and a pair of binoculars (I find the Celestron Skymaster Giant the best) or a telescope are all you need to enjoy the sky. Just lean back, look up and enjoy the view. If you can clearly see all of the stars in the ‘Little Dipper‘ your location is probably dark enough. If not, you may want to move to a darker location.
Two planets and two stars in one system
Two Jupiter-like planets were discovered orbiting around two extremely close sister stars.
The planets were found to orbit around the binary star system NN Serpentis, which is located about 1,670 light-years from Earth.
The more massive of the two stars is a very small white dwarf the burnt-out remnant that is left over when a sun-like star dies. The star is 2.3 times the diameter of Earth, but has a temperature of more than 89,500 degrees Fahrenheit (49,700 degrees Celsius) almost nine times hotter than the surface of the sun.
The other star in the pair is a larger but cooler star, with a mass only one-tenth that of the sun. The two stars are joined in a very tight mutual orbit.
Spaceflight anniversary
The Apollo 7 crew Walter Cunningham, Donn Eisele and Wally Schirra, lifted into orbit on Oct. 11, 1968. The first manned flight of the new Apollo spacecraft came 21 months after the deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White in the Apollo 1 fire.
Apollo 7′s 11-day mission paved the way for Apollo 8′s flight to the moon later that year and the Apollo 11 landing in 1969.
Schirra, who died in 2007, was the only astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.
How to make a sketch
Observing astronomical objects through a telescope can be a thrill. Realizing you are looking at a star that exploded and left a planetary nebula or seeing a galaxy millions of light years distant or looking at an emission nebula like the Great Orion Nebula where new, hot stars are still being formed can be awe inspiring. Most amateur astronomers will want to have a record of the things they observe. One way to do that is taking notes to permanently record how a particular object looked through the eyepiece and these notes can be compared with notes taken with different telescopes or compared with other astronomers. Another way is astrophotography. Taking pictures through the telescope can be done with relatively simple cameras but for the more professionally looking images one needs rather expensive equipment. Read more
Clean And Protect Your Mirrors And Lenses
It is always better to protect your Telescope Optics than to clean them. Cleaning optics can reduce the light collecting power by accidently scratching or removing the enhanced coatings placed on them. A mirror or lens will eventually get dirty and dusty.
The best way to protect your mirrors or lenses is to use a good fitting dust caps. Dust caps should be used on the eyepieces as they have enhanced coatings on the lenses as well. If you own a open tubed reflector like a Newtonian, it’s best to put a dust cover over the end of the tube where the main mirror is as well. Read more
Venus
The next planet in out series is Venus. There is no one who is credited with the discovery of Venus. Venus is the brightest of the five planets that can be seen in the night sky without the use of a telescope. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus and Earth are almost the same size, have about the same mass, and have a similar composition. They are also neighboring planets. However, Venus has an atmosphere that is about 100 times thicker than Earth’s and has surface temperatures that are extremely hot. Venus rotates backwards compared to Earth and the other planets. Read more
