🌎🌍 World Space Week & Pens 🖌️🖋️

[wallylynn]

  On 10/4/2022 at 2:23 AM, Misfit said:

version of the Fisher Space Pen is in this photo.

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I was reading space theme this and reading space theme that and wondering "where's the actual space pen"

 

I don't have much space stuff. Some shuttles from when we were little. I bought the international year of astronomy first scope. It's neat but spherical mirror (I later learned) makes for blurry pictures.

 

Personally I only collected some space theme stamps.

[jandrew]

 

Definitely some Interesting pens thus far.

 

I have zero space-themed writing implements. The closest I have is a rotring 600 pencil that isn't space-themed at all but has been used for notes, star chart annotations, and drawing while at my telescope

[OCArt]

I have this Soviet era desk set

[Misfit]

Cool desk set @OCArt

[Misfit]

On this first day of World Space Week, I’m sharing some apps I like and recommend. 
 

First is the NASA app. It has the Astronomy Picture of the Day, Missions past and present, live coverage of launches, the various NASA centers, and more. I used the Centers section to find which ones had online gift stores. 
 

Space365 has the picture of the day, upcoming events, and today in history. It also has a long list of categories like asteroids, comets, planets, aviation both military and commercial. If you click on one, it lists events over time for the category. 
 

I have several skywatching apps. I tend to get free apps. I may have paid $1 or $2, but never more. I don’t use these enough to recommend one. 
 

Then there are the Moon apps. I have three that each bring something different. One gives the most information about the Moon on the day you are looking at. One has some of the information on the Moon (today) plus it lists the golden and blue hours for photography. If you’ve ever looked outside and seen a certain look to the light, you’ll know it because it’s different. That’s the golden hour. The last Moon app gives the least information. It shows the current Moon phase, and if you swipe the Moon, it shows the status like waxing gibbous and the days to the New Moon and Full Moon. If you allow it, it sends messages every New and Full Moon. A recent message was I got pictures on my mind. 
 

I’m attaching screenshots of the apps of the Moon. In the first screenshot you will see the app at top that sends the messages, and the app that contains the most information on the Moon (today).  The second screenshot shows the app that has the golden and blue hours. Each has Open to the right. 
 

[doriath19]

  On 10/4/2022 at 4:21 AM, Misfit said:

@doriath19 Wow, I’d love to visit a NASA site. Can you share what stood out to you about your high school visit to The Johnson Space Center?

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The most memorable part was being able to walk through the visitor gallery and look through the glass into the old command center. I’m pretty sure that was the command center when they got the call “Houston, we have a problem.” The visitor gallery is where family of the astronauts and the Presidents of the United States would come and sit and observe what was happening in the command center. 

[Misfit]

Here is a screenshot of my skywatching apps and others. 
 

[Misfit]

@doriath19  That sounds amazing. Just thinking of the history in those rooms.  

[jandrew]

 

A few other skywatching resources that might be of interest:

 

ClearDarkSky --- provides "at a glance" 72-hour astronomical viewing forecasts for over six thousand sites in North America: https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

 

There are also a few free star atlases (star charts) available --- but I am rather partial to the Mag-7 Star Atlas project with 21 B&W or color charts available, originally published here: https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/observing-skills/free-mag-7-star-charts-r1021 (and also available for download at many regional astronomy club websites worldwide).

 

The whole atlas, in color and with the Milky Way indicated, can be found here: https://archive.org/details/Mag_7_Star_Atlas/mode/2up

 

[Misfit]

Thank you @jandrew  I was going to add websites as part of this. The more the better. 
 

I miss being able to see the Milky Way. Too much light pollution here. 

[Runnin_Ute]

Back in 2017 NASA did a Kickstarter to raise funds to restore historic Mission Control. I sent a few bucks - couldn't afford much at the time as I was in a job where I couldn't afford to do a lot. I got a digital download of a cool Mission Patch.

 

[Misfit]

That’s a great contribution to World Space Week @Runnin_Ute Thank you for sharing it with those who find this thread.  

[Misfit]

For day 2 of World Space Week, I’m recommending some websites of interest. 
 

There is likelihood of Solar flares today. Check out Space Weather. 
https://spaceweather.com

 

NASA online is full of information.  Did you know you can get lots of Space ringtones?

https://www.nasa.gov/connect/sounds/index.html

 

Another website of interest is

https://www.space.com

 

For international Space news

https://www.esa.int

https://global.jaxa.jp

 

There are many more Space agencies worldwide. Here is a source for that 

https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/space-agencies.html

 

Interested in Space Telescopes

https://www.stsci.edu

NOAA has some Space information, like on Satellites 

https://www.noaa.gov/satellites

 

I found this one, which is new to me

https://space-facts.com

 

You can subscribe for emails to learn what is in the sky each month

https://cosmicpursuits.com/night-sky-this-month/

 

 

[wallylynn]

The previous links are good for live viewing.  For those who want a dead tree, I wholeheartedly recommend "The Stars", and "The Constellations" by H. A. Rey.  Yes, Curious George.  It is still in publication and every few years, the timetables get updated.  I think those were the two books that got me into astronomy. 

 

Not that I do more than a peek a year since I live in a major metro.  

 

I wanted to promote the Iridium Flares, bright and showy instant gratification, even in major metro, but alas they are no more.  https://www.heavens-above.com/IridiumDemise.aspx

[Astronymus]

  On 10/5/2022 at 3:51 PM, wallylynn said:

The previous links are good for live viewing.  For those who want a dead tree, I wholeheartedly recommend "The Stars", and "The Constellations" by H. A. Rey.  Yes, Curious George.  It is still in publication and every few years, the timetables get updated.  I think those were the two books that got me into astronomy. 

 

Not that I do more than a peek a year since I live in a major metro.  

 

I wanted to promote the Iridium Flares, bright and showy instant gratification, even in major metro, but alas they are no more.  https://www.heavens-above.com/IridiumDemise.aspx

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At a city festival in Dresden some years ago I was standing in a crowd in front of a stage outside the Semper Opera House. In my view was a gap between the opera house and the The Zwinger of Dresden where I could see the sky close to the horizon. At sunset, with the sun in our backs, I saw a bright Iridium flash in that area. Later, once it was dark I saw a meteor in the same area. Only to see a gorgeous lighting in just the same area later when a lighting storm passed by during the closing of the concert.

I think the sky was showing off that day. 🤔

[Misfit]

@wallylynn I didn’t know about iridium flares. It could soon be too late. Thank you for sharing that. 
This is from 2019. 
https://earthsky.org/space/i-saw-a-flash-in-the-night-sky-what-is-it/

If there is still a chance to see them, do you watch just after sunset? Or are they gone?  I used your link, then the link in that website, which was from 2020. 

 

 

@Astronymus  Yes indeed, the sky was showing off that day. It sounds magical. 

[inkstainedruth]

  On 10/5/2022 at 12:25 AM, doriath19 said:

The most memorable part was being able to walk through the visitor gallery and look through the glass into the old command center. I’m pretty sure that was the command center when they got the call “Houston, we have a problem.” The visitor gallery is where family of the astronauts and the Presidents of the United States would come and sit and observe what was happening in the command center. 

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Cool.  The one time I ever got to Cape Canaveral, we took one of the bus tours.  Sadly, when we were down in Florida, there was supposed to be a shuttle launch (and we were told we'd be able to see it all the way down where we were, in Palm Bay, which is south of Melbourne).  But there was some sort of issue that came up and NASA scrubbed the launch.  Trying to remember now if we saw it (at a distance of course) on the launchpad while on the bus tour (we took the one that dealt with current stuff, not the historic stuff like the Mercury & Gemini flights).

My dad was a bit astronomy and radio astronomy buff, and I remember getting to stay up late during the the Apollo 11 moon landing.  And even before that, where we lived where I was little, going up into the second floor to look for satellites in the sky to the south of us as they flew in our vicinity.  Later, when I was older, he set up a telescope in the driveway with a cardboard flat to look at when there was an eclipse (the one that was total in Nova Scotia the early 1970s).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[wallylynn]

  On 10/5/2022 at 9:18 PM, Misfit said:

@wallylynn

 

If there is still a chance to see them, do you watch just after sunset? Or are they gone?  I used your link, then the link in that website, which was from 2020. 

 

 

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 I think  they are as good as gone. My understanding is that some physical satellite are still up but with unstable orbits and now flares are up to pure chance. Even back when they were stable, and calculable, the flares were finicky. They were basically a car driving past and the stars aligned (hah, pun unintended) for the sun to glint off the bumper into your face.

 

Thank you for the link with the flare videos. Very cool.

 

 

[Misfit]

What a pity to learn of iridium flares too late. Still, I’m glad to know that there was such a thing. I’ll look at the word “iridium” on nibs differently now. 🙂

[Misfit]

More websites for day 3 of World Space Week. 📡🔭
 

Hubble Space Telescope for the public (as opposed to the scientific community)

https://hubblesite.org
 

James Webb Space Telescope for the public

https://webbtelescope.org
 

Radio Telescopes

https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/radio-telescopes/

 

Spitzer Space Telescope 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spitzer-space-telescope

Special Mention (not a telescope)

the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory 

https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/sindex.html