Archives for November 2007
NASA Aeronautics Essay Competition
Published on 27 Nov 2007 at 7:36 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under aeronautics, college teaching.
NASA is America’s space agency, but that is not all. A lot of people forget that the first A in NASA stands for Aeronautics. NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They do more than just launch rockets. NASA is also involved in aeronautical research. They work to develop […]
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The Moon and Mars
Published on 26 Nov 2007 at 3:32 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
Tonight, if you go out and look towards the east, say at about 9pm or later, you will see the Moon. Very close to the Moon will be a reddish star. That “star” is no star! It is the planet Mars. The Moon moves around the sky, taking about 27.3 days […]
Big tides
Published on 24 Nov 2007 at 5:53 pm.
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Filed under Earth, moon.
Today is Full Moon. This Full Moon also falls on the same day that the Moon reaches perigee (the closest point in its elliptical orbit to the Earth). That means high tides. I’ve blogged about tides twice before: here and here. You can read those postings to find more about […]
Parhelia
Published on 23 Nov 2007 at 10:20 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under atmosphere, skywatching.
About a week or so ago, I was driving home and I looked up towards the Sun. It was late in the afternoon, and the Sun was fairly low in the sky. Off to either side of the Sun was a small rainbow pattern in the sky. They were parhelia (often called […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
Published on 21 Nov 2007 at 1:11 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under calendars.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Since 1941, it has been a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. The tradition dates back to before the United States was a country, when a festival of thanksgiving was held at the end of the harvest season.
I just finished my last class […]
The North Texas Skywatch Star Party (wrapup)
Published on 18 Nov 2007 at 11:58 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under observing.
Well, the star party went well. We did not have quite as many people bring scopes out as we have had in some past years, but the turnout was quite good. About sunset, I did a quick count of telescopes, and there were about 25 of various types. But, a number more […]
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Delta rocket explosion
Published on 16 Nov 2007 at 7:30 pm.
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Filed under rockets, video.
This is a video that I found on YouTube about a Delta rocket exploding on launch.
In the early days of rocketry, the rockets tended to explode a lot. It happens less often today than it did in the early days, but it does still occur. That is why they launch these things from […]
