Celebrating Apollo 11 at the Emmaus Library

JULY 20, 1969

APOLLO 11

FIRST MOON LANDING

CELEBRATE FORTY YEARS

OF THIS INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENT

July 20, 2009 7pm at the Emmaus Public Library

Learn about the fragile four-legged spacecraft that landed, the three astronauts who were on this mission, what they collected to take back to earth and what they left behind. Lunar enthusiast Mark Tillotson will discuss the lunar landing with a multimedia presentation, including footage of the actual lunar surface activities.

All ages are welcome. Please call the library (610-965-9284) to register. Light refreshments will be served.

Fly Me to the Moon

This seems to have become my theme song: 

This is a great version. Frank dedicates it to the Apollo astronauts who landed on the Moon.

Shoot for the Stars

Image: Caelum Observatory

“Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.” 

  - Les Brown

The Moon and Venus

The Moon and Venus over my house!

Happy New Year! But don't forget your leap second!

Moon Course

Image: Mark Tillotson

NASA Returns to the Moon 

Instructor: Mark Tillotson

12 weeks, Wednesday nights at 7 - 8 pm, Emmaus High School

Begins on February 4, 2009

NASA is currently planning a return to the Moon and many of it's scientists, engineers and contractors need to learn about the Moon. The Johnson Space Center sponsored Moon 101 - A Course in Lunar Science for Non-Specialists. 

Using the information from Moon 101, this course will present the basics of Lunar science that NASA is using to plan future missions to the Moon to set up a permanent base. The course will cover topics such as geology and the physical characteristics of the soil and surface material that will effect living and working there, the crust and interior, environment, poles, and the lessons learned from Apollo. We will also learn about viewing Lunar features from Earth, meteorites, mapping and the search for water.

This course is designed for anyone with an interest in the Moon and astronomy. It will focus on the overview of Lunar science and will not require any special math skills.

The registration form is here. I hope you will join me on this exploration of the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1 enters Moon orbit!

Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters Moon orbit 

NDTV Correspondent

Saturday, November 08, 2008 5:25 PM(New Delhi)

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully entered moon orbit on Saturday. With this development, India's moon mission has been declared successful.

When India's first mission to the moon took off nearly a fortnight ago, there was both joy and anxiety. There was joy because the mission put India in an exclusive club of countries.

Though scientists rejoiced as the Chandrayaan blasted off, they knew they had a tougher job at hand, to put the satellite in moon's orbit. That happened on Saturday evening and the mission was declared a success.

Indian scientists were worried because the last part of Chandrayaan's journey was dangerous, as it had to go through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out. Even a small deviation could have sent the spacecraft into a crash course towards the earth or on a path leading into deep space, but everything went according to plan.

When the spacecraft was about 500 km short of the moon, it was to be slowed down. The moon's gravity would then pull the craft into its orbit. Later, it would be stabilised in a 100 km circular orbit.

This is great! I can't wait for the new images and the science reports to start coming out. With Selene in orbit as well, we have a new era of Lunar exploration.

November Lunar Calendar

This is my list of important events for November.

The Darth Raker Invasion

I spent most of the evening with Professor Darth Raker's Astronomy Class, which was visiting LVAAS to do some hands-on learning. It was a fun group, although Aimee 'White-Light' did cause some trouble in the beginning...



We looked at Jupiter through several different scopes and Bill showed us the 'Ring Nebula'. Will had fun showing off his 4.5" Celestron while I fiddled with both the 12" reflector (Roll-Off) and the 6" refractor (upstairs dome). Io went behind Jupiter at 7:19 pm. We had been watching it get closer and closer, wondering if it would cross in front or behind the giant planet. Ganymede, Europa and Calisto were also visible.




Fred gave them a Planetarium show and while the Prof was trying to take pictures I was nominated to lead the Library tour. Dave is the current club librarian and he said that it contains over 1,000 astronomy-related books, magazines, videos and DVD's. Quite a collection!!

The crowd departed with their notebooks - apparently a 4-page paper on Astronomy is due next week. They had fun and asked a lot of questions - which I was glad to answer. Good luck to all!



I then spent some quiet time with the Moon. The fast-moving clouds made for some interesting lighting on - and around - the Moon.

The rest of today's images are in my Picasa Web Album.

Thought for today:

“The moon, like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.”

- William Blake (English Poet, Painter and Engraver. 1757-1827)

The Moon became Mind, and Entered the Heart.

Atman, the Creator, made Fire, Wind, Sun, Moon, and other divinities.

They said to him: ‘Find out for us an abode wherein we may be established and may eat food.’ He led up a bull to them. They said: ‘Verily, this is not sufficient for us.’ He led up a horse to them. They said: ‘Verily, this is not sufficient for us.’ He led up a person to them. They said: ‘Oh! well done!’—Verily, a person is a thing well done.— He said to them: ‘Enter into your respective abodes.’

Fire became speech, and entered the mouth.

Wind became breath, and entered the nostrils.

The Sun became sight, and entered the eyes.

The Moon became mind, and entered the heart.

The Moon: Myth and Image

By Jules Cashford, p. 118

Hindu myth circa eighth to sixth century BCE.

Irish Blessing

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.”

- Irish Blessing

Lunar Geese

Image by Walter Siegmund, Fir Island, Washington.

What a beautiful image! It combines my two favorite hobbies: astronomy and birding. Click the image to see a larger version.

This was the August 28th post from LPOD - Lunar Photo of the Day.

The 4 am Moon

Music Mike and I went to the LVAAS site at South Mtn at 4am today to do some observing. By coincidence - the Moon had just risen...



While I was still talking about craters Mike found the Orion Nebula. It was great. Picasa has more photos from our little adventure - including some cool colors from the star 'Rigel' in Orion.

And if you want to know more about lunar craters - just ask! Sometimes I'm willing to talk about it...

A Beautiful Day

I had a great day today. I was blessed with this beautiful sunset.




I saw the Biker escort for the WTC steel beam to PA memorial.



I went to a Peach Festival.



My daughter returned home from her week-long vacation visiting friends in Richmond, VA.



And now the Moon is up. I need to go look for new craters.



I wonder what tomorrow will bring...



Meanwhile, you can view more photos from today on my Picasa Web Album.