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| Auroras in Scotland |
Nov 20, 2003 - Hey everyone, I just got an email from Robert Law at the Mills Observatory that he's seeing auroras in sky above Scotland which are as spectacular as those many of you saw a few weeks ago. This is no guarantee, but if your skies are clear, maybe you'll see an aurora too. While you're at it, there's still a chance to see some of the Leonid meteors.
Let me know if you have any luck. Send me an email at info@universetoday.com.
Good luck!
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
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| Book Review: A Traveler's Guide to Mars |
| Nov 20, 2003 - Over the last few hundred years, humans have been exploring the planet Mars - first through telescopes, and more recently from orbit and on the ground. During this time we've gone from complete ignorance to a fairly deep understanding of the Red Planet. William K. Hartmann has been a scientist on several missions to Mars, and in his latest book, "A Traveler's Guide to Mars," he details our current understanding of the geologic process that have shaped the planet. |
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| Image credit: NASA/JPL |
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| Update on the Mars Rovers |
| Nov 20, 2003 - In case you'd forgotten about them, NASA's twin Mars Exploration spacecraft, Spirit and Opportunity, are still on their way to the Red Planet. Spirit made its third trajectory correction last week to fine-tune its flight path as it gets closer. Both rovers have rebooted their computers in the past two weeks to remove any data errors that could have caused by the recent powerful solar storms. Spirit should arrive at the Gusev Crater on January 4, 2004, while Opportunity will land Meridiani Planum on January 25. |
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| Image credit: NASA |
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| Station in Orbit for Five Years |
| Nov 20, 2003 - The International Space Station has been in orbit for five years as of November 20, 2003. The first element of the station, the Russian Zarya control module, was launched on November 20, 1998, and then quickly followed up by the US-built Unity module. Since then, the station has orbited the Earth 29,000 times and has been inhabited since November 2, 2000. Eight successive crews, 22 people, have staffed the station and performed research in bioastronautics, physical sciences, fundamental space biology, space product development and space flight disciplines. Happy birthday ISS. |
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| Image credit: UA |
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| Total Solar Eclipse Over Antarctica on November 23 |
| Nov 20, 2003 - Some residents of Antarctica will have the opportunity to see a total solar eclipse on November 23, 2003. Since that's mostly just penguins, astronomers and tourists are traveling to the path of totality in boats and airplanes - to be at the right place at the right time when the eclipse happens. Passengers in a moving aircraft will be able to watch the eclipse for a total 2 minutes, 36 seconds, while people on the ground will only see it for less than 2 minutes. |
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