Astrosphere for October 3rd, 2007

Today’s photo, captured by Chris Schurs, is amazing and difficult. It’s an image of the night sky, focused on Polaris (the North Star). Chris kept his exposure open for a full 6 hours, with the stars making the bright trails that you see. You can see more of Chris’ pictures at schursastrophotography.com

Cumbrian Sky celebrates the 50th anniversary of Sputnik on a sad note, regretting the future that we could have had if we just kept going.

Clear Skies on Demand has a cool picture of a sundog. It’s a cool little rainbow that can appear off to the side of the Sun when conditions are just right.

Larry Klaes writes for Centauri Dreams about a new propulsion system that uses magnetic fields.

Want to buy a Sputnik to celebrate that special 50th anniversary? collectSPACE has a list of the top 10 Sputniks.

A Mars Odyssey has an article about the recent failure of a space tether experiment.

And a big congratulations to George “Mr. Sulu” Takei on the asteroid named after him.

Do you have a space-related blog? Email me your URL, and I’ll start watching you. Write something interesting, and I’ll link to it.