Ashton Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Des Moines Astronomical Society. Built in 1983, it is located in Ashton-Wildwood county park near Baxter, Iowa (USA). Source Latitude: 41°48'48&qu...
When a meteorite crashes to the earth it will generally break up in the atmosphere, spreading its pieces over a certain area in what is known as a strewn field. Two areas in Kansas have long been known among experts to be rich in meteorite materials from long ago. One is the Brenham strewn field near Gree...
The 110 - 250 metre wide asteroid 2008 TF will make a close pass (77.3 Lunar Distances, 0.1985 AU), travelling at 22.82 km/s, to the Earth-Moon system on the 8th October, 2009. See more The Lunar Distance (LD), the distance b...
Orbital elements: 2009 QZ34 Earth MOID = 0.0539 AU Epoch 2009 June 18.0 TT = JDT 2455000.5 MPC M 304.96145 (2000.0) P Q n 0.42351466 Peri. 224.15258 +0.80299809 -0.59595853 a 1.7561317 Node 172.42307 +0.55722966 +0.74763583 e 0.4068115 Incl. 2.27897 +0.21139815 +0.29304281 P 2.33 H 22.4 G 0.15 U 9...
Orbital elements: 2009 QL8 Earth MOID = 0.0504 AU Epoch 2009 Aug. 17.0 TT = JDT 2455060.5 MPC M 327.35840 (2000.0) P Q n 0.37970015 Peri. 352.80965 +0.36965055 -0.92676124 a 1.8887546 Node 75.47844 +0.85590008 +0.31160551 e 0.5601141 Incl. 3.96118 +0.36165388 +0.20979899 P 2.60 H 19.4 G 0.15 From...
Artificial ionosphere creates bullseye in the sky An experiment that fires powerful radio waves into the sky has created a patch of 'artificial ionosphere', mimicking the uppermost portion of Earth's atmosphere. The research has not only caused glowing dots to appear around these patches - it co...
Une population de galaxies elliptiques compactes détectées avec l'Observatoire Virtuel Les galaxies elliptiques compactes (cE) sont des objets rares, qui sont observés en général au voisinage de galaxies massives, comme Messier 32 autour de la galaxie d'Andromède. Comme leur métallicité es...
This weekend the Mekong River will again erupt with its mysterious fireballs. What are they? Join the never-ending debate and make up your own mind. The phenomenon is as enigmatic as it is beautiful. Thousands of pink and red bursts of light - the "naga fireballs", sometimes called "...
Variable Star Magnitude: 4.79 Spectral type: M2III Distance: 250 - 500 light years away New catalogue of Suspected Variable stars (NSV) 99 Position (2000): RA 00 14 36.1645, Dec +20 12 24.126
Orbital elements: 2006 WL3 Earth MOID = 0.1592 AU Epoch 2009 June 18.0 TT = JDT 2455000.5 MPC M 181.57745 (2000.0) P Q n 0.62291962 Peri. 67.06963 -0.79509385 -0.49914922 a 1.3578383 Node 81.37726 +0.34452296 -0.83919544 e 0.2407836 Incl. 20.39143 +0.49912894 -0.21587283 P 1.58 H 20.0 G 0.15 U 2 [u...
Germany's COMSATBw-1 military communications satellite is readied for its launch on Ariane 5 The German military communications satellite passenger for Arianespace's upcoming Ariane 5 flight (Flight 191) has arrived in French Guiana to begin its pre-launch processing in preparation for a li...
ESA issues call for Earth Explorer proposals As part of ESAs Earth Observation Programme and its continuing endeavour to address critical Earth science issues, the Agency has released an opportunity for scientists to submit proposals for the eighth Earth Explorer mission. By focusing on scienc...
Arianespace to launch Amazonas-2 for Hispasat Spanish operator Hispasat has chosen Arianespace to launch its new communications satellite, Amazonas-2. Petra Mateos, Chairman and CEO of Hispasat, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, signed today the launch Service & So...
The 150 - 340 metre wide asteroid 2005 SP9 will make a close pass (37.1 Lunar Distances, 0.0954 AU), travelling at 25.08 km/s, to the Earth-Moon system on the 25th September, 2009. See more The Lunar Distance (LD), the dist...
Both MEASAT-1 & 2 satellites were launched on Ariane rockets from Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou in French Guiana. MEASAT-1 was launched in January 1996, and MEASAT-2 was launched in November 1996. MEASAT-1 is located in a geostationary orbit at 91.5 degrees East, and MEASAT-2 is located i...