Astronomy Website

The science of astronomy goes back as far as man does. Today it is an applied science based on carefully gathering and analyzing data, but there was a time it was little more than charlatan magic. Astronomy is something too many people ignore, but those who keep their eyes on current happenings in astronomy find a wealth of interesting information.

Australians were urged to look up and maybe duck in November when a 1400 LB Ammonia tank threatened to fall on them. It was tossed into space when it was deemed too dangerous to carry down to Earth on a shuttle. By good luck most of the pieces, no larger than fifteen pounds, were expected to fall harmlessly into the ocean. Although possible Ammonia residue would likely wash a lot of windows, this isn’t recommended as a mass cleaning method. Paul Hogan, the famous actor who played Crocodile Dundee, was unharmed. Unfortunately, according to the Daily Mail in the UK, Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, remained deceased after this incident.

New line China, September 2008, a 3rd manned space mission launches. It will include the first space walk for Chinese astronauts. Unfortunately for China it was revealed that “live video” of the successful launch and flight into orbit had actually been released before the craft left the ground. It wasn’t a hoax. China simply thought the event so important that they carefully staged a video log as public relations.

Also from China, a huge telescope has been commissioned for construction near Beijing, site of the 2008 summer Olympics. Revolutionary is the way this telescope tracks the sky – with two moving mirrors. The resulting look is something of a curiosity. This one is shaped like a leaning arch. That’s the Chinese, making art from science.

In Kazakhstan of all places a new satellite was launched in early November of 2008. Satellite Astra-1M will be used for telecommunications. The launch vehicle was called Proton-M.

Astronomy hobbyists will love Worldwide Telescope which is of Microsoft and  works in windows to call images from all over the world, delivered to the user. It’s like an observatory on a desktop. The only downfall is that no new discoveries can be made, because it’s all pre-compiled astrological data and images.