Tuesday 29 March 2011

Werskwinkel by Boyden-Sterrewag - Saterdag, 9 April 2011


Foto by Boyden geneem tydens die Venus/Maan okkultasie

Kom sluit die vakansie af met `n Sterrrekunde-belewenis!

Die Bloemfontein Amateur Sterrekundige vereniging hou op 9 April `n Werskwinkel by Boyden-Sterrewag, by Bloemfontein.

Dit gaan `n praktiese dag wees, waar deelnemers gaan leer om met ander oë na die uitspansel te kyk.

Datum: Saterdag, 9 April 2011
Tyd: 14:30 vir 15:00 - 22:00
Plek: Boyden-Sterrewag, by Bloemfontein.
Werkswinkel: Sterrekunde vir beginners

Van die lesings is onder meer: `n Zoemreis van 100 meter bo Boyden tot `n paar miljoen ligjare verder; Astrowaarneming vir beginners; Wat kan ons alles in die naghemel waarneem en later gaan kyk ons daarna; Inligting oor Teleskope en verkykers voor jy gaan koop.

As dit donker word gaan ons met `n verskeidenheid teleskope en verkykers kyk na al die voorwerpe waarvan ons vroeër gehoor het. Voor die maan teen 20:00 sak gaan ons ook na die hemelliggaam kyk. Jy gaan ook die geleentheid kry om self na iets in die lug te soek.

Pak vir jou `n piekniekmandjie vir die aandete en kom geniet die hemelruim. Ons sal sorg vir koffie en koeldrank.

Die koste vir die werkswinkel is:
  1. Per gesin (3) = R240; Ekstra kind = R60; 
  2. 1Volwassene = R 120; 
  3. Skoolkind en volwassene R180;
    (Kinders graad 7 tot 9 moet deur ouers vergesel word.
    Elke inskrywing ontvang `n Sterrekunde DVD propvol inligting en nuttige sterrekunde sagteware.
  4. Klublede van die Bloemfontein Sterrekundevereniging is R60.

Friday 25 March 2011

Earth Hour 2011

Are you burning candles this Earth Hour?
Click here to find out how to do it safely. Keep your children and home safe.
Saturday 26 March 8:30 - 9:30PM

Sign up now to show your support for Earth Hour and to receive regular updates and information.

Earth Hour is the largest mass participation environmental event in the world and every year, WWF encourages people all over the world to turn off their lights for one hour in a symbolic gesture to pledge their commitment to combating climate change.

This year is especially important for South Africa as we will host the crucial COP17 climate change conference in Durban in December and will once again be in the global spotlight. This annual conference is where world leaders meet to assess progress in dealing with climate change and negotiate obligations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The significance is huge: South Africa will play host to a point in history at which humanity has the opportunity to prevent runaway climate change. We encourage everyone in South Africa to take a stand against climate change as it affects all of us, our country and our planet.

This year, Earth Hour is asking everyone to ‘go beyond the hour’ and commit to an on-going personal action to benefit the environment. With COP 17 on the horizon, it is especially important for people in South Africa to make their voices heard and to go beyond the hour.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Time Is Now For Human Mission To Mars

by Staff WritersWashington DC (SPX) Mar 15, 2011
MarsDaily


"The time for a human mission to Mars is now," write the editors of "A One Way Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet," a collection of articles published in book form this month by the Journal of Cosmology. "The overall message of this volume is not just that going to Mars is a worthwhile scientific program and a great adventure worthy of Homo sapiens. It is that we can begin the project now," write the editors, astrobiologists Paul Davies of Arizona State University and Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University.

Read more..

NASA spacecraft trying to get into Mercury's orbit



A desk-sized NASA spacecraft is riding the brakes all the way to Mercury, about to pull a tricky maneuver Thursday night to become the first man-made object to orbit the tiny planet.

This image released by NASA shows an enhanced photo image of Mercury from its Messenger probe’s 2008 flyby of the planet. NASA says it was a taste of pictures likely to come after March 17, 2011, when the probe enters Mercury’s orbit. This photo shows the eastern part of the smallest and closest planet in our solar system. The colors in this picture are different than what would be seen with the naked eye, but show information about the different rock types and subtle color variations on the oddball planet. The bright yellow part is the Caloris impact basin, which is the site of one of the biggest in the solar system. Earth is about to get better acquainted with its oddball planetary cousin.



(AP Photo/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

An asteroid the size of a house swoops by Earth


An asteroid the size of a house zoomed by Earth Wednesday, flying within the orbit of the moon just one day after astronomers spotted the space rock in the sky, NASA says. 

But don't worry, danger was small, those at NASA watching space rock say 

Read more...

Russian craft brings astronauts back to Earth



by Staff WritersArkalyk, Kazakhstan (AFP) March 16, 2011
 A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying a US and two Russians astronauts Wednesday parachuted amid hailing winds into a snow-swept Kazakh steppe after a five-month mission to the International Space Station.

Read more...

Europe agrees 2020 space station



Europe has formally agreed to the extension of operations at the International Space Station until 2020.
Member states have also put in place the financing to cover their commitments at the platform for the next two years.

Super Full Moon


Perigee moons are as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons.

by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science@NASA

Huntsville AL (SPX) Mar 17, 2011 Mark your calendar. On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

Read more... 

Super full moon

Mark your calendar. On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

The Moon looks extra-big when it is beaming through foreground objects--a.k.a. "the Moon illusion."

Credit: NASA