From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Air borne”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
June 1, 2009
June 2009 Sky Calendar
Meteorologists tell us that summer starts on June 1st. Astronomers insist that it starts on the June Solstice. As for Mainers, well, they’d rather not discuss the matter. Be that as it may, the warm [...]
Archive for May, 2009
[DA June 1, 2009] June 2009 Sky Calendar
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
[DA May 29, 2009] DA: Quiz with a touch of cash
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Unsleeping.”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 29, 2009
Quiz: DA with a touch of cash
Today, we revert back to the simple review of the week’s articles. It is one of those ordinary, run of the mill, white socks sort of DA quizzes. We threw in a cash question for a touch of whimsy. [...]
[DA May 28, 2009] The Alien Who Saved Russia?
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Portland’s Outer Space Place!”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 28, 2009
The Alien Who Saved Russia?
***********************************
To Roy Gallant, Southworth Planetarium director (1980 – 2000): a foremost expert in the field of Russian meteoritics and the first American to visit the Tunguska site. A person who penned scores of books and who, thankfully, will [...]
[DA May 27, 2009]: Lion Down
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Out of bounds”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 27, 2009
Lion Down
Now that Orion is gone, we need to find another star pattern guide: a centralized star grouping surrounded by other, less conspicuous constellations. Those just becoming familiar with the night sky often find such guide constellations helpful during their initial [...]
[DA May 26, 2009] The Practical Astronomer: Twilights
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“No, we didn’t forget!”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 26, 2009
The Practical Astronomer: Twilights
The principal requirement of anyone wishing to observe the night sky is to actually have a dark night sky.
Having a dark, but clear, sky, is not possible when the Sun is above the horizon. It is also not [...]
[DA May 25, 2009] The Surface Gravity Shrink Factor
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“A glitchen of pterodactyls”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 25, 2009
The Surface Gravity Shrink Factor
What is “surface gravity?”
Simply put, “surface gravity” is the magnitude of a gravitational force that a body experiences when on the surface of another body. A prime example is you, of course. Earth exerts a gravitational pull [...]
[DA May 22, 2009] Quiz: Sea and Stars
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Where the manic phase never ends”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 22, 2009
Quiz: Sea and Stars
Last week was the final examination. Now that we’re in Summer school, we can relax our Bligh-like (Blighesque?) discipline and flip through the occasional text next to the rock strewn or sandy beaches and enjoy [...]
[DA May 21, 2009] The Celestial Mythologist: The Lament of Medusa
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Heavens above!”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 21, 2009
The Celestial Mythologist:
The Lament of Medusa
***************************
The next Theseus installment is
still, well, stalled. I don’t like it
yet and I will likely spend the
weekend cursing and spitting over it.
It is then fortunate that you’ll
receive only a copy and not the original.
Thank you for your patience.
However, I [...]
[DA May 20, 2009] Vega Rising
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“A fribble of eights”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 20, 2009
Vega Rising
Here in the audacious experiment called Portland we’re anxiously awaiting Thursday’s heat and light, both of which shall descend upon us in great abundance. (Or, so we hope.) Finally, it is that joyous time of year again: The warmth has [...]
Hubble, Hubble, Toil and Trouble
Posted in Daily Astronomer on May 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From the USM Southworth Planetarium
“Fire burn and cauldron percolate”
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
May 19, 2009
Hubble, Hubble, Toil and Trouble
Let’s assume that the Hubble Space Telescope plummets to Earth tomorrow. In order to mitigate the trauma of this tragedy, we’ll further assume that it will crash into the new Yankee Stadium. Despite this untimely demise of the [...]
