News, Saturday, 05 AUG 2006 Private Dedication / Public Star Party This Evening Tonight's public star party at SPOC will be preceded by the official opening of the Refractor House and the dedication and naming of the refractor. Opening and dedication are open to SLAS members and invited guests and will begin at 7:45 pm. Pre-star party talk to start at 8:30 pm and the star party itself about 45 minutes after that. Opening and dedication will be held regardless of the weather. Star party will be held weather permitting. http://slas.us/CALENDAR.ASP +++++ Need A Telescope? SLAS has several scopes available for free, long term loan to current SLAS members who have belonged to SLAS for at least 30 days. Details at: http://slas.us/membership_benefits.htm +++++ Does Capitol Hill Know Enough About Science? Congress may not have the scientific expertise it needs to evaluate current issues such as energy policy, climate change, public health and more. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5617838&ft=1&f=1007 +++++ Big Bang Pushed Back Two Billion Years Our universe may be 15% larger and older than we thought, according to new measurements of the distance to a nearby galaxy. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9676-big-bang-pushed-back-two-bil... +++++ How Pure is the Comet? When NASA slammed a probe into a comet last year, researchers were searching for the oldest stuff in the solar system. But what they found — no one had expected. http://skytonight.com/news/3491846.html +++++ Opportunity Examines Crater Ejecta, Grinds into Rock After traversing the sandy plains of Meridiani to "Beagle Crater," Opportunity investigated a patch of outcrop pavement thought to be representative of the Martian surface... http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol893 +++++ Spirit Completes Camera Check-Up, Puts Finishing Touches on Panorama Spirit has finished acquiring images for the "McMurdo panorama" and began adding some finishing touches around the edges. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll.html#sol915 +++++ Lunar X Games The X Games are underway in Los Angeles. One day--who knows?--they might be held on the Moon. This story takes a whimsical look at the physics and gear of Lunar X Games. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/04aug_xmoon.htm?list864576 +++++ SMART-1 Towards Final Impact SMART-1, the successful first European spacecraft to the Moon, is now about to end its exploration adventure, after almost sixteen months of lunar science investigations. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/SEMKTCBUQPE_0.html +++++ Baby 'Planemos' Can Be Born As Twins A team led by a U of T astronomy professor is challenging an existing theoretical model and thrilling the astronomy community with its discovery of a seven-Jupiter-mass companion next to a planemo... http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/060803-2481.asp +++++ Happy Anniversary, MESSENGER! Thursday marked the second anniversary of MESSENGER’s launch. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/status_report_08_03_06.html +++++ Dawnthusiasts Dawn continues to keep its human handlers very busy as preparations continue on schedule to meet the planned opening of the launch period on June 20, 2007. http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/journal_07_29_06.asp +++++ Eroded Moon This extreme false-color view of Hyperion shows color variation across the impact-blasted surface of the tumbling moon. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=2223 +++++ STS Update http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/status-20060804.html +++++ ISS Update http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2006/iss06-36.html +++++ Cassini Update http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/sig-event-details.cfm?newsID=682 +++++ ELV Update http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2006/elvstatus-2... +++++ ************************************************** ************************************************** Images and Data From Cassini-Huygens At:s http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/latest/index.cfm http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases.cfm +++++ Information On The Mars Rovers At: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html +++++ SLAS 2006 Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/LOCAL.HTML +++++ SSA / UMNH 2006 Southern Utah Public Star Party Schedule http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/STARPARTIES.HTML +++++ ************************************************** News is being sent to you because of your affiliation with the Salt Lake Astronomical Society or because you are subscribed to the Utah Astronomy Listserve. To unsubscribe please send your request to paw at wirelessbeehive dot com. Check out my NASA Solar System Ambassador web site at: http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky and mirrored at http://utahastro.info/ For astronomy clubs in Utah see: http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/UTAHCLUBS.HTML For the Utah Astronomy Listserve see: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy ************************************************** -- Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah & NE Nevada paw at wirelessbeehive dot com http://www.umnh.utah.edu/utahsky http://utahastro.info/ 435.882.1209 801.918.9092