The awesome folks over at SLOOH have created a great live video of the Supermoon that was made earlier this evening. The video was a live broadcast from the Canary Islands where the clear skies and altitude provide a great place for observing the night sky.
Space
Take A Look at The Supermoon This Weekend
This weekend will offer a once-a-year opportunity to catch a view of the Supermoon, which is also called a perigee Moon. A Supermoon is what we see in the night sky when the Moon is closest to Earth in it’s elliptical orbit and a full Moon at the same time.
All of this will happen on June 23rd (Sunday) and the Moon will be much larger and brighter that it normally is. You should have no problem noticing it, as long a the weather permits for good viewing. Another effect that occurs during the Supermoon is that of enhanced or stronger tides. These tides are about 40% stronger than those that occur during Apogee, which is when the Moon is at it’s farthest point from Earth in it’s elliptical orbit.
Why You Probably Have Never Seen the Actual Night Sky
The sky is above us, always, thankfully, but how often do you look up at night sky where you live? I think it’s fair to say that most of us don’t spend too much time paying attention to what’s going on up there, but what’s strange is that even when you do look, you’re likely not seeing the whole picture.
In the United States, the majority of Americans live near large cities that are filled with light pollution. Light pollution is exactly what it sounds like, it’s excessive light from artificial sources that fills the night sky and blocks our view of the true night sky. Now, by contrast if you live out in the country you are far more likely to see the night sky in great detail. If you live in the Western or South Western United States, with the exception of big cities in California, you will have a very good chance of seeing a night sky full of billions of stars.
Did you know that you can actually see the Milky Way in the night sky? Many Americans have probably never actually seen the Milky Way and some never will. That’s a sad thought considering it’s one of the most amazing views one can see. I didn’t see the Milky Way until I was about 11 years old but I will never forget the view.
Perhaps, I have inspired you to go in search of a place that will allow you to view the night sky in all it’s glory! That’s great, but where should you go? Well, there are quite a few places and most of them are out west but there is one really great location in the east that offers up a great view as well. It helps to be high in altitude to get away from the weather and light to create a great star gazing experience and that’s why the McDonald Observatory in Texas is a great location to go as it sits about 6,700 above sea level and has large telescopes that are open to the public to enhance your view.
For those on the eastern side of the US you can head to Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania. This park will definitely allow you to see the nucleus of the Milky Way Galaxy and probably more stars then you have ever seen before. Really want to be amazed? Then how about “International Dark Sky Park” or Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah. This place offers a phenomenal view of the night sky, in it’s full glory, including a complete view of the Milky Way, airglow, and you may even be able to see overhead passing satellites and meteors with the utmost ease, that is if you can pick them out among the millions of stars filling your view.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there, get inspired, get into science and look towards the night sky. You could even make it part of a fun summer trip!
Amazing 3D View of Known Universe
The universe in which we exist is unimagineably immense and we only know of a very small portion of it. That “small” portion however is massive all by itself and you can get a real feel for just how massive it is by watching this awesome video that was posted by the Los Angeles Times which shows us a 3D map of the known universe.
It’s incredible to see how all of this data comes together and it’s interesting to see the size, scale and shape of what we know is out there. The video is just over 17 minutes long and features lots of cool animations, some of which show portions of the universe that we barely know about. The map covers about 120 million light-years of space and time and features narration by Helene Courtois of the University of Lyon in France.
Tornado Path Seen From Space
The devastating E-F5 tornado that struck central Oklahoma on May 20th 2013 caused 2 billion dollars in damage and has taken up to 24 lives. This powerful storm has left a scar on the Earth’s surface that can easily be identified in this image from far above the Earth.
The photo was taken using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra spacecraft. This is a false-color image that clearly shows the path of the powerful tornado that lasted nearly 40 minutes as it continued to move along for 17 miles.
You can see a larger view of the image with it’s caption from NASA.