Galilean night with a cup of hot tea and a journey to Jupiter

Galileen Nights, the last cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy is about to begin, but weather doesn't seem to be on our side. However, this has not discouraged amateur astronomers in Bucharest! They decided to warm astronomy passionates with hot tea, informal lectures about Galileo Galilei and a virtual journey to Jupiter.

The Astronomical Observatory „Amiral Vasile Urseanu” and Astroclubul Bucureşti, the first astronomy club in Bucharest, are waiting all those interested in astronomy to enjoy a cup of tea and a discussion about Galileo and his importance to astronomy. With the help of a special software, astronomers will then take paricipants to a virtual journey to Jupiter, one of the objects Galileo observed.

The warm meeting takes place Friday, 23rd October, at the Astronomical Observatory - Blv. Lascar Catargiu no 21 (between Piata Romana and Piata Victoriei). Participants are expected every hour, during 20:00 and 24:00 and they will have free entrance.

So...don't let the weather scare you! Join us for an astronomical tea party :)

Climate change from a space perspective

Today it's Blog Action Day 2009. As this year's topic is climate change, here it is a brief perspective from the space generation!

Between 8-11 October 2009, The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) held its annual Space Generation Congress (SGC) in Daejeon, Korea, gathering 80 young professionals and university students with space sector leaders and subject matter experts. The Congress was organized prior to the International Astronautical Congress and was focused on debates on key space topics such as: Industry, Agency, Climate, Exploration and Peace from the perspective of the incoming space generation!

Among the five projects developed by SGC delegates, one focused on the problem of Climate change from a space perspective. The SGC Climate session group examined how to raise awareness among the general public and decision makers about the relationship between climate change and space technology and how that technology can help in monitoring, mitigation and outreach efforts. SGAC members developed a series of recommendations, including addressing the leaders that will be present at Copenhagen.

Their project and recommendations will soon be available on SGAC website as well as here. Keep in touch!

Huge meteor caught on camera

A streaking meteor that that recently appeared 100 times brighter than a full moon was caught on video camera, scientists announced last week.

As the fireball plunged into Earth's atmosphere on the evening of Sept. 25, it was detected by cameras at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Footage shows that the meteor, roughly the size of a tricycle, was moving at a speed of 13 miles per second (75,317 kph) as it traveled over southern Ontario.

Source: Space.com

Take a tour of the Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert

Never had the opporunity to spend an observation night in a huge observatory? You can now live the experience, virtually for the moment, but who knows...

Watch the 3D video of the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory, high in the Atacama Desert in Chile. You can see the four 8m telescopes and the four 1.8m telescopes of the VLT working.



The video was made by astrophotographer and head Optics Engineer on the VLT, Stéphane Guisard. Read more

A apărut Revista Vega

Dacă nu vă număraţi printre abonaţii revistei Vega, puteţi descărca numărul din septembrie, disponibil acum pe site.

În acest număr, vă prezentăm:

- galeria de imagini cu fotografii astronomice făcute la Vlădeasa, locul unde s-a ţinut tabăra de astronomie anul acesta;
- o nouă rubrică a galeriei "Să ne amintim" ce cuprinde observaţiile lui Attila Kosa-Kiss;
- obişnuita rubrică despre constelaţii. În numărul acesta a venit rândul Vulturului (Aquila);
- un material despre participarea membrilor Astroclubului Bucureşti la un graze! ocultarea stelei Electra de către Lună;
- calendarul astronomic pe luna septembrie - mulţumiri "Observatorului Astronomic Amiral Vasile Urseanu".

Redacţia Vega: Mihaela, Oana şi Zoli

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