Help Decide What The Hubble Space Telescope Will Look At

As part of the International year of Astronomy the folks over at Space Telescope Science Institute have a poll where you can vote on six astronomical objects for the Hubble Telescope to observe.

Image Taken From The Bad Astronomer

The six objects you can choose from are: A star-forming region(NGC 6634); two planetary nebulae (NGC 6072 & NGC 40); A spiral galaxy (NGC 5172); an edge-on galaxy (NGC 4289); and a pair of interacting galaxies (Arp 274). Voting ends on March 1st, and the winning object will be released between April 2nd and 5th. After you've voted you can enter to win 1 of 100 16"x20" photos of the winning object.

So, get on over there and vote. And if anyone is interested in knowing what I voted for, it was the interacting galaxies.

Perigee Full Moon Déjà vu

On Saturday night January 10th the full Moon will reach it's perigee, or closest point in it's orbit to Earth. This means that the full Moon will appear larger and brighter than any other Moon of the year.

Image

The perigee full Moon only happens once or twice a year. The brighter and wider appearance of the Moon is caused by it's elliptical orbit. It's because of this non-circular that the moon is 50,000km closer to Earth on one part of it's orbit than it is on the other.

Listening to Meteor Showers

Okay, so apparently I'm a little behind the astronomical times. Thanks to a friend of mine on twitter I found out that you can actually listen to meteor showers. Using the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas you can hear meteors from the Quadrantid meteor shower. Anyone interested can listen at Space Weather Radio.
As the earth passes through the debris field of the remains of the extinct comet 2003 EH1 the little dust granules and tiny chunks enter the earth's atmosphere and we see them as the Quadrantid meteor shower.

A New Year, A New Blog and IYA2009

Today marks the beginning of the new year, but it also marks the start of the International Year of Astronomy, a year long global celebration of astronomy. Throughout 2009 there will be many events highlighting astronomy and it's contribution to society. From the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast to the celebration of 400 Years of the Telescope 2009 is bound to have something to pique your astronomical interests.
I'm starting this blog not because it's IYA (although it is a good reason). I'm starting this blog because I love astronomy, and I want to share it with the world.

Stay tuned... great things are going to happen. =D