Space Weather FX Hits iTunes

WooHoo!

Space Weather FX hits iTunes!
Space Weather FX hits iTunes!

Mark and I have been working on a series of “vodcasts” (video podcasts) about space weather as part of a NASA-funded project with the folks over at MIT’s Haystack Observatory. Each episode covers a different aspect of space weather and the research that atmospheric scientists do about the causes and effects of space weather.  When we finish filming and editing them all, there will be 8 episodes.

The first two are up now (you can find them here at Haystack’s web site and here and here on YouTube) and we just found out last week that they’re available (for free) on iTunes. If you’re an iTunes devotee, click here for a link to the first two shows (you’ll need to have iTunes installed on your computer for this to work).

The third episode goes up after Christmas sometime, and the rest are slated for release in the first half of 2009 along with an online survey for audience members to fill out.

We encourage you to watch them; if you’re a teacher, please feel free to point your students toward them. The Haystack web pages have some additional material for teachers, so if you’d like to use these in the classroom, point your browser there for more details.  If you’re an AAS member and will be attending the Long Beach meeting, please stop by the poster paper our team is presenting on Wednesday, January 7 at the conference.

Night Sky Wandering (Part I)

Winter Holiday Week 2008

A simulated view of the sky to the south from where I live.
A simulated view of the sky to the south from where I live. (Click to embiggen.)

This is the (simulated) sky view looking south from our house this week at about 11 at night. It’s one I never get tired of.  Depending on where you live, you might see this view in darker skies, or more light-polluted ones, or the star patterns might be oriented entirely differently than from this view.

Veteran star-gazers will recognize the scene pretty quickly.  But, what about those of you who are just falling in love with the sky?  What do you see here?  Take a good hard look and then wander outside sometime after 10 p.m. this next week or so, and see if you can find these star patterns.

I’ll post a guide to this image in a day or two, complete with constellation and star names. But, for now, come stargazing with me and let’s enjoy this scene together!