Skywatching Calendar January 01 to March 31 2012

SpaceWeather Information & Resources

Getting Ready for the Next Big Solar Storm

Heliophysics |

NASA Living With a Star |

Heliophysics Summer School

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center |

The Australian Space Weather Agency

Space Weather Radio |

ESA Space Environment Information System

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery

Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific discipline that integrates studies of the Sun’s variability, the surrounding heliosphere, and the environment and climate of planets. Over the past few centuries, our understanding of how the Sun drives space weather and climate on the Earth and other planets has advanced at an ever increasing rate.

Heliophysics Text Books

“Heliophysics I:
Plasma Physics of the Local Cosmos”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver & George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com or
Amazon.co.uk

“Heliophysics II:
Space storms and radiation: causes and effects”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver & George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com or
Amazon.co.uk

“Heliophysics III:
Evolving solar activity and the climates of space and Earth”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver & George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com or
Amazon.co.uk

January 2012 Celestial Events & Space Research News

January 2012 SkyMaps & Sky Guides will not be available until January 1st

The Astronomy Picture of the Day feature will not be available until that date
It is updated daily using Universal Time (UT) which is the same as GMT

January 2012 –
SkyMaps & Celestial Guides
……………………………………………………..

Astronomy Today Sky Guide – January 2012

BBC The Sky at Night – January 2012

Meteorite Times Magazine – January 2012

January 01 2012 – 06:15 UT –
End of First Lunar Quarter

January 01 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

This Week’s Sky at a Glance – January 01 to 07

Meteorite Times Magazine – January 2012

January 02 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 03 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

2012 Quadrantids Meteor Shower

January 04 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Quadrantids (QUA) Meteor Shower Peak 07:20 UT – IMO Details & SkyMap

Quadrantids 2012: Look for meteors in the early morning sky

January 05 2012 – 01:00 UT –
Earth at Perihelion
(closest to the Sun)

January 05 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 06 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet C/2011 G1 (McNaught) –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.582 AU)

Comet P/2009 SK280 (Spacewatch-Hill) –

Closest Approach To Earth (3.909 AU)

January 07 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 131P/Mueller 2 –

Perihelion (2.418 AU)

January 08 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 09 2012 – 07:30 UT –
Full Wolf Moon

January 09 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2011 C2 (Gibbs) –

Perihelion (5.387 AU)

January 10 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Vast web of dark matter mapped”

January 11 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2004 T1 (LINEAR-NEAT) –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.863 AU)

Comet P/2008 O2 (McNaught) –

Closest Approach To Earth (3.758 AU)

“Kepler Discovers a Tiny Solar System”

“Mars probe to crash back to Earth”

January 12 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2006 T1 (Levy) –

Perihelion (1.007 AU)

Comet 78P/Gehrels –

Perihelion (2.009 AU)

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere January 12 – January 19”

“Some Comets like it Hot”

January 13 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Re-thinking an Alien World”

January 14 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 14 – 23 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………..

Less of Our Light for More Star Light: 2012 GLOBE at Night

January 15 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 16 2012 – 09:08 UT –
End of Third Lunar Quarter

January 16 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Planck’s HFI completes its survey of early Universe”

January 16-17 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………….

2nd Nagoya Workshop: The Relationship between Solar Activity and Climate Changes

January 17 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“A New View of an Icon”

“Milky Way packed with planets”

January 18 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 BZ13 flyby – miss distance 9.1 LD, size = 29 metres

“European finalists selected in Space Lab student competition”

January 19 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet C/2011 Q2 (McNaught) –

Perihelion (1.350 AU)

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere January 19 – January 26”

“What Happened to all the Snow?”

“Vega rocket ready for first flight”

January 20 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 244P/Scotti –

Perihelion (3.918 AU)

Asteroid 2012 BL14 flyby – miss distance 1.2 LD, size = 10 metres

Asteroid 2012 BV1 flyby – miss distance 0.8 LD, size = 3 metres

“Comet Corpses in the Solar Wind”

January 21 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2011 JB15 (Spacewatch-Boattini) –

Perihelion (5.019 AU)

January 22 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 102

Comet P/2006 T1 (Levy) –

Closest Approach To Earth (0.196 AU)

NOAA Space Weather Scale for Solar Radiation Storms

“Solar Radiation Storm In Progress”

January 23 2012 – 07:39 UT –
New Moon

January 23 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 103

Chinese New Year 2012: Year of the Dragon

January 2012 Aurora Gallery

Comet Lovejoy Gallery

Asteroid 2012 BS1 flyby – miss distance 3.1 LD, size = 9 metres

“Solar Radiation Storm In Progress”

“NASA animated forecast track of the latest CME”

“The two faces of Titan’s dunes”

January 24 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 BY1 flyby – miss distance 2 LD, size = 31 metres

Increasing solar activity cleans up sat-debris

NOAA Space Weather Scales

The Classification of X-ray Solar Flares

“The Sun Flares with Activity”

“Solar storm heading toward Earth”

“The CME will reach Earth TODAY at 14:18UT (+/- 7 hours)”

January 25 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 105

Asteroid 1991 VK flyby – miss distance 25.3 LD, size = 1.9 kilometres

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere January 26 – February 02”

“Death of comet captured in detail”

January 26 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 BW13 flyby – miss distance 1.7 LD, size = 17 metres

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere January 26 – February 02”

January 27 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet C/2011 Q2 (McNaught) –

Closest Approach To Earth (2.271 AU)

“Solar Eclipse over the USA”

January 28 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 29 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

January 30 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Cassini, Titan Flyby

Asteroid 433 Eros –

Closest Approach To Earth (0.177 AU)

Asteroid 2012 BD14 flyby – miss distance 5.8 LD, size = 20 metres

January 31 2012 – 04:10 UT –
End of First Lunar Quarter

January 31 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 433 Eros flyby – miss distance 69.5 LD, size = 8.5 kilometres

You Can Help To Support This Free Service
If You Buy Your Books About:
Comets & Cometary Debris,

Asteroids,

Meteors & Meteor Showers

Impact Craters,

Meteorites and

General Astronomy

From These Links Provided By
The Morien Institute

February 2012 Celestial Events & Space Research News

February 2012 SkyMaps & Sky Guides will not be available until February 1st

The Astronomy Picture of the Day feature will not be available until that date
It is updated daily using Universal Time (UT) which is the same as GMT

February 2012 –
SkyMaps & Celestial Guides
…………………………………………………….

Astronomy Today Sky Guide – February 2012

BBC The Sky at Night – February 2012

Meteorite Times Magazine – February 2012

February 01 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 71

As of today there are 1287 Potentially Hazardous Earth-Crossing Asteroids

Comet 164P/Christensen –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.840 AU)

“Vega’s first launch campaign”

February 02 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 85

“Eight more Galileo navsats agreed”

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere February 02 – February 09”

“Mission to Land on a Comet”

Mission to Land on a Comet
<br />

February 03 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 85

“Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars”

February 04 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 39

“Expert questions new spin on pulsars”

February 05 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 43

Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.025 AU)

Comet C/2011 Q4 (SWAN) –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.635 AU)

“More planets than ever expected”

February 06 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 37

Comet 69P/Taylor –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.789 AU)

“ESA’s Mars Express radar gives strong evidence for former Mars ocean”

February 07 2012 – 21:54 UT –
Full Snow Moon

February 07 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 27

Comet C/2010 M1 (Gibbs) –

Perihelion (2.299 AU)

February 08 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 24

“Europe’s ATV space ferry set for launch to Space Station”

February 09 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere February 09 – February 16”

“Large Meteorite Likely Found in Druid Burial Site”

February 10 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 33

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.850 AU)

“Could Venus be shifting gear?”

“Alien Matter in the Solar System: A Galactic Mismatch”

February 11 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 51

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner –

Perihelion (1.030 AU)

“A meteorite as a ritual offering for ancient Britons”

February 12 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 62

“Watch online: Vega qualification flight”

“Final ‘go’ for Vega launch”

February 12 – 21 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
……………

Less of Our Light for More Star Light: 2012 GLOBE at Night

February 13 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 80

Comet Lovejoy Gallery

“Planck steps closer to the cosmic blueprint”

“ESA’s new Vega launcher scores success on maiden flight”

February 14 2012 – 17:04 UT –
End of Third Lunar Quarter

February 14 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Big questions need a big telescope”

“Unlocking the secrets of indigenous astronomy”

February 15 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 198P/ODAS –

Perihelion (1.997 AU)

“How will the Square Kilometre Array telescope work?”

February 16 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2009 AV flyby – miss distance 44.9 LD, size = 1.2 kilometres

“Europe Hammered by Winter, Is North America Next?”

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere February 16 – February 23”

“Watch online: ‘Cradle of humankind’ on the Earth from Space programme”

February 17 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet C/2011 L2 (McNaught) –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)

“Swarm constellation heads north”

“Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky”

February 18 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

February 19 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2010 UH55 (Spacewatch) –

Closest Approach To Earth (2.557 AU)

Asteroid 2000 ET70 flyby – miss distance 17.7 LD, size = 1.0 kilometres

February 20 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Polydeuces

Asteroid 2012 DY13 flyby – miss distance 0.3 LD, size = 11 metres

February 21 2012 – 22:35 UT –
New Moon

February 21 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 72

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Telesto, Enceladus, Pallene, Dione & Rhea

Asteroid 2012 DF4 flyby – miss distance 3.4 LD, size = 31 metres

Asteroid 2012 DX flyby – miss distance 2 LD, size = 17 metres

“Space solutions for the Arctic”

“Quantum security looks beyond the skies”

February 22 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 61

February 2012 Aurora Gallery

Asteroid 2012 DZ flyby – miss distance 2.5 LD, size = 26 metres

“How big is the universe?”

“Prehistoric black holes have astronomers digging for answers”

“Laser radar illuminates the way to deep space”

“The Fireballs of February”

February 23 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2011 CP4 flyby – miss distance 9.1 LD, size = 255 metres

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere February 23 – March 01”

February 24 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 DY flyby – miss distance 9.2 LD, size = 21 metres

“Curiosity, the Stunt Double”

Radiation Storm Hits Mars Rover, Curiosity OK
<br />

February 25 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 DX13 flyby – miss distance 4.9 LD, size = 70 metres

Asteroid 2012 CS46 flyby – miss distance 2.7 LD, size = 12 metres

February 26 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 105P/Singer Brewster –

Perihelion (2.051 AU)

February 27 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Galileo on the ground reaches some of Earth’s loneliest places”

February 28 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“StarStuff: Not-so fast, neutrino!”

February 29 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………….

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 35

“ATV-3 set to provide ESA’s annual service to Space Station”

“SKA Telescope Announcement Imminent”

“Fledgling stars flicker in the heart of Orion”

You Can Help To Support This Free Service
If You Buy Your Books About:
Comets & Cometary Debris,

Asteroids,

Meteors & Meteor Showers

Impact Craters,

Meteorites and

General Astronomy

From These Links Provided By
The Morien Institute

March 2012 Celestial Events & Space Research News

March 2012 SkyMaps & Sky Guides will not be available until March 1st

The Astronomy Picture of the Day feature will not be available until that date
It is updated daily using Universal Time (UT) which is the same as GMT

March 2012 –
SkyMaps & Celestial Guides
………………………………………………………..

Astronomy Today Sky Guide – March 2012

BBC The Sky at Night – March 2012

Meteorite Times Magazine – March 2012

March 01 2012 – 01:22 UT –
End of First Lunar Quarter

March 01 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 35

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere March 01 – March 08”

March 02 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“Watch ‘Historical view’ on the Earth from Space programme”

“Flying Through a Geomagnetic Storm”

ScienceCasts: Auroras Underfoot
<br />

March 03 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Mars –

At Opposition

Asteroid 2012 EA flyby – miss distance 2.6 LD, size = 18 metres

Asteroid 2012 DU60 flyby – miss distance 9.1 LD, size = 37 metres

March 04 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

March 05 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 70

Mercury –

At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (18 Degrees)

Comet 182P/LONEOS –

Perihelion (1.009 AU)

Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) –

Closest Approach To Earth (1.266 AU)

“Today, Mars is at its closest to Earth for 2012” – Click for SkyMap

“Saturn and Titan, side by side”

“Traces of oxygen found around tiny moon”

“An X1-class CME erupted today at 0413 UT” – Click for an animated forecast track

“Lunar lander firing up for touchdown”

March 06 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan

Asteroid 2008 EJ85 flyby – miss distance 9.1 LD, size = 44 metres

Asteroid 2012 EM1 flyby – miss distance 7.6 LD, size = 21 metres

“Can solar storms unleash communications chaos?”

“A look back at Vega’s first liftoff”

March 07 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 109

“Sunspot and Flare, March 2012”

“Asteroid sparks debate about deflection strategies”

“An X5-class CME erupted on March 7th at 00:28 UT” –

“see the image”

“Sunspot and Flare”

New exhibition displays the largest
British meteorite for the first time

Objects in Space

At
The Royal Society
6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AG

From February 09 to March 30 2012

Entry to the exhibition is FREE
Opens at 10:00 – Closes at 16:00 daily

If in the UK please call
0207 451 2606
to arrange your visit for large parties

If outside the UK please call
+44 207 451 2606
to arrange your visit for large parties

Please Visit The Exhibition Blog

March 08 2012 – 09:40 UT –
Full Worm Moon

March 08 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 102

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Hyperion

Discovery of Uranus’ Rings –

35th Annversary (1977)

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere March 08 – March 15”

“Large solar flares generate geomagnetic storm”

“Earth’s magnetic field provides vital protection”

March 09 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan, Helene & Enceladus

March 10 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Calypso & Rhea

Asteroid 2012 DH54 flyby – miss distance 3.3 LD, size = 13 metres

March 11 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Daylight Saving – Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (United States)

March 12 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 91P/Russell –

Closest Approach To Earth (2.363 AU)

Asteroid 2012 DW60 flyby – miss distance 2.5 LD, size = 23 metres

March 13 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

March 13 – 22 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………..

Less of Our Light for More Star Light: 2012 GLOBE at Night

March 14 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 1999 RD32 flyby – miss distance 57.9 LD, size = 2.4 kilometres

“StarStuff: Stormy Sun gathers strength”

March 15 2012 – 01:25 UT –
End of Third Lunar Quarter

March 15 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere March 15 – March 22”

“Why the ‘Man in the Moon’ faces Earth”

“Near-miss asteroid will return next year”

March 16 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2011 YU62 flyby – miss distance 73.4 LD, size = 1.3 kilometres

“Mysterious Objects at the Edge of the Electromagnetic Spectrum”

March 17 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake –

At Opposition (51.386 AU)

March 18 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

March 19 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet 228P/LINEAR –

Closest Approach To Earth (2.532 AU)

“Early Earth’s atmosphere clear and cloudy”

March 20 2012 – 05:14 UT –
Alban Eilir –
Vernal (Spring) Equinox

March 20 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Comet P/2011 C2 (Gibbs) –

Closest Approach To Earth (4.401 AU)

“Europe’s next weather satellite gears up for launch”

“Why is it dark at night?”

March 21 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“ATV Edoardo Amaldi set for liftoff”

March 22 2012 – 14:37 UT –
New Moon

March 22 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere March 22 – March 29”

“Managing our water resources from space”

“Watch online: ‘Where worlds collide’ on the Earth from Space programme”

March 23 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 FX35 flyby – miss distance 3.7 LD, size = 29 metres

“Europe’s smart supply ship on its way to Space Station”

“Follow the launch of ATV-3”

March 24 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 FT35 flyby – miss distance 1.9 LD, size = 6 metres

March 25 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours

Asteroid 2012 FU23 flyby – miss distance 3.1 LD, size = 14 metres

Asteroid 2012 FZ23 flyby – miss distance 52.8 LD, size = 1.2 kilometres

March 26 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 84

Asteroid 2012 FP35 flyby – miss distance 0.4 LD, size = 12 metres

Asteroid 2012 FS35 flyby – miss distance 0.2 LD, size = 4 metres

“Artemis: the ATV whisperer”

“18th-Century Bone Telescopes Discovered in Amsterdam”

“Study throws Moon theory up in the air”

March 27 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 56

Venus –

At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)

Cassini, Enceladus Flyby

Cassini, Distany Flyby of Polydeuces, Prometheus & Janus

“Can a full Moon affect behaviour?”

“Signs of thawing permafrost revealed from space”

March 28 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 63

Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione

“Theory of Moon’s origin questioned”

March 29 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 70

“The Sky This Week for the Southern Hemisphere March 29 – April 05”

“Enceladus plumes and Dione”

“Checking CryoSat reveals rising Antarctic blue ice”

“Europe’s third cargo vehicle docks with the Space Station”

March 30 2012 – 19:41 UT –
End of First Lunar Quarter

March 30 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 100

Asteroid 2012 FV23 flyby – miss distance 6.6 LD, size = 36 metres

“Getting to Know the Goldilocks Planet”

“Monster solar tornadoes discovered”

March 31 2012 –
Today’s Celestial Events & Space Exploration News
………………………

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily Sunspot Number for last 24 hours = 93

Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 –

Closest Approach To Earth (5.272 AU)

“Was This Ancient Monolith a Stone Age Astronomy Tool?”

To understand why the Skywatching Calendar is sometimes late here is some information about Fibromyalgia

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For Your Interest:

Astronomy Books

Night-Sky Software

Astronomy Programs

Telescopes & Accessories
Skywatching Binoculars

“A Sumerian Observation of the Kofels’ Impact Event”
by

Mark Hempsell
&
Alan Bond

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“History of Astronomy”
by

George Forbes

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Astronomy
A Self-Teaching Guide”
by

Dinah L. Moche

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Life in the Universe:
A Beginner’s Guide
Astrobiology”
by

Lewis Dartnell

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“An excellent introduction into the newly emerging and exciting field of astrobiology. An essential, enjoyable and highly readable insight into life in its cosmic context.”

“Planets and Life: The Emerging Science of Astrobiology”
by

Woodruff T. Sullivan III

(Author, Editor)

&
John Baross
(Editor)

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Astrobiology involves the study of the origin and history of life on Earth, planets and moons where life may have arisen, and the search for extraterrestrial life. It combines the sciences of biology, chemistry, palaeontology, geology, planetary physics and astronomy.

This textbook brings together world experts in each of these disciplines to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the field currently available.”

“Complete Course in Astrobiology”
(Physics Textbook)
by

Gerda Horneck
(Editor)
&
Petra Rettberg
(Editor)

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“This up-to-date resource is based on lectures developed by experts in the relevant fields and carefully edited by the leading astrobiologists within the European community.

Aimed at graduate students in physics, astronomy and biology and their lecturers, the text begins with a general introduction to astrobiology, followed by sections on basic prebiotic chemistry, extremophiles, and habitability in our solar system and beyond.”

“Astrochemistry: From Astronomy
to Astrobiology”
by

Andrew M. Shaw

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“The dynamic field of astrochemistry brings together ideas of physics, astrophysics, biology and chemistry to the study of molecules between stars, around stars and on planets.

Astrochemistry: from Astronomy to Astrobiology provides a clear and concise introduction to this rapidly evolving multidisciplinary subject.

Starting with the Molecular Universe, the text covers the formation of the elements, simple models of stars and their classification. It then moves on to draw on the theme of the Origins of Life to study interstellar chemistry, meteorite and comet chemistry as well as the chemistry of planets.”

“Fitness of the Cosmos for Life: Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning”
by

John Barrow
(Editor)
Simon Conway Morris
(Editor)
Stephen Freeland
(Editor)
Charles Harper
(Editor)

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“This highly interdisciplinary book highlights many of the ways in which chemistry plays a crucial role in making life an evolutionary possibility in the universe. Cosmologists and particle physicists have often explored how the observed laws and constants of nature lie within a narrow range that allows complexity and life to evolve and adapt. Here, these anthropic considerations are diversified in a host of new ways to identify the most sensitive features of biochemistry and astrobiology. Celebrating the classic 1913 work of Lawrence J. Henderson, The Fitness of the Environment for Life, this book looks at the delicate balance between chemistry and the ambient conditions in the universe that permit complex chemical networks and structures to exist.”

“Astrobiology:
A Multi-disciplinary
Approach”
by

Jonathan Lunine

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach is the most comprehensive textbook available for emerging upper-level courses in astrobiology. Internationally renowned authority Jonathan Lunine gives students with a variety of backgrounds a solid foundation in the essential concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, and other relevant sciences to help them achieve a well-rounded understanding of the fascinating study of the origin of life, planetary evolution, and life in the cosmos.”

“Binocular Astronomy”
by

Craig Crossen
&
Wil Tirion

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Comets II”
by

Michel C. Festou
H. Uwe Keller
Harold A. Weaver
(Editors)

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Cometary Science after Hale-Bopp, Volume I”
by

Hermann Bohnhardt
Michael Combi
Mark R. Kidger
Rita Schulz
(Editors)

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Comets: A Chronological History of Observation, Science, Myth
and Folklore”
by

Donald K. Yeomans

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Books from our
Astro-Archaeology
Bookshoppe

“A Little History of
Astro-Archaeology:
Stages in the Transformation
of a Heresy”
by

John Michell

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Stonehenge today is a battlefield, not only for police and festivalgoers at midsummer but also for rival camps of archaeologists, astronomers, and other researchers into the mysteries of prehistoric religion and science. Controversy flared up in 1963, when Gerald Hawkins made early use of the computer to identify Stonehenge as an observatory for the sun and moon and an instrument for predicting eclipses. Further studies of megalithic sites by Alexander Thom proved that many of them were also related to the seasonal positions of the heavenly bodies.

The study of astro-archaeology has now expanded worldwide, bringing new revelations about the mystical sciences of antiquity. This “little history” summarizes the issues involved in astro-archaeology, and illustrates its principal sites and personalities. Included are recent findings of British scientists, whose records of anomalous levels of natural energies at stone circles are in accordance with the magical reputations of such places in local folklore.”

“Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy:
From Giza to Easter Island”
by

Giulio Magli

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“This complete, authoritative study of the growing discipline of Archaeoastronomy examines the role of astronomy in antiquity. Professor Giulio Magli provides a clear, up-to-date survey of current thinking on the motives of the ancients for building fabulous and mysterious monuments all over our planet. Was it an attempt to reproduce the sky on Earth, to bring down the power of the stars to where they could see it, worship it and use it?

The connecting thread is astronomy: Giulio Magli uses astronomy as a key to understanding our ancestors’ way of thinking. It is a challenge he likes to call ‘predicting the past’ – archaeology as a science is able to make predictions, like any other science, and to check them.

All of the astronomical achievements of the past are considered as a whole, in a comprehensive way that shows the depth and breadth of the thought behind them. In the past, the motives of the ancients – and particularly their scientific thought – have often been misconstrued, maligned or even dismissed.

In an ironic, provocative style, Professor Magli shows the limitations of orthodox archaeology in the face of astronomically-based artefacts and tries to understand what led the ancients to construct magnificent buildings such as the city of Teotihuacan in the Mexico Valley, the Ceremonial Centre of Chaco Canyon in the USA, the Avebury stone circle in Great Britain or the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the reader is taken on an ideal ‘world tour’ of many wonderful and enigmatic places in almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. In the second part, Giulio Magli uses the elements presented in the tour to show that the fundamental idea which led to the construction of the astronomically-related giant monuments was the foundation of power, a foundation which was exploited by ‘replicating’ the sky.

A possible interpretive model then emerges that is founded on the relationship the ancients had with “nature”, in the sense of everything that surrounded them, the cosmos. The numerous monumental astronomically aligned structures of the past then become interpretable as acts of will, expressions of power on the part of those who held it; the will to replicate the heavenly plane here on earth and to build sacred landscapes.”

“Megaliths, Myths and Men: An Introduction to Astro-Archaeology”
by

Peter Lancaster Brown

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Stonehenge: A New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos”
by

John David North

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“Astronomy in Prehistoric
Britain and Ireland”
by

Clive Ruggles

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Heliophysics
Text Books

“Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific discipline that integrates studies of the Sun’s variability, the surrounding heliosphere, and the environment and climate of planets.

Over the past few centuries, our understanding of how the Sun drives space weather and climate on the Earth and other planets has advanced at an ever increasing rate.”

“Heliophysics I:
Plasma Physics of the
Local Cosmos”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver

&
George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

“This volume, the first in a series of three heliophysics texts, integrates such diverse topics for the first time as a coherent intellectual discipline.

It emphasizes the physical processes coupling the Sun and Earth, allowing insights into the interaction of the solar wind and radiation with the Earth’s magnetic field, atmosphere and climate system.

It provides a core resource for advanced undergraduates and graduates, and also constitutes a foundational reference for researchers in heliophysics, astrophysics, plasma physics, space physics, solar physics, aeronomy, space weather, planetary science and climate science.”

Additional online resources
including lecture presentations
and other teaching materials
will become available towards
the end of 2012 at:

www.cambridge.org/9780521110617

“Heliophysics II:
Space storms and radiation:
causes and effects”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver

&
George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“The Sun is a magnetically variable star and for planets with intrinsic magnetic fields, planets with atmospheres, or planets like Earth with both, there are profound consequences.

This 2010 volume, the second in this series of three heliophysics texts, integrates the many aspects of space storms and the energetic radiation associated with them – from causes on the Sun to effects in planetary environments.

It reviews the physical processes in solar flares and coronal mass ejections, interplanetary shocks, and particle acceleration and transport, and considers many space weather responses in geospace. In addition to its utility as a textbook, it also constitutes a foundational reference for researchers in fields from heliophysics to climate science.”

“Heliophysics III:
Evolving solar activity and the climates of space and Earth”
Edited by

Carolus J. Schrijver

&
George L. Siscoe

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

“This 2010 volume, the last in this series of three heliophysics texts, focuses on long-term variability from the Sun’s decade-long sunspot cycle and considers the evolution of the planetary system over ten billion years from a climatological perspective.

Topics covered range from the dynamo action of stars and planets to processes in the Earth’s troposphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere and their effects on planetary climate and habitability.

Supplemented by online teaching materials, it can be used as a textbook for courses or as a foundational reference for researchers in fields from astrophysics and plasma physics to planetary and climate science.”