The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on May 31st at 9pm Pacific time!
Pam and Jeff traveled to Los Angeles on Saturday 5/25/24 to spend the day with other spacers attending ISDC’24. Sometimes we were in the same lecture and sometimes we were not. The day was interesting and there were quite a few people there, including many young people! It was a sight to see.
Events like ISDC (International Space Development Conference) are part of ‘Spacer Culture,’ where like-minded folks can get together to build connections, learn from each other and buy cool stuff. We’ll tell you more during this episode of our Friday Night Show!
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on May 24th at 9pm Pacific time!
“In this project, we need your help on classifying light curves of Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), one of the most energetic explosions in the universe!
“Gamma-ray bursts can relate to supernovae, black holes, and neutron stars. But their true nature is hidden behind the diverse pulse shapes. We need your help to classify these pulses for more clues of what they really are!” ~Zooniverse
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on May 17th at 9pm Pacific time!
“Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of astronomy using the techniques of spectroscopy to measure the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet, X-ray, infrared and radio waves that radiate from stars and other celestial objects. A stellar spectrum can reveal many properties of stars, such as their chemical composition, temperature, density, mass, distance and luminosity. Spectroscopy can show the velocity of motion towards or away from the observer by measuring the Doppler shift. Spectroscopy is also used to study the physical properties of many other types of celestial objects such as planets, nebulae, galaxies, and active galactic nuclei.” ~Wikipedia
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on May 10th at 9pm Pacific time!
Lance has been an amateur astronomer most of his life, starting out with a 60mm refractor and a copy of “A Field Guide To The Stars And Planets.”
Whilst learning the constellations, he came across a curiosity in that star omicron ceti was not in the position shown in the charts from the Field Guide. Whereupon, he surmised that the chart was incorrect and wrote Professor Menzel, the author of the Guide, telling him as much.
Professor Menzel wrote back with humour, that the chart was indeed correct and that Lance had discovered, by observation, a variable star.
This star, also known as Mira, ‘…will begin to be visible to unaided eye in a few months…’ he told me. Sure enough it did.
Lance maintained a correspondence with Professor Menzel until the professor passed away in the mid-70’s. Lance would not revisit the observation of variable stars for another 20+ years.
“I’ve engaged most aspects of observing from lunar to planetary to deep sky and comets, yet, one common thread continued to occupy my interest: Bringing the Night Sky to Everybody. I took great pleasure introducing the heavens to everyone and anyone in earshot at meetings of the Hercules Public Stargazer. I would use a slew of what I call, “Fast Food Astronomy”* objects. You obviously can’t recreate a multicolour special on telly, but you could show them what the actual sky looks like and what you can expect with modest equipment. Inviting others to bring out their instruments and showing them how to use them. Yes, even the ‘hobby killer’ telescopes. With my lopsided work schedule, I cannot get out to do this as much as I would like, but my career is nearing the end and I hope to perform this more once I retire.” ~Lance Shaw
It was about 1996 when Lance was invited by the Astronomical Association of Northern California to give a brief lecture on Deep Sky with a Small Telescope for their Deep Sky Symposium.
It was then Lance realized that he had very little experience in the observation of variable stars.
Lance reached out to the AAVSO, American Association of Variable Star Observers, and subsequently became a member. He was matched with a prolific observer and mentor, Gene Hanson. Mr. Hanson formed the basis for Lance’s, to this day, interest in variable stars.
“I’ve now been involved, off and on, in the observation of variable stars for some 28 years and I have also joined the AAVSO Solar Section with daily sunspot counts. I have seen some absolutely AWESOME stars! I am particularly interested in Recurrent Novae (T Pyx, T CrB, RS Oph, U Sco); Dwarf Novae of U Gem, SS Cyg, SU UMa, and Z Cam classes, and binocular observations of bright Mira’s and Semi-Regular stars.
*”Fast Food Astronomy” = the WOW! objects; Saturn, Jupiter, the Double Cluster, M13, M27, M31, the Lagoon, the omega etc…
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on May 3rd at 9pm Pacific time!
PROFILE: Father Angelo Secchi
“Angelo Secchi S.J. …was an Italian Catholic priest, astronomer from the Italian region of Emilia. He was director of the observatory at the Pontifical Gregorian University (then called the Roman College) for 28 years. He was a pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy, and was one of the first scientists to state authoritatively that the Sun is a star.”
~Wikipedia
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on April 26th at 9pm Pacific time!
Many people we know got to see the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th this year and we asked if anyone wanted to relate their experience during this ‘Eclipse Recap’ episode. Several people said they would, so we’ll share our LIVE on Friday. If you would like to join us, you are welcome as well!
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on April 19th at 9pm Pacific time!
Since the early 1600s, keen observers armed with telescopes have turned their gaze to the Sun, sketching its dynamic surface on paper. These sketches revealed sunspots, which are regions with concentrated magnetic fields. The ebb and flow of sunspots, creates the approximately 11-year solar cycle, which is crucial for understanding the Sun’s magnetic behavior. This magnetic activity influences Earth’s system and can trigger phenomena like flares and solar energetic particles, posing a threat to electronic devices. Historical solar drawings dating back to the 1600s serve as our direct link to the Sun’s magnetic past, offering valuable insights.
To harness the wealth of information embedded in these historical records, one key parameter is the count of sunspots. This count contributes to the creation of the international sunspot number series, a vital tool in solar research. Our collaborative effort between the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany, and the National Institute for Astrophysics Observatory of Rome in Italy, focuses on extracting data from 19th-century solar drawings from the Collegio Romano observatory in Rome.
This project invites you to become a sunspot detective, contributing to what stands as the longest-running experiment in astrophysics. By participating, you play a pivotal role in advancing our comprehension of the Sun’s intricate magnetic past and its enduring impact on Earth. Join us in unraveling the Sun’s secrets, as we embark on this fascinating journey through time and space.
“Sunspots might seem as imperfections on the solar surface, but they are fascinating and constantly changing structures hosting a lot of energy and exciting physical processes.” ~Zooniverse
About Sunspot Detectives
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on April 12th at 9pm Pacific time!
We’ve talked about several different types of stars (some aren’t actually stars). Tonight Jeff will talk about Neutron Stars which, like white dwarfs, are actually the remnants of stars rather than stars themselves.
He will also talk about why protons and electrons haven’t already collided and become neutrons. If they had, we wouldn’t have atoms or, even, us. It’s rather convenient that they didn’t do that.
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on April 5th at 9pm Pacific time!
Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick was the first woman to jump from an airplane.
Between 1913 and 1922 she completed over 1,100 jumps. She invented the ripcord and is the only female member of the Early Birds of Aviation.
In 1914, she demonstrated parachutes to the U.S. Army, which at the time had a small, hazard-prone fleet of aircraft. The Army, reluctant at first to adopt the parachute, watched as Tiny dropped from the sky. On one of her demonstration jumps, the static line became entangled in the tail assembly of the aircraft, so for her next jump she cut off the static line and deployed her chute manually, thus becoming the first person to jump free-fall. This demonstrated that pilots could escape aircraft by using what was later called a ripcord.
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
The next episode of our Friday Night Show airs on March 29th at 9pm Pacific time!
This episode, Dawn and Cliff will discuss the upcoming April 8th Eclipse! They will share their experiences and any tips or tricks to help you prepare for this historic event.
Join Jeff and Pam LIVE on Friday nights at 9pm Pacific time, USA.
The Friday night show is broadcast on FB and YouTube – just look for Everyday Spacer on either platform.
If you’d like to ask questions, share Space Station sightings or ask what planet you saw in the sky, we’ll help you out. We’ll have a main topic or a guest, then share the highlights of the week ahead and the rest will be ad lib. It might be VERY ad lib sometimes! LOL
Planisphere - choose for your Latitude (the Equator is 0 degrees, the further North or South, the greater the number)
Red Flashlight
Our friend Lucy West-Binnall contributed art to this publication!
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Saw this solar telescope in action recently...
They don't show you the 'built in sun finder' - one of the coolest things about a telescope I've ever seen. You line up the dot in the finder and look through the scope and the sun is right there!
