Explore Space Together
Here are some beautiful space photos and videos that have been posted on the Internet recently. Enjoy!
Video of International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield singing David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ from the ISS.
Video of the May 10 solar eclipse as viewed from Australia!
The beautiful, ringed planet Saturn rules the night sky this month in the Name A Star Live constellation Virgo. You can use the Moon to find this astronomical jewel, and use just about any telescope to see its rings! But be sure to check out the elusive planet Mercury this month as June affords the best view of Mercury for 2013.
Saturn is an excellent telescopic object this summer. For those of you in the northern hemisphere of Earth (e.g., North America, Europe, Japan) Saturn will appear above your southern horizon after sunset. For those of you in the southern hemisphere (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, South America) Saturn will appear above your northern horizon after sunset.
Finding your star in the night sky
Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky. Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations. Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation. You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope. You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.
Name A Star Live will launch the first ever fashion line to fly in space! We’ve partnered with the eco-fashion brand Teeki in an effort to help promote awareness of a more sustainable future and lifestyle for humanity. Along with our customers’ star names, we will launch the material from which eight pairs of special edition yoga pants will be made for the new Teeki line, “The Age of Aquarius.” The launch, known as The Centennial Flight, is scheduled for liftoff June 21, 2013 out of Spaceport America, New Mexico.
This “Earth Rise Service” mission will fly Teeki’s payload in UP Aerospace’s SpaceLoft™ XL SL-7 launch vehicle. After flying in the zero gravity environment of space, the spacecraft carrying the payload will safely return to Earth via parachute. Once recovered it will be retrieved and returned to Teeki, which will then use the material in manufacturing.
Teeki has joined us in supporting the exploration of outer space “because ultimately it is about a journey of discovery, sustainability, and making our Planet (our only precious habitat) a better and healthier place to live,” said Teeki owner/designer, Lindsay Hemric.
The replicas of these special edition yoga pants made their debut at the historic Vibiana Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday April 25th as part of the UPLIFT Yoga Bash, held by the non-profit organization Keep Friendship Alive to benefit middle school children. This exciting new clothing line was worn by about half of the approximately 700 people who attended the event, including aerial dancers and yoga instructors. In addition, Name A Star Live will launch personal messages and ‘aspirations’ collected by Teeki, along with Teeki’s material. These messages were collected, free of charge, from those in attendance at the Yoga Bash. Members of the public may submit message via Teeki’s website.
About Teeki
An eco-friendly fashion forward clothing manufacturer, located in Los Angeles, California. Teekly uses only recycled and sustainable materials to produce functional clothing and strives to create a sense of environmental awareness.
Here are some beautiful space photos and videos that have been posted on the Internet recently. Enjoy!
“Alchemy” — A time-lapse video that shows the beauty of the seasons, including some wonderful views of the Milky Way!
Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team
The Orion nebula is featured in this sweeping image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The constellation of Orion is prominent in the evening sky throughout the world from about December through April of each year. The nebula (also catalogued as Messier 42) is located in the sword of Orion, hanging from his famous belt of three stars. The star cluster embedded in the nebula is visible to the unaided human eye as a single star, with some fuzziness apparent to the most keen-eyed observers. Because of its prominence, cultures all around the world have given special significance to Orion. The Maya of Mesoamerica envision the lower portion of Orion, his belt and feet (the stars Saiph and Rigel), as being the hearthstones of creation, similar to the triangular three-stone hearth that is at the center of all traditional Maya homes. The Orion nebula, lying at the center of the triangle, is interpreted by the Maya as the cosmic fire of creation surrounded by smoke.
This metaphor of a cosmic fire of creation is apt. The Orion nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged. It is one of the closest sites of star formation to Earth and therefore provides astronomers with the best view of stellar birth in action. Many other telescopes have been used to study the nebula in detail, finding wonders such as planet-forming disks forming around newly forming stars. WISE was an all-sky survey giving it the ability to see these sites of star formation in a larger context. This view spans more than six times the width of the full moon, covering a region nearly 100 light-years across. In it, we see the Orion nebula surrounded by large amounts of interstellar dust, colored green.
Astronomers now realize that the Orion nebula is part of the larger Orion molecular cloud complex, which also includes the Flame nebula. This complex in our Milky Way galaxy is actively making new stars. It is filled with dust warmed by the light of the new stars within, making the dust glow in infrared light.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages, and operated WISE for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The spacecraft was put into hibernation mode after it scanned the entire sky twice, completing its main objectives. Edward Wright is the principal investigator and is at UCLA. The mission was selected competitively under NASA’s Explorers Program managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah. The spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
“We Are the Explorers” — a NASA video that provides a summary of NASA’s history and futuristic space technology. This almost 3-minute film has inspired the Aerospace Industries Association to produce a 30-second trailer about the U.S. space program — a trailer that will be shown before moviegoers who see the new Star Trek film, “Star Trek: Into Darkness” opening in theaters May 17.
There’s a lot going on in the night sky this month: a meteor shower this coming weekend; a solar eclipse visible from Australia and Hawaii; and a beautiful alignment of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury over Memorial Day in late May.
Meteor shower in the Name A Star Live constellation Aquarius May 5/6
Over the night of May 5/6, you may see one of the best meteor showers of the year — the “Eta Aquarid” shower. Composed of tiny dust particles left by Halley’s Comet on its previous visits to our neck of the solar system, this year’s Eta Aquarid meteor shower promises to be impressive because moonlight will not interfere with the show. When the Moon is out, the bright light of the Moon makes it difficult to see many of the fainter “shooting stars” of a meteor shower. But on the night of the meteor shower’s peak — May 5/6 — the Moon will not rise until around 4:00 am (the morning of May 6). It’s called the “Eta Aquarid” meteor shower because the shooting stars all seem to emanate from a particular point in the constellation Aquarius.
The best way to view a meteor shower is to lie down in a lawn chair or on a blanket — face up — and enjoy the show! No telescopes or binoculars needed. The absolute best time to view the largest number of meteors per hour will be between 3 and 4 am May 6. But really, you can still see a lot of shooting stars the evening of May 5 — and over the nights of May 3, 4, 7 and 8 as well. Those of you in the southern hemisphere of Earth (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, etc.) should get a particularly good view.
Remember to bring along insect repellant or warm clothes, as your weather may dictate, and have a great time!
Solar eclipse visible from Australia and Hawaii May 9/10
No matter where you live, you can watch the eclipse live, via the Internet.
Also, check out this video that shows the path of the eclipse:
A trio of planets for Memorial Day
In late May — during the Memorial Day period in the United States — the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will align together around sunset, and will be viewable just over over the western horizon. These “planetary conjunctions” do not happen often, so be sure to take a gander at this heavenly display!
Star hop to Saturn
Star hopping is when you use bright, easy-to-identify objects in the night sky to find harder-to-identify objects. It’s like using landmarks on Earth.
On the evening of May 21, 2013 you can star hop to Saturn! Face southeast and start with the Moon. Look for the bright point of light down, and to the left of the Moon: That’s the star Spica. Then, look further down and to the left: The bright point of light you’ll see is the planet Saturn. You can easily see Saturn’s rings through just about any telescope. While you look at Saturn’s rings, see if you can detect a dark circle within the rings: That’s the famous “Cassini division.”
For those of you in the southern hemisphere of Earth (such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.), you should face east the evening of May 21 as well (your time). In your case, Spica will be down, and to the right of the Moon, and Saturn will be down, and to the right of Spica.
The Moon and Saturn will be in the Name A Star Live constellation Virgo that evening. Spica is Virgo’s brightest star.
Finding your star in the night sky
Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky. Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations. Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation. You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope. You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.
For the first time ever Name A Star Live (Houston, Texas), the company that makes it real by launching your star name into space, has partnered with the eco-fashion brand Teeki in an effort to help promote awareness of a more sustainable future and lifestyle for humanity. They will be launching the material from which 8 pairs of special edition yoga pants will be made for the new Teeki line “the Age of Aquarius.” The launch known as The Centennial Flight is currently scheduled for liftoff on June 21, 2013 out of Spaceport America, New Mexico.
This “Earth Rise Service” mission will fly Teeki’s payload, attached to UP Aerospace’s SpaceLoft™ XL SL-7 launch vehicle. After flying in the zero gravity environment of space, the launch vehicle carrying the payload will safely return to Earth via parachute. Once recovered it will be retrieved and given back to Teeki, who will then take it for manufacturing.
Teeki has joined up in supporting the exploration of outer space “because ultimately it is about a journey of discovery, sustainability, and making our Planet (our only precious habitat) a better and healthier place to live,” said Teeki owner/designer, Lindsay Hemric. Continue reading “Space Meets Yoga Fashion: First Ever Fashion Line To Be Launched Into Space”
Name A Star Live launches your star name into space, making you part of a real space mission! After the flight we e-mail you a Launch Certificate, verifying that your star name has flown among the stars.
The Centennial Flight carried into space the star names of all of our customers who named stars with us on, or before, May 22, 2013. Launch occurred on a SpaceLoft XL launch vehicle built and flown by our launch service provider for this mission, UP Aerospace.
Launch occured from Spaceport America, New Mexico – the world’s first purpose built commercial spaceport, and future home to the SpaceShip II missions of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic aerospace company. Continue reading “The Centennial Flight”
Here are some beautiful space photos and videos that have been posted on the Internet recently. Enjoy!
The beautiful, ringed planet Saturn shines at its brightest for 2013 this month. That’s because on April 28 the planet will reach “opposition,” meaning at sunset that evening Saturn will appear just over the eastern horizon, on the exact opposite side of the sky as the setting Sun. But you can get a good look at Saturn and its rings throughout the month, and for the next several months, through even small telescopes. Saturn will reside in the Name A Star Live constellation Libra throughout April.
Saturn will be about 9 Astronomical Units (AU) from Earth in April. An AU is the average distance of the Earth from the Sun, or about 93 million miles. So in April, Saturn will be about 9 times farther away from Earth than the Earth is from the Sun.
If you view Saturn through a telescope, you should be able to make out some of Saturn’s large moons, especially the largest, and brightest, moon: Titan. It orbits the planets once every 16 days. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft “has revealed that Titan’s surface is shaped by rivers and lakes of liquid ethane and methane (the main component of natural gas), which forms clouds and occasionally rains from the sky as water does on Earth.”
Take A Break from Your Taxes and Look at Jupiter!
The Moon also passes by our solar system’s giant planet, Jupiter, this month. Jupiter is in the Name A Star Live constellation Taurus in April. The crescent Moon will lie near Jupiter the night of April 14. So if preparing your income tax returns is driving you crazy that night, take a break, step outside and look for the crescent Moon. Jupiter will be the brightest point of light near the Moon. If you have a telescope, look at Jupiter and see if you can view its four largest moons — the “Galilean satellites.” These four moons move very quickly: They noticeably change their position over the course of just a few hours. But those of you in the northern hemisphere of Earth (e.g., North America, Europe) will likely see all four moons that night in the following order (listed from nearest Jupiter and going out): Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
And consider viewing the Moon the preceding evening when it will lie between the “Hyades” and the “Pleiades” in the Name A Star Live constellation Taurus.
Finding your star in the night sky
Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky. Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations. Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation. You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope. You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.
The big news for the night sky this month is the appearance of Comet PanSTARRS to residents of the Northern Hemisphere of Earth (e.g., the U.S., Europe, China). We’ve produced a separate blog article for the comet: Click here to read that article.
But you can also see the giant planet Jupiter during the evening hours in March 2013. A particularly good night for identifying Jupiter is March 17 (March 18 for those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth [e.g., Australia, Japan, China, India]). Plus, Saturn rises after midnight and is visible to you early birds toward the southwestern horizon.
