How many stars DID YOU see?
Glare from poorly designed, inefficient outdoor lighting is ruining our view of the stars. It’s estimated that poor lighting wastes about 3 billion dollars in energy annually in the U.S. alone and there are lighting related health issues, including breast cancer.

The window for making Globe at Night observations closed on March 21st. Reports of your observations may be submitted through March 31st. This is a project of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson. You can contribute valuable data about sky glare in your neighborhood and learn a little astronomy

For a link to charts showing “limiting magnitude” click on the chart above.

Please participate in National Dark Sky Week April 17-24.

Learn more here

Click below for our Podcast interview with Dr. Connie Walker of the NOAO. Listen and learn how you can participate in the GLOBE at Night Star Count!

My attempt to observe and image the March 3rd Lunar eclipse here in Indiana was foiled by cloud cover. Using binoculars I was unable to see as much as a bright spot behind the clouds. I continued observing until approximately 10 minutes after totality ended, about 00:10 UT. Of course when I checked the sky about an hour later the clouds had broken considerably and the Moon was completely in the clear!

Others were more fortunate. Click the links below and view images taken by others who had better luck with the weather.

Try observing the “old” Moon before sunrise Saturday and Sunday, March 17 and 18 or a 20 hour old “new” Moon after sunset Monday the 19th.

Image taken by Chris Cook in Cape Code, MA.

SpaceWeather.com eclipse gallery

Don Spain’s eclipse schematic document: March 3 eclipse.doc

Visit the NASA Eclipse Page for complete information.

For observers in Europe.

Image: Total Lunar Eclipse of November, 2003. Elizabeth, IN. StarGeezer.

While observing the post-sunset appearance of Venus and Mercury on Friday, 9 February at his Little Bear Observatory in Hillview, KY, Don Spain observed a bright fireball northeast of Venus. Don reports the fireball streaked in a southeasterly direction and appeared to break up as it burned out. The image was taken just minutes before Don observed the fireball. Don reports observing this fireball at 6:50 pm EST. The image was taken at approximately 6:45 pm the same evening. Don added the graphic representation of the fireball in Photoshop. Click on the thumbnail to bring up the graphic from our Gallery.

 ISS Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams finished an unprecendented third space walk in nine days on 8 February, 2007. During the nearly 7 hour EVA (extra vehicular activity) Lopez-Alegria and Williams removed and jettisoned several thermal shrouds and deployed an Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Assembly Attachment System (UCCAS). The two spacewalkers also connected several power cables which will allow visiting Shuttles to take power from the station, extending their missions. This is the third time Expedition 14 crew members have ventured outside in U.S. spacesuits since #1 January. A fourth EVA using Russian Orlan suits is planned for 22 February. This series of EVAs are the most ever done by station crew members in so short a period. Read more here 

Meanwhile, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Space Shuttle Atlantis has been transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Atlantis is scheduled to be moved out to launch pad 39A on 14 February in preparation for the launch of mission STS-117 to the International Space Station on 15 March. Read more here.

Noted Canadian astronomer, comet hunter, author and light pollution activist David H. Levy reportedly suffered a stroke sometime during the week of January 21st. Because this information has been widely circulated on internet email reflectors we are reporting the story here.

In a message posted on the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston email reflector Levy’s friend Dr. Mario Motta reported the following: “On talking with Wendee (David’s wife) this morning, as the “news” is already out, she stated it is OK to inform all of you of the current status and thus avoid speculation and misinformation.”

Dr. Motta continued: “David had a right hemisphere stroke sometime in past week. It is a deep white matter tissue stroke, so symptoms were actually somewhat subtle, but CT scan is clear, he did have a stroke. The good news is ultrasound shows no significant blockages in carotid arteries, so no surgery is needed. An  MRA scan is scheduled for Thursday, 1 February looking for any hidden issues such as aneurysm’s etc. He is on aspirin, and recovering.
“He had been recovering from spinal surgery from October, had a setback with a bout of tachycardia, set of by a respiratory problem. He was nearly recovered from all of this when the stroke occurred. Fortunately, though he has some left arm weakness, the prognosis should be good pending further studies. Recovery should ensue (yet again for him), and aspirin therapy may be all that is needed.”

Levy, who lives in Arizona, has discovered 22 comets, authored 30 books on astronomy and observing and host’s the program “Let’s Talk Stars”. Levy is 58 years old.

Visit David and Wendee Levy’s website here