NASA/JPL have landed a new rover, CURIOSITY on the surface of Mars! Stay in touch with the latest with this mission and all Mars related updates, here at Dr.Sky.com:

Direct Link To The CURIOSITY ROVER:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html

Google MARS

Locate the Gale Crater And Much More:
http://www.google.com/mars/

History Of Mars Missions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars

A Journey To MARS:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars500/

The first Chinese female in space, is a Chinese fighter pilot; Liu Yang.

A total of 56 female astronauts have been sent to space and this is an important first for the PRC (China).

This is also China’s first manned docking mission.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program

The powerful Falcon rocket, with its reusable Dragon spacecraft,

docked with the ISS, on May 25^th 2012. The future looks bright for SPACE X and its future missions, helping to provide the USA, with an affordable way to space.

To learn more, please visit these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(spacecraft)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

http://www.spacex.com/

Welcome once again to our unique column, which takes you on a

most magical journey, thru time and space!

Join me, Dr.Sky®; as I fill you in on our Arizona skies of August and September 2012.

Get set for one of the best meteor showers of the year, the annual

Perseid meteor shower, which will peak on the night of August 12^th

will provide observers with an opportunity to see well over 40 meteors per hour, for lucky observers that have clear and dark skies!

To view the shower, find a dark location and face the NE sky, from

11PM till dawn.

The radiant of this shower, is located in the constellation of Perseus and the meteors from this shower are from a comet, 109P/

Swift-Tuttle.

The Moon will not be a problem for observers of this year’s Perseid show, as it will be a small waning crescent, rising well after midnight.

An amazing fact about this shower; these tiny comet particles are

for the most part, as small as beach sand and travel well over 37

per second! That makes for an amazing light show. Don’t miss it!

In August, Earth’s nearest neighbor, the Moon, is full on the 1^st,

Full Sturgeon Moon, another Full Moon, the Full Corn Moon, on

August 31^st and Last Quarter on the 9^th, New Moon on the 17^th and First Quarter on the 24^th.

August has some interesting planets to view….look for Venus and

Jupiter, high in the SE sky before dawn. Mercury, best in the morning sky on the 16^th. In the evening sky, Saturn, low in the SW

at sunset. In September, we find that the Moon is at Last Quarter on the 8^th, New Moon on the 15^th , First Quarter on the 22^nd, with

another Full Moon, the famous Harvest Moon on the night of the 29^th. September planets abound, with Venus and Jupiter high in the

morning sky, before sunrise. The evening sky is devoid of major planets…finally Fall arrives on the 23^rd at 8AM local time…the

Autumnal Equinox.

From the Dr.Sky® realm of aviation, we now return to the National Championship Air Races and Air Show, at Stead Airfield,

near Reno, Nevada. The races return, September 12-16^th, after a

tragic air crash and loss of life.

This is my memorial to pilot Jimmy Leeward and his modified P-51 Mustang, “The Galloping Ghost” and ALL those that lost life and were injured. In particular, our thoughts and prayers go out to

Michael Wogan, of Scottsdale, who was killed at the air races. He

loved airplanes and it was his dream, to be at the races!

Join me, Dr.Sky® for some exciting luxury Astronomy cruises, to

some amazing destinations. We have teamed up with Tropical Sails Corporation of Arizona. We have our first out of country Dr.Sky®cruise, off

the coast of Costa Rica, in March of 2013. Join me, for this amazing 7 day cruise on the great tall ships of Star Clippers. To learn more, call Tropical Sails Corp at 623 444-8195. This will be

a most amazing way to see the skies at sea, in a dark location. Closer, to home, I will see you at the many locations that host our

Dr.Sky programs, along with the Az Challenger Center in Peroia.

Clear Skies……..

With 2012, nearly half over, we have some of the best sky

objects and events to come.

June offers up one of rarest of all sky events; an amazing transit

of the planet Venus.

Get set for this nearly once in a lifetime event, on the afternoon

hours of June 5^th. Venus transits occur in a period of some 243 years , with a pair occurring some 8 years apart; then separated

by long gaps of 121.5 years!

Sound confusing? Just note that the last Venus Transit occurred

back on June 8^th 2004 and the last pair occurred, back on December 1874 and December 1882. If you miss this one on the

afternoon of June 5^th; you will have to wait till December 2117 and

December 2125….wow!

Just what is a Venus Transit?

The orbits of Venus and Earth are similar in many ways, the orbit

of Venus is one of the most circular in the solar system and from time to time, it will cross the orbital plane of the Earth and the Sun

at the same time!

During one of these rare events, we get to witness, the disk of Venus in front of the Sun.

Since Venus is smaller than the Sun, it appears to “transit” or move

over the disk of the Sun.

Lucky observers with proper eye protection, (similar to the eclipse

glasses that you use to view a partial/total solar eclipse), can view

the transit.

The transit of Venus can take up to six hours or so to complete its

journey, but observers in Arizona, can witness some 3.5 hours of the event, on average.

Hoping for clear skies, observers in Arizona (Phoenix) can expect

to see Venus move on to the solar disk at 3:06 PM local time, with

the Sun, some 54 degrees above the horizon.

Venus will be best placed on the solar disk at 6:25PM local time, but the Sun will only be some 13 degrees above the horizon. Sunset on June 5^th, will occur at 7:35PM local time.

Dr.Sky suggests that you take some time, now, to prepare to view this most amazing Astronomy event; but please, do it SAFELY!

To learn all about what the transit should look like from your location:

http://www.curtrenz.com/venustransit

To learn about the history of the Transit Of Venus:

http://www.transitofvenus.org/

The month of June has some other interesting objects/events. The

Full Strawberry Moon occurs on the 4^th, with Last Quarter on the 11^th. The real dark skies for June occur at best on the 19^th, with the

New Moon and then look low in the NW for a thin crescent moon

starting on or about June 20^th. First Quarter Moon, occurs on the 26^th.

For planets; all the major planets in the west, are gone at sunset, with Mars and Saturn,now in the S at sunset.

Mercury returns to the NW sky at its best, on the 30^th; some 26

degrees from the setting sun.

A sneak peek into the skies of July, reveal a great Full Buck Moon

on July 3^rd and a great chance to look at the Milky Way high overhead on the night of July19th…the Dark Of The Moon, or New Moon.

I’m off on my summer vacation in Florida, to visit the Kennedy Space Center and the ocean…to come back and start our new series “An Evening With Dr.Sky” at the AZ Challenger Center

in Peoria…Clear Skies!

Learn more at:

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news174.html

http://rt.com/news/paint-asteroid-earth-nasa-767/

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neofact.html

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Near-Earth_asteroids_by_distance_from_Sun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object

Images:

Asteroid Toutatis:

Toutatis Over A City:

Asteroid APHOPHIS Potential Impact:

5th/6th 2012!

The planet Venus will “Transit” the disk of the Sun on June 5th/6th of this

year, for lucky observers in the western USA and the Pacific.

The last time that this occurred, was back on June 8th 2004 and after 8 years,

the transit returns….this will not occur again in your lifetime, with an average of 137 years, between transit cycles….do not miss this event!

Here are some links, to help you be in the right location and safely view and

experience a bit of history!

Links:

http://www.transitofvenus.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/venus0412.html

Images:

Transit Of Venus-

As we close out April skies, take note of the years first really good meteor shower. Look to the NE skies on the morning of April 22nd, as we get to see the annual Lyrid meteor shower.
May skies get even better, with the Full Flower moon on May 5th and the last quarter moon on the 12th. The dark of the moon, or new moon is on May 20th and a first quarter moon on May 28th.
Pay close attention to the afternoon of Sunday, May 20th, as the North Valley audience get’s to witness a unique solar eclipse! This partial/
ANNULAR ECLIPSE, will begin around 5:28PM local time and reach it’s peak, at 6:38PM local time, with 83% of the sun covered
by the moon. DO NOT stare at the sun, with out proper solar glasses or filters on binoculars/telescopes, as serious eye damage could occur.
The true annular eclipse, the “Ring Of Fire” is seen by lucky observers near Page, Arizona and area’s along the 200 mile wide path of annularity.
This is where the moon fits inside the diameter of the sun!
If you get to see this event, just wait till, June 5th, as the rarest event in Astronomy; the Transit Of Venus, occurs on that date!
Clear Skies!

Annular Eclipse Of The Sun- Defined

A solar eclipse in which the moon covers all but a bright ring around the circumference of the sun.
Learn more about this eclipse at:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

Annular Eclipse:

Saturn:

Meteor:

Links:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2012May20Agoogle.html

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/A-Preview-of-May-20ths-Annular-Eclipse-141037803.html

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2012.html

Special Link For Arizona Observers:

http://www.eclipseafrique.com/dbimages/document/fichier/677/Schedule_USA_-_ARIZONA.pdf

Video:

Images:

Annular Eclipse:

Annular Eclipse:

Each month, you will find some useful and interesting informationon how to be a part of the amazing events that occur in our Arizona skies, right here in North Valley magazine. As a talk show host of both radio and TV, I hope to bring you the best of what is going on in our night skies; with some of the best skies in the world!

Let’s see what is in our February/March 2012 skies.

February, from the Latin “Februum”, literally means purification. The shortest month of the year, offers us a great view of the moon. The full moon of February is on the 7th. This full moon is also known as the full Snow Moon, rising in the NE sky at sunset, followed by Last Quarter on Valentines Day and then on to the Dark of the Moon, or New Moon, on the 21st. Look to the skies during the new moon period as the light of the Moon, will not hamper your views of the fainter objects, like the planets. In February, the planet Venus is still high in the SW at sunset and often mistaken as an aircraft or other type of “UFO”. Jupiter is high in the SW sky at sunset and is great in a small telescope.

Mars remains low in the E at sunset and will at its best in March, at opposition. Saturn rises in the SE near midnight. The month of March warms up Arizona and the skies are full of great sights to behold. If you would like to learn about all the great passages of man made satellites, just go to our site at www.drsky.com and click on the link in the Info Center, listed as Satellite Locator. Plug in your location, date and time and you will be amazed at dates and times to see the ISS space station and many of the 9,000 manmade objects in space. The moon is at first quarter on March 1st, the full moon for March, is on the 8th and is known as the Full Worm Moon. Last quarter on the 15th and the New Moon, on the 22nd. Venus and Jupiter are high in the SW at sunset, while Mars it at its best on the night of March 3rd , rising in the E at sunset.

Join us for our many Dr.Sky programs around Arizona and our monthly events at the beautiful Las Posadas Resort in Sedona and the monthly Dr.Sky” Cruise To The Cosmos” on the Dolly Steamboat.
Listen to us weekly on KTAR News Talk 92.3 for the Dr.Sky Show, 3AM Saturday mornings.
E- mail me at drsky@cox.net
Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Kates/100001527303378

“Always Remember To Keep You Eyes To The Skies”