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”

Each month, you will find some useful and interesting information on 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!

Now on to the skies!

With December here to ring in the holiday season, our December skies are full of great objects to see. Let’s begin with our nearest neighbor, the moon! Always a treat to see, look for 1st quarter on the 2nd and then on to a very special full moon on the morning of December 10th, with the last full moon of 2011; the Full Long Night Moon and the start of a total lunar eclipse, before sunrise. Look to the NW skies starting at 5:46AM MST, for the start of the partial phases of the eclipse. Things get better, as the total eclipse starts at 7:07AM MST. You will need a little patience, as the moon will be low in the NW sky and sets around 7:18 AM, so you will just see the start of totality.This is a holiday treat for all to enjoy.

Last quarter is on the 17th and New Moon occurs on the 24th. For planets, Venus is the star of the season! Look for this blazing
orb, low in the SW at sunset. High in the E at sunset, is mighty Jupiter and Saturn rises before dawn in the SE sky.

A happy new year 2012, brings us to January! The first month of the new year has some equally amazing sights. The moon starts off 2012 with a first quarter on January 1st, the First full moon of 2012, occurs on the 9th, as the Full Wolf Moon.

Last quarter on the 16th and back to the new moon on the 23rd. Planets adorn the skies too! Look for Venus, higher in the SW at sunset and Jupiter, bright in the S at dusk.

Two meteor showers occur during this period; first is the peak of the Geminid meteors on the morning of December 14th. Look nearly overhead before dawn and the January Quadrantids peak on January 3rd.

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 <a title=”E-mail me here” href=”mailto:drsky@cox.net” target=”_blank”>drsky@cox.net</a>
Facebook at: <a title=”Facebook Page” href=”http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Kates/100001527303378″ target=”_blank”>http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Kates/100001527303378</a>

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

“Always Remember To Keep You Eyes To The Skies”

The ISS, is near completion and space experts expect many good years of research from this orbital laboratory. The current ISS orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes and can be easily seen from the ground as a very bright “moving” object. The ISS, will be placed into an orbit, forcing it to a fiery grave in the Pacific ocean.

To read the entire news article, please visit these links:

http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?lang=en

http://en.rian.ru/science/20110727/165412055.html

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

UARS Spacecraft To Burn Up In Atmosphere-

The UARS/ Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, deployed by the Space Shuttle in1991, will be entering the atmosphere, as early as late September.

As with many objects of this size, there is a high probability that some of the hard parts of the spacecraft, may survive re-entry!

Observers, worldwide, need to pay attention to updates, as the UARS craft may be visible to observers from the ground.

At this time, there is no specific date and time, or re-entry location!

To learn more:

http://www.space.com/12893-dead-nasa-satellite-falling-space-junk.html

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

New Supernova Sighted in the M101 Galaxy-

A bright, new supernova has been sighted in the large galaxy, M101 in Ursa

Major. This event was reported to have occurred on August 24^th. Observers

around the world have been viewing this Type 1a supernova, with medium

sized telescopes and binoculars. The M101 galaxy, is one of the famous M

objects (Messier Objects) and is some 12 million light years from Earth.

The supernova may have peaked in magnitude, during the early days of

September.

To learn more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_2011fe

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/128430288.html

http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/daves-universe/archive/2011/08/26/hot-news-supernova-in-m101-could-be-visible-in-binoculars.aspx

Heavy rain was all around us for a good portion of Thursday, July 7^th, with local forecasters predicting ONLY a 30% chance of a GO for launch!

We drove to KSC, from Orlando and made the 45 mile drive to the media center, to get our badges,etc.

I noticed that the road to the launch site was covered with heavy car traffic along with an estimated 1 million space fans, who gathered along the causeway and the shores of the Indian River.

The large crowds were there to celebrate the last manned launch of Space Shuttle and reflect on the fact that America does NOT have an active manned space program after this!

As we got our badges and other material, we drove a few miles to the north, to the Saturn Causeway and the NASA Media Center.

The media center had teams of journalists from all over the world, as well as many VIP’s that had been invited to this grand event.

With three hours to launch…I got to meet many professional media types, as well as NASA employees.

Many are workers from the grand old days of the space program, from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era.

There are many people that will loose the jobs that they have and are not sure what lies ahead for them.

Dr.Sky is part of the team that will always promote the good fortune and values of a manned space program and help others to learn about the many great achievements that have come from the US Manned Space program!

As the launch excitement continued, with some 45 minutes to zero hour, we saw well over 5,000 people gathered near the famous NASA launch clock.

I was invited to set up our camera and video gear next to the site for ABC Network Radio and Vic Ratner. It was a pleasure to meet Vic and get to be a part of the last manned Shuttle mission.

I also got to say hello to veteran space reporter Jay Barbree, the retired NBC correspondent, who has covered every US manned mission, since Alan Shepard’s launch in 1961! He has seen ALL 166 US manned missions.

Our location near the launch clock afforded us another unique and memorable experience; being seen LIVE on NASA TV.

I was also there to go live on the “McMahon Group” TV show, here in Phoenix and report on the mission!

With the clock at the 4 minute hold mark, excitement was building for my first live launch.

I was here, back in 1970 with my father, when I was young boy of 13 years old, to see the Apollo 13 launch. We arrived at KSC, during the week of March 7^th 1970, to witness a total solar eclipse. The sight of the Apollo 13 on the launch pad, was intense!

Apollo 13 launched towards the moon on April 10^th, 1970. It’s crew, never made it to the surface of the moon, but I am here, once again, some 41 years later, to witness the end of the American manned space program.

The count continues………….

We now get down to the one minute mark and all the eyes of the world are now focused on Atlantis, some 3.5 miles away from the Press Site.

I get my camera and video camera ready to roll and get set to go on TV to report on this amazing launch of a Space Shuttle, a literal controlled explosion with people on board!

35….34….33…32..and then the clock stops at 31 seconds!

All of our effort to get here and all the traffic, weather etc.; what could be going on?

Media members say that there is a problem and the launch might be scrubbed!

At the time of the launch, there was a large clearing that seemed to hover over the launch site.

All around us, we could see the NASA Gulfstream jet flying around to check on the weather, in the event that the Shuttle needs to return to the special 18,000 runway at KSC. I could see an F-15 high up over KSC and looking at the weather too!

After what seemed like an eternity, the count continued…WOW….here we go…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…0……………………..

From this site, you see the bright flame of the SRB’s and the Shuttle is moving…no sound yet, just the flames of the rocket motors!

Then as the Shuttle clears the launch tower, you hear the roar and witness the brightest red orange colored flame from these powerful rockets….so bright in fact, I had to look away for a moment, sending these four space pioneers on an 8.5 minute ride to space!

The skies opened up and the chance of a lifetime….seeing the last of the Shuttle’s to launch was now a reality.

After some 45 seconds, Atlantis punched thru the clouds and it was off into space….God Speed Atlantis!

I reported on the event on TV and got some of the best video and still images that I could have ever dreamed of….but there was more in store for us a few days later at KSC!

Many of these images and videos, will be posted on www.drsky.com, as well as, www.photorecon.net; for all to enjoy!

My partner, Sue Kilp, got some amazing shots of the launch, with a 500mm telephoto lens on her Nikon D7000 and these will be posted also!

Later in the week we were invited to be guests of a great aerospace/flight team known as STARFIGHTERS.

They have some amazing F-104 fighter aircraft that are being restored into an amazing flight demo team!

The STARFIGHTERS share a hangar at the KSC facility, right near the main Shuttle runway.

We were hosted by Mike Robinson and he was great at giving us a top to bottom tour of the F-104 facility and then on to some of the most sacred of the KSC launch locations of days gone by.

We toured the sacred ground of the Apollo1 launch facility, where US astronauts, Grissom, Chaffee and White, perished in a tragic fire, back on January 27^th 1967.

After that , we ventured on to the launch pads of Mercury and Gemini long forgotten by some, but not to us!

A special thanks to Mike and all those that helped make our trip to witness the launch of America’s last Space Shuttle, STS-135/Atlantis.

“Ad Astra”

Links:

STS-135-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-135

Apollo 1 Fire-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

Mercury 7-

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

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

Project Gemini-

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

Project Apollo-

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

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

Space Shuttle Program-

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

Future Planned Manned Missions-

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

Russian Soyuz Spacecraft-

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

Boeing X-37 Spacecraft-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37



The spacecraft arrived in the vicinity of 4 Vesta on July 16^th around 1PM EDT.

Vesta is the brightest of the asteroids and one of the first to be discovered.

It was discovered by the astronomer Heinrich Olbers back on March 29^th 1807.

Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth and home and this is an asteroid of some 380 miles in diameter, making it a rather large target for the DAWN spacecraft.

DAWN will attempt to go into orbit around Vesta and provide us with some amazing images and science on the nature of these unique bodies of the solar system.

To follow the DAWN mission, please visit these links:

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/

http://www.readingastro.org.uk/observing-vesta-at-opposition/

This has been my favorite movie for so many years and it was great to meet “Dave Bowman” and “Dr.Frank Poole” in person. If you have never seen this movie, make it a “must see” on your list of classic movies.

You will see some radio interviews posted to our site and especially at the Dr.Sky radio archive, listed under the Teen Talk Network link. I am hoping to interview both of these film legends in the near future at:

http://www.teentalknetwork.com/sky.htm

Links:

2001: A Space Odyssey:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)

Keir Dullea:

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

Gary Lockwood:

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

Sir Arthur C. Clarke:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

Stanley Kubrick:

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

Images:

All eyes will be on NASA, as it launches the Shuttle Atlantis, STS-135 on or about July 8^th.

As of this date, Shuttle Atlantis, will be launched to the International Space Station, on July 8^th at 11:26AM EDT. This marks the final flight of Shuttle Atlantis and an end of the shuttle program. A four person crew will launch to the ISS and spend some 12 days in space.

This mission will help complete the ISS and Atlantis will also deliver the Raffaello multi purpose logistics package to the space station.

The launch will take place at Launch Pad 39A To follow the details of this exciting mission, please refer to these important links:

Space Shuttle Atlantis- OV-104

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

STS-135 Mission-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-135

Mission Summary STS-135 PDF File:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-135

Atlantis Fact Sheet PDF File:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/552635main_2011.05.20_ATLANTIS.pdf

Atlantis Image Gallery-

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/multimedia/gallery/gallery-index.html

Image Of Flight Patch-

STS-135 Crew-

STS-135 Crew Poster-