Welcome to This weeks show , We will not be on Next Week as it’s Thanksgiving Weekend in the US. My thanks to StarStorm for catching the links in chat

 

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/lunar/program_overview.html

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/MinimumSystemRequirements6.pdf

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/lunar/

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161117-australias-hypersonic-spaceplane-for-a-new-space-race

http://newatlas.com/hifire-mach-7-woomera-hypersonic-flight/43409/

https://www.n2yo.com/  

C/2015 V2 Johnson

 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/sifter/pluto-s-heavy-heart-may-have-moved-its-poles

 http://www.astronomy.

This  month  Nick Evetts,  Neil Norman  and Mary(Spicer) McIntyre are joined by Nick James and Denis Buczynski from the BAA Comet Section

Roy Panther  https://www.britastro.org/node/8206

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67URilFX6ck

BAA Comet Section page

BAA Comet Section Visual Observations Page

BAA YouTube Channel

Project Alcock

The Astronomer

The Astronomer  Youtube Channel

The German Comet Group

Seiichi Yoshida’s page

Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomia

Comet chasing in November

International Comet Quarterly

CometBase

Nick, John, & StarStorm  Tonight so settle in your seats and enjoy the show

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/is-there-a-dark-energy-particle

 http://ed-brt.blogspot.com/2016/06/welcome-back.html

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/

http://ed-brt.blogspot.com/

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/11/04/NASA-Navy-practice-Orion-module-recovery/8691478267091/?spt=sec&or=sn

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c5/e9/b1/c5e9b17f613bcc08433f03d8fc8c63c8.jpg

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/11/03/Mars-rover-confirms-Egg-Rock-is-fallen-iron-nickel-meteorite/7131478205369/?spt=sec&or=sn

http://www.universetoday.com/131702/monster-meteorite-found-texas/

 http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

Tonight’s show was brought to you by  Nick Evetts, Marty Kunz  and StarStorm

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZkiglD2_Mw

https://www.facebook.com/879560992080948/photos/a.940157832687930.1073741830.879560992080948/1156716484365396/?type=3&theater

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/jupiter-returns-with-a-surprise/

http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/summary/alerting-site-rolling-activity.png?2016-10-29T01:16:00Z

Nuclear thermal rocket Main article: Nuclear thermal rocket Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rockets – conduct nuclear fission reactions similar to those employed at nuclear power plants including submarines. The energy is used to heat the liquid hydrogen propellant. The vehicle depicted is the “Copernicus” an upper stage assembly being designed for the Space Launch System (2010).Bimodal Nuclear Thermal Rockets conduct nuclear fission reactions similar to those safely employed at nuclear power plants including submarines. The energy is used to heat the liquid hydrogen propellant. Advocates of nuclear-powered spacecraft point out that at the time of launch, there is almost no radiation released from the nuclear reactors. The nuclear-powered rockets are not used to lift off the Earth. Nuclear thermal rockets can provide great performance advantages compared to chemical propulsion systems. Nuclear power sources could also be used to provide the spacecraft with electrical power for operations and scientific instrumentation.[6]NE

Space odyssey voyage to the planets- BBC Documentary 1 of 2  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4zBQG54fg

Project ORION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoLcJuBtOw

http://scitechdaily.com/hubble-sees-the-eerie-glow-of-a-dead-star/

This  month Its Just Nick Evetts & Neil Norman  as Mary Spicer is off Becoming Mrs Mark McIntyre.. so a Bare Bones show and what Comets to watch for Next Year, Next Month  we have some very special guests from the British Astronomical Association ……….

BAA Comet Section page

BAA Comet Section Visual Observations Page

Project Alcock

The German Comet Group

Seiichi Yoshida’s page

Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomia

Comet chasing in October

International Comet Quarterly

CometBase

 

 

A brief synopsis of the upcoming comets.

45P/ Honda-Mrkos-Padjusakova .

Discovered in 1947, this comet makes its’ 13th return to perihelion on Dec 31st,2016,and is expected to reach magnitude 6 in February 2017.

2P/ Encke.

Return of “old faithful”. This marks the 71st return since its’ discovery in 1786 ( only the return of 1944 was missed)

Perihelion is set for March 10th,2017 and a magnitude of 5 ( Naked eye) is confidently predicted.

41P/ Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak.

Perihelion is April 11th, 2017 and this comet could easily attain magnitude 3.

ER61 (PanSTARRS)

A comet that was initially believed to be an asteroid !

For Northern observers, this will be a tough object due to its’ low inclination to the ecliptic as it reaches perihelion on May 9th, but saying that, it could still reach magnitude 6.

This object is related to the Damocloid group of comets.

C/2015 V2 (Johnson).

An Oort comet that is at perihelion on June 12th,2017, and is well placed for Northern observers.

The comet should reach magnitude 7 making it a binocular object.

Currently it is a full magnitude above predicted magnitude for the apparition.

But a word of caution, this is an Oort cloud comet and it could blow itself out early.

This  Week Marty and I discuss  Starparties , How to keep the other half happy when you buy  Astronomy Kit( always make your kit dual purpose!), Some unlikely places to source useful Items , including how to justify a Caravan ( travel trailer in the US),  staying warm, and how to protect your costly Observing  equipment from the Weather……. Star Storm joins in too  with some comments

 

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orbital_atk_crs-5_mission_overview.pdf

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=78487

https://blog.galaxyzoo.org/2016/10/12/galaxy-zoo-hubble-data-release-and-paper-accepted/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(constellation)

http://www.globeatnight.org/mythology/cygnus

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orbital_atk_crs-5_mission_overview.pdf

http://www.popphoto.com/prisma-luce-lab-offers-dslr-cameras-with-built-in-cooling-systems-for-night-sky-photography?src=SOC&dom=fb

In this weeks show  we discuss the Success of  the  New Shepard In Flight  Escape Test,  have a look at what’s visible in the Northern Night Skies for the Next week, and yes   Discuss How you can take part and help with observations

 

https://www.blueorigin.com/

All you need to know: Draconids in 2016

Look for Orionid meteors this month

http://exploration.esa.int/mars/48088-mission-overview/

 

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/understanding-the-universe-an-introduction-to-astronomy-2nd-edition.html

AstronomyGCSE.co.uk    

Home

http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/ 

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

American Astronomical Society

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada      http://www.rasc.ca/

British Astronomical Association  https://britastro.org

Baader AstroSolar Safety Film   astrosolar.com/en/

TOURING THE UNIVERSE THROUGH BINOCULARS

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/weeks-sky-glance-october-7-15/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-161007&utm_content=886531_SKY_HP_eNL_161007&utm_medium=email

Happy Birthday NASA !In this weeks show we discuss how to get to Mars and beyond . We look at the Nightsky and what you can see and when, and we discuss Constellations! Finally we bid good bye to Rosetta and yes talk about where we could have sent the probe too  as an Encore Mission!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Koenig

 

Rosetta’s Grand Finale

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, September 30 – October 8

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1633/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EsoTopNews+%28ESO+Top+News%29

 

Big thank you to everyone who was in the chat room tonight for joining us live and to StarStorm  for saving the links each week

Welcome to CometWatch! Your Hosts are Nick Evetts, Neil Norman &  Mary Spicer.

This  Month we are joined by Terry Lovejoy, Justin Tilbrook & Michael Mattiazzo and we discuss The History of Comet Hunting

BAA Comet Section page

BAA Comet Section Visual Observations Page

Project Alcock

The German Comet Group

Seiichi Yoshida’s page

Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomia

Comet chasing in September

International Comet Quarterly

CometBase

The Notes Used for the Show

Charles Messier.

Born; 26/06/1730

Died; 12/04/1817

Discoverer of 13 comets with only a  basic telescope that had a mirror made with speculum (glass wasn’t used until the 1850’s), and an aperture of 5 inches.

He became interested in comets after seeing the Great Comet of 1744 ( C/1743 X1).

During his career he observed 44 of the possible 50 comets to appear between 1758-1806.

Lewis Swift.

Born; 29/02/1820

Died; 05/01/1913

Also discovered 13 comets and became interested in comets after seeing the Great Comet of 1843.

In 1857 he obtained some astronomy books, and with the instructions in one of them, he made a 3 inch scope. The mirror was accidentally broken , so he brought a 4 inch “Comet Seeker ” telescope.

His most notable discovery was 109P/ Swift-Tuttle , the parent of the Perseid meteor shower.

Edward Emerson Barnard.

Born; 16/12/1857

Died; 06/02/1923

Discovered his first comet in 1881, yet failed to report it!

He purchased a 5 inch telescope in 1876 , and went on to discover 16 comets in total.

In 1892 he discovered D/1892 T1, the first to be discovered photographically.

William Robert Brooks.

Born; 11/06/1844

Died;

Was nicknamed “Eagle Eyes”, a name well deserved with 27 comet discoveries.

He was born in England but moved to the U.S in 1857.

Founded the Red House Observatory,Phelps,N.Y, 1874, where he discovered 11 comets.

He went on to discover another 16 comets (mostly with his 5 inch telescope).

Jean-Louis Pons.

Born; 24/12/1761

Died; 14/10/1831

The most successful visual comet discoverer of all time with 37 finds.

This said,

In this week’s show ……..we share the current Astronomers telegram  on the Gaia Supernovas ,  StarStorm makes quite a few comments on the AIR …. We put a pokestop on Mars and Pluto ( one way to get Man on Mars & Pluto