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| Vol.
5, No. 6: June 2006 |
» June Stargazing
» June Radio Programs
» Coming Up in StarDate magazine
» Enter StarDate's Anniversary Drawing
» News from the Observatory
» Join the Friends of McDonald
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 Three
planets shine in the western twilight for much of June: Saturn and Mars,
which pass each other closely at midmonth, and Mercury, which is harder
to see in the sunset glow far to their lower right. There's no missing bright
Jupiter high in the south at dusk (and lower in the southwest later in the
evening). Spica is off to Jupiter's right.
June Sky Almanac: http://stardate.org/nightsky/almanac
Weekly Stargazing Tips: http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php |
Hear
StarDate every day on more than 360 radio stations nationwide. Or subscribe
to our podcast and RSS feed.
 http://stardate.org/feeds/rss.xml
June 1-4: The
Moon and beyond. The first American spacecraft to land safely on the Moon
touched down 40 years ago, and we’ll have details. And we’ll
tell you about how the Moon has some bright companions as we head into the
weekend.
June 5-11: Lunar
rovings. The Moon moves past some beautiful stars and planets this week,
including Mars, Saturn, and the “heart” of the lion. We’ll
tell you when and where to look. And we’ll talk about a new year for
the southern hemisphere.
June 12-18: Pluto
and beyond. The planet Pluto looks its best this week, and we’ll have
details. And we’ll range out beyond Pluto -- from some nearby stars
to the edge of the galaxy.
June 19-25: Changing
seasons. It’s summertime, and the livin’ is, well, hot -- at
least for much of the northern hemisphere. We’ll explain how and why
the seasons change. And we’ll talk about a star with seasons of violent
explosions.
June 26-30: Lions
and dragons and wookies -- oh, my! This week on Star Date, we’ll take
a look at the celestial dragon, at the Moon moving past the celestial lion,
and at a celestial visitor to Tatahouine that came before the wookies.
June Program
Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars
Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates.php
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In
the July/August issue of StarDate, astronomer Dan Lester discusses the future
of space astronomy in light of NASA's plans to return to the Moon and Mars.
And we'll update you on the status of the Alan Hills meteorite on the tenth
anniversary of NASA's announcement that this chunk of Mars rock may contain
fossilized microscopic life.
Find out more: http://stardate.org/magazine/
|
 StarDate
is celebrating 10 years on the web all summer with weekly drawings for a
StarDate magazine subscription or a McDonald Observatory logo cap. Take
a look back at how the StarDate website has changed over the years and
enter to win today!
Enter the drawing: http://stardate.org/10years/
|
McDonald Observatory
receives $5 million challenge grant to study elusive dark energy
Light might soon be shed on one of the great enigmas of the universe --
dark energy -- thanks to a $5 million challenge grant from Dallas' Harold
C. Simmons to The University of Texas at Austin. Simmons' grant will help
fund the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) at UT's
McDonald Observatory by matching the next $5 million in private support
received.
Find out more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2006/0427.html
Astronomers use
McDonald Observatory telescopes to confirm extrasolar planet
An international team of professional and amateur astronomers, using simple
off-the-shelf equipment to trawl the skies for planets outside our solar
system, have hauled in their first "catch." They then turned
to Rice University's Chris Johns-Krull, who helped them use two McDonald
Observatory telescopes to confirm the discovery.
Find out more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2006/0518b.html
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Experience the wonders of the universe, while supporting educational
programs that share it with teachers and students. By joining the Friends of McDonald Observatory, you'll get great benefits, including a free
subscription to StarDate magazine, a 10% discount at the McDonald Observatory gift shop and online gift shop, free admission to the
Observatory, and more. A basic membership is $50; higher levels of membership come with additional benefits.
Join Online: http://friendsofmcdonald.org.
 Support
McDonald Observatory When You Shop! Randalls
and Tom Thumb supermarkets now include McDonald Observatory in their
Good Neighbor Program. For more information on the Good Neighbor Program,
go to http://www.randalls.com/goodneighbor.asp. |
SkyTips is a monthly email newsletter for visitors to McDonald Observatory and StarDate Online. Each issue features stargazing highlights, upcoming StarDate radio program descriptions, and other news. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family.
SkyTips is a publication of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory
Public Information Office, located at 2609 University Blvd. Suite 3.118,
Austin, TX 78712. Reproduction of SkyTips content is permitted with proper
credit given to McDonald Observatory. |
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