NASA released this updated image of Earth and I think it’s fantastic!

If you want it for your computer, just go to  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/blue-marble-2012-earth-image-nasa-photo_n_1232173.html?ref=mostpopular and download it.

I think I’ll give this a try: The Month of Letters Challenge.

Briefly it goes something like this:

1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

All you are committing to is to mail 24 items.

Care to hear from me via good old-fashioned snail mail? Drop me your address at astrobeck [AT] gmail [DOT] com and I’ll send you a sky chart with something cool for you to look at during the month.

Tonight, SkyMed 3 flared a bit as it flew past the Moon which was near Jupiter.

Jupiter is the brighter speck (elongated because I didn’t use a tracking mount) above the Moon.

The longish streak was left behind by the satellite SkyMed 3 as it flew past and brightened.

Venus and the Moon float above some nice wispy pink clouds at sunset.

a couple of weeks testing a new pinhole camera for solargraphs…I think this one will work just fine!

January 21, 2012

My sky is usually free of clouds, but occasionally there’s a bit of messiness to it and jets leave contrails behind.  Sometimes the contrails at sunset are fairly interesting.  The one above is an example. Venus is a teeny speck below and left of the contrail. Maybe averted vision will help you pick it out.

Oh, and this is uber cool! I was the guest blogger on Astronomy.com this week.  Check it out at  http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/daves-universe/archive/2012/01/17/guest-blog-becky-s-bucket-list.aspx

Thanks to editor Dave Eicher at Astronomy.com for putting me in the starlight!

Yes, May 20 seems like a long way off right now, but when that day comes, this is going to be my view.

May 20 is the date of the Annular Solar Eclipse, and this spot has a nice foreground view for watching the Moon hide a large portion of the Sun.  As you can probably guess, I’m already anxious and excited about the day.  Maximum eclipse only lasts a bit over four minutes, so I hope to make the most of that time.  The Sun will be just a little bit right of the mountain in the distance.

The Sun will be setting during the eclipse, (it’s a Sunday evening) and I’m hoping there won’t be too many clouds interfering with the view.

This is a pinhole image made yesterday at my selected site, and I expect there will be quite a few others viewing there too since it’s the Albuquerque Astronomical Society’s observatory area.   I’m counting the days!

The Sun is an amazing star.  Sometimes when I think about it, it’s even kind of scary.  But for now, I’m just enjoying a warm day of sunshine in a crystal blue sky!  Lumix GF 1 held up to a Lunt Solarscope