Announcement

Astroversity originally started out as an astronomy site where you could get the latest in space/astronomy news. Although I will still provide important news, I won't be reporting all of the news. This in effect is going to steer this site so it is more helpful and interactive with the daily visitor.

Like I said news won't be the main objective of this site, but if you're looking for astronomy news, visit my favorite website Universe Today where Fraser Cain is always reporting the latest.

Best of Hubble: Galaxies

The first edition of the Best of Hubble Image series will be Galaxies. When viewing the images, like I always say, my layout does not reveal the true beauty of these images, so click on them to view a hi-res version of the image. To learn more about the selected images, click its corresponding name at the bottom. The subject of the next set of images will be pictures that feature nebula (start sending in your favorites). Many of you submitted your favorite galaxies and here they are:

Image Credits: Hubble. Images in order: M51, NGC 1300, NGC 4038-4039, Hubble Ultra Deep Field, Hoag's Object Galaxy, M64

Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower will rain in the sights of sky watchers all on the Earth in two weeks on August 12. The best part of all is that there is a new moon on the 12th, meaning there will be no moonlight to obscure the view of the meteor shower.

The meteor shower is credited to the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every year in August, the Earth moves through the debris left by the Comet's tail as it passes through our orbit. The small bits of the comet collide into the Earth's atmosphere at a whopping 132,000 mph so even the smallest objects light up in the sky.

Above: A Perseid fireball photographed August 12, 2006, by Pierre Martin of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

The meteor shower starts at 9:00 to 10:00 on the 12th in the northeast(your local time) and you may see a a couple during an hour of sky watching. At the night unfolds, so will the amount of meteors. At around 2 AM of the 13th (still your local time) there may be dozens of meteors every hour. Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office estimates that at the shower's peak (before dawn), there will be one or two Perseids every minute.

Mars will also be observable. It will look like a bright red star in the northeast.

For optimal viewing of the meteors, it is best to be somewhere in the country or small suburbs where light pollution is not much of an interference.

Original Article: NASA

My Favorite Space Images

These are some of my favorite space images. Not all of the below pictures are taken by hubble. The compressed images below do not do these images the justice they deserve, so just click on them to view a higher resolution version of the picture. (The first three make good desktop backgrounds). Images: Mars, M51, NGC 6357, Saturn, Carina Nebula.

Just a head's up, my first feature of Hubble images are going to be galaxies. So send in your suggestions and favorites of galaxy images that the Hubble has taken (email is located at the top right).

Carnival of Space 13

This week's Carnival of Space is being held at the LiftPort Blog. Give it a visit. Read about astronomy, and get to know a couple of new sites.

The Best of Hubble Series

I'm going to start a series entitled, "Best of Hubble" in which I will feature the best of a certain type of Hubble image. So one theme might be "Best Nebula Images," or "Best Images From Our Solar System."

Pictured: The Hubble Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA

I want to let everyone know that I cannot do this alone. I will be accepting suggestions for each theme. I will let you know in advance what kind of images I'm looking for, and then you can suggest them to me. My first of the Hubble Image Series will not be all Hubble images. They will just be a few of my all-around favorite space pictures. Be on the lookout for that, and I will be anxious for all of your help!

Mars Rover Dust Storm Update

Conditions at Opportunity, which was facing a very dangerous part of the storm, is starting to see conditions better very slightly. Meanwhile, Spirit, which was seeing a calmer side of the storm, is now beginning to see the storm's violent side.

Power consumption is a major problem, because if the dust storm blocks out too much light, the rovers will die trying to absorb sunlight. A new problem faced by both rovers is the freshly settled dust on both rovers which blocks a lot of sunlight from reaching the solar panels. NASA has commanded Opportunity to communicate with Earth once every three days, while Spirit is communicating daily. Activity on Opportunity and Spirit has been almost completely suspended.

NASA is still hoping the best for their fighting rovers, which are continuing to survive through conditions which they were never meant to operate in.

Pictured: Opportunity's view, as the horizon becomes more opaque every day. Image Credit: NASA

Original Article: NASA

Where is today's Carnival of Space 13?

I'm always saying how much I enjoy the weekly Carnival of Space. But this week's edition seems to be missing! Both the official blog carnival website and the Carnival of Space schedule say it is supposed to be today at the LiftPort Blog, but it is not. There is a post on their blog that says they only received six entries, but that still means there were entries. So what happened? I'm just confused.