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Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name
of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a
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 ASAT
DELAY? Rough waters in the Pacific may delay
the US Navy's attempt to destroy spy satellite USA 193. According
to press reports, an ASAT missile launch originally scheduled for
Feb. 20th could be delayed 24 hours or more to improve the chances
of a successful strike. Pilots and sailors have been advised
to avoid a patch
of ocean near Maui for the next five days (Feb. 21-25) around
5:30 p.m. Hawaii time when USA 193 is passing overhead. These represent
potential launch windows. [comment]
Amateur astronomers: If you're planning to attempt
photography or other observations of the Navy's ASAT attempt on
USA 193, NBC News would like to interview you before 5 pm EST today.
For more information please contact NBC News producer Scott
Foster.
TOTAL
LUNAR ECLIPSE: Tonight the
full Moon over Europe and the Americas will turn a delightful shade
of red. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010.
Exactly when should you look? Click here
for an animated timetable.
As explained in a recent Science@NASA
story, red isn't the only color to look for when the Moon glides
through Earth's shadow. Observers of several recent
lunar
eclipses
have reported a flash of turquoise. For example, note the upper
left corner of the above photo taken by Jens Hackmann during the
European lunar eclipse of March 2007.
The source of the turquoise is ozone. Earth's ozone
layer absorbs red sunlight while allowing blue rays to pass. This
has the effect of turning Earth's shadow turquoise-blue around the
edges. Look for it during the first and last minutes of totality
(10:01 pm EST and 10:51 pm EST).
SPY-SAT
SIGHTINGS: Until USA 193 is shot down, it
remains visible to sky watchers who know when
to look. Amateur astronomer Dan Bush took this picture of USA-193
on the evening of Feb. 18th as it passed over Albany, Missouri:
"It was moving right along (quickly) and gave the appearance
of being out of control," says Bush. "This is a 15 second
exposure using my Nikon
D200 at ISO 640." Experienced sky watchers estimate the
brightness of the satellite in the magnitude range +1.5 to -0.5,
i.e., similar to the stars of Orion and an easy target for off-the-shelf
digital cameras.
more images: from
Martin Popek of Nydek, Czech Republic
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