NASA Webcast to highlight Sun-Earth Day:Today

Under the theme "Our Sun, Yours to Discover", annual Sun-Earth Day will be celebrated today, around the world. To promote the event, NASA scientists have launched a special Webcast, for the students and teachers to discover the importance of Sun and its influence on Earth, while SUN-Earth Day is recognized in conjunction with the spring equinox. The Webcast will commence today(20th) at 1 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time= UTC-4h) and in Sri Lanka the equivalent time would be 10:30 p.m.

Theme itself, celebrates the International Year of Astronomy 2009 ( IYA 2009) and focuses the daytime astronomy. A bunch of new discoveries about sun will be shared among the interactive-event participants, around the globe, including NASA, personnel as well. Participating students will be asked to present individual sundials, whereas others will be engaged in tasks, related to monitoring the sun and producing a unique space weather forecast through their own analysis.

"Tremendous strides have been made with satellite and ground-based observations of the sun, which have enabled us to monitor the sun to gain a better understanding of the processes that govern its influence on our solar system," says Eric Christian, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Sun-Earth Day basically emphasizes the Sun and its influence on Earth and geospace -the proximity of Earth. Throughout last 9 years NASA has been organizing various types of projects to popularize the idea and make more people educated about the cause. There have been many NASA-sponsored public outreach events for Sun-Earth Day, mainly focusing NASA heliophysics research and discoveries. However the mission is to have as many people, including kids form kindergardens to grade 12 students, as possible to witness sidereal events and get them effectively involved through webcasts, podcasts, demonstrations, star parties and etc.


"These events also support the spirit of international collaboration, We are excited about sharing the latest discoveries about our sun and encourage others to join our quest for a greater understanding of our closest star."says Lou Mayo, project manager at Goddard for Sun-Earth Day 2009.

Goddard is producing the Sun-Earth Day webcast. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the Adler Planetarium in Chicago also are participating in the broadcast. Moreover NASA Television and the agency's Web site will broadcast the event live.

NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

USeful resources:

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2009/index.php

http://www.nasa.gov/education

Read More

MiraCosta College is on its way to unveil spectacular mural-sized images

MiraCosta College now reserves the privilege of hosting the unveiling of 2 new mural-sized images of the famous spiral galaxy M 101 (Messier 101). The unveiling will be from NASA's Three Great Observatories: namely The Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory.


Updates/ Reports

There was a public talk by Dr. Michelle Thaller of the California Institute of Technology on Friday, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the gym at MiraCosta, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside and this was followed by a star-gazing party where the attendees got an opportunity to enjoy the starry night skies with MiraCosta's telescopes and other facilities. The admission was free for anyone and that was aimed at popularizing the IYA 2009 activities and having a general impression on public.



It was also highlighted that the free distribution of a limited number of 8”x10” lithographs of M101 drew much attention to the event. Lithographs were issued on first-come first-served basis. However the images are on display at MiraCosta throughout the year 2009.

Additional detail is available from MiraCosta astronomy professor Rica Sirbaugh French at (760) 757-2121, ext. 6506.

Read More