You never know what you might see if you just look up (Photo by xamad) This weekend, you might be attending a Fourth of July party, and you'll probably be craning your neck upwards to watch fireworks displays. As you gaze, though, cast your eyes a little further upward for a glimpse of the biggest and brightest parties of them all. You won't find paparazzi or a red carpet at these parties, just dark skies filled with dazzling stars of the celestial kind. A quintessential part of the amateur astronomer scene worldwide, star parties are held in public squares, at campgrounds, on mountaintops, and even on the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Open to the public, these nighttime gatherings and weekend campouts are an excellent way to become acquainted with astronomy and the wonders of the night sky. 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, ensuring that telescopes will be set up on sidewalks, at observatories, or in parks near you. If you can't make it to the party, just step outside into the night, or plan a star party of your own. Suggested Sites... "Sky & Telescope" Event Calendar - find a star party near you. Space.com’s Star Party Survival Guide - tips for happy stargazing. Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events – 2009 - see what's up tonight -- literally. Night Sky Network - NASA's guide to clubs, events, and starry happenings. The Galileoscope: An IYA2009 Cornerstone Project - get started with an inexpensive telescope.

Directory categories: Star Parties, Astronomy Clubs, Astronomy Beginners' Guides, International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), Astrophotography

Archived under: Astronomy, Celebrations, Events, Exploration, Holidays, Night, Outdoors, Planets, Science, Space, Stars, Summer

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James T. Kirk in his prime, approx. 250 years from now Two hundred and twenty-four years from now, on March 22, 2233, Starfleet's greatest captain will be born in a small Iowa slice of Americana called Riverside. He will be the only cadet in Starfleet Academy history to beat the undefeatable "Kobayashi Maru" scenario. As the man himself will put it, "I don't believe in the no-win scenario." He will defeat the superhuman augment Khan Nonnien Singh not once, but twice. He will be almost as famous for his seductions of both human and alien females as he will be for his exploits in the captain's chair. However, he will also be the first Starfleet Captain to stand court martial. He will personally travel back and forth through time on several occasions (earning seventeen temporal violations), and he will also steal a Starfleet vessel and violate Starfleet's sacred Prime Directive. This will be Captain James Tiberius Kirk. A man like no other; born to command the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Many aspire to be like him, but none can truly capture the bravado, the out-of-the-box thinking, and the allure of the one and only Kirk. Seventy-eight years ago, on March 22, 1931, an iconic Canadian actor was born in Montreal. This is William Shatner, the man destined to play the role of Captain Kirk. In 1965 he was working on a television series, "For the People," that was (thankfully) cancelled, leaving Shatner free to land the role of James T. Kirk in the new series, "Star Trek." Kirk made Shatner famous (and vice versa), though it wasn't until years after the Original Series ended that he and the show gained any great following. At first he snubbed the rapidly-growing "Star Trek" fan community, but then had a change of heart and embraced it. Shatner is not all about Kirk, though. He played hard-boiled LAPD cop T.J. Hooker, saw something frightening in "The Twilight Zone," and recently portrayed the amusingly-eccentric attorney Denny Crane on "Boston Legal." His talents don't begin and end with acting, either. Shatner has famously covered well-known songs, written several sci-fi novels, directed films and television shows, and he currently hosts his very own celebrity interview show. In May will come a new "Star Trek" movie, and Kirk will be back in action, but for the first time, he won't be played by Shatner. Talk about going "where no man has gone before!" Suggested Sites... Star Trek Movie - official site of the upcoming prequel. Memory-Alpha - Star Trek wiki. CBS Star Trek Original Series - check out Kirk in all his original 60s sci-fi glory with these full-length episodes. Shatnerology - worship at the altar of Shatner.

Directory categories: William Shatner, Captain Kirk, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek, Star Trek (2009)

Archived under: 1960s, 1970s, Actors, Astronauts, Biographies, Birthdays, Celebrities, Entertainment, Exploration, Explorers, Movies, Science Fiction, Small Towns, Space, Star Trek, Superheroes, TV, William Shatner

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(Courtesy of Goldenrectangle) Out among the dust and debris in our solar system are notable bodies not quite worthy of dwarf planet status, but still worthy of our notice -- asteroids. Millions of these irregularly shaped chunks of rock are out there orbiting the sun and humbly going about their business. As they drift along in the void, little do they suspect that we Earthlings have come to view them as potential planet-killers! The 1994 collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter caught the public's attention and made it quite clear that astronomical run-ins aren't just theoretical, but a reality. We hardly needed to look so far into the solar system to find evidence, though. The pockmarked surface of our moon keeps a running tab on impacts, and we even have video of meteorites slamming into it. Furthermore, there is plenty of terrestrial evidence of our planet's own violent history. So, do we need to worry about aggressive asteroids in the coming centuries? Perhaps. Fortunately for us, the fine folks at NASA are on top of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and have even developed an Impact Risk Scale to allow us to appropriately match our level of alarm to any asteroid in question. And should NASA make some faulty calculations, there are other organizations searching for ways to deflect the next dinosaur killer. So for the time being, since it seems our doom is not so imminent, let us then think of asteroids not as ruinous rocks of annihilation, but rather as gentle space neighbors who are just as keen on avoiding us as we are on avoiding them. Suggested Sites... Earth Impact Effects Program - design your own disaster with this impressive impact calculator. NASA: Near Earth Object Program - check out the orbits of potentially risky asteroids. NASA: Images of Eros - view an asteroid up close with these Eros images taken by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft. NASA: Friday the 13th, 2009 - asteroid 2004 MN4 pays us an uncomfortably close, but potentially stunning, visit.

Directory categories: Asteroids, Earth Impact, Solar System, Astronomy Instruments, Dwarf Planets

Archived under: Asteroids, Astronomy, Disasters, Physics, Planets, Science, Space

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Sputnik I; launched into space in 1957 (AFP Photo) On this day 50 years ago, the Soviet Union jump-started the space race with the launch of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. The 183-pound ball of metal was no larger than a basketball, but it sent global tremors, particularly within American military and political circles. The fact that the Soviets beat America into the cosmos -- and that the satellite was heavier than thought possible -- drove home the fear that the Russians had the capability to launch more advanced ballistic missiles. But Sputnik also captivated the imaginations of Americans enough to shake them out of the sock-hop stupor of the 1950s and into the science books. The drive to outmaneuver the Soviet Union and win the space race became so prominent that President Kennedy pledged when the U.S. would reach the moon. Of course, America's astronauts did get to the moon in due course (and even played a bit of golf), but not before the Soviets scored another victory: launching a dog into space on Sputnik II. Poor Laika, please come home. Suggested Sites... Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age - brief history of the historic satellite. 50 Years Since Sputnik - New York Times looks at Sputnik. Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age - how Sputnik changed the course of history. The Scientific Legacy of Sputnik - overview from Space.com of the scientific legacy that stems from the historic 1957 launch. NASA - Sputnik's love child.

Directory categories: Space Race, Cold War, Soviet Space Program, Satellites, NASA

Archived under: American History, History, Russia, Space, Sputnik, Technology, Transportation

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"The truth is out there" David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files movie If you're feeing a little strange today, on Paranormal Day, rest assured you're not alone. Even governments have been known to dabble in pursuits straight out of an "X-Files" storyline. The Star Gate project, explored as a surveillance tactic by the U.S. government, seemed a promising scientific approach to clairvoyance in the form of remote viewing. Conspiracy buffs say the Navy successfully teleported the U.S.S. Eldridge during the Philadelphia Experiment, but the details may be buried forever. The French government recently unveiled a public site for tracking all UFO (or UAP) reports. Although the U.S. Defense Department has officially closed Project Blue Book, if the truth really is out there -- and if we all work together -- we may find it yet. Suggested Sites... Paranormal News - news, conspiracies, UFOs, ghosts, and remote viewing -- all in one place. Earthfiles - reports from experts and eyewitnesses covering mysteries of the earth and sky. CNES: GEIPAN - French research group investigates unidentified aerospace phenomena and makes it available to John Q. Public. Philadelphia Experiment - "what they didn't want you to know." Remoteviewed - history of remote viewing, the players, and methods.

Directory categories: Paranormal Phenomena, Extrasensory Perception (ESP), Remote Viewing, Parapsychology

Archived under: Conspiracies, Paranormal, Psychics, Science, Space, UFOs

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