Carlos, you're a genius!!
I've just found the missing part (there are always bits left over right?), and it works.

Thanks a million. XXXXX

Excellent !!

Problems with the recovery of the Aries rocket. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8334951.stm

Very nice picture of the Halloween moon. See http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091105.html

Thanks Henry; that is my new desktop background now.

You like a bit of spookiness do you Richard?

In case you do not know Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) well there is an new one every day. At least 10 years worth to catch up with.

There are even APOD apps for the iPod Touch/iPhone.

Anyone got any thought on the sun being so quiet just now. Any thoughts on how long it will last. Will all this global warming help us to stave off a mini ice age?

Haven't read the Sun for a while.

I assume we're talking spots here? Not heard to much about it lately. I take it we're seeing an aberation from the normal 11 year cycle like the Maunder Minimum associated with the little ice age? I suppose that could be used to explain the recent 'reduction' in global warming over the last few years although I think this year may be back on track.

The Leonids are supposedly going to put up a good showing this time around. Estimates range from 200 to 500 an hour, though the peak is predicted for 21.43 - 21.50 UT on the 17th, favouring Asian observers.

How would the Earth look if it had a ring system like Saturn?

Trippy. We should build one.

good point .what is the theory?

Yep - Cycle 24 appears to finally be getting underway.
Spots are now beginning to appear at higher and lower lattitudes, with polarity reversed (as compared to Cycle 23)
There is currently a small sunspot tracking across the Sun's Northern hemisphere.
Check 'spaceweather.com' for daily sunspot pics from the SOHO satellite.

New sunspot cycles begin with spots either above 30° North, or below 30° South - which migrate towards the equator over a period of 6 or 7 years. Maximum sunspot activity tends to occur when these meet at the equator.
Equatorial sunspot activity then gradually fades over a period of around 4 or 5 years - then the polarity reverses, and the next Cycle begins again at higher and lower lattitudes.

The 'gap' between Cycles 23 and 24 seems to have been caused by an unusually sluggish jetstream (which cycles north/south below the Sun's surface)
Though - the jury is still out as to why it's been sluggish towards the end of Cycle 23

Solar Cycle 24 started quite a while ago with the first high latitude reversed polarity spot, however since then very little has happened.

More evidence of life on Mars

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0911/24marslife/

Don't think this has been mentioned on here yet, but WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) is due to be launched next Monday (Dec 7th)

It'll spend about 9 months (that's how long the IR camera's coolant will last) sweeping the whole sky for 'cool' objects - that is - anything not hot enough to be a star, but warmer - relatively - than objects such as KBOs and remote cometary objects.

Gas giant planets would be detectable up to a whole light-year out from the Sun (should finally give a definitive answer to the whole 'planet X' conjecture)
It's also expected to detect huge numbers of new asteroids, and maybe as many as a thousand near-Earth objects which have so far gone undetected.

For me though, the most interesting aspect is that it will also be able to detect nearby 'brown dwarfs'
Sub-stellar objects that don't have enough mass to ignite the nuclear furnace at the heart of heavier stars.
And seeing as there are expected to be roughly as many brown-dwarfs out there, as there are bright stars - then there's about a 50/50 chance that Proxima Centauri may be relegated from it's position as the next nearest star to our Sun.

http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/


edit:-
looking at the countdown on the site - it appears the launch has been put back a couple of days since last time I read about it.

...can be found here http://jump.fm/YCUNX on this free Microsoft Power Point presentation (which can also be viewed with the free Open Office)

My own favourites are slides 11 and 12.

I've had a couple of friends ask me to recommend telescopes for Xmas... like I know so much!

One was asking for their 7 year old son. I suggested a 'cheap and cheerful' scope from Jessops to get started on. If it's a fad it's not a huge waste and if he takes it seriously it's still not a waste if they upgrade in a year.

The other was for a 34 year old friend... was suggesting the same sort of thing then saw that Costco had some Meade DS-2090's for £150 which I thought was pretty good value. Went and got it on Saturday - came with a nice set of 5 eye pieces, full computer control etc... Was pretty easy to put together and the set-up and initialisation was surprisingly easy. Only thing that stopped us doing some observing was cloud cover that rolled in over the evening. Going to go over after Xmas with my scope to compare my shoddy 6" chinese optics with his lovely new 3.5" US lens. Should be interesting.

Personally I hate cheap and cheerful equpment as it is likely to to put people off. In my view it is best to find your local astronomy society and get to know people with a passion for the subject. That way it is win/win.

I know that is not the advice you want to hear but it is which I find works best.

WISE launching at 14.09 http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d347/status.html

1505 GMT (10:05 a.m. EST; 7:05 a.m. PST)
T+plus 55 minutes, 57 seconds. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION! NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has been released from the Delta 2 rocket's second stage, completing today's launch! The Universe mapper is on its way to discover millions of new objects across the cosmos.

I wholeheartedly agree, and if the kid was a few years older that's what I'd be saying. As it is he only wants a scope because he's used mine and seen a couple of nice images of the moon & Jupiter through it and his parents haven't got the balls to say no to his every fad. On the one hand they can get him a 'cheap' refractor on an Alt/Az mount which will be easy for him to use and move around but won't get the best images. It's what I started on and will do enough to keep him happy for a while. Alternatively thay can get a larger 'cheap' refractor on an equi. mount which will be a more realistic introduction to observing but will be too complex and heavy for him to use on his own - he's a very wimpy 7 Y/O. Or they could go OTT and get him a computerised scope like the DS I recommended to my other friend - and he'll learn nothing about navigating around the sky and it'll end up collecting dust in a corner. Can you tell I really like this kid?

Wow. Nice picture. See http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091219.html

Did you guys read that some researchers in the States are claiming to have found particles of what may be dark matter?

Also NASA has released the first images of sunshine reflecting off a lake on Titan. Amazing.

Even floating a boat. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8409052.stm