Martz-Kohl Observatory

1 week ago

Great image from the Orion spacecraft at its furthest point from Earth. You can see the composition and relative brightness of the Moon and Earth. The Moon being closer to the spacecraft while the Earth is further away. The Moon has an albedo of 0.07 while the Earth has an an average albedo of 0.31. Albedo is measured on a scale of zero (darkest: 0.0) to one (brightest: 1.0). A full Earth as seen from the Moon is about 43 times brighter than the full Moon is as seen from Earth. The Moon is dark because it contains very little ice, snow, water, clouds, and atmosphere. The moon consists mostly of rock dust and dark rocks that are similar in composition to rocks on earth.

Image by European Space Agency (ESA) ... See MoreSee Less

Martz-Kohl Observatory

2 weeks ago

Now is a great time to become a member of the Martz-Kohl Observatory or give a membership as a gift! Our mission is to inform, educate and inspire the general public and support teaching and learning in the sciences of astronomy and physics. Members have access to our state of the art facilities and telescopes. Increase your knowledge of astronomy and skill of observing through the collective knowledge and comradery of the membership. Attend free-to-members lectures and presentations related to astronomy and Space. Access our online lecture series video library. If interested, you can get involved with our educational outreach programs. Members also get reduced subscription rates to astronomy magazines. Join now: martzobservatory.org/about/membership-application-2022/ ... See MoreSee Less

Martz-Kohl Observatory

3 weeks ago

A successful launch! Now for some terminology. Artemis is the name of NASA's program to return astronauts to the lunar surface. Artemis I is comprised of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The SLS rocket produces a maximum 8.8 million pounds of thrust, more power than any rocket, ever. Orion is a reusable crewed spacecraft. The crew on this mission is comprised of instrumented dummies. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. NASA Image: A view from the Orion spacecraft and ESA's service module. ... See MoreSee Less

Martz-Kohl Observatory

1 month ago

Martz-Kohl Observatory member, Dave Wilkins, took this image of the observatory and night sky on Friday, October 28, 2022. The Pleiades, known as the seven sisters, are in the center of the image. The bright star just above the dome is Aldebaran. To the left of Aldebaran and a little above the garage door is the planet, Mars. The bright star on the left, about half way up the image, is Capella. Dave recently gave a talk, "A Practical Introduction to Astrophotography" as part of the observatory's lecture series. You can find a video of Dave's presentation on our website, along with over 30 other lectures on a variety of astronomy and science topics, at martzobservatory.org/observatory-lecture-series/ ... See MoreSee Less

Martz-Kohl Observatory

1 month ago

For your Halloween pleasure, IC 2118, usually referred to as The Witch Head Nebula. This image is courtesy of NASA. The nebula usually shows as blue as it is a reflective nebula near blue star Rigel in the constellation Orion. Also, the dust particles that make up this "cloud" reflect blue light more strongly than red or green. This image may have been taken through a green filter but I could not find the specifics. In any case, green makes for a most impressive scary witch! This nebula is about 900 light-years away and is not visible to the naked eye. ... See MoreSee Less