Astronomy inventions make Time's top 50 of 2008

Megan McChain — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:33:00 GMT

The November 10 issue of Time featured an article titled, “The 50 best inventions of the year.” Among the top 50 are four astronomy-related inventions — three even made the top 10.

At 18 is the Mars Science Laboratory (pictured at right). Set to launch in the fall of 2009, the robotic explorer will possibly determine if Mars was ever able to support microbial life.

Number nine, the Orbital Internet, is new to me. Scientists are working on a connection that can be maintained in orbit. The connection will have to be able to withstand many delays and disruptions that will be present during launch and orbit.

Number five is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. Even though there have been some bumps in the road for the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, it is expected to be up and running by next spring. Check out more about the LHC.

Sitting at number three is NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Scheduled to launch in April 2009, LRO will search for water and create topographic maps of the lunar surface. This will be the United States’ first spacecraft to travel to the Moon in 11 years.

The rest of the inventions are pretty interesting gadgets, including bullets that shoot bullets, the retail DNA test, and bionic contacts.

What would you put on your list of the top inventions of 2008?

Observing the Perseids

Megan McChain — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:42:00 GMT

As a working college student, I rarely have time to squeeze observing into my busy schedule. However, this week, the Perseid meteor shower presented the perfect opportunity to catch an early morning sky show. So, last night, with a friend and a couple lawn chairs (no binoculars or telescope needed), I drove about 50 miles away from the bright lights of Milwaukee to watch the peak of the shower.

The shower was better than I expected. We settled into our observing site around 1 A.M. and watched for about an hour. Under a clear sky, I caught close to 75 meteors, some of which left smoke trails that remained visible for a few seconds. A couple times, I even caught four or five meteors consecutively.

As we were packing up to head home, the shower continued, making it especially hard to leave. I wish I could’ve stayed for at least another hour. It was definitely a sky show I’m glad I took time to watch.

Don’t worry if the clouds did not cooperate in your sky or if you didn’t catch the shower. Even though the peak was last night, there should be a decent show tonight and tomorrow night, perhaps as many as 40 meteors per hour.

Did you watch the Perseids last night? Tell me about your observing experience.

Astronomy.com blog : Megan McChain

Astronomy inventions make Time's top 50 of 2008

Observing the Perseids