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July 17, 1850The first photograph of a star is taken at the Harvard Observatory. The star photographed was Vega in the Lyra constellation, the 2nd brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere.*** "On the night of July 16–17, 1850, Whipple and Bond made the first daguerreotype of a star (Vega)"First star photograph (α Lyrae, Vega) obtained by John Adams Whipple and William Cranch Bond using the 38 cm Harvard refractor (daguerreotype, 100 s exposure).Observational History Astrophotography, the photography of celestial objects, began in 1840 when John William Draper took an image of the Moon using the daguerreotype process. On 17 July...

Arianespace’s medium-lift Vega-C rocket failed to reach orbit on its second mission, resulting in the destruction of the two satellites on board. The rocket, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), built by Italian company Avio, and operated by Arianespace, took off on Tuesday at 8:47 p.m. ET from the Kourou space base in French Guiana, carrying the Neo 5 and Neo 6 satellites for for Airbus’ Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging constellation. The rocket’s first stage separated successfully from the second stage, but trouble ensued shortly thereafter. Around two minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff, the rocket’s second stage, called the...

Explanation: This 180 degree panoramic night skyscape captures our Milky Way Galaxy as it arcs above the horizon on a winter's night in August. Near midnight, the galactic center is close to the zenith with the clear waters of Lake Traful, Neuquen, Argentina, South America, planet Earth below. Zodiacal light, dust reflected sunlight along the Solar System's ecliptic plane, is also visible in the region's very dark night sky. The faint band of light reaches up from the distant snowy peaks toward the galaxy's center. Follow the arc of the Milky Way to the left to find the southern hemisphere...

An Arianespace Vega rocket carrying two satellites failed to reach orbit yesterday after experiencing a catastrophic failure eight minutes into the launch. Officials are attributing the loss of the rocket to a “series of human errors.” Vega Flight VV17 started off well, with the 98-foot-tall (30-meter) rocket departing the Guiana Space Center at 8:52 p.m. ET. The first three stages, all powered by solid-fuel, did their job, propelling the vehicle and its cargo over the Atlantic ocean toward space. It was when the liquid-fueled upper stage kicked in that things went sideways. According to satellite launch company Arianespace, the trouble...

The liftoff of a European satellite to measure global wind fields has been delayed 24 hours to Wednesday in hopes of a better weather forecast at the Vega rocket’s launch base in French Guiana, officials announced Monday. The European Space Agency’s Aeolus satellite is ready for launch aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket, the smallest booster in Arianespace’s fleet, to begin a three-year science mission to monitor wind speeds in Earth’s atmosphere. Officials from Arianespace, ESA and CNES — the French space agency — convened Monday for a launch readiness review. Managers confirmed the readiness of the four-stage Vega launcher and...

The European Space Agency successfully launched the LISA Pathfinder, a spacecraft designed to demonstrate technology for observing gravitational waves in space. The launch took place at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega rocket, at 4:04 GMT on December 3, (10:04 pm EST Dec 2), 2015. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, which were predicted by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity. So far, because they are extremely tiny and incredibly faint, gravitational waves have proved to be elusive. The technology needed to detect them is highly sensitive and therefore has been difficult...

A Vega rocket carrying the European Space Agency's Lisa Pathfinder has finally blasted into orbit after being delayed by a 'technical issue'. The rocket, with the probe mounted on top, lifted off earlier today in Kourou, French Guiana, to begin its mission to hunt for gravitational waves in space. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time, predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, but until now have proved elusive. The rocket had been expected to launch on 2 December - exactly 100 years since Einstein published his theory - but 'technical issues' delayed it...

Explanation: In only about 12,000 years Vega will be the North Star, the closest bright star to our fair planet's North Celestial Pole. By then, when you fix your camera to a tripod long exposures of the night sky will show the concentric arcs of star trails centered on a point near Vega as Earth rotates on its axis. Of course, presently the bright star conveniently near the North Celestial Pole is Polaris, but that will change as the Earth's axis of rotation precesses, like the wobble of a spinning top with a precession period of about 26,000 years. If...

Explanation: Have you ever seen the Summer Triangle? The bright stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair form a large triangle on the sky that can be seen rising in the early northern early spring during the morning and rising in the northern fall during the evening. During summer months, the triangle can be found nearly overhead near midnight. Featured here, the Summer Triangle asterism was captured last month from Gunma, Japan. In the foreground, sporting a triangular shape of its own, is a flowering 500 year old cherry tree, standing about 15 meters tall. The triangular shape of the asterism is...

<p>No Justice, No Peace! Elizabeth Vega is one of the Ferguson protest leaders. She protested at sports venues and attempted a banner drop. She co-led the St Louis Symphony interruption, was arrested at the pumpkin smashing, yelled at the St Louis Post Dispatch protest, and helped block traffic with her freakshow in Clayton yesterday. While yelling “**** the Police!” apparently her car got stolen. Do you think she’ll file a police report requesting they help her now?</p>

TX Senate Candidate Linda Vega: Thank you, McKinney Tea Party!. December 17, 2013 at 8:59pm Below are the questions I was sent and my answers. I look forward to speaking with you in the future. BIO Linda Vega is a native Texan who was born in Weslaco and whose family roots can be traced as far back as 1813. Linda is the proud mother of two boys. A graduate of UTA of Austin and the George Washington Law School in Washington, D.C., Linda has previously worked for The Department of Labor. Currently, she is a small business owner of her...

DETROIT MainStreet) -- For me, it is the Chevrolet Vega. I was living in Toledo, Ohio, in the late 1970s and working as a reporter for The Toledo Blade. One day, I was preparing to drive a friend's Vega. I sat down in the driver's seat and put my foot on the floor in front of me, about to step on the gas. And guess what happened? It's not a tough question if you were ever in a Vega. My foot went right through the rusty floor. And for the ensuing three decades, I have had my own story about...

Note: The following text is a quote: Authorities in El Paso Arrest Seven in Connection with Kidnapping/Murder Investigation Federal Charges Include Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Murder for Hire, Kidnapping, Drug Distribution and Interstate Transportation in Aid of Racketeering SAN ANTONIO—U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy, DEA Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, FBI Special Agent in Charge David Cuthbertson, U.S. Border Patrol Marfa Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Smietana and El Paso Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Randy Hill, El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza and El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles announced the arrest of seven individuals charged...

Baruch Vega's cellphone hardly rings these days. It's not like 10 years ago, when the Colombian photographer of models was an intermediary between the Drug Enforcement Administration and powerful drug traffickers, and his phone rang off the hook with calls from federal prosecutors and attorneys in South Florida while he discussed poses with European models at his Miami Beach penthouse. Now Vega, 61, seems to be tired of living on the razor's edge. He wants to put behind him the world that in 2000 took him to jail in the United States on charges of obstruction of justice and money...

HP-1353 "Treasury Designates Additional FARC International Commission Members" SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated three international representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization. The OFAC action was taken pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), which applies financial sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and organizations, like the FARC. "Today's action exposes three additional members of the FARC's International Commission," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of OFAC. "The FARC is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine and continues to be...

Mexico’s acting consul in Del Rio called a crossing of the Rio Grande earlier this week by two Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office investigators illegal and “unacceptable.” But, he added, he values the close working relationship members of the consulate and the sheriff’s office have built over the years and said he hopes the incident will further open the lines of communication between the two agencies. In an interview Thursday, Fernando J. Valdés Vicencio, who is currently serving as the Mexico consul here, said Lt. Larry Pope, who heads the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division, and VVSO Sgt. James McGonagill,...

Two state troopers involved in a deadly police shooting in Mocanaqua on Wednesday have been cleared of any wrongdoing by Luzerne County District Attorney David W. Lupas. In issuing his decision based on two independent investigations and eyewitness accounts, Lupas called the actions by Trooper Gary Batt to use deadly force "appropriate" and "justified." "A police officer is permitted to use deadly force to prevent deaths or serious bodily injury to another," Lupas said. "In my determination, that's what occurred here." Trooper Batt fired a shot from his .40 caliber Beretta at Eddie T. Vega, 36, hitting him in the...