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"As it turns out, the eclipse was even more special than most observers had noticed, as the Moon was actually struck by a meteorite while everyone was gazing in wonder at its rusty appearance. The meteorite itself wasn’t terribly large, and is estimated to have only been around 22 pounds. Still, its impact was large enough to be spotted by observers as well as the automated MIDAS system, and that’s pretty cool." I caught it as well with my own equipment. The impact flash appears at 1:23:04 in my video at about the 8 o'clock position near the edge of...

A huge amount of "UFO" videos were posted to YouTube this weekend regarding an object seen in the morning twilight skies over Florida on Friday morning. Popular UFO channels like Third Phase of the Moon reported it as a UFO incident. The real cause? A SpaceX launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule to orbit to deliver cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for CRS-15. Despite some who think that "SpaceX is FakeX" and that all of spaceflight is a hoax (including a number of Freepers), the real hoax is the belief that this was...

"A second section deals with commercial remote sensing regulatory reform. “The current regulatory system is woefully out of date and needs significant reform to ensure the United States remains the chosen jurisdiction for these high tech companies,” the fact sheet states. A related section calls on the Secretary of Commerce to provide a plan to create a “one-stop shop” within his department “for administering and regulating commercial space flight activities.” The Commerce Department had previously announced plans to combine the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs office with the Office of Space Commerce..." http://spacenews.com/new-policy-directive-implements-commercial-space-regulatory-reforms/ This appears to address regulatory issues that...

Let's see how long this thread lasts, the mods pull everything I post that offends or upset the delicate little flat earth and science hating snowflakes that have taken over FreeRepublic these days. Here's a simple method anyone can use to measure the altitude, size, and velocity of the International Space Station by capitalizing on a lunar transit (where ISS is silhouetted against the moon within a narrow corridor - you can find opportunities on transit-finder.com). Anyone can do this with a friend using a good high magnification camera like a P900 or other long focal length telephoto lens on...

The nova that erupted in the Sagittarius Teapot on March 15th has continued to brighten. It's now about magnitude 4.9, in easy binocular view before dawn. Anyone see it naked-eye yet? Update Friday March 20: It's still brightening — to about magnitude 4.9 as of last night! That's a magnitude brighter than at the nova's discovery five days earlier. No telling when it will stop. And, Sagittarius is getting a little higher before dawn every day.

A comet from the outer reaches of the solar system is due to give Mars a close shave on Sunday (Oct. 19), and you can watch the flyby live online. While Comet Siding Spring (also called Comet C/2013 A1) isn't easy to spot from Earth, a couple different astronomy organizations will be tracking the comet as it flies 87,000 miles (139,500 kilometers) from Mars at 2:27 p.m. EDT (1827 GMT) on Sunday. The comet will fly three times closer to Mars than the moon is to Earth.

Anticipation is building as Earth approaches a cloud of debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR. This weekend, meteoroids hitting Earth's atmosphere could produce a never-before-seen shower called the "May Camelopardalids" peaking with as many as 200 meteors per hour. Earth won't be the only body passing through the debris zone. The Moon will be, too. Meteoroids hitting the lunar surface could produce explosions visible through backyard telescopes on Earth. ... According to NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, the best time for amateur astronomers to scan the Moon for lunar meteors is after 0800 UT (4 a.m. EDT) on May 24th.

This is a rare opportunity to witness an asteroid pass in front of a bright star, blocking out its light for up to ~14 seconds. Occultations occur all the time, but rarely do they happen to stars that are this bright and easy to see by naked eye. In that sense, it is likely a once in a lifetime event for those living near the path of occultation. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and the 22nd brightest star in the night sky overall. The occultation will occur at about 2 am tomorrow morning. The path takes...

"GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has sent back its first images of Apollo lunar landing sites. The agency will release the images Friday, July 17, at noon and hold a teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss the photos and future plans for the LRO mission."