© J R Stockton, ≥ 2008-05-02
Links within this site :-
- Merlyn Home Page
- Site Index, E-Mail, Copying
- This Page :-
- On other pages of this site :-
Topics Not Covered
(except as indexed above, and incidentally) :-
- Optical instruments; their construction,
purchase, housing, handling, storage, and repair
- Non-optical instruments - radio, photon, gravity, particle
- The Galaxy, the Universe, Cosmology
- Clubs and Societies
- Publications
- Hoaxes : Apollo landings not one, the old Cape of Good Hope one
There is a ZIPped snapshot including
these and other pages related to Astro and Gravity etc. (167kB+),
taken on or after 2008-05-01; unZIP it in an empty directory.
These are by no means complete lists. Visibility ignores weather.
Preference is given to those of UK interest.
- Sunrise, Sunset, other Almanac -
HMNAO Websurf
- Astronomy Weather
Forecasts for the British Isles.
- British FM & TV Circle
- with Meteor info
- Seasons :-
- 2007-12-22 Sat - 06:08 UT, Solstice
- 2008-03-20 Thu - 05:48 UT, Equinox
- 2008-06-20 Fri - 23:59 UT, Solstice
- 2008-09-22 Mon - 15:44 UT, Equinox
- 2008-12-21 Sun - 12:04 UT, Solstice
- 2009-03-20 Fri - 11:44 UT, Equinox
- 2009-06-21 Sun - 05:45 UT, Solstice
- 2009-09-22 Tue - 21:28 UT, Equinox
- See also
Earth's Seasons Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion
2000-2020 at USNO.
#
- Summer Time
- Leap Seconds :
previous 2005-12-31 23:59:60 UTC, next undecided
Dates and times are not all necessarily UK or GMT/UTC; and may be
Earth-received times - popular US sources are often ambiguous at
best.
- 1908-06-17 Tue - Tunguska, Central Siberia
- 1919-05-29 Thu - Solar Eclipse, Principe (Eddington)
- 1927-06-29 Wed - Solar Eclipse, Northern UK
- 1999-08-11 Wed - Cornish Solar Eclipse, ~11:14 BST -
also visible overseas. "Official" page via
Eclipses Online at HMNAO.
Next in UK : 2090
- 2004-06-08 Tue - Solar Transit of Venus,
about 0515-1130 GMT. Next: 2012 June 05/06; then 2117 Dec 11
- 2005-10-30 Sun - Mars nearest to Earth until 2018
- 2005-12-15 Thu - Moon Northernmost in 18 years about now
- 2006-03-22 Wed - Moon Southernmost in 18 years about now
- 2006-04-05 Wed - 05:11:36 UTC : Moon's limb nearly
visible in the North from northernmost UK land,
see Astronomy / Astronautics Page 2
- 2007-03-02 Fri - Moon occulted Saturn (from parts of UK),
part of a series
- 2007-12-24 Mon - Full Moon occulted Mars, early, far NE UK
- 2008-01-30 Wed - Asteroid 2007 WD5 passed Mars, ~10:56 UT
(JPL NEO)
- 2008-02-21 Thu -
Total Lunar Eclipse : 0300-0400 GMT
- 2008-06-30 Mon - Tunguska, Russia, 100th anniversary
- 2008-08-01 Fri - Total Eclipse, Mid Russia, China? UK 20-30%, 10:20
- 2008-08-16 Sat -
Partial Lunar Eclipse : centred 21:10 GMT
- 2008-10-27 Mon - 4 Vesta at opposition, Mag ~5.4?
- 2009-09-04 Fri - Earth
crosses Saturn ring-plane - also Dec 2008, Jun 2010
- 2009-07-22 Wed - Total Eclipse : W Pacific?
- 2010-07-11 Sun - Total Eclipse : S Pacific?
- 2010-12-21 Tue -
Total Lunar Eclipse : sets eclipsed (GIF)
- 2012-06-05/6 . - Solar Transit of Venus :
Pacific (partly: UK sunrise)
- 2012-07-15 Sun - Moon occults Jupiter, SE UK
- 2015-09-28 Mon - Next UK complete total Lunar eclipse
- 2029-04-13 Fri - NEA 99942 Apophis
visible Earth encounter, >29Mm over mid-Atlantic. See 2036.
- 2030-09-23 Mon - NEA 2000 SG344 (possibly Apollo or
Luna 16 relic), expected to miss Earth by 5 Gm;
next visit 2071-09-16, impact 1 in 1000.
- 2034-11-21 Tue - Moon occults Jupiter, UK, late evening
- 2036-04-13 Sun - Easter Sunday. NEA 99942 Apophis,
Torino ≤1, 1:24000, 300 m <100 Tg.
- 2061-07-28 Thu - Halley's Comet next perihelion (predicted)
- 2081-09-03 Wed - Solar Eclipse, Channel Islands
- 2084-11-10 Fri - Solar Transit of Earth, visible from Mars
- 2090-09-23 Sat - Total Eclipse, SW England
- 2102-??-?? ??? - Polaris closest to Pole for ~25570 years
- 2102-05-04 Thu - NEA 2004 VD17, Torino 2, 1:1000,
500 m <1000 Tg.
- 2135-10-07 Fri - Total Eclipse, UK
- 2292-07-?? ??? - Next Cruithne closest pass, 0.08 AU
Some future dates/times may change. "L" is used for "Launch",
"A" for "Arrive at launch site", D for "Dock".
- 2003-10-15 Wed - L Shenzhou 5, China, LEO, one crew; landed 16th
- 2005-10-12 Wed - L Shenzhou 6, China, LEO, two crew; landed 16th
- 2006-03-24 Fri - L Falcon 1 #1, SpaceX, main engine failed early
- 2007-01-01 Mon -
International Lunar Decade began
- 2007-03-21 Wed - L Falcon 1 #2, SpaceX, 2nd stage gyrated,
no orbit
- 2007-04-01 Sun - UK
MSF 60kHz time signal
moved from Rugby to Anthorn, Cumbria
- 2007-06-28 Thu - L Genesis 2, Bigelow, orbiter
- 2007-09-14 Fri - L Selene/Kaguya, JAXA, 3 lunar orbiters
- 2007-09-27 Thu - L Dawn, NASA, to Vesta & Ceres
- 2007-10-04 Thu - Sputnik 1, USSR, 50th anniversary
- 2007-10-24 Wed - L Chang'e-1, China, orbiting Moon
- 2008-01-14 Mon - Messenger, NASA, Mercury flyby 1
- 2008-02-01 Fri - Explorer I, USA, 50th anniversary (Jan 31 US EST)
- 2008-02-07 Thu - L STS-122, NASA, Columbus, ESA, ISS lab, Atlantis
- 2008-03-09 Sun - L ATV-1 Jules Verne, ESA, ISS supply
- 2008-03-11 Tue - L STS-123, NASA, part-Kibo JAXA ISS lab, Dextre, Endeavour
- 2008-04-03 Thu - D ATV-1 Jules Verne, ESA, 14:45 UT, dock to ISS
- 2008-04-26 Sat - L Giove-B, ESA, on Soyuz/Fregat, Baikonur
- 2008-05-25 Sun - Phoenix, NASA Mars Polar Lander, to land, 23:38 UT?
- 2008-05-31 Sat - L? STS-124, NASA, rest-Kibo, JAXA ISS lab, Discovery
- 2008-06-10 Tue - L? Falcon 1 #3, SpaceX, USG
- 2008-07-??-??? - L? Chandrayaan-1, ISRO, Lunar orbiter & impact probe
- 2008-07-31 Thu - L? Herschel + Planck, ESA, "by end July"
- 2008-Q3-?? ??? - A? Falcon 1 #4, SpaceX, Razaksat (Malaysia)
- 2008-09-05 Fri - Rosetta, ESA, passes asteroid 2867 Steins
- 2008-10-06 Mon - Messenger, NASA, Mercury flyby 2, ~13:08 UT; next 2009-09
- 2008-10-?? ??? - L?? STS-125, NASA, Hubble servicing, Atlantis
- 2008-10-?? ??? - L? Shenzhou 7, China, three crew, walk; CPC quorum!
- 2008-10-28 Tue - L? Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA, polar
- 2008-??-?? ??? - L? KSLV-1, Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1
- 2008-11-?? ??? - L?? STS-126, NASA, ISS, Endeavour
- 2008-11-20 Thu - 10th Anniversary, ISS first launch, Zarya on Proton
- 2008-Q4-?? ??? - A? Falcon 9 #1, SpaceX
- 2009-01-01 Thu -
International Year of Astronomy begins - UN
- 2009-??-?? ??? - L? Vega, ESA Kourou, #1
- 2009-02-?? ??? - L?? STS-119, NASA, ISS, solar arrays, Discovery
- 2009-??-?? ??? - A? Falcon 9 #2, SpaceX, MDA
- 2009-04-?? ??? - L? Soyuz, Russia, Kourou #1
- 2009-??-?? ??? - L? Ares I-X, NASA, flight test #1
- 2009-06-?? ??? - L? Falcon 9 #1, SpaceX
- 2009-??-?? ??? - L? Northern Light, Canada, Mars lander/rover ??
- 2009-??-?? ??? - A? Falcon 9 #3, SpaceX
- 2009-09-?? ??? - L? Mars Science Laboratory, NASA, rover
- 2009-10-?? ??? - L? Fobos-Grunt, Russia with China, Phobos sample return, Yinghuo-1 orbiter
- 2009-??-?? ??? - L? Chang'e-2, China, Moon Orbiter ?
- 2009-??-?? ??? - L? ATV-2, ESA, ISS supply
- 2009-11-13 Fri - Rosetta, ESA, Earth flyby 3
- 2010-01-07 Thu - 400th anniversary, approx., Galileo saw Jovian Moons
- 2010-10-11 Mon - EPOXI (ex Deep Impact), NASA, to pass comet 103P/Hartley 2
- 2010-11-02 Tue - 10th Anniversary, ISS Expedition 1 docking, Soyuz, 09:21:03 UTC
- 2010-12-?? ??? - L? Taurus 2, Orbital, Cygnus spacecraft demo
- 2011-02-14 Mon - NExT (ex Stardust), NASA, to pass comet Tempel 1
- 2011-03-18 Fri - ? Messenger, NASA, Mercury orbit insertion
- 2011-04-12 Tue - Yuri Gagarin, USSR, Earth orbit, 50th anniversary
- 2011-09-06 Tue - L? GRAIL, NASA lunar gravity orbiter pair
- 2012-02-20 Mon - John Glenn, USA, Earth orbits, 50th anniversary
- 2012-??-?? ??? - L? Chang'e-3, China, Moon Rover
- 2012-??-?? ??? - L? LEO, Germany, Lunar Exploration Orbiter ?
- 2013-??-?? ??? - L? Chandrayaan-2, ISRO & Russia,
Lunar orbiter, lander, rover
- 2013-??-?? ??? - L? Exo-Mars rover, ESA, to land 2014-09
- 2013-??-?? ??? - L?? Constellation, NASA, first manned flight
- 2014-05-?? ??? - Rosetta, ESA, to arrive at 67P/C-G
- 2014-11-?? ??? - ? Rosetta, ESA, Philae to land on 67P/C-G
- 2015-07-14 Tue - New Horizons, NASA, to reach Pluto
- 2017-??-?? ??? - L? Chang'e-4, China, Moon sample return
- 2018-??-?? ??? - L? ESA: Laplace (Jupiter) OR Tandem (Saturn)
- Usenet discussion newsgroups :-
- Links to recent news articles :-
- FAQs :-
- Measurements and Units - see in
Kaye & Laby Online
- Some British Isles Web Sites :-
- Observatories :-
- Societies :-
- Other Sites :-
- The Solar System :-
- Tutorial :-
- International :-
- IAU - The International Astronomical Union
There are many other sites.
These lists are by no means exhaustive.
- Satellite Visibility :-
- Astronautics :-
- General :-
- What may be or was launched soon or recently, and when :-
- What is the UK doing :-
- What is Europe doing :-
- Arianespace,
launching from Kourou :-
- ESA Ariane 5
- ESA Vega, from 2009
- Some Soyuz, from 2009
- EADS -
European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company :-
- Astrium
Satellite Builder, etc. (UK, FR, DE, ES) :-
- Skynet - UK military comms
- SSTL
- ESA :-
- Launchers
- Aurora -
Solar System exploration programme
- Current and Recent Missions :-
- ATV
- Jules Verne, launched March 2008
- Cluster
- magnetics, launched summer 2000, operating 2007
- Columbus
- ISS lab, launched Feb 2008
- Double Star
- magnetics, with China, launched 2003-12-29, 2004-07-25 ;
TC-1 terminated 2007-10-14
- GIOVE - Galileo test - A launched, B pending
- Integral
- gamma-ray observation - operating 2007, funded to 2010-12-16
- Mars Express (orbiting)
http://mars.esa.int/
- Rosetta
- via asteroids 2867 Steins 2008-09-05 &
21 Lutetia 2010-07-10), to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ("Chury")
- dep. 2004-03-02, arr. May 2014, lander "Philae" Nov 2014?
- Smart-1 - moon
orbiter - Launch 2003-09-27, arr. Feb 2005, hard-landed 2006-09-03
- SOHO
- operating, S-E L1, 2007
- Ulysses
- solar polar orbiter - terminating, 2008; possible revival 2013
- Venus
Express - launched 2005-11-09, final orbit reached 2006-05-07
- XMM-Newton
- X-rays - operating 2007, funded to 2010-03-31
- Some Future Missions :-
- ATV 2-5
- BepiColombo
- Mercury, launch Aug 2013 arr 2019
- Darwin -
S-E L2, Planet finder, 2015-20?
-
Exo-Mars - Rover, Pasteur biology payload (2013?)
- Gaia
- star/asteroid mapper, at L2 (launch 2011?)
- Galileo
- global position system (EU/ESA)
- GOCE
- Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer,
launch Summer 2008?
- Herschel
- Sun-Earth L2 halo IR observatory - launch 2008-07?
- LISA -
gravity-wave detector, with NASA
- Planck
- cosmic microwave background polarisation - launch 2008-07?
- Solar Orbiter -
elliptical orbit, tilting by Venus (May 2015?)
- ESO -
European Southern Observatory (Observatories: Chile; HQ: Germany)
- Norway - Andøya
Rocket Range
- SSC - Swedish Space Corporation,
Esrange Space Center,
Kiruna, N Sweden
- Other European space vehicles :-
- Italy : Three MPLM, cargo-carrier by Shuttle to ISS -
Leonardo, Raffaello and Donatello
- France : CNES : Corot
(Space observatory, stellar seismology, exoplanet search)
(ESA)
- There is also activity by some other European countries,
individually or grouped - Pleiades, ... .
- What are others doing :-
- Multinational :-
- Brazil - developing a launcher
- Canada - robot arms
- China :-
- Chang'e,
Moon probes
- Shenzhou, manned orbiters
- etc.
- Germany - German Aerospace Centre
- India - ISRO - satellites
(INSAT, IRS), launchers (GSLV, PSLV, Agni), Moon plans, etc.
- Israel -
ISA
- Shavit launcher, satellites
- Japan :-
- H2A launcher
- HTV, to ISS
- Hayabusa asteroid probe (launched 2003)
- Satellites
- Selene/Kaguya
lunar orbiter, launched
- etc.
- South Korea - developing a launcher
- Russia :-
- Angara launcher (pending: 2011?)
- USA :-
- NASA :-
- Home/Index,
NASA TV
-
Constellation - Shuttle successor - Ares launchers, Orion capsule
- Dawn - launched, past Mars 2009,
orbit Vesta 2011/12, past Ceres 2015 : at
JPL,
NASA,
UCLA.
- GPS
- JPL
- Kepler, launch Feb 2009?,
exo-planet transit photometry telescope
- Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter - late 2008
- Messenger -
Launched; Mercury polar orbit March 2011
- Phoenix -
Mars lander/digger, 2007/8
- Space Telescope Science
Institute, HubbleSite, ...
- etc.
- SpaceX -
Falcon 1, 9, 9 Heavy; Dragon
- Bigelow -
expanded orbiters - Genesis I, II, Sundancer, ...
- Arctus -
cargo to/from ISS - Demo 2010?
- PlanetSpace - OTV
- Orbital Sciences Corporation -
Pegasus, Taurus, Minotaur; Cygnus
- XCOR - Lynx sub-orbital
- etc.
- etc.
- Peter Duffett-Smith of Cambridge :-
- I have :-
- "Practical Astronomy with your Calculator", CUP 1981
- "Easy PC Astronomy", CUP 1997
- "Astronomy with your Personal Computer", for
programmers, CUP 1990
- I have repeatedly read that
"Astronomical
Algorithms" (2nd ed, Dec '98) by Jean Meeus, Willmann-Bell
Publishers, ISBN 0-943396-61-1, is a good reference (EFG, etc.).
Also "Astronomische Algorithmen" ISBN 3-335-00400-0.
- Jean Meeus: Astronomical morsels; ISBN 978-0-943396-51-4 ?
- Whitaker's Almanac is a useful reference.
- "On the Shoulders of Giants", Ed. Stephen Hawking, Running Press, ISBN
0-7624-1348-4 - Writings of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton,
Einstein. Massive.
- My Date/Time Links include some.
- Try a search via the book suppliers' links on my
General Links; Abuse of the Net page!
Others may be mentioned in specific sections.
©
Dr J R Stockton, near London, UK.
All Rights Reserved.
These pages are tested mainly with MS IE 6
and W3's
Tidy.
This site,
http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/,
is maintained by
me.
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