Sky Watch: Searching for Star Clusters

In this week's Skywatch, search for the Little Beehive Cluster or the astreism known as Kids. Read about it in the Tulsa World.

Big Bang, Books and Music

Last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory mentioned one of my favorite books, Flatland by Edwin Abbot. Isaac Asimov described it as "the best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions." It's a really interesting read and I highly recommend it.

And speaking of Big Bang Theory, I received a great CD for Christmas. My daughter gave me Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants. It's the third album in the children's series by TMBG (who also wrote the theme song for Big Bang Theory) and covers some aspects of chemistry, astronomy and biology remarkably well in some very catchy tunes -- which won't drive adults nuts. It's a great learning tool for kids.

Skywatch: Spot five planets

In this week's Skywatch, spot five planets, plus four of Jupiter's moons. Read about it in the Tulsa World.

Kepler discovers five exoplanets

NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered its first five new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.

According to NASA, "These observations contribute to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust disks that give rise to both the stars and their planets," said William Borucki of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Borucki is the mission's science principal investigator. "The discoveries also show that our science instrument is working well. Indications are that Kepler will meet all its science goals."

Meteor shower peaks today

Grab your gloves and head outside. The Quadrantids meteor shower peaks today. Read about the shower and other things you'll see in the sky in this week's Sky Watch.

More info on Moon water

According to NASA, the water discoverd on the Moon "could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected."

"We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Read the full report here.

Water on the Moon

This is from Space.com:

"Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called 'unambiguous evidence' of water across the surface of the moon."

Read the full story here.