Newsletter - Cygnus Astronomical Society - #09/2010

Hi [$Name]!

Here we send you number 3 of Cygnus Astronomical Society's newsletter, that covers the launch of Ares I-X and the new ring discovered around Saturn.

I also want to remind you about our big annual meeting next week. I hope to see you there!

Best Regards,
John Smith
President, Cygnus Astronomical Society
 

Book of the Month

NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

By Terence Dickinson, Adolf Schaller, Victor Costanzo and Roberta Cooke

The first 3 editions of NightWatch sold more than 600,000 copies, making it the top-selling stargazing guide in the world for the last 20 years. The key feature of this classic title is the section of star charts that are cherished by backyard astronomers everywhere. NightWatch has been acclaimed as the best general interest introduction to astronomy.


 
Giant Ring Discovered Around Saturn

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous and previously unknown infrared ring around Saturn.

"This is one supersized ring," says Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. "If you could see the ring in the night sky, it would span the width of two full Moons."

The new belt lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system, with an orbit tilted 27 degrees from the main ring plane. The bulk of its material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles). It would take about one billion Earths stacked together to fill the voluminous ring. One of Saturn's farthest moons, Phoebe, circles within the newfound ring, and is likely the source of its material.
 
> Giant Ring Discovered Around Saturn - Read More
 
Ares I-X Was Launched



Last Tuesday the Aries I-X vehicle was launched from Kennedy Space Center (LC-39) in Florida, successfully completing a brief test flight. The vehicle's first stage ignited at T-0 seconds and Ares I-X lifted off from Launch Complex 39. The first stage separated from the upper stage simulator and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean roughly 150 miles (240 km) downrange of the launch site. The maximum altitude of the rocket was not immediately known, but had been expected to be 28 miles (45 km).

The launch accomplished all primary test objectives, and many lessons were learned in preparing and launching a new vehicle from Kennedy Space Center.

> Ares I-X Was Launched - Read More
 
Annual Meting - November 19

In Friday, November 19, 18:00, our annual meeting will start. This time it will be located in Hotel Radison in central London. We will send you more information, with a exact address, in a separate e-mail.

More information is also available on our web site:

> Cygnus Astronomical Society - Web Site
 
 
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