10:15 PM, 6/19/08, Update: Ice indirectly confirmed at Phoenix landing site

Scientists examining photographs from the Mars Phoenix lander say the disappearance of clumps of material in a trench dug by the spacecraft's robot arm provides convincing evidence of exposed ice that subsequently vaporized. The robot arm, meanwhile, digging a nearby trench, ran into a hard layer of material that scientists believe may be a subsurface layer of ice at the same depth where the now-vanished chunks were uncovered.

The full Moon of June 18th is a "solstice moon", coming only two days before the beginning of northern summer.

See more here

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/16jun_moonillusion.htm

Just found an news article... Pluto has a new identity....

An article from www.space.com

Guess everything out there beyond Neptune is now a plutoid!! LOL

(May 16) - Astronomers are baffled after finding an exotic type of star called a pulsar apparently locked in an elongated orbit around a star much like the sun -- an arrangement defying what had been known about such objects.

See more:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/astronomers-baffled-by-bizarre-star/2008051...

Or is it a kid in a toy store!!!

Of course I've been to others trade shows in my time... cars, electronics, trade shows in the medical industry.... but this was my first under the topic of astronomy.

There was of course the great talks given by som many speakers. The only frustration is I didn't have time for them all!! The few I attended were captivating and of course learning experiences.

Looks like there's some good passes of the Space Station happening, including a nice evening pass next Thursday around 9:30pm:http://tinyurl.com/4x6hsh 

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/

Anybody saw this?

 Setting up my sd Skysensor controlled Vixen mount in front of my yard when I noticed the day or 2 day old Moon in the west, just down the street (so it seemed).  I also noticed a "bright star"  southeast of the Moon and questioned myself could that be Mercury?

Dust storms and static discharges oh my! This article came from NASA.... http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/17apr_magnetotail.htm?list880574  

C/2007 W1 (Boattini):  

Keep an eye on this comet - it may reach 6th magnitude or better during early evening hours in late May before it gets too close to the Sun. See: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/2007W1.html 

Looks like it'll actually get quite close to Earth but unfortuantely will be in the daytime sky at that point and so not viewable. :-(