August 2006

Our Solar System of Eight Planets

August 2006 : By Jim Hendrickson

The International Astronomical Union has voted to refine the definition of what constitutes a planet, and the end result is the fact that our solar system now consists of eight classical planets.

The August Perseids and the Milky Way

August 2006 : By Dave Huestis

The 2006 Perseids will compete with the light from the waning gibbous Moon on August 12th. Later in the month when the Moon is not in view, look directly overhead from a dark sky and you'll see a wispy stream of stars stretching from high in the north and continuing towards the southern horizon. This feature is actually the light of billions of stars that comprise our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

How I became an Amateur Astronomer

August 2006 : By Marian Juskuv

Marian Juskuv

Impactors and Their Possible Explosive Effects on the Earth: Part 1

August 2006 : By Jerry Jeffrey

This article is the first in a series of three articles addressing some of the facts and suppositions surrounding Earth impactors and their effects. This article will address the basic scientific facts about the speed and direction (i.e., the velocity) of large objects colliding at high speed with the Earth. The second article will address the composition of impactors and the third article will describe a couple of hypothetical examples. Given time and the availability of space in our newsletter over the months following the publication of these articles I plan to periodically summarize the use of impactors as implements of death and destruction by accident or design in the cinematic and written literature.