Only 2 months until IISAC2009

There's now only 2 months to go before IceInSpace AstroCamp 2009 kicks off. If you've never been to a star party before, IISAC2009 is a great opportunity to meet with, and observe with other amateur astronomers and star gazers who share your interest.

You don't need to own a telescope - there'll be plenty of people there willing to share the joy of observing under dark skies. 3RF will also be running nightly sky tours through several large 18" and 25" aperture telescopes.

With only 2 months to go, now's the time to get your booking in to make sure you qualify for the early-bird $10 discount.

To find out more, and to register for IISAC2009, please visit the IISAC2009 Info page.

IceInSpace Member Discovers New Impact Spot on Jupiter

The news is now a few weeks old, but we're very proud that one of our longest standing members, Anthony Wesley (bird), discovered a new impact scar on Jupiter on the 19th July.

IceInSpace was first to break the story, which spread rapidly via twitter, followed by the mainstream news and science media in the following days and weeks.

I can't think of anyone more worthy to have made this discovery, given Anthony's research and experimentation in high-resolution planetary imaging, and his willingness to share with the amateur astronomy community.

The impact scar is likely to be visible for only a few more weeks, as it continues to spread out and disperse - so if you can, take the opportunity to head outside and observe it before it's gone for good. To find out when the impact scar is visible, use the "Jupiter Observing Guide for August 2009" article.

Other IceInSpace Member Discoveries

The IceInSpace community is full of extremely talented amateur astronomers who are doing incredible work in their respective fields, contributing greatly to our hobby and our science.

Not only did Anthony Wesley (bird) discover the impact scar on Jupiter, but in the last year or two we've also had:

• Peter Marples (PeterM) from QLD has discovered several supernovas
• Stuart Parker (Park123) from NZ has discovered a supernova
• Terry Lovejoy (CometGuy) from QLD has discovered a comet
• Gordon Garradd (loomberah) from NSW (a professional astronomer) has discovered several asteroids and comets

It goes to show the depth of talent in our community and we're very proud that they contribute their knowledge and expertise with their friends at IceInSpace.

Images of the Apollo Lunar Landers

If you haven't seen them yet, you just have to check out these incredible images of the Apollo landing sites as imaged by NASA's Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO).

They were taken on July 11-15 and clearly show the Lunar Modules and their long shadows cast by the low sun angle.

LRO Images Apollo Landing Sites

As the LRO continues its orbit around the Moon, it will take more images at even greater resolution over the coming weeks and months.

Discussions on IceInSpace at this forum thread.

Thanks for reading.