May 2015
Sam, Matt, Jake, and Nick
Celestial Events
Subtract 5 hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to arrive at our local Eastern Standard Time (EST). During daylight Savings (Spring, Summer), subtract 4 hours.
Full Moon
Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower
Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
This image was taken in 2013 when scientists first looked at Mercury's surface in full color.
New Moon
Saturn at Opposition
Current News
Cosmic Tsunami Wakes up Galaxies
The picture above is a radio image of the shock wave (the bright arc). The image was captured using a Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope. The shock wave was created 1 billion years ago when the galaxy clusters collided.
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/04/giant-cosmic-tsunami-wakes-up-comatose-galaxies
Finding Runaway Galaxies
An object is classified as a runaway if it is moving faster than the velocity it takes to escape the cluster. A runaway galaxy is traveling at about 6 million mph.
The picture above is a false color illustration which shows the creation of the runaway galaxy by getting kicked out of the cluster by an intruding compact elliptical galaxy.
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/04/astronomers-find-runaway-galaxies
Silver Anniversary
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2015/04/looking-back-hubble-at-25