slooh

Fiery annular solar eclipse to be broadcast live on Internet

It's that time again where certain people on Earth are lucky enough to see an annular eclipse, or "ring of fire."

People on the ground in much of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands will be able to gaze toward the sky Thursday evening and witness the eclipse. However, the rest of us, who aren't in that part of the world, can watch the action live on the Slooh SpaceCamera Web site via an Australia-based telescope.

An annular eclipse is no ordinary eclipse; it's a rare and spectacular occurrence. Rather than a complete … Read more

Where to watch the huge Toutatis asteroid cruise by

We're coming close to the doomsday of Mayan calendar/Nibiru lore and there's a huge, mountain-size asteroid in the neighborhood of Earth this week. Coincidence?

Of course it is. Sorry, apocalypse fans. The 3.4-mile-long asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis will pass within 18 lunar distances of Earth on Wednesday, December 12, but won't require sending Steve Buscemi, Ben Affleck and friends to take it out. … Read more

Watch now: Enormous space rock slated for Earth flyby

A massive space rock traveling 25,000 miles per hour will get within 1.7 million miles from the Earth tonight. You'll be able to track its path live during a Slooh Space Camera show, starting at 4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern.

The asteroid, called 2012 QG42, will have about the same amount of brightness as the dwarf planet Pluto. Discovered a couple of weeks ago, 2012 QG42 is estimated to be between 625 feet and 1,500 feet in diameter.

The good news: There's no chance of a collision between the asteroid and Earth … Read more

Watch an asteroid fly-by this weekend

This weekend is a rare opportunity to see a space rock the size of a city block go for a joyride past the much bigger space rock we call Earth.

The snappily named asteroid 2002 AM31 will cruise by our planet this Sunday, coming within 13.7 lunar distances, or about 3.2 million miles.

If you consider yourself a bit of a NEO (near-Earth object) groupie, you can watch the whole spectacle online at the Web site of the Slooh space camera (really a network of robotic telescopes around the globe). Webcasts are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. PT and will feature live commentary and feeds from telescopes in Arizona and the Canary Islands. … Read more

Google's new doodle eclipses everything

I am beginning to think that Google should put its doodlers in charge of the whole company.

It seems as if they have an instinct for inspiring real, normal people that has sometimes seemed lacking in some of the titular higher-ups.

So today, as we await the full effects of a lunar eclipse that will provide us with some welcome pause for thought, Google has created a doodle on its home page that shows the progress of the moon as it becomes darkened because the earth is blocking the path of the sun's rays.

Just as with the marvelous Les Paul effort … Read more

Google Sky, Slooh bringing users live astronomy

Deep-space stargazing, meet crowdsourcing.

For some time now, Google Sky has enabled users to view a wide range of imagery from high-level sources like the Hubble Telescope, NASA satellites, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. But the service has never provided a method for users to view community-created imagery, or to participate in the viewing of live events like eclipses.

Until now.

On Friday, Google announced a partnership with Slooh, a New York company that offers the public Internet-based access to a global network of observatories, and a diverse and constantly growing collection of telescopic viewing and photography "missions.&… Read more