Rice Space Institute

Last good nights for the comet - tonight and tomorrow night! The moon won't be a problem but the comet is fainter than earlier this week, so maybe harder to find but still a good object in binoculars or photos.
1. GET OUT OF TOWN. Be sure city lights are to the east of you. In a city you will see NO TAIL. Go with a group - more fun and you can take turns making selfies.
2. Find a location with a clear horizon to the west-southwest.. (This is actually LESS important now, because the comet is higher in the sky).
3. Find a location with some interesting objects in the foreground.
4. If you have a "real" (SLR camera), put it on MANUAL focus and focus on the farthest object you can find during daylight. Then when it gets dark, focus on Venus and tape your focus ring so you don't bump it. Put your camera on F/4 or so to get a large depth of field. I put mine on "aperture priority" and set it to UNDEREXPOSE by about one f-stop (play around with this). Put it on a tripod. (better yet, bolt it to a telescope but that's a more involved procedure). Don't use a lot of telephoto since that will require a longer exposure and more star streaks. I used 70mm for the scene and 120MM for the closeups. If you have a camera that connects to your laptop, it makes it much easier to be sure you have a good shot. (My Canon comes with free EOS software). Try not to have a time exposure more than 8 seconds or so... bump up the ISO setting. Of course set it on highest resolution and "RAW" so you can process the image.
5. Binoculars should also be on tripods so you can share the view when someone spots it. 7-8x50 or 10x80 is good. 10x20 is too small a field and very hard to find.
6. As always, red lights so you don't kill your night vision. A green laser is helpful - when someone sees it, they can point it out to others.
7. Newer Iphones work amazing well. Hold it as steady as you can, or put on a tripod, etc. It automatically stacks long time exposures.
8. if you can't do manual focus, put your camera into "landscape" or "sunset" mode so it will focus at infinity and not overexpose.
9. Once the comet starts to set, put yourself in the picture and do a selfie with the comet. be FAR AWAY from your camera so you will be in focus too. (Use the timer setting). Once it gets too close to the horizon it may disappear so don't wait too long.

The photo is an iPhone photo taken by Bridget Koester of Charlie Gardner. This was Tuesday night when he was illuminated by moonlight. I cropped it and reduced the brightness to make it look more realistic. Tonight there will be less foreground illumination which will make the comet easier to see but harder to do a selfie.

It may be several years till we get another comet this good so don't miss this one! (and yeah, sorry, comets are always brightest with the longest tails when they are close to the sun, so early morning and early evening are the best viewing times)

Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Space Storms, Oh My! You can watch free our planetarium show "Force 5", which covers these massive natural hazards, on our YouTube channel. That link and a lot more info, including my hurricane preparedness document, here:

ePlanetarium : Planetarium Shows : Force Five Feel the Fury! Get ready to take cover when you see nature go FORCE FIVE, from our partners, Houston Museum of Natural Science and Rice University.

SPACE WEATHER ALERT! If the current level of input (red line in second image) continues, we will have Kp 7 or 8 tonight. Look for auroras and report on aurorasaurus.org! Here's my latest teacher newsletter if you missed it: https://mailchi.mp/8b36f00fc790/aurorasandcomet

Space weather getting stronger... If you live near the US/Canadian border, and it's dark where you are, go out and look! (and keep an eye out for the meteors). KP 6 conditions now, may be even stronger later. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast https://mms.rice.edu/forecast.html

MMS at Rice where v is the solar wind velocity in km/sec and B is the magnitude of the IMF, is a good predictor of the Polar Cap Potential drop for times when the solar wind is steady and the index is 160 kV or less. For the rare events where the Boyle index exceeds 160 kV, the polar cap potential generally sat...

Tonight! Meteors after 11 pm and maybe good auroras if you live in northern areas. Go outside if its dark and clear!

Starting today! Sun Camp for kids (virtual) thanks to ScienceFriday! https://sciencefriday.com/suncamp I'll be the first scientist interviewed for the Q&A tonight.

Join Science Friday’s Sun Camp! Science Friday's virtual Sun Camp is a great way for families and educators to explore STEM this fall with children ages 5-9.

Next launch attempt on Saturday

Teams have reviewed the data from Monday's launch attempt of the I mission and are moving forward with a second launch attempt on Sat., Sept. 3, with a two-hour launch window starting at 2:17 p.m. EDT (18:17 UTC).

Rice Space Institute and the SPACAlum congratulates our own Astronaut Shannon Walker for her successful Mission!

Congratulations to our very own, Dr. Alexander! He is the Faculty Director for the Space Studies program, Physics and Astronomy Professor and the Director of the Rice Space Insitute. Dr. Alexander is one of seven members named to the board.

Happy to report that our 13th "Reach for the Stars" STEM Festival for middle school girls was a success! Thank you to all who contributed in large measures: Panelists, Presenters, Exhibitors, Keynote Speaker, Organizers, Volunteers and most importantly, our SPONSORS (CHENIERE, RSI, P&A, Dean of Natural Sciences, NASA, Discovery Dome, Ride Family Foundation and others). Here are some pictures (more to come later).
We had a bit of light rain but not enough to impede the activities to continue in good fashion. Thankful for getting a bit of sunshine in the afternoon.