The Perseid Meteor shower is one of my personnel favourites for the year, and this year is predicted to be a good one. Meteorwatch.org are keen for public participation in observing this years shower from the 11th to the 14th of Aug.

I could not resist putting up a link to this great Utube video they have put together to promote the event.

A new generation of solar observatories has been launched, creating a bit of science as it rockets through the atmosphere ….

Its almost like coming out of hybernation …. the wet season is drawing to a close and The Science Guru is emerging from his wet season adventures. Yes, that’s right, its almost time for the Astronomy season to begin here in NE Arnhem land NT with the official end of the wet season this coming Friday.

I have been on many adventures of the mind, body and dare I say Spirit on my own science site. Much of this Activity has turned into written stories and even a little poetry.  For those of you that dont know, I am also the convener of our local writing group, Arnhem Writers that has been busy over the past few months too.

The science show has continued on Gove FM and I will be featuring some of the best of those segments on ATSG very soon ….stay tuned !

Well, the ATSG has been on the move again. This time at the International Science Education Conference 2009 in Singapore. I had the chance to speak with Sue John from Cardiff University Wales UK. We speak about the work Sue has been doing to bring universities and science educators together, for the benefit of both education and the environment …..

Haley’s comet is the best known of all the comets, and this meteor shower is one of 2  chances each year to catch some of its dusty debris burning up in our Atmosphere … It has passed us now having peaked on the 22nd of October, but it is a timely reminder to watch out for the upcoming Geminid Meteor Shower on the 14th of December ….

With the upsurge in Cosmic ray activity in the atmosphere of mother earth and in line with the article I published recently. I speak of the matter with my Co-host Rob on the science Hour at Gove FM. So what is the signifigance of these cosmic rays and how does it interact with climate change on our planet …. ?

Tuesday 17-11 (CST) Australia:

I was able to observe 20 leonids this morning between 4 and 5 am.
2 of them were quite bright and prolonged (2 to 3 sec)
2 more were point source and quite surprising to see.

We will be out there again in the am tomorrow, for what I hope will be a much better show
on the leading edge of the predicted asian peak Asian Peak of up to 500/hr.

Wednesday 18-11 (CST) Australia:

Another good morning for the Leonids here in Nhulunbuy.
Six of us from GAA were out at out at “Middle Carpark” looking over the Arafura sea.
Notch was the first there at 3:30am and along with Dave and Peter were lucky enough to see one Leonid fireball, moving from east to west and lasting several seconds.
They were joined by myself, Francois and Bruce & all up there were 70 Leonids sighted till the sky grew too bright at 5am.
So I guess an average of 50/hr is a fair assesment. More than double yesterday mornings count.
One of the best Leonid showings since 2001, so worth getting up for !

I would love to hear some reports of the Asian Leonids peak, did you get a “1/2 storm” as predicted ?

Preserving the dark skies of the world and raising awareness of this critical conservation effort is one of the cornerstone projects of the International Year of astronomy. I speak with Graham Murry of the Earth and Sky observatory at Mt John on their efforts to take a leading role in this field, in my third and final interview of my NZ tour …..

In this interview I speak further with prolific US Author, Teacher and Astronomer Jeffrey Bennett. http://www.jeffreybennett.com/
In part two we discuss life beyond our solar system just what it may look like and what it means for us as a race ….

In the continuation of my discussion with Dr Selina Ward, we explore what can be done to slow the advance of climate change and how we can better protect our reefs.