Welcome to the South Arkansas Astronomical Society. Our intention is to provide astronomical resources and information for schools and interested individuals in the South Arkansas region.
If you are interested in an astronomy presentation for your class, or you want to attend the next star party, please feel free to contact us.
A space-based survey of 101 objects that pass relatively close to Earth has found they have a wide range of reflectivity, indicating that their composition is varied as well. [More]
As deejay gigs go this is a short one, but the audience is captive and the venue is very exclusive. With a recently announced contest , NASA has opened the door to the public to choose music to be played for astronauts during the final two scheduled space shuttle missions. Four winning songs will serve as wake-up music on the missions, currently pegged for November and February launches. [More]
Normally, black holes evaporate over time, a process that probably releases information about their contents – but there may be a way to create black holes that stand the test of time
The possibility of an impact from a planet-killing asteroid or comet is an oft discussed topic in science and science fiction, and has even made its way onto this blog a time or two. Ultimately the discussion turns to what the world would do if just such an object was found to be hurtling toward Earth. The answer, inevitably, relies on our ability to find potential threats years in advance.
Whether you are taking an advanced course in stellar astrophysics or an introductory course in astronomy, you learn that one of the fundamental tenets of stellar evolution is that main sequence stars with masses above 25 solar masses will become a black hole. However, new results from ESO's Very Large Telescope indicate that this is not necessarily the case.
It's being billed as a sort of "American Idol" style competition. NASA has setup a website where you van vote for your favorite songs to be played during the final two shuttle missions.
The threat of a significant impact has been on the minds of astronomers for decades. There have been movies of varying quality made on the subject. However, the actual danger has been minimal. But now, scientists from NASA are worried that asteroid 1999 RQ36 might be on a collision course with Earth.
One of the reasons that I love astronomy is that sometimes the things we find escape comprehension. For instance, this edition of my Image of the Week column focuses on a recent image released by Hubble. This image of NGC 4911 was compiled from 28 hours of observational data spread out over a three year period. The image looks like it could have been painted by a gifted artist, but is rather a very large, very real galaxy located about 320 million light-years from earth. Truly breathtaking.
In the future man will explore distant worlds, and create new Earths on rocks orbiting other Suns. At least, that's the future laid out in most science fiction novels. But will it really come to pass? According to renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, it is not merely a dream, but a necessary step if we hope to have any future at all.
As we've seen over the last couple years, earthquakes can have a devastating effect on entire cities. Now, it appears that a similar phenomenon has been detected coming from space. The so-called "spacequakes" can be felt all the way down on the surface of the Earth.
These occurrences are like Earthquakes in that they can release incredible amounts of energy from a localized position, radiating waves of particles and energy in all directions. However, instead of solid tectonic plates...
Space News 
The possibility of an impact from a planet-killing asteroid or comet is an oft discussed topic in science and science fiction, and has even made its way onto this blog a time or two. Ultimately the discussion turns to what the world would do if just such an object was found to be hurtling toward Earth. The answer, inevitably, relies on our ability to find potential threats years in advance.