November 4, 2019 - Carl’s Cosmos

Carl’s Cosmos  The Hubble Ultra Deep Field image, in which all but a handful of objects are distant galaxies, is a fitting backdrop for remembering someone who made the wonders of the universe accessible to a large portion of the world’s population. Born eighty-five years ago this week, Carl Sagan was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, but he was best known as a popularizer of science, reaching and inspiring millions through his books, magazine articles, and television broadcasts. His series Cosmos became the most-watched series in public television history, and the accompanying book was the best-selling science book ever published in English. Sagan was a pioneer in the field of exobiology and played a leading role in numerous planetary exploration missions. He died in 1996.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team

Weekly Calendar

November 4 - 10, 2019

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Monday 4

First Qtr Moon 5:23 AM ET
Taurid meteor shower

Tuesday 5

Election Day

2013: Mars Orbiter Mission launched, India's first interplanetary mission
2018: Voyager 2 spacecraft enters interstellar space

Wednesday 6

1572: Tycho Brahe records bright new star (supernova SN 1572) in Cassiopeia
1966: Lunar Orbiter II launched

Thursday 7

Neptune 4° north of Moon
Moon at apogee

1963: First flight test of Apollo Launch Escape System
1967: Surveyor 6 launched
1996: Mars Global Surveyor launched
2013: Soyuz TMA-11M launched carrying ISS Expedition 38/39 crew

Friday 8

Mars 3° north of Spica

1656: Edmund Halley born
1984: STS-51A Discovery launched
1995: STS-74 Atlantis launched
2005: ESA’s Venus Express launched

Saturday 9

Venus 4° north of Antares

1934: Carl Sagan born
1967: Surveyor 6 lands on Moon
1967: Apollo 4 launched, first Saturn V launch

Sunday 10

Uranus 4° north of Moon

1970: Luna 17 launched