Here's the latest article from the Astronomy site at BellaOnline.com.
Death of the Sun – Facts for Kids
The Sun was born in a nebula five billion years ago. It's going to keep going for another few billion years, but it won't last forever. Here's the story of what happens to a sunlike star when it runs out of fuel. And some of it is very strange.
*Apologies to readers who aren't on Pinterest*
Pinterest has recently joined the other social media in denying content to non-members. If you're one of them, you'll already have noticed that. I am in the [slow!] process of changing links in my articles to ones that should be accessible to everyone. And will not be using Pinterest links in the newsletter in future. Meanwhile if there are pictures you can't see in a particular article (or newsletter), let me know and I'll get onto those straightaway.
By the way, this forum thread will show which articles have already been amended: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/898260/Non-members_can't_see_images_-#Post898260 There are three links on each – the maximum allowed – and two more that just need “http://www.” added to the beginning of them.
*You can help the Mars scientists*
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken lots of pictures of Mars, and the data needs examining. So the science team is asking the public to help out by looking at images taken near the south pole of Mars. They're asking Zooniverse volunteers to look at the pictures and say if each one contains any of the features of interest. There are examples of all of these features, so you'll know what you're looking for. I had a go and found many of the images don't contain any of the things they're looking for. And it gets easier as you go along.
I should mention that they always send each image to more than one person, so you needn't feel that you're responsible for an incorrect identification or missing something of importance! The scientists concentrate on the images where different people have spotted the features of interest.
Details here: https://www.zooniverse.org/#/projects/mschwamb/planet-four-terrains
*Anniversaries for August 19*
1646: John Flamsteed born - he was the first Astronomer Royal at Greenwich Observatory in England, and compiled a star atlas that was the standard reference for over a century.
1891: Milton Humason born - an American astronomer whose observations of the redshifts of galaxies helped the work of Edwin Hubble and Allan Sandage.
1982: Soyuz T-7 launched - Svetlana Savitskaya was part of the crew, making her the second woman in space.
Please visit http://astronomy.bellaonline.com/Site.asp for even more great content about Astronomy.
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/forums/323/1/Astronomy or in response to this email message. I welcome your feedback!
Do pass this message along to family and friends who might also be interested. Remember it's free and without obligation.
I wish you clear skies.
Mona Evans, Astronomy Editor