ServiAstro

ServiAstro is the website for public outreach on astronomy of the Astronomy and Meteorology Department (DAM) of the University of Barcelona.

It offers information about the past and future astronomical events visible from Catalonia. Also about the most important ones, no matter the geographical visibility. In some especially outstanding cases, such as planetary transits or Solar and Lunar eclipses, ServiAstro offers live webcasts which can be enjoyed anytime, thanks to our permanent galleries.

Furthermore, ServiAstro publish the public outreach activities carried out by the (DAM). Visitors will find a compilation of astronomical ephemerides, tools for astronomical calculations, news, answers to frequently asked questions and links to lots of other websites about astronomy, organized in sections.

10 years of live broadcasts on ServiAstro

ServiAstro webcast its first live phenomenon 10 years ago. It was the Mercuri Transit on May 7, 2003. Since then, ServiAstro have broadcast the most important astronomical phenomena visible from Catalonia, offering detailed information on both their nature and their observation conditions. Our server has also wanted to cover other astronomical phenomena of special interest that were not visible from here, and to make it possible, some members of our department have moved to different parts of the world and they have webcast them live.

Picture of the day

News

2013

May 2013

* Lunar Impact, May 17th, 2013 An object about the size of a small boulder has hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium. Anyone looking at the Moon at the moment of impact could have seen the explosion--no telescope required. For about one second, the impact site was glowing like a 4th magnitude star.

* Solar activity surges, May 14th, mayo 2013 A sunspot on the sun's eastern limb is crackling with powerful X-class solar flares. Just-numbered AR1748 announced itself during the early hours of May 13th with an X1.7-class eruption (0217 UT), quickly followed by an X2.8-class flare (1609 UT) and an X3.2-class flare (0117 UT on May 14). These are the strongest flares of the year so far, and they signal a significant increase in solar activity. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours. Space Weather http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html http://stereo.ssl.berkeley.edu/multistatus.php

* No return trip to Mars, May 10th, 2013 Interview with Josep Manel Carrasco on "Migdia" of 8TV to discuss the project "Mars-One" that intends to send in 2023 four volunteers with no possibility of return to Earth.

* An Anarchic Region of Star Formation, May 2nd 2013 NGC 6559 is a cloud of gas and dust located at a distance of about 5000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). The glowing region is a relatively small object, just a few light-years across, in contrast to the one hundred light-years and more spanned by its famous neighbour, the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, eso0936). Although it is usually overlooked in favour of its distinguished companion, NGC 6559 has the leading role in this new picture.