A “black hole hunter”, NuStar is the first hard X-ray space telescope with focussing optics.  Watch the launch video.

Dr. Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomy blogger) writes how his first experience of viewing Saturn through a small telescope blew his mind and turned him into a scientist.  Even for a professional astronomer, Saturn in a small telescope is spectacular.   We saw Saturn and four of its moons last Saturday at Cronyn Observatory.  I went back to look at it several times between 9:20 and 11:15pm.  As the sky got darker, more moons became visible.  Come see it with your own eyes one Saturday this summer!

Young Sarah is viewing the sun safely, while her father on the other hand….

Panorama of Venus transit public viewing at Western University. Photograph by Steve Gauthier.

Astronomy PhD student Aycha Tammour has won a Faculty for the Future fellowship from the Schlumberger Foundation. Aycha is working with supervisor Dr. Sarah Gallagher.

The Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future fellowships are awarded to women academics in science and engineering from developing and emerging countries, and provide funding for advanced graduate study at top universities abroad. The long-term goal of the Faculty for the Future program is to generate conditions that result in more young women pursuing scientific disciplines. Grant recipients are therefore selected as much for their leadership capabilities as their scientific talents and they are expected to return to their home countries to continue their academic careers and inspire other young women. Launched by the Schlumberger Foundation in 2004, Faculty for the Future has grown to become a community of 257 women from 62 countries.

The website is:

http://www.facultyforthefuture.net/

CTV London video coverage of the transit of Venus 2012 public viewing at Western University.

In case anyone has missed seeing the incredible footage that was compiled from series of still images taken in many colours by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

Link to SDO video page for Venus transit 2012.  (click on the ‘View Video’ under each image)