Tag: Jim Stepp

Hello and welcome back to a new year of classes and adventures at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Northern Maine is a great place to live and, if you like astronomy, it is a great place to be.  Northern Maine has rich...

NASA recently announced that it is ready to launch a mission to Mars. According to an article in the “National Conspirator,” NASA’s director of public information, Doug Blastoff, stated the space agency was hoping to launch the...

What do you get when you combine a fundraiser for cancer assistance with paint and shower caps or shaved heads?  You get Planet Head Day, of course! What is Planet Head Day?  It is an opportunity to help raise funds that are...

The longest lasting planet-roving robot in history may have died.  The Mars Rover Opportunity was launched from the Earth on July 7, 2003, and landed on Mars on Jan. 25, 2004.  The probe was designed to last 90 days, but...

On Jan. 1, 2019, NASA’s New Horizons space probe will pass by Ultima Thule.  Ultima Thule may sound like a robot from the Transformers movies, but in actuality, it is a Kuiper Belt asteroid orbiting the sun at a distance of four...

Comet 46P/Wirtanen might reach naked eye level by the end of 2018.  Comet 46P/Wirtanen is due to pass closest to the sun and the Earth in December. Wirtanen’s closest approach to the sun will be on Dec. 12 and its closest...

It happened on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938 – 80 years ago.  The Martians arrived and war broke out around the world.  Well sort of…. On the night of Oct. 30, 1938, the Mercury Radio Theatre aired a performance of H. G. Wells’ 1896...

     Hello everyone and welcome to or back to the University of Maine at Presque Isle.  If you are interested in astronomy, we have several treats for you in and around the Presque Isle area.      The University Times runs this...