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As the Cassini Spacecraft takes a faraway Earth picture, you can follow along
Earth will get a very not-too-close closeup today from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, now on the far side of the planet Saturn. The photo session will take place between 2:27 PM and 2:42 PM PDT. The Earth will be seen from 900 million miles away. It won't be a detailed image, but it is the longest-range photo ever taken of the Earth. This will likely be the one and only image the spacecraft takes of the Earth. You can follow along with a couple of iOS apps that will virtually take you there. First, SkySafari has just had an update to the iOS and Mac apps they offer. SkySafari's basic version will be free on the iTunes Store from July 19th through July 21st; it's normally US$3 at the iTunes Store. With SkySafari, observers around the globe can easily use their iPhone or GPS, compass and accelerometer to easily locate Saturn in the sky. A brand-new release of SkySafari Plus ($9.99 sale price) and Pro (3.8.1) ($29.99) lets mobile app users fly to Saturn, and simulate the view from Cassini. These powerful apps will be offered at up to 25 percent off regular price today, the day of the event, through Sunday, July 21st. Meanwhile, another great Astronomy app, Distant Suns (Classic) for iOS is having a half-price sale today at $1.99. Distant Suns Max is $3.99 down from a regular price of $9.99. Distant Suns can take you for a virtual view of the Earth from Saturn just as it will appear to the Cassini spacecraft. The Cassini mission has been pretty awesome. People around the world are gathering at planetariums and other public places to wave back at Saturn when the images of Earth are being taken. After the moon, I think my first views through my telescope when I was young were of Saturn. It's a beautiful sight. If you want to get a look at Saturn today and tonight here's a guide to help you. Saturn will be in the southwestern sky tonight from North America. With powerful binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to see the rings. Here's another bit of trivia: Our own Steve Sande's wife Barbara was on the Cassini launch team. Well done! %Gallery-194190%
Distant Suns celebrates 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's epic ride with a free app
It was 50 years ago today that the son of a Russian farmer rocketed into space and became the first man to orbit the earth. Yuri Gagarin's 108 minute trip in his Vostok spacecraft ushered in the era of manned space flight, as the US followed up with the Mercury, Gemini, and later the Apollo missions to the moon. In 1975 the US and Russia stopped competing and began the Apollo-Soyuz missions. Joint missions continue today on the International Space Station. To celebrate the event, Distant Suns 2 for the iPhone and iPod touch is free today only. The app is a pretty complete star map, with 130,000 stars, 88 constellations and the Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters. I've reviewed the app in the past and found it a worthwhile purchase. It's even better for free. Author Mike Smithwick produced one of the first computerized star map programs way back in 1985 for the Amiga 1000. Mike also produced Distant Suns 3 for the iPhone and iPad, which is even more sophisticated. It's on sale for US$4.99 today only. A couple other astronomy app notes of interest. Star Walk, the award winning astronomy guide has been updated to include augmented reality. It activates the camera and superimposes accurate star positions over the portion of sky you are pointing to. It's very cool to use during the day as well because it will show you where the planets and other objects are that are made invisible by the sun. The iPhone version of Star Walk is on sale for $0.99, and that sale ends today. The app also now supports TV out on the iPhone 4. %Gallery-121002%
Win a copy of Distant Suns to see the night sky on your iPhone
We've covered Distant Suns before, and we missed the Galilean Nights, but we're giving away 10 copies of Distant Suns [iTunes Link] for your iPhone or iPod touch this week. It's always a good time to have the "universe in your shirt pocket," right? The rules couldn't be simpler (unless we allowed everyone to enter, but promo codes are US-only, sorry) so enter a comment to win! Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter, leave a comment below. The comment must be left by Saturday, October 31 at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Promo code for the Distant Suns app (US$4.99 value). Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Win a copy of Distant Suns for your iPhone and show us your Perseid meteor shots
The Perseid meteor shower should peak tomorrow, August 12, and stay spectacular for a few days after. If you've got the means, I highly recommend you check it out. Quite a show. I'm not sure an iPhone camera would do it justice, but you can prove me wrong by submitting your Perseid meteor shower shots on our TUAW tumblr page. They don't really have to be taken with the iPhone, so if you have a nice telescope, don't be shy. To celebrate the Perseids we're giving away 25 copies of Distant Suns, a nifty astronomy app for the iPhone and iPod touch (which we've covered before), in one of our patented random giveaways. As usual, this is limited to the US (sorry!), you must be over 18, and so forth. Full rules down below. To enter, just leave us a comment telling us whether you've seen the Perseids. Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment indicating whether you've seen the Perseid Meteor Shower. The comment must be left before Friday, August 14, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Twenty-five winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Promo code for one copy of Distant Suns for iPhone, US$5.99 value Click Here for complete Official Rules. Note: The current version of Distant Suns is iPhone OS 3.0-only, but a pre-3.0 version should be available soon.
