Had Fun Asking NASA Trivia Questions And Giving Out Stickers At DragonCon Today! . . . . . #explorepage

Captured last night using one of the remote telescopes of the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. All processing by Johnathan Brackett. https://www.instagram.com/p/CO4EUFfDWT5/?igshid=1ucmb7lsqb6m2

Somebody’s got to do it! Happy Star Wars Day! May The Fourth Be With You! #maythe4thbewithyou #starwarsday #nasa #jpl #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/COdI9JcDBej/?igshid=wxfr65xogirz

My published Mission Juno image…

Kinda cool when the person running a great big ol’ agency’s FB account decides your picture is worthy of said agency’s ❤️. Thanks @nasa ! #space #launchamerica #crewdragon @spacex #iss @iss @issnationallab https://www.instagram.com/p/CHStHVhDNDR/?igshid=1hpnysb816a4v

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Galaxies...

Spent some time today processing data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Also watched a lecture on Chinese Space Suits...

As for this evening, there is a visible ISS pass at 6:31PM over the Atlanta area.

My latest Mission Juno image, “Down South”... PJ33 Southern Latitudes. Color/Contrast adjusted, denoised Image Credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS / John Brackett #nasa #missionjuno #jupiter #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUbXIJDlji/?utm_medium=tumblr

It’s here! My first children’s book for ages 4-7 is available on Amazon. “Mission, GO!” by Johnathan Brackett is available in Kindle form or paperback. Thanks to friends and family for the encouragement. #space #astronaut #stem #steam #spaceflight #iss #internationalspacestation https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJXR_njF53/?igshid=1gqq80oafbo1b

Looking Up -

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a pretty basic telescope. I’m sure it was only used less than fifty times. It was a pain to lug it outside and set up. The finder scope was always loose and impossible to align. Eventually, the telescope became part of my room decor.

It wasn’t all the telescope’s fault. I was naive and fell for the pretty pictures on the box showing me the universe. I thought I was going to set up in the backyard and find a comet in five minutes. I’d have my Doctorate by the end of the week...

Alas, the only thing I could line up was the Moon. I wasn’t patient enough to look for subtle differences from viewing to viewing. I was young, dumb, and bored. The telescope came out less often. Eventually, it quit getting brought outside at all.

Thirty five years later, a spark in me reignited. I found telescopes with red-dot finder scopes and computerized tracking. I now knew those incredible images on the old box required long exposures and specialized settings. I wanted to try again.

My new telescope has allowed me to see many aspects of the Moon I could never appreciate before. Also, with my camera mount, I can now see and photograph deep space objects. The joy I experienced on seeing my first nebula was overwhelming. I showed my wife my first picture like I was a schoolboy with an A+.

Now for the cool part... I get to share this with my daughter. At five years of age, she can identify the four major planets in the sky. I am jealous of the technology she’ll get to grow up with, but for now, we will use my telescope and maybe even find a comet.

NASA is asking for volunteers to help find the hypothetical Planet 9. The project, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, has users check telescope images the same way Clyde Tombaugh found Pluto. So far, volunteers have already found over 100 brown dwarfs.

Full article >>

Sportin’ my new NASA 2020 Launch America hat. @nasa @spacex #crewdragon #nasa #launchamerica #space #iss @issnationallab @iss #issspacestationambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CCeL0snnX9q/?igshid=1kqjqeyt1forw