Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Contest: Win a Copy of ‘Sidereal Clock’ iPhone App

A view of the Sidereal Clock iPhone app.

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You know you’ve always wanted your own sidereal clock. Now, here’s your chance. We’re giving away 10 access codes for the new Sideral Clock astronomy iPhone app. Just send an email to us with “Sidereal Clock” in the subject line and Fraser will choose five winners at random.

Sidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky. A a sidereal day is the time scale that is based on the Earth’s rate of rotation measured relative to the fixed stars. All observatories have a Sidereal Clock, and you can find sidereal time on the Internet, but you don’t always have access to the internet while observing. If you have an iPhone you can now install “SiderealClock” application and carry it with you everywhere you go.

This app uses iPhone geopositioning, and the application displays the current time (LMT), Greenwich time (GMT), your local Sideral Time (LST) and also the Julian Day. SideralClock is a real time clock and runs in any iPhone with geopositioning system and iOS 4.2 or higher.

Find more informations about this application at Apple iTunes Store The app is available in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese.

Thanks to designer Fabio Rendelucci for providing the app codes for this contest!

Note: this contest replaces an earlier one that was canceled, in case you feel like you are experiencing deja vu.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of the New Book “Cosmic Heritage — Evolution from the Big Bang to Conscious Life”

How did the Universe begin and evolve? How did life start on Earth? These questions are discussed in a new book, “Cosmic Heritage — Evolution from the Big Bang to Conscious Life.” Thanks to the folks at Springer Astronomy, we have 10 copies of this engaging book to give away! Just send us an email with “Shaver Book” in the subject line and Fraser will randomly choose 10 winners. Deadline for the contest is Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 at 1200 GMT. The contest is open to anyone around the world.

This book follows the evolutionary trail all the way from the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago to conscious life today. It is an accessible introductory book written for the interested layperson – anyone interested in the ‘big picture’ coming from modern science. It covers a wide range of topics including the origin and evolution of our universe, the nature and origin of life, the evolution of life including questions of birth and death, the evolution of cognition, the nature of consciousness, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the future of the universe. The book is written in a narrative style, as these topics are all parts of a single story. It concludes with a discussion on the nature and future of science.

See more about the book at Amazon.com and read a guest post by Shaver on Universe Today.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win A Copy of Brian Cox’s New Book, “Wonders of the Universe”

This week we’ve been talking with Professor Brian Cox about physics, space exploration and the future. He also talks about all those things in his two television series, Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe. Cox has written a companion book to Wonders of the Universe, and thanks to HarperCollins, Universe Today has four copies to give away to our readers! Just send us an email with “Brian Cox Book” in the subject line. Fraser will randomly choose four winners from the emails we receive. The contest ends at 12:00 GMT on Monday, August 22, 2011. This contest is limited to people living in North America and Europe.

For more information or to purchase the book see Amazon UK, Amazon US, or HarperCollins.

Above, see a sample of the television series.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win a New iPhone Astronomy App: AstroView

Screenshot of the AstroView app

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There’s a brand new astronomy app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that provides information on what you should be able to see with different combinations of eyepieces on your telescope. AstroView displays key telescope-eyepiece performance characteristics, provides recommendations on equipment, and with the field of view display, for example, what you see on screen is what you should be able to see through your telescope. Developer George Douvos says this new app is all very intuitive, easy to read, and easy to understand.

Would you like to try a AstroView for free? Universe Today has 10 copies of this new app to give away. Just send an email to [email protected] with the word “AstroView App” in the subject line, and we’ll pick ten winners at random. The contest ends on Thursday, August 18, 2011.

Want more info?

AstroView on iTunes

Astro View supports the following gear:
* Telescopes with objective diameter from 50 mm to 610 mm, selectable in 5 mm increments (or diameters from 2 inches to 24 inches, in 1/2 inch increments), and focal ratios from f/3 to f/15.
* Eyepieces with focal lengths from 2 mm to 55 mm and apparent field of view from 30 to 110 degrees.

Thanks to George Duvous for providing us with the apps to giveaway!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of “Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries”

What are the top 100 discoveries in the history of astronomy? In his book, “Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries,” noted astronomy journalist Govert Schilling tells the story of 400 years of telescopic astronomy. He looks at the most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope, highlighting how astronomers discovered new planets, mapped nebulae, determined the distances to stars, unraveled the structure of the Milky Way, and discovered the expansion of the universe, among other things. And, as telescopes became bigger and more powerful, astronomers delved deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos. It is a beautiful book filled with marvelous images and Schilling’s style of captivating storytelling.

Would you like to have a copy of your very own? Thanks to Springer, and Jeff Rutherford Media Relations, Universe Today has 10 copies of this book to give away! Just send an email to [email protected] with the words “Schilling’s Atlas” in the subject line by Monday, June 13th at 12 Noon PDT to be eligible, and Fraser will randomly pick the winners.

Good luck!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win a Copy of “Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds”

Meteorologists have a tough time predicting weather on Earth let alone knowing what the weather is like on other planets, but discoveries from spacecraft, observatories, and laboratories have revealed some of the mysteries of weather across the Solar System. A new book by Science journalist Michael Carroll, “Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds,” explores the bizarre weather found on the other worlds of our solar system.

Read a guest post by Carroll on Universe Today.

Sound interesting? You could win a copy of your very own! Universe Today has two copies to give away, thanks to Springer and Jeff Rutherford Media Relations.

How to win? Just send an email to [email protected] with “Alien Winds Book” in the subject line, and Fraser will randomly pick the winners. The contest ends on Friday, May 20 at 12 Noon PDT.

Good luck!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win the Book “Light This Candle”

As we said in our previous article, Alan Shepard was a complicated guy — but seemingly the perfect person for the job of being the first American in space. Want to know more about him? Neal Thompson’s book “Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard” is a great read, which comes highly recommended! (See our article and interview with Thompson — plus our Jason Major has reviewed the book on his Lights in the Dark website.) Thanks to the Crown Publishing Group at Random House, Universe Today has three copies of the book to giveaway!

How to win? Just send an email to [email protected] and put “Shepard Book” in the subject line to enter the contest. Fraser will choose three winners randomly and we’ll notify you via email. The contest will end on Monday, May 9 at 12 Noon PDT. Good luck!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Contest: Win IMAX Hubble DVD

When I saw the IMAX Hubble movie last year when it was released in theaters, it’s portrayal of the immensity and gloriousness of our universe literally brought me to tears (read my review here) Now you can have a copy of your very own IMAX Hubble, as it was just released on DVD. And Universe Today has 5 copies to give away, courtesy of Warner Brothers! Just send an email to info@universetoday with “IMAX Hubble” in the subject line for your chance to win. Contest ends on Monday, April 4, 2011 at 1500 GMT.

See the original movie trailer, below.
Continue reading “Contest: Win IMAX Hubble DVD”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Bonanza of Blu-rays to Give Away!

Thanks to the folks at A&E Home Entertainment, we have four different Blu-ray discs to give away to four lucky readers of Universe Today:

All on Blu-ray:

The Universe: Explore The Edges Of The Unknown The Complete Season Five
Ancient Aliens-Season One
Life After People: The Complete Season Two
How Earth Was Made Complete Season One

How to win one?

Just send an email to info@universetoday with “Blu-ray Giveaway” in the subject line, and we’ll randomly choose 4 people to win one of the four discs. The contest goes until Thursday, Feb. 10 at 12 Noon PST.

Below is more info on each Blu-ray title, and click the links to Amazon to find out more.

The Universe Explore The Edges of the Unknown The Complete Season 5

It’s been 50 years since man ventured into the unknown, and the heavens are only now yielding their greatest secrets. Follow in the galactic path of THE UNIVERSE, which this season leads us even further into the world beyond our own.

From robotic rovers on Mars to NASA probes slamming into comets and deep space telescopes capturing violent images of the birth of stars, season five of this illuminating HISTORY™ series explores how these discoveries were made – and who made them. Dramatic CGI and interviews with expert cosmologists, astronomers and astrophysicists bring the history of the heavens down to earth and provide a glimpse into our future.

Ancient Aliens: Season One

Is it possible that intelligent life forms visited Earth thousands of years ago, bringing with them technology that drastically affected the course of history and man’s own development? Presented in the 1968 bestselling book Chariots of the Gods, by Erich von Daniken, the theory of ‘ancient aliens’ rocked people’s beliefs in mankind’s progress. Ancient cave drawings of strange creatures, remains of landing strips in Peru, and Indian texts that describe the ‘flying machines of the gods’ were just a few of the odd archaeological artifacts cited by von Daniken as proof that ancient astronauts were well known to our ancestors. Produced with the exclusive cooperation of von Daniken himself, ANCIENT ALIENS launches all-new expeditions to seek out and evaluate this evidence, with a concentration on discoveries of the last 30 years, including unusual DNA findings on man s evolution and newly decoded artifacts from Egypt to Syria to South America. It is a balanced investigation into a theory some believe cannot be true, but many agree cannot be ignored.

Life After People: The Complete Season Two

What would happen if every human being on Earth disappeared? This isn’t the story of how we might vanish – it is the story of what happens to the world we leave behind. The second season of the fascinating HISTORY™ series LIFE AFTER PEOPLE takes a stunningly graphic journey to a world wiped clean of humanity, using cinematic CGI to reveal – in scientific detail – the fate of every aspect of the man-made world, and how the landscape of our planet would forever change in our absence.

From animal outbreaks to massive structural collapses to hordes of toxins and chemicals unleashed across the globe, LIFE AFTER PEOPLE: THE COMPLETE SEASON TWO reveals what happens in the hours, days, months, and years after people disappear. Welcome to Earth, population zero

How The Earth Was Made: Season One

Spectacular on-location footage, evidence from geologists in the field, and clear, dramatic graphics combine in this stunning 13-part series from HISTORY™ to show how immensely powerful, and at times violent, forces of geology have formed our planet.

From the Great Lakes to Iceland, the San Andreas Fault to Krakatoa, HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE travels the globe to reveal the physical processes that have shaped some of the most well-known locations and geological phenomena in the world. With rocks as their clues and volcanoes, ice sheets, and colliding continents as their suspects, scientists launch a forensic investigation that will help viewers visualize how the earth has evolved and formed over millions of years.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Win ‘Distant Suns’ iPhone App

Screenshot of the Distant Suns version 3.

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It’s time to unleash your inner astronaut! The Distant Suns app has been around awhile and is one of the more popular astronomy-related applications for iPhone and now the iPad. It was originally a program for the Commodore Amiga computer in 1987, but now takes advantage of the latest hand-held technology. Distant Suns is an app for both serious astronomers and beginners (its very user friendly) and includes a wealth of information about astronomical objects and fun “fly to” features. Creator Mike Smithwick has just put out a new updated version of Distant Suns (version 3.1.4) and has given Universe Today 15 (count ’em! 15!) of this latest version to give away. This app regularly sells for $9.99, so this is a great chance to own one of your very own.

Just send an email with the subject line of “Distant Suns App” in the subject line to [email protected] and we will randomly choose 15 winners. UPDATE: The winners have now all been notified, and this contest is over.

For more information about the features and capabilities of Distant Suns, see the video below, or see the Distant Suns website, or the Distant Suns iTunes store page.

Distant Suns has gotten a 5 Star review from from ituneappreview.com, and 5 stars in phoneapplicationlist.com, and here’s a glowing review from OtherWorldComputing.