Monday, November 30, 2009
Occultation of the Pleaides, December 1, 2009
North-eastern horizon as seen from southern Australia around 10:00 pm local daylight saving time on December 1. Northern Australia and much of Indonesia will see similar views at around 9:00 pm local standard time. The Moon is poised to cover some of the stars in the Pleiades cluster.On the evening of Tuesday December 1 the nearly full Moon will pass in front of the beautiful Pleiades star cluster. This event can be seen from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and parts of Japan. Detailed timings for SE Asia in Universal Time can be found via this link (and see below).
Because the Moon is so bright, it will be best to watch this event with binoculars or a small telescope. Set up and start watching 30-15 minutes before had so you don't miss the disappearance.
Binocular view of the beginning of the occultation as seen from the Northern Territory. Celeano and Taygeta are just about to be covered. You will not see any nebulosity because of the Moons brightness, I just can't get the software to make it go away.In Australia, the Northern Territory has the best view. Darwin sees the most bright stars covered, starting with the bright star Celeano at 21:51 ACST, followed by bright Taygeta, then Sterope and Maia, finishing 23:27. next best is Alice Springs, which sees Taygeta covered at 22:12 ACST, followed by 18 Tauri and Sterope.
WA has good views too. Perth sees Taygeta covered at 21:18 AWDST, followed by Sterope and 22 Tauri. People in Northern WA will see more stars covered.
Northern QLD sees a few stars covered, Townsville sees Taygeta and 18 Tauri covered at roughly the same time, 23:54 AEST.
Binocular view of the beginning of the occultation as seen from South-eastern Australia, just before 18 Tauri is covered up..South eastern Australia sees just 18 Tauri covered, starting from 23:28 ACDST (Adelaide), 23:33 AEST (Brisbane) and the morning of December 2 for Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, from between 00:11 AEDST to 00:26 AEDST.
More details, timings and links at Southern Skywatch. For Maia occultation track maps see here, and Taygeta timings (UT) and track maps see here. Other locations generally see here.
Labels: Occultation, Pleiades
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunset on Mars, or is it?
No, it's sunset during the big Queensland bushfires back in September. But it did stringly remind me of this Martian Sunset.Labels: Mars, miscelaneous
Saturday, November 28, 2009
More Evidence of Life on Mars
This mornings Australian had an article on more evidence of life existing on MArs, at least in the past. Re-examination of the Martian meteorite ALH84001 by the McKay goup suggests that the magnetite grains found in the meteorite really are of biogenic origin. The abstract of the paper is here, and it is discussed over at Spaceflight Now and Universe Today.
Personally, I think the evidence that the magnetite is from organisms is now very strong, but we still have a way to go to be fully convinced.
Personally, I think the evidence that the magnetite is from organisms is now very strong, but we still have a way to go to be fully convinced.
Labels: Mars, origin of life
Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry
From a letter to the Adelaide Advertiser of Friday, November 27.
See here for a general history of the ozone hole and our understanding of it, and here for a graph that shows ozone has indeed stabilized, at exceptionally low levels.
Image Source NASA.
Yes, the ozone hole has stabilized because we did something about it.
The general trend seems to be this. Scientists/engineers/medicos discover a serious problem. Scientists/engineers/medicos convince politicians something needs to be done and then work feverishly to fix/avert problem. Problem is either averted or greatly reduced. A few years later, John Q Public says 'What about problem X? scientists/engineers/medico's had their knickers in a knot about this, but nothing happened. They are such scaremongers!"
Sheesh!
"Before I went to the Antarctic Peninsula in January 2000 there was great public concern about the hole in the ozone layer growing like a mushroom, [...] Ukrainian scientists who have monitored the hole for 9 years have found little change if any in that time. So much for the scare mongers. "Umm, that would be because we spent over 20 years hammering out international treaties to stop production and release of CFC's and other ozone depleting gasses, and spent truck-loads of cash developing ozone friendly alternatives to CFC's so we could still have refrigerators when we stopped making/using CFC's. What did the correspondent think all the "CFC-free" stickers on aplliances were for? While we have succeded in reducing ozone depleting chemicals through this massive international action, ozone levels are not expected to recover to 1980 levels until around 2068.
See here for a general history of the ozone hole and our understanding of it, and here for a graph that shows ozone has indeed stabilized, at exceptionally low levels.
Image Source NASA.Yes, the ozone hole has stabilized because we did something about it.
The general trend seems to be this. Scientists/engineers/medicos discover a serious problem. Scientists/engineers/medicos convince politicians something needs to be done and then work feverishly to fix/avert problem. Problem is either averted or greatly reduced. A few years later, John Q Public says 'What about problem X? scientists/engineers/medico's had their knickers in a knot about this, but nothing happened. They are such scaremongers!"
Sheesh!
Labels: global warming sillyness, science matters
Friday, November 27, 2009
Southern Skywatch December 2009 edition is now up!
North-eastern horizon as seen from southern Australia around 10:00 pm local daylight saving time on December 1. Northern Australia will see similar views at around 9:00 pm local standard time. The Moon is poised to cover some of the stars in the Pleiades cluster.The December edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. There's the Occultation of the Pleiades. The Moon plays tag with Mars, Saturn and some bright stars, lots of Mercury action, the Geminid meteors, the fading of the variable star Mira and minima of the variable star Algol and a New Years partial eclipse of the Moon for WA.
Labels: southern skywatch
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Enceladus's plumes in 3D
The plumes of Enceladus as a red-cyan 3D anaglyph. You will need red-cyan glasses to see it in 3D. Original image credit NASA / JPL / SSI /. (click to embiggen)
Over at the Planetary Society blog Emily has been posting astounding images from the latest fly by of Encaladus. See here, here and here.
Astounded by the cross-eye stereo images Emily posted, I've made my own red-cyan anaglyph for people who can't go cross eyed. Now go and read Emily's pages or go to the raw image website.
Labels: anaglyph, Satellite, Saturn, stereograms
No Algol for me....
...or Mercury. Clouds, rain. How did you folks go? For future minima, see the Sky&Telescope minima of Algol page, scroll down to the form that will predict when minima occur in your time zone.
Labels: variable star
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Algol Blinks, November 25-26
The Northern horizon at 10:00 pm AEDST on November 25 showing the location of Algol.Algol is a classic variable star, but is usually hard to see from the southern hemisphere. This week we have a chance to see Algol dim and brighten under reasonable circumstances. Starting around 11:30 on November 25 Algol will begin to dim, being at its dimmest on the 26th at at 00:30 am AEDST.
It's best to start watching from about 9:30-10 pm AEDST on the 25th, when Algol will still be bright, and over the next few hours you can watch it dim dramatically.
You can determine how far and fast it dims by comparing how bright Algol is to neighbouring stars.
Algol and its neighbours at 11:30 pm AEDST. The numbers indicate the brightness of the stars in magnitude. Algol is magnitude 2.1.To estimate Algols magnitude, compare it to a known brighter stars and known dimmer star. If Algol is dimmer than Almack (2.2) and brighter than the 2.9 stars, it must be around 2.3-2.8.
For more on watching Algol dim and estimating its brightness, see the NHAC Algol project.
For future minima, see the Sky&Telescope minima of Algol page, scroll down to the form that will predict when minima occur in your time zone.
Labels: variable star
Carnival of Space #130 is here.
Carnival of Space #130 is now up at Chandra Blog. There's weird super nova, the wonders of the future, animations of teh Herschel Space Telescope, an ode to Carl Sagan, Lonely Stars, the Moon CAn Haz Water! and much, much more. Head on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
The Sky This Week - Thursday November 26 to Thursday December 3
The Full Moon is Wednesday December 2. Jupiter is is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Mercury returns to the evening sky low in the twilight. In the morning, Mars is easily seen above the north-eastern horizon. Saturn is close to the dawn horizon. The Moon covers the Pleiades Tuesday December 1.
Morning sky looking north-east showing Mars and Saturn at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 26. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Wednesday December 2.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars moves from in the constellation of Cancer into the constellation of Leo. Mars is a distinct gibbous disk in a small telescope, and becomes bigger and brighter during the week.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
South-Western horizon showing Mercury at 20:40 pm local daylight saving time (19:40 pm non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 26, click to embiggen.
Mercury returns to the evening sky, it can be seen above the south-western horizon half an hour or so after sunset, below the "hook" of stars that is the tail of Scorpius the scorpion.
Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
North-eastern horizon as seen from southern Australia around 10:00 pm local daylight saving time. Northern Australia will see similar views at around 9:00 pm local standard time. The Moon is poised to cover some of the stars in the Pleiades cluster.
On the evening of Tuesday December 1 the nearly full Moon will pass in front of the beautiful Pleiades star cluster. Because the Moon is so bright, it will be best to watch this event with binoculars or a small telescope. The Northern Territory has the best view. Darwin sees the most bright stars covered, starting with the bright star Celeano at 21:51 ACST, followed by bright Taygeta, then Sterope and Maia, finishing 23:27. next best is Alice Springs, which sees Taygeta covered at 22:12 ACST, followed by 18 Tauri and Sterope.
WA has good views too. Perth sees Taygeta covered at 21:18 AWDST, followed by Sterope and 22 Tauri. People in Northern WA will see more stars covered. Northern QLD sees a few stars covered, Townsville sees Taygeta and 18 Tauri covered at roughly the same time, 23:54 AEST.
South eastern Australia sees just 18 Tauri covered, starting from 23:28 ACDST (Adelaide), 23:33 AEST (Brisbane) and the morning of December 2 for Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, from between 00:11 AEDST to 00:26 AEDST.
More details, timings and links at Southern Skywatch
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east showing Mars and Saturn at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 26. Click to embiggen.The Full Moon is Wednesday December 2.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars moves from in the constellation of Cancer into the constellation of Leo. Mars is a distinct gibbous disk in a small telescope, and becomes bigger and brighter during the week.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
South-Western horizon showing Mercury at 20:40 pm local daylight saving time (19:40 pm non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 26, click to embiggen.Mercury returns to the evening sky, it can be seen above the south-western horizon half an hour or so after sunset, below the "hook" of stars that is the tail of Scorpius the scorpion.
Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
North-eastern horizon as seen from southern Australia around 10:00 pm local daylight saving time. Northern Australia will see similar views at around 9:00 pm local standard time. The Moon is poised to cover some of the stars in the Pleiades cluster.On the evening of Tuesday December 1 the nearly full Moon will pass in front of the beautiful Pleiades star cluster. Because the Moon is so bright, it will be best to watch this event with binoculars or a small telescope. The Northern Territory has the best view. Darwin sees the most bright stars covered, starting with the bright star Celeano at 21:51 ACST, followed by bright Taygeta, then Sterope and Maia, finishing 23:27. next best is Alice Springs, which sees Taygeta covered at 22:12 ACST, followed by 18 Tauri and Sterope.
WA has good views too. Perth sees Taygeta covered at 21:18 AWDST, followed by Sterope and 22 Tauri. People in Northern WA will see more stars covered. Northern QLD sees a few stars covered, Townsville sees Taygeta and 18 Tauri covered at roughly the same time, 23:54 AEST.
South eastern Australia sees just 18 Tauri covered, starting from 23:28 ACDST (Adelaide), 23:33 AEST (Brisbane) and the morning of December 2 for Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, from between 00:11 AEDST to 00:26 AEDST.
More details, timings and links at Southern Skywatch
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sean Carroll Talks Times Arrow
On Monday 23 November at 6:00 pm renown physicist and blogger Sean Carroll will be at Adelaide University to give a talk! Woot!
"The Arrow of Time" presented by Professor Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology, Monday 23rd November 2009. 6:00pm, Union Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace (map here)
Sadly, Monday night is the night I go to chess with MiddleOne (and occasionally SmallestOne), so it looks like I will miss out (sigh).
"The Arrow of Time" presented by Professor Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology, Monday 23rd November 2009. 6:00pm, Union Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace (map here)
Sadly, Monday night is the night I go to chess with MiddleOne (and occasionally SmallestOne), so it looks like I will miss out (sigh).
Labels: science matters
Unexpected Rainbows (Part 7)
These rainbows were projected onto our bedroom wall by light hitting the bedroom window at an angle. I have no idea why two spots were fromed. I took me a whle to find the source of the light, and I couldn't see if it was being split or occluded in some way. Maybe I'll pick it up again this wekend.Labels: rainbows
Saturday, November 21, 2009
By Jupiter!
Image credit, Chris Wyatt (click on images to embiggen, it's worth it).Correspondent Chris Wyatt of Bendigo has sent in these terrific pictures of Jupiter and its Moons. Chris writes:
"From mid August to early October I have made a number of efforts to photograph Jupiter, especially with the Great Red Spot (GRS) visible.
I used my 10 inch dobsonian with my Canon S2IS camera with the magnification of the set-up at about 260.
My first attempt was on the evening of 18 August. Here I also obtained Io & Europa almost in conjunction with each other at 7:05 pm AEST. The first image is a stack of 5 photos. The GRS is fairly pale, Io is the brighter moon about half a Jupiter diameter to the left of it.
My next attempt was when Callisto was transiting Jupiter and was adjacent to the GRS on the evening of 11 September at 6:54 pm AEST. The second image is a stack of 25 photos.
On the 8 October I was attending a night to show some secondary students the night sky, I set-up early & took some more Jupiter photos, around 7:10 pm AEDT. The third image is a stack of 29 photos."
Chris, tehse are brilliant, I am very jealous.
Labels: astrophotography, Chris Wyatt, Jupiter
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Crescent Earth from Rosetta
The Crescent Earth as seen from the Rosetta spacecraft on November 13 (Image Credit, ESA)The Rosetta spacecraft, on its way to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko did another flyby of the Earth-Moon system. This striking image of the crescent Earth is my favourite, but there is a number of images and an animation of the approach to Earth here.
Then Like Lightnig...
Lightning flash seen from our backyard at 8:30 pm (click to embiggen).We hit a record today, the hottest November day since records began (43 degrees Celsius in the city, it was hotter elsewhere). This after a long string of 35 plus days. We are still officially in spring, temperatures like these should not happen until late January early February.
As I type we are still on catastophic fire alert, and multiple fires are burning on the Yorke Peninsula, with an extremely dangerous bushfire burning out of control at Pine Point on the Yorke Peninsula near Pine Point.
Today going outside felt like being dropped into a blast furnace. Walking up to the Science Communicators event my eyes felt like they were being peeled. Driving home from the event we saw a wall of dark heading towards us. We drove into the oncoming storm with the clouds glowing eerily from the setting sun. We drove along the beach accompanied by flashes of lightning, which put on a spectacular display over our house. I only captured one of these terrific blasts.
Typically, we only got a few drops of rain out of all the drama, and the teperature is now a chilly 33 degrees Celsius.
Science Communicators at Ria AUS
Image left, the Bettdeckererscnappenden Weisles heart rate converted to colour and images. Image right, MiddleOnes heart rate converted to light and colour.
The inaugral meeting* of the Adelaide branch of the Australian Science Communicators was a hoot. Held in the Royal Institute Australia's newly refurbished home in the old Exchange Building, Rob Morrison did a demonstration of the science of wind instruments called "Taming the Raspberry" (the kids, who did not want to come as this would interrupt their TV watching, enjoyed this immensely). Afterwards the structure of the reformed branch was discussed, and I put my name forward as a potential council member (I'm going to pay for this, I know). Then we got a tour of the Old Exchange building, saw the old chalkboards with the stockprices as they were in 1991, saw presentation on the Bragg's (Adelaidiean scientists) that had one of the Bettdeckererscnappenden Weisle (BDEW)'s fellow choir members playing Laurence Bragg.
After pausing to admire the amazing leadlight window, we entered the basement where the science themed artworks are displayed (all this is open to the public by the way). The BDEW got to try out the interactive Heart Library Project, where your heartbeat is converted to differently sized and moving coloured dots. The BDEW was a cool calm blue-green, while MiddleOne was an active red/orange. Unfortunately, under kiddy pressure we took our leave before we could mingle and "network" (I hate that term), and drove into the oncoming storm.
The Adelaide Science Communicators will meet once a month, and I yhink some of the proposed events for 2010 will be great!
UPDATE: Mike Seyfang writes: I had promised Rob I would podcast his talk but the audio recording failed spectacularly.
Managed to get one very blurry image and a tiny snip of lofi video from my phone tho...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/4117185212/ (You can see my bald patch bottom right hand side)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEdy1n56H4
*Actually, its a relaunch, there was a branch some years ago but it faded out.
Labels: science matters
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Free Astronomy Talks in Adelaide Nov 19-Dec 10, 2009
The University of Adelaide is presenting a series of free public lectures of interest to anybody with an astronomy - science bent, unfortunately I only found out about it today, when I saw a poster in the lift. Keys to the Universe will present 3 lectures.
“Exploding Stars and the Accelerating Cosmos: Einstein's Blunder Undone” presented by Professor Robert P. Kirshner, Harvard University. Thursday 19th November 2009, 6:30pm, Union Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace (map here) "The Arrow of Time" presented by Professor Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology, Monday 23rd November 2009. 6:00pm, Union Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace "Modern Subatomic Physics: From the Big Bang to the Dark Side of the Universe" presented by Professor Tony Thomas, Australian Laureate Fellow and Elder Professor of Physics at the University of Adelaide, Thursday 10th December 2009, 6:30pm, Union Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace. Unfortunately, tonight's meeting is on at the same time as the inaugural Adelaide chapter meeting of the Australian Science Communicators, to which I and the bettdeckererscnappender weisle are going. UPDATE: Mike Seyfang writes: I have it on good authority the talk was recorded and will be podcast soon at: |
Labels: science matters
The ISS shoots the Moon
Run, don't walk to the Bad Astronomers Blog to see an amazing picture of the Internation Space Station passing in front of the Moon. You can get ISS transit predictions by signing up to Tom Fly's prediction service, or Ed Morana's Java based program.
Carnival of Space #128 is here.
Carnival of Space #128 is now up at Tiny Mantras. There's the Chandra X-ray observatory, space-themed books for kids, unicorns and starry nights, the wash up of the LCROSS impact, taking asteroids to the stars, tiny human-made back holes and much, much more. Zoom on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Leonid Meteor Report, Wedensday November 18, 2009
Using a mobile phone to time your meteor watching sessions is not such a good idea. After you have checked the time a small bright square floats in your vision, right where you want to see meteors. Still, using the alarm timer on my phone was quite helpful, if you have a watch, you are constantly checking the blasted thing (ten minutes must have gone by, no! only one minute!) and so potentially missing meteors.
Other hints. Make sure you have your torch covered in red cellophane before you start you observing session, otherwise you are scrabbling around in multiple drawers ruining your night vision trying to locate the spot you put the celeophane from your last observing session (and desperately trying not to wake the household at the same time while you bang your fingers in the drawer). And likewise, make your cup of tea before you start observing, but after you have found the red cellophane (at least that way you keep your night vision by making the tea by red torchlight).
The session started promising, clear skies, cool with no wind. I could see down to magnitude 5.5 and I had a clear horizon and a field of view stretching from the Pleiades to the False Cross. Right off the bat a nice bright meteor shot between Taurus and Orion, probably a sporadic but very nice indeed, then a dim sporadic followed. Things were looking good!
Then there was 30 minutes of nothing. Nothing. Not even a satellite! I normally keep a lookout for ISS passes, iridium flares and normal satellites to liven up meteor observing, but this period was singularly devoid of anything. AND I'd drunk all my tea. Red Mars had risen above the tress and was glowing like an ember, but meteors, none.
Just as I was thinking this was a good time to head for bed, WHOOSH, a bright Leonid shoots up form the horzion, follows shortly by a spectacular bright one that shoots all the way over to the False Cross. Things are looking good! I move the camera to image the area between Procyon and Hydra.
Then another 10 minutes of nothing. The drought is broken by a bright Leonid zooming between Orion and Taurus, where until 10 minutes ago, my camera had been pointing the whole night! Then another two Leonids zoom up from the horizon in quick succession.
To cap it all a brilliant white fireball with a bright train streaks across beyond the False Cross. It leveas a glowing persistant trail. I try and get the camera set up to image the train, as I do, a satellite trundles across the patch of sky where the train is. It's one of the best meteors I've ever seen outside of the 2001 Leonid storm.
But twilight is approaching fast, and now clouds mooches over the sky, although patchy, it's a signal to pack up and go back to bead.
All over, I got seven Leonids in a one hour period, this probably is consistent with ZHR of around 100 (given how low the radiant was to the horizon). At the time of writing, the IMO has posted a rate of 45 meteors/hour, but expect that to increase (UPDATE: as of 9:00 pm, 18-11-09, the IMO reported peak rate was 157 meteors/hour at 22:00 UT, pretty close to the predicted time and numbers; at 3:00-4:00 am AEDST there was a little peak of 59 meteors/hour, consistent with my observations) . Radio Meteor observations have picked up a blip in rates. No news from Asia yet.
I'll take my photos in to be processed today (UPDATE: no, they no longer do processing, it has to be sent out for processing and will be back next week). A nice Leonid picture is here, (UPDATE: sorry it turns out to be a sporadic) and Spaceweather has a gallery of photos, including a persistent train.
Full sky images from Singapore (21 meteors) are here, and full sky images from Colorado are here.
Other hints. Make sure you have your torch covered in red cellophane before you start you observing session, otherwise you are scrabbling around in multiple drawers ruining your night vision trying to locate the spot you put the celeophane from your last observing session (and desperately trying not to wake the household at the same time while you bang your fingers in the drawer). And likewise, make your cup of tea before you start observing, but after you have found the red cellophane (at least that way you keep your night vision by making the tea by red torchlight).
The session started promising, clear skies, cool with no wind. I could see down to magnitude 5.5 and I had a clear horizon and a field of view stretching from the Pleiades to the False Cross. Right off the bat a nice bright meteor shot between Taurus and Orion, probably a sporadic but very nice indeed, then a dim sporadic followed. Things were looking good!
Then there was 30 minutes of nothing. Nothing. Not even a satellite! I normally keep a lookout for ISS passes, iridium flares and normal satellites to liven up meteor observing, but this period was singularly devoid of anything. AND I'd drunk all my tea. Red Mars had risen above the tress and was glowing like an ember, but meteors, none.
Just as I was thinking this was a good time to head for bed, WHOOSH, a bright Leonid shoots up form the horzion, follows shortly by a spectacular bright one that shoots all the way over to the False Cross. Things are looking good! I move the camera to image the area between Procyon and Hydra.
Then another 10 minutes of nothing. The drought is broken by a bright Leonid zooming between Orion and Taurus, where until 10 minutes ago, my camera had been pointing the whole night! Then another two Leonids zoom up from the horizon in quick succession.
To cap it all a brilliant white fireball with a bright train streaks across beyond the False Cross. It leveas a glowing persistant trail. I try and get the camera set up to image the train, as I do, a satellite trundles across the patch of sky where the train is. It's one of the best meteors I've ever seen outside of the 2001 Leonid storm.
But twilight is approaching fast, and now clouds mooches over the sky, although patchy, it's a signal to pack up and go back to bead.
All over, I got seven Leonids in a one hour period, this probably is consistent with ZHR of around 100 (given how low the radiant was to the horizon). At the time of writing, the IMO has posted a rate of 45 meteors/hour, but expect that to increase (UPDATE: as of 9:00 pm, 18-11-09, the IMO reported peak rate was 157 meteors/hour at 22:00 UT, pretty close to the predicted time and numbers; at 3:00-4:00 am AEDST there was a little peak of 59 meteors/hour, consistent with my observations) . Radio Meteor observations have picked up a blip in rates. No news from Asia yet.
I'll take my photos in to be processed today (UPDATE: no, they no longer do processing, it has to be sent out for processing and will be back next week). A nice Leonid picture is here, (UPDATE: sorry it turns out to be a sporadic) and Spaceweather has a gallery of photos, including a persistent train.
Full sky images from Singapore (21 meteors) are here, and full sky images from Colorado are here.
Labels: Meteors
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Waiting for Meteors
Waiting patiently for the Leonids (observation instructions here), the numbers are ramping up, SkippySky predicts cloud free viewing, I've set my camera up for photography (guides to taking meteor photos are here and here), and I'm looking forward to some nice meteors.
UPDATE: My report and links to other observations is here.
UPDATE: My report and links to other observations is here.
Labels: astrophotography, Meteors
The Sky This Week - Thursday November 19 to Thursday November 26
The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday November 25. Jupiter is is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky, and the waxing Moon is near Jupiter on Tuesday November 24. In the morning, Mars is easily seen above the eastern horizon. Saturn is close to the dawn horizon. The variable star Mira is still bright and the Variable star Algol fades.
Morning sky looking north-east showing Mars and Saturn at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Friday November 20. Click to embiggen.
The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday November 25.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Tuesday November 24, click to embiggen.
Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. The waxing Moon is near Jupiter on Tuesday November 24. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira, Right the Northern horizon at 10:00 pm AEDST on November 25 showing the location of Algol.
Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaked in brightness in November around November 10, and will now fade slowly over the coming weeks. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Algol is another classic variable star, but is usually hard to see from the southern hemisphere. This week we have a chance to see Algol dim and brighten under reasonable circumstances. On November25th 26th at at 00:30 am Algol will be at its dimmest, start watching from about 9:30-10 pm, and over the next few hours you can watch it dim dramatically.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east showing Mars and Saturn at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Friday November 20. Click to embiggen.The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday November 25.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Tuesday November 24, click to embiggen.Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. The waxing Moon is near Jupiter on Tuesday November 24. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira, Right the Northern horizon at 10:00 pm AEDST on November 25 showing the location of Algol.
Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaked in brightness in November around November 10, and will now fade slowly over the coming weeks. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Algol is another classic variable star, but is usually hard to see from the southern hemisphere. This week we have a chance to see Algol dim and brighten under reasonable circumstances. On November
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, November 16, 2009
Don't forget the Leonids.
The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Wednesday morning for Australians and those in South East Asia. More details, location maps and viewing hints are at this post. Clouded out or unable to watch, follow the shower at the International Meteor Organisations Leonid Reporting page.
Labels: Meteors
Saturn and the Moon
Saturn is below the crescent Moon on the morning of Friday 13 November. Canon IXUS, 2.5 second exposure 200 ASA.Labels: astrophotography, Moon, Saturn
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Eggshells in Vinegar (experiments with kids)
Left Panel, from left to right. Eggshells in water, white vinegar and a half eggshell in vinegar. Right Panel, eggshells in same order, five days later. End cup is eggshells in vinegar with pH indicator.
Inspired by Janet D. Stemwedel's Friday Sprog Blogging series on a number of experiments she's been doing with her kids, I tried a version of the Eggshell in Vinegar experiment Janet and her kids did (you have to scroll down, results here).
My assistant was SmallestOne. He and I used mostly crushed eggshells with one exception, half an egg shell. All were taken form hard boiled eggs. I included a control, with eggshells in deionized water, and the other three tumblers all had standard white vinegar in them, in one of the vinegar containing tumblers I added a Ph indicator - a dye that changes colour depending whether the solution is acid (as vinegar is) neutral (like plain water) or basic (like drano) to see if the amount of eggshells added exhausted all the acid in the vinegar.
Once added, the bubbles began to form rapidly around the eggshells in the vinegar solution, but not in the deionized water control. The bubbles were carbon dioxide form the acid attacking the calcium carbonate of the egg shell (how would you demonstrate that?). The bubbles were so vigorous they lifted the broken eggshells in a strong roiling action (see video). SmallestOne loved this, and the colour the Ph idicator went when we added it to the vinegar. He wanted to do more "colours".
Five days later we had a look again. The control deionized eggshell fragments were still hrad and crunchy, and surprisingly, so was the eggshell fragments in the tumbler with vinegar, maybe not as solid and crunchy as the controls, but, unlike Janet's, where her eggshells disappeared in only 24 hours, they were pretty solid! What happened? Three hypotheses:1) They have much stronger vinegar in the US.
2) The Eggshells were supported on the surface by a layer of carbon dioxide gas, and the vinegar was not as effective at getting to the shell.
3) I didn't use enough vinegar.
I suspect it's a combination of 2 and 3. Certainly the fragments were floating, and the glass with pH indicator changed colour, suggesting that the acid in the vinegar was, if not exhausted, certainly very depleted. However, the half shell egg shell, which had fluid inside and out, and was a lot more immersed on the solution than the fragments, certainly was greatly decalcified (see above image, where the previously hard eggshell is now like floppy rubber), except where it had bits sticking out of the vinegar where it had been bouyed up by the gas bubbles.
So now SmallestOne and I have to do a repeat experiment to find out which one of 2 and 3 is correct. What experiments should do you think we should do?
Labels: home life, kids, Science Blogging, science matters
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Heart of the Milky Way, from New Zealand
This stunning image of the Milky Way is another marvellous shot from Tony Travaglia of Otago, New Zealand. Click to embiggen, it is so worth it.In the past two moths I've been somewhat preoccupied, and I've shamefully neglected my email. If you've sent me an email, and I haven't replied, it's not because I don't care, it's because I've been snowed under.
Tony and Chris Wyatt have sent me other marvellous images, which I will showcase in the near future.
Labels: Tony Travaglia
Friday, November 13, 2009
Leonid Meteor Shower , Wedensday November 18 2009
The north-eastern horizon in Australia at 4:00 am AEDST on November 18, the Leonid radiant is marked with a cross.The Leonid meteors may be of interest this year. The Moon is just after new, so there will be no Moonlight interference with this shower, and there are a number of predicted peaks in meteor activity.
The biggest peak will occur sometime between 21 hr UT and 22 hr UT onNovember the 17th. Sadly, that's 8-9 am AEDST, well after sunrise. Unlike the Orionids for example, the Leonid peak is rather sharp, so we will only catch a bit of the upward swing, although people in Western Australia will have the best chance of seeing part of the peak. People in South East Asia should be treated to a higher than average number of meteors. How many meteors? Well, predictions of Zenithal Hourly Rates range from 140 meteors/hour to 300 meteors per hour, with the best predictions being around 200 meteors/hour (a high of 500 meteors/hour has been revised downward). There is also a couple of minor peaks that occur before Leo rises in Australia and South East Asia.
The best time to observe in Australia is the morning of the 18th between 3 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 2-3 am non-daylight saving time). When you get up, allow at least 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and be patient, it may be several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a couple will come along in quick succession. Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with streetlights getting in your eyes. The darker the spot the better (but do be sensible, don't choose a spot in an unsalubrious park for example). A lawn chair or something similar will make your observing confortable (or a picnic rug spread on the ground and a nice pillow), and having a thermous of hot coffe, tea or choclate to swig while watching will increase your comfort. (Here's some hints on dark adaption of your eyes so you can see meteors better).
So how many meteors will Australians see? Well, maybe as few as one every 10 minutes, or maybe one every minute, depending in the background rate between the main peaks. one every 5 minutes is more probable, with the best viewing in the countryside.
Nonetheless, the possibility of seeing a quite reasonable number of meteors is good, and the meteor peak may come early (and people in Western Australia will have the best chances of seeing good meteor activity). There is also a small peak around 2 am on the morning of the 19th that may be worth watching for, despite Leo being low on the horizon.
The Radiant (where the meteors appear to come from) is in the Sickle of Leo. Even if there are only a few meteors Orion and the Hyades will be visible and bright Mars will be nearby, not far from the Beehive cluster. So it will be a quite nice morning, and well worth getting up for on the off chance there will be some decent meteor numbers, although the meteor flux estimator says our rates will be rubbish (don't forget to change the date to 2009). Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
UPDATE: My report and links to other observations is here.
Labels: Meteors, Observational Astronomy
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Moon and Mars in Cancer.
The Moon near Mars on November 9, 2009. Castor nad Pollux are below left, Procyon is top left. The Beehive is overwhelmed by Moonlight. Click to embiggen.Labels: astrophotography, Mars, Moon
Happy Birthday
Smallest One is an even number old. Now all three boys are even numbers old, but only SmallestOne and MiddleOne's ages are the products of two primes, EdlestOnes age is the product of three primes. The two prime factors of SmallestOnes age added make the largest prime of MiddleOnes age. Dividing EldestOnes age by the smallest prime in MiddleOnes age yields SmallestOnes age.
To celebrate we went to a famous Scottish Restaurant.
To celebrate we went to a famous Scottish Restaurant.
Labels: home life
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Mars up close, really, really close.
Some of the best HiRISE images of Mars ever, don't waste time here, go to the site now!
Hat tip, the Bad Astronomer.
Hat tip, the Bad Astronomer.
Labels: astrophotography, Mars, Satellite
Carnival of Space #128 is here.
Carnival of Space #128 is now up at fellow southern hemispherian Astroswanny's blog, AART Scope Blog. There's a test of involment with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy (I scored 120, I'm an enthusiast), space hotels, space ladders, neutron stars with atmospheres, diamond stars, using gravitational lenses to listen of alien signals and much, much more. Wander over for an inspiring read.
Labels: carnival of space
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Sky This Week - Thursday November 12 to Thursday November 19
The New Moon is Tuesday November 17. Jupiter is is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. In the morning, Mars is easily seen above the eastern horizon. Saturn is close to the dawn horizon and is close to the crescent Moon on the 13th. The variable star Mira is still bright. The Leonid meteor shower is worth watching on the morning of the 18th.
Morning sky looking north-east showing the crescent Moon and Saturn at 5:00 am local daylight saving time (4:00 am non-daylight saving) on Friday November 13. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Tuesday November 17.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer and starts the week within binocular range of the Beehive cluster. Mars and the Beehive be readily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in. On the morning of Friday November 13 the crescent Moon is near Saturn.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Monday November 16, click to embiggen.
Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
The north-eastern horizon at 4:00 am AEDST, the Leonid radiant is marked with a cross.
The Leonid meteors may be of interest this year. The Moon is just after new, so there will be no Moonlight interference with this shower, and there are a number of predicted peaks in meteor activity.
The best time to observe in Australia is the morning of the 18th between 3 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 2-3 am non-daylight saving time). Sadly, a number of peaks occur just before Leo rises, and the best (predicted to be around 200 meteors per hour) occurs after sunrise.
Nonetheless, the possibility of seeing a quite reasonable number of meteors is good, and the meteor peak may come early (and people in Western Australia will have the best chances of seeing good meteor activity). There is also a small peak around 2 am on the morning of the 19th that may be worth watching for, despite Leo being low on the horizon. The Radiant (where the meteors appear to come from) is in the Sickle of Leo. Even if there are only a few meteors Orion and the Hyades will be visible and bright Mars will be nearby, not far from the Beehive cluster. So it will be a quite nice morning, and well worth getting up for on the off chance there will be some decent meteor numbers, although the meteor flux estimator says our rates will be rubbish (don't forget to change the date to 2009). Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira.
Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaked in brightness in November around November 10, and will nw fade slowly over the coming weeks. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east showing the crescent Moon and Saturn at 5:00 am local daylight saving time (4:00 am non-daylight saving) on Friday November 13. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Tuesday November 17.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer and starts the week within binocular range of the Beehive cluster. Mars and the Beehive be readily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week, but is now readily visible before twilight sets in. On the morning of Friday November 13 the crescent Moon is near Saturn.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Monday November 16, click to embiggen.Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
The north-eastern horizon at 4:00 am AEDST, the Leonid radiant is marked with a cross.The Leonid meteors may be of interest this year. The Moon is just after new, so there will be no Moonlight interference with this shower, and there are a number of predicted peaks in meteor activity.
The best time to observe in Australia is the morning of the 18th between 3 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 2-3 am non-daylight saving time). Sadly, a number of peaks occur just before Leo rises, and the best (predicted to be around 200 meteors per hour) occurs after sunrise.
Nonetheless, the possibility of seeing a quite reasonable number of meteors is good, and the meteor peak may come early (and people in Western Australia will have the best chances of seeing good meteor activity). There is also a small peak around 2 am on the morning of the 19th that may be worth watching for, despite Leo being low on the horizon. The Radiant (where the meteors appear to come from) is in the Sickle of Leo. Even if there are only a few meteors Orion and the Hyades will be visible and bright Mars will be nearby, not far from the Beehive cluster. So it will be a quite nice morning, and well worth getting up for on the off chance there will be some decent meteor numbers, although the meteor flux estimator says our rates will be rubbish (don't forget to change the date to 2009). Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira.Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaked in brightness in November around November 10, and will nw fade slowly over the coming weeks. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, November 09, 2009
Unexpected Rainbows (Part 6)
No, this is not some glowing nebula* in the vastness of space, but mini-rainbows on dark flooring produced by those glass "bricks" people use for getting light into buildings while having a gbit of privacy. The varying thickness and different angles of the glass in the bricks act as prisms, giving this very interesting effect.*the link is actually a galaxy, not a nebula, but it looks pretty just the same. See this post at "Starts with a Bang" for a nice discussion of people confusing galaxies and nebulas why we thought we were the only galaxy in the Universe.
Labels: rainbows
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Moon in Scorpius
The crescent Moon glows in the head of the constellation Scorpius, the scorpion(or crocodile, depending where you live) on 21 October . Click to embiggenLabels: astrophotography, Moon
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
The Sky This Week - Thursday November 5 to Thursday November 12
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 10. Jupiter is is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. In the morning, Mars is easily seen above the eastern horizon and is near the Beehive cluster. On Monday 9 November Mars and the Moon are close. Saturn is close to the dawn horizon. The variable star Mira is at maximum and Algol is at minimum.
Morning sky looking north-east showing the Moon and Mars near the Beehive cluster at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Monday November 9. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 10.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer and starts the week near the Beehive cluster. This will be readily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies, and will look quite nice in binoculars. On Monday November 9 the waning Moon is close to Mars, with the Beehive in between.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 5, click to embiggen.
Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira, Right the Northern horizon at 11:00 pm AEDST on November 5 showing the location of Algol.
Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaks in brightness in November around November 10. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Algol is another classic variable star, but is usually hard to see from the southern hemisphere. This week we have a chance to see Algol dim and brighten under reasonable circumstances. On November 5th at 11 pm AEDST Algol will be at its dimmest (barely visible, unlike the diagram which shows it at maximum), over the next few hours you can watch it brighten.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east showing the Moon and Mars near the Beehive cluster at 4:00 am local daylight saving time (3:00 am non-daylight saving) on Monday November 9. Click to embiggen.The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday November 10.
In the morning, Mars is readily visible in the eastern sky. Red Mars is in the constellation of Cancer and starts the week near the Beehive cluster. This will be readily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies, and will look quite nice in binoculars. On Monday November 9 the waning Moon is close to Mars, with the Beehive in between.
Saturn is low in the morning sky this week.
Bright white Venus is invisible the twilight glow and will not reappear until February.
Western horizon showing Jupiter at 11:00 pm local daylight saving time (10:00 pm non-daylight saving) on Thursday November 5, click to embiggen.Jupiter is easily seen as the brightest object in the evening sky. Jupiter is big enough to be appreciated in even the smallest telescope. If you don't have a telescope to view Jupiter, why not go to one of your local Astronomical Societies or Planetariums open nights? Jupiter's Moons are readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Mercury is currently not visible.
Left, the eastern horizon at around 10:00 am AEDST showing the location of Mira, Right the Northern horizon at 11:00 pm AEDST on November 5 showing the location of Algol.
Mira (omicron ceti), a star in the constellation of Cetus the whale, is a long period pulsating red giant and changes brightness from below naked eye visibility to a peak of round magnitude 2 (roughly as bright as beta Crucis in the Southern Cross) in around 330 days. Mira peaks in brightness in November around November 10. It may be seen above the eastern horizon around 10 pm local daylight saving time above a loop of stars just above Taurus (see above, Mira is not shown as the plotting software only shows the minimum).
Algol is another classic variable star, but is usually hard to see from the southern hemisphere. This week we have a chance to see Algol dim and brighten under reasonable circumstances. On November 5th at 11 pm AEDST Algol will be at its dimmest (barely visible, unlike the diagram which shows it at maximum), over the next few hours you can watch it brighten.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch. Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, November 02, 2009
Southern Skywatch November 2009 edition is now up!
Mars in the Beehive Cluster on the morning of November 2.The November edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. There's the Mars in the Beehive Cluster, Saturn close to the Moon, lots of Jupiter action, the Leonid meteors and the maxima of the variable star Mira and minima of the variable star Algol.
Labels: southern skywatch
One Picture, Three Comets
Comet C/2009 U6 is a recently discovered (and currently faint) comet. On the 27th of October, several days before the official discovery, Francois Kugel imaged a rendezvous between comets 29P and 81P. 81P is at the bottom, 29P is at the top. And just to the right of 21P, under the red V is U6. No noticed it until after the official discovery. How would you feel? Sad that you missed dscovering a comet, or elate that you got an image of three comets at once?
Labels: comets
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Why Halloween Doesn't Work in Australia (Part II)
"Daddy - I'm a BAT!!"As I've written before (and here as well) celebrating All Hallows Eve (Halloween) doesn't make sense in Australia. The bright sunshine, the sparking sea, the complete absence of any darkling shadows or any Gothic gloom completely ruins the Halloween atmosphere.
Halloween has gotten bigger since we first did it in 2006. Probably because the number of families with small kids has increased. When this first started, there was about 6 kids in our group, going to people we had prearranged with, now there's about 20 kids in our pack going to two streets. The street over has it's own pack of treat hunting kids and worded up houses.
I did my science magic show for the kids. This time I had dry-ice pellets bubbling away turning Ph indicators different colours, dry ice blowing up balloons and the ever popular "sucking an egg into a milk bottle", using a pre 1970's milk bottle.
Jack O' Lanterns made from oranges.Well, we got a huge hall of seewty things, people thought the kids looked cute (EldestOne was dressed as a Movie Director, although with the crtuches he didn't look so coll, MiddleOne wa a ghost (he's been one for the last 3 years) and SmallestOne was a BAT (he used the same costume to be Yoda and Frodo). The Bettdeckereerschnappender weisle made dragon's blood cakes and we all went for a BBQ and party at The Inventors place.
Science Magic Show, how not to set fire to the paper in a milk bottle for the "suck the egg into a milk bottle" trick.Kids ran around and utterly failed to watch the DVD's that were being projected for them, while the adults ate far too much good food and talked into the night. I didn't even mind that the clouds came over and messed up any potential star gazing. Not a bad way to spend the evening and night.
Labels: home life, miscelaneous
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