Thursday, June 30, 2011
Southern Skywatch July 2011 Edition Up
Evening sky on Sunday July 3 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Mercury and the crescent Moon together. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).The July edition of Southern Skywatch is now up.
Venus leaves the morning sky. Mars comes close to the Antares and the "horns" of Taurus the Bull. Jupiter is prominent, and is now a god telescopic object.
Mercury returns to the evening sky and comes close to Regulus. Vesta becomes visible to the unaided eye later in the month. Saturn is well past opposition, and is becoming a more difficult telescopic object in the evening. Good telescopic observation can be had from around 7:00 pm to 9 pm.
Labels: southern skywatch
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Carnival of Space #203 is here.
Carnival of Space #203 is now up at We Are All In The Gutter. There's protecting satellites from solar storms, a nice upcoming comet, why astronomers use different wavelengths, speculations on a slat-water ocean for Enceladus, spying on spy satellites and much, much more. Pop on over and have a look.
Labels: carnival of space
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday June 30 to Thursday July 7
The New Moon is Friday July 1. Venus becomes difficult to see. Jupiter high in the morning sky. Mars close to the star Aldebaran. Mercury returns to the evening sky. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima, gamma Virginis.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time onFriday July 1 showing Jupiter and Mars. Mars is close to the red star Aldebaran. Venus is just rising above the horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Friday July 1.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eaastern sky. Mars is low in the eastern sky, close to te bright red star Aldebaran.
After dominating the morning sky for months, bright white Venus is now barely rising above the horizon before twilight. This is the last week to see Venus before it dissapears in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Sunday July 3 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Mercury and the crescent Moon together. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Mercury returns to the evening sky in July. On the evening of Sunday July 3 the crescent Moon is close to Mercury, but you will need a clear, level horizon to see them.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis). They are moving apart, but are still reasonably close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 22:30 pm on July 1st looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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 as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time onFriday July 1 showing Jupiter and Mars. Mars is close to the red star Aldebaran. Venus is just rising above the horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Friday July 1.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eaastern sky. Mars is low in the eastern sky, close to te bright red star Aldebaran.
After dominating the morning sky for months, bright white Venus is now barely rising above the horizon before twilight. This is the last week to see Venus before it dissapears in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Sunday July 3 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Mercury and the crescent Moon together. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).Mercury returns to the evening sky in July. On the evening of Sunday July 3 the crescent Moon is close to Mercury, but you will need a clear, level horizon to see them.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis). They are moving apart, but are still reasonably close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 22:30 pm on July 1st looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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
I Saw 2011 MD (and I've Got The Pictures To Prove It)
I managed to successfully image the speeding rock 2011 MD which came within the orbit of geostationary satellites (12,000 kilometers from Earth) in the early hours of this morning. WOOT!
Left image, 2011 MD at 22:46 (local time), when it was moving at 408.78"/min (120 sec exposure with GRAS-12). Right Image, 2011 MD at 23:30 local time, when it was moving at 611.15"/min (120 sec exposure with GRAS-12). The asteroid seems to fade out but its brightness fluctuated probably due to rotation.
Well, some of you might be saying, "so what, all you had to do was put coordinates into a robot telescope, where's the challenge in that?" and there is a degree of truth in that. Mind you, given my inherent fumble-fingeredness, even that can be a challenge. The last time I tried to image a rapidly moving asteroid I neglected to correct for daylight saving time and imaged a patch of empty space. Repeatedly.
But in this case it was more complicated. When I put the MPEC elements into my favourite planetarium programs, SkyMap and Stellarium, the tracks I got back were just rubbish. Peter Lake had actually got some images, and I asked him for help. It turns out that the MPEC generate their ephemeris to a standard epoch, sufficiently far into the future that it messes up with plotting the asteroids track in most planetarium programs (it wasn't me just being dim-witted).
So I went back to the MPEC, and this time I generated an ephemeris using the Global-rent-a-Scope observatory number for GRAS-12 (E03), set the Epoch to 27 June, and generated an ephemeris with positions ever 10 minutes. This was a bunch of numbers, but I could cut and paste the RA/DEC directly into the GRAS system. There was still some uncertainty. The error estimates of the location of the asteroid were quite large, so even the best ephemeris position could be out, and the asteroid was moving so quickly across the sky (even though it was moving slowly with respect to earth) that the time to position the scope could be a factor in catching the speeding blighter (this is why I chose GRAS-12, with a wide field of view).
But it worked! I was rewarded with two streaks as the tiny asteroid streaked across the sky. Although relatively bright (about magnitude 12), it was moving too fast to build up a decent exposure. I would have liked to get another shot, but to my (and the others using GRAS-12 to image 2011 MD) dissapointment , the clouds rolled over cutting us short. Thanks again to Peter Lake and Pete Poulos of Global-Rent-a-Scope for helping me get these shots.
For a nice animation see Dave Herald's video, and Efrain Morales has some nice images. Other images and animations are here. Stunning animation here.
 |  |
Left image, 2011 MD at 22:46 (local time), when it was moving at 408.78"/min (120 sec exposure with GRAS-12). Right Image, 2011 MD at 23:30 local time, when it was moving at 611.15"/min (120 sec exposure with GRAS-12). The asteroid seems to fade out but its brightness fluctuated probably due to rotation.
Well, some of you might be saying, "so what, all you had to do was put coordinates into a robot telescope, where's the challenge in that?" and there is a degree of truth in that. Mind you, given my inherent fumble-fingeredness, even that can be a challenge. The last time I tried to image a rapidly moving asteroid I neglected to correct for daylight saving time and imaged a patch of empty space. Repeatedly.
But in this case it was more complicated. When I put the MPEC elements into my favourite planetarium programs, SkyMap and Stellarium, the tracks I got back were just rubbish. Peter Lake had actually got some images, and I asked him for help. It turns out that the MPEC generate their ephemeris to a standard epoch, sufficiently far into the future that it messes up with plotting the asteroids track in most planetarium programs (it wasn't me just being dim-witted).
So I went back to the MPEC, and this time I generated an ephemeris using the Global-rent-a-Scope observatory number for GRAS-12 (E03), set the Epoch to 27 June, and generated an ephemeris with positions ever 10 minutes. This was a bunch of numbers, but I could cut and paste the RA/DEC directly into the GRAS system. There was still some uncertainty. The error estimates of the location of the asteroid were quite large, so even the best ephemeris position could be out, and the asteroid was moving so quickly across the sky (even though it was moving slowly with respect to earth) that the time to position the scope could be a factor in catching the speeding blighter (this is why I chose GRAS-12, with a wide field of view).
But it worked! I was rewarded with two streaks as the tiny asteroid streaked across the sky. Although relatively bright (about magnitude 12), it was moving too fast to build up a decent exposure. I would have liked to get another shot, but to my (and the others using GRAS-12 to image 2011 MD) dissapointment , the clouds rolled over cutting us short. Thanks again to Peter Lake and Pete Poulos of Global-Rent-a-Scope for helping me get these shots.
For a nice animation see Dave Herald's video, and Efrain Morales has some nice images. Other images and animations are here. Stunning animation here.
Labels: asteroids, astrophotography, Global Rent-a-Scope
2011 MD now live at Astrowebb TV
2011 MD now live at Astrowebb TV
http://virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org/webtv.html
http://virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org/webtv.html
Labels: asteroids, astrophotography
Monday, June 27, 2011
Waiting for 2011 MD
While waiting for a chance to image the asteroid 2011 MD as it zips past Earth, enjoy some images and animations from Peter Lake, Hartwig Lutehen, Jordi Camarasa, and of course Rolando Ligustri.
Labels: asteroids, astrophotography, NEO
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Comet 2010 X1 Elenin, Nibiru and Google Sky
Virtual telescopes such as Google Sky, World Wide Telescope and Wiki Sky have allowed people to explore the sky in great detail at many different wavelengths. However, if you are not familiar with the sky some things may be of great puzzlement; especially the difference in view between the infrared sky views and the visual data.
First off you should know something about the images. All the programs use the same databases, for example the Palomar Deep Sky Survey for visual data, and the IRAS survey for infrared images. There are (very) minor discrepancies in the location and appearance of objects between the three programs due to they way the images are digitized/compressed and stitched together, but they are using exactly same images.
Another thing to remember is that the DSS plates date from 1956-1958 (yes, that's right), and the IRAS images date from 1983. So they reflect the sky situation decades ago. Nonetheless, the sky revealed by these images can be quite astounding.
Take for example this image of a bright, angry looking object in the IR view of Google Sky (right image, also seen in world wide telescope and wiki sky, search on the following coordinates 09:47:27, 13:16:27), absent from the visible light view (left image).
This object is now being touted as comet Elenin, a while ago it was being touted as Nibiru. In fact it is is the carbon star CW Leonis (also known as IRC +10216, PK 221+45 1 and the Peanut Nebula). CW Leonis is the brightest object in the 10 μm infrared sky, and well known to experienced observers. But if you are new to the field, it can look quite mysterious.
Now take a look at the object in the left hand image above (this time in Wikisky at 06h 08m 55s, 22 47' 21", you can find it at the same coordinates in Google Sky and WorldWide Telescope). This also has been claimed to represent Nibiru and/or Elenin. It actually looks like a planetary nebula, a bit like the Cats Eye Nebula, however, zooming out reveals its true nature (see image right).
It is an artifact, a vagrant blob of light on those plates, there's a few of them on the larger image (and some edge artifacts from differing exposures between the plates as they stitched the images together, Google sky uses a different approach to compressing the images, so the object and the other artifacts look slightly different). Despite being one of the best instruments of its time, the 48 inch telescope at Palomar Observatory did not always take perfect images.
A nice example is this image near Spica in Virgo, where you can see an image of the primary mirror in the picture just above Spica (the bright star in the target box).
As well, while the Palomar survey was roughly only 99% complete, there are some areas where plates were not of high enough quality (or don't digitize well), some of these blank spots are claimed as "cover-ups", but just represent areas of data loss for one or more reasons.
Similarly, the IRAS survey was not complete (around 96% of the sky), and there are a number of missing frames where images weren't taken, or the images were defective.
So while the virtual telescopes can give us unprecedented views of the sky at multiple wavelengths, what you see can occasionally be difficult to interpret. Before rushing off to claim comets or brown dwarf stars, take a bit of time to become antiquated with astronomical objects, and the characteristics of the images. You may learn something wonderful.
First off you should know something about the images. All the programs use the same databases, for example the Palomar Deep Sky Survey for visual data, and the IRAS survey for infrared images. There are (very) minor discrepancies in the location and appearance of objects between the three programs due to they way the images are digitized/compressed and stitched together, but they are using exactly same images.
Another thing to remember is that the DSS plates date from 1956-1958 (yes, that's right), and the IRAS images date from 1983. So they reflect the sky situation decades ago. Nonetheless, the sky revealed by these images can be quite astounding.
 |  |
Take for example this image of a bright, angry looking object in the IR view of Google Sky (right image, also seen in world wide telescope and wiki sky, search on the following coordinates 09:47:27, 13:16:27), absent from the visible light view (left image).
This object is now being touted as comet Elenin, a while ago it was being touted as Nibiru. In fact it is is the carbon star CW Leonis (also known as IRC +10216, PK 221+45 1 and the Peanut Nebula). CW Leonis is the brightest object in the 10 μm infrared sky, and well known to experienced observers. But if you are new to the field, it can look quite mysterious.
 |  |
It is an artifact, a vagrant blob of light on those plates, there's a few of them on the larger image (and some edge artifacts from differing exposures between the plates as they stitched the images together, Google sky uses a different approach to compressing the images, so the object and the other artifacts look slightly different). Despite being one of the best instruments of its time, the 48 inch telescope at Palomar Observatory did not always take perfect images.
A nice example is this image near Spica in Virgo, where you can see an image of the primary mirror in the picture just above Spica (the bright star in the target box).As well, while the Palomar survey was roughly only 99% complete, there are some areas where plates were not of high enough quality (or don't digitize well), some of these blank spots are claimed as "cover-ups", but just represent areas of data loss for one or more reasons.
Similarly, the IRAS survey was not complete (around 96% of the sky), and there are a number of missing frames where images weren't taken, or the images were defective.
So while the virtual telescopes can give us unprecedented views of the sky at multiple wavelengths, what you see can occasionally be difficult to interpret. Before rushing off to claim comets or brown dwarf stars, take a bit of time to become antiquated with astronomical objects, and the characteristics of the images. You may learn something wonderful.
Labels: comets, Google Sky, Pseudoscience, Wikisky
Friday, June 24, 2011
Coming Close to Vesta
Navigation camera movie of the approach to Vesta (Video Credit, NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/PSI).
Dawn and Hubble images of Vesta compared (Image Credit, NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/PSI).The Dawn spacecraft is closing in on the asteroid Vesta. It should reach Vesta in early-Mid July and orbit the asteroid for a year, mapping and exploring it before visiting Ceres. Still over 180,000 Km away, this is the best views of this massive asteroid we have ever had.
From Earth, Vesta is a dot, but you can readily see it in binoculars, so it might be worth watching this world while the Dawn spacecraft approaches.
Labels: sphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifacecraft, Vesta
More Images from the June Total Lunar Eclipse
Some amazing shots of the Lunar Eclipse of 16 June from Astronomy Picture of the Day. First the Moon amongst the Milky Way, then a shot of the Moon and lightning, finally a nice shot from Ice In Space.
Labels: astrophotography, eclipse, Moon
Carnival of Space #202 is here.
Carnival of Space #202 is now up at Chandra Blog. There's baby black holes, a new look at Centaurus A, a weird binary exoplanet system, star parties and much, much more. Pop on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Find Your Own Tiny Lump of Ice
The folks who bought you GalazyZoo and PlanetHunters have a new quest for you, finding Kupier Belt objects. Yes, join in Ice Hunters and help find KBOs, if you are lucky, your faint ice-ball will be selected as the target for the New Horizons mission after it flies past Pluto. Read the introduction here.
Labels: citizen science, Pluto, Zooniverse
It's Winter Solsitice Here In Australia
The shortest day of the year. And the longest night. And it's raining.
Labels: miscelaneous
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday June 23 to Thursday June 30
The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday June 23. On the morning of 26 and 27 June the crescent Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter form a line in the morning sky. Saturn is close to the star Porrima, gamma Virginis.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 26 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday June 23.
In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, and is now low to the horizon. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 26th and 27th The Crescent Moon is near Jupiter, forming a line-up with Mars and Venus, you will need a clear, level eastern horizon to see Venus. On the 29th the thin crescent Moon will be just under Mars.
Evening sky on Saturday June 25 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).
Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 18th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis). They are moving apart, but are still paired close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 23:00 pm on June 25th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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 as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 26 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday June 23.
In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, and is now low to the horizon. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 26th and 27th The Crescent Moon is near Jupiter, forming a line-up with Mars and Venus, you will need a clear, level eastern horizon to see Venus. On the 29th the thin crescent Moon will be just under Mars.
Evening sky on Saturday June 25 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 18th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis). They are moving apart, but are still paired close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 23:00 pm on June 25th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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
Readers Images of the June 2011 Eclipse
Click images to embiggen. Copyright (2011) is vested in the original photographers, so please don't use them without permission.
 | Brendan O'Brien sends us a composite of eclipse pictures taken by his 12 year old daughter using her Mum's DSLR. Very impressive, we have a budding astrophotographer here. |
 | Reader Julia sent this lovely image of the nearly fully eclipsed Moon taken at 4:30 am local time. |
 | Reader Cynthia Ma in Sydney managed to get this image of the eclipsed Moon through breaks in the cloud. |
 | This is the only image of the eclipse Tony Travaglia of Omaru, NZ salvaged from his Camera card. The Eclipsed Moon glowing through the trees is wonderful though. Tony has just acquired a Coranado Halpha scope, so I'm looking forward to him sharing images of the Sun from that. |
Labels: astrophotography, Cynthia Ma, eclipse, Moon, readers pictures, Tony Travaglia
Monday, June 20, 2011
Dealing with Denialism Tonight
Just a reminder that I'm speaking at RiAUS on Dealing with Denialism tonight at 6:00 pm.
Labels: science communicators
Friday, June 17, 2011
Dealing with Denialism, June 20th, SA Science Communicators
This coming Monday, Ben Heard of Think Climate (here's his post on this event to get you thinking) and myself will be speaking on Dealing with Denialism.
Climate change, evolution, anti-vaccinationism: how do you present issues, current theories, and research on these and similar topics to the public in a balanced, informed way, when you may have to compete with dis- and misinformation, and fear?
Find out on 20 June, 6:00-7:30pm at RiAus in the Science Exchange. It should be an enlightening and fun evening.
Adult: $10 Concession: $5
RiAus and ASCSA members: Free
Booking required. http://ascsadealingwithdenialism.eventbrite.com/
Printable PDF handout here.
Climate change, evolution, anti-vaccinationism: how do you present issues, current theories, and research on these and similar topics to the public in a balanced, informed way, when you may have to compete with dis- and misinformation, and fear?
Find out on 20 June, 6:00-7:30pm at RiAus in the Science Exchange. It should be an enlightening and fun evening.
Adult: $10 Concession: $5
RiAus and ASCSA members: Free
Booking required. http://ascsadealingwithdenialism.eventbrite.com/
Printable PDF handout here.
Labels: science communicators
My Total Lunar Eclipse June 16, 2011-06-16
No two eclipses are alike, every one has it’s own character. From standing in my Father-in-law’s backyard watching with the Bettdeckererschnappender weisel, to the rumbustious eclipse party of the August 2007 eclipse, the depth, colour and feelings associated with each eclipse is unique.
This eclipse was mine alone. No-one else wanted to get up at dark o’clock to see the Moon go red in the deepest eclipse since 2000. But it wasn’t quite the quiet contemplative eclipse I envisaged. At 3:30 I stumbled out of bed, trying not to trip over things and wake anybody else up. I had set up the scope and camera gear the night before, laid out all my warm woollies and borrowed EldestOnes headlamp (mine has never been the same after SmallestOne got to it), so getting set-up was accomplished quickly.The morning started well, although there was cloud, it was all thin stuff, with the occasional darker cloud hanging about. The Moon ringed with a 22º halo, and the north pole smudged with the faintest hint of penumbral shadow, presaging good things to come.
Trouble started straight away though. My normally reliable time drive decided to engage intermittently, so I had to constantly fiddle with the scope to line it up. This wasn’t so bad early on, when the brightness of the full Moon made for short exposure times, but as the night wore on the longer exposures had substantial drift. Still, these operational difficulties did not dim the main event. Rule 1 of astrophotography is to never let the act of photography interfere with enjoying what you are photographing.
As the Earth’s shadow began to nibble at the Moon, two jets went over, the two contrails framing the Moon, and the contrails casting shadows on the cloud deck below. Then for a while the cloud abated, and I could see the shadow inching its way across the Moon.
About midway the cloud got heavy again, with the half-eclipsed Moon playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. I was also trying to image the eclipse with my mobile phone through my binoculars. This was less than successful, at least partly because my new mobile has a camera button obviously designed for creatures with tentacles instead of fingers, and when wearing gloves the button is almost inaccessible.
I was also trying to live-blog the eclipse, which I could do when the clouds obscured the Moon. If I had thought to tweet the live blog earlier it might have helped. Then the clouds came off for the final part of the eclipse, the thin sliver of the Moon contrasting with the shadowed part, glowing redly from reflected earth-shine. Finally the Earth's shadow engulfed the Moon. Often the eclipsed Moon is described as copper-coloured, but this was a definite deep red. This was possibly due to the dust clouds from the Chilean volcano, and the fact that this was a very deep, center-line eclipse.
Then, as the eclipse neared it's deepest part, the clouds came over again. But this time they were solid. I kept on popping out, but there was nothing to be seen until quite late, when the Moon had sunk below the working limit of the telescope. For a few brief minutes the red Moon glowed between the clouds in the early twilight sky, then they closed over again.
So I wandered inside to make breakfast, and reflect on what was possibly the best Total Lunar Eclipse I had ever seen.
Labels: astrophotography, eclipse, Moon
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Semi-Live Blogging the Luna Eclipse
Images of eclipse taken with mobile phone through binoculars.Got up at 3:30 am to find a Moon covered in thin high cloud. A halo stretched across the sky, and the north of the Moon was visibly darker. Set up the telescope and after some fiddling got my first shots. Time drive doesn't want to stay engaged. At 3:50 can definitely see darkening.
UPDATE - LIVE ECLIPSE at http://eclipse.slooh.com/
4:15 Big chunk taken from Moon, effect of clouds and jet contrails dramatic.4:23: Big clouds come over.
4:36: Clouds clearing, 3/4 Moon covered now. Very Red
5:05: Moon totally covered now. Very Red, Very dark. Scope time drive spits dummy.
5:16: Still Cloudy.
5:21: Most cloud just near horizon, where Moon is.
5:30: Cloud thicker if anything.
5:42: Cloud, cloud cloud.6:05: Can't tell if Moon insanely dark or just covered by cloud.
6:15: Cloud mostly gone from sky, except where Moon is.
Labels: astrophotography, eclipse, Moon
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Don't Forget the Total Lunar Eclipse this Thursday Morning (16 June).
I'm getting ready for tomorrow mornings* total lunar eclipse. Despite less than encouraging cloud predictions from SkippySky, I've got the spare batteries for the telescopes time drive, and I'm charging up the camera batteries, getting all my warm woollies (beanie, gloves, scarf etc.) ready and going out anyway.
Even if it is cloudy, the sight of the eclipsed Moon playing peek-a-boo in the clouds will be marvelous, and the ash from the Chilean volcano that is grounding planes may change the colour of the eclipsed Moon.
Just in case the eclipse is completely clouded out there are webcasts here and here.
*Wednesday night (15th) if you live in India, Africa or Europe, details and timings here.
Even if it is cloudy, the sight of the eclipsed Moon playing peek-a-boo in the clouds will be marvelous, and the ash from the Chilean volcano that is grounding planes may change the colour of the eclipsed Moon.
Just in case the eclipse is completely clouded out there are webcasts here and here.
*Wednesday night (15th) if you live in India, Africa or Europe, details and timings here.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Supernova sn2011dh in M51 is brightening!
Supernova sn2011dh in M51 imaged with the GRAS-05 instrument. Left image 4 June, right image 10 June. Both are 120 sec exposures using the luminance filter. The 10 June supernova image is visibly brighter than the June 4 image (click to embiggen).Most of you following this blog, or astronomy news in general, will be aware of the “bright” supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51).
I’ve been following the supernova over the past week (and encouraging others who are doing this to submit their images for crowd sourcing). After the first two images I tried my hand at photometry, to estimate the brightness of the supernova.
My estimated supernova magnitudes, with 95% confidence intervals.My first two images were from 4 June and 6 June (due to this thing called weather). I used spot densities from the calibrated (but otherwise untouched) FITS files derived using ImageJ. I used the densities from the supernova and 6 reference stars spanning the range of M13 to M15.1.
To my surprise, the supernova hadn't faded according to my data, but actually brightened. Given the accuracy of my measurements though, it could have just not have dimmed much.
So when I looked at my next image from the 8th, it looked as bright as the nearby reference star, and my photometry confirmed this.
Then the image of the 10th the supernova was definitely brighter than the reference star (see image above). My photometry showed it to be M12.7.So how good was my photometry. I didn't have many reference stars between M14 and M13 (mostly because when I designated my reference stars I was expecting the supernova to dim, and partly because they
were what I had magnitudes for) and I'm using spot densities rather than areas as is standard.I was only moderately confident in the accuracy of the magnitudes. So I checked the sn2011dh webpage, and to my surprise found that my magnitudes fitted very closely with the magnitudes reported by others. The supernova's magnitude has now plateaued around M 12.8 (which is pretty typical of Type II-P supernova, although how typical the upward bump is I don't know).
This is definitely a supernova worth continued following (now I find I should have been doing exposures with BVR filters). Again I urge people to submit their images (details here). Calibrated but otherwise unmodifed FITS images are best, but all images are welcome. Of course, with the Moon almsot full imaging will have to take a break for a while, but when we have some less Moon-haunted skies it will be interesting to see what this supernova will be doing.
Labels: Global Rent-a-Scope, supernova
The Sky This Week - Thursday June 16 to Thursday June 23
The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia. Venus, Mars and Jupiter form a line in the morning sky. Venus is close to Aldebaran. Saturn is closest to the star Porrima, gamma Virginis.
The eclipsed moon near Scorpius at 5:30 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. In the eastern states, twilight will be starting, and in WA the eclipse will be ending. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia.
The eclipse starts as the Moon begins its descent towards the western horizon. It occurs in the morning before and during twilight, so you have to get out of your comfy bed to see it. It is the longest eclipse since 2000, but only WA gets to see all of it, although all states will see totality.
The Moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow (the Umbra) at 4:23 am on the east coast, 3:52 am for the central states and 2:23 am in Western Australia. Over the next hour you will see the shadow slowly creep over the Moons face until the Moon is covered by the shadow of the Earth (5:23 am eastern states, 4:52 am central states and 3:23 am WA). You should see the stars becoming more visible as the Moon darkens. The Moon will not be completely dark, but will be a deep red colour. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to look at.
You can see a YouTube videocast with additional information featuring a simulation of the eclipse here. You can get more information (eg twilight times) from the eclipse section at Southern Skywatch, some hints on observing and photographing the eclipse and a printable guide suitable for kids and schools.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 19 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, but is still readily seen in the late morning sky. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 16th Venus is close to the Aldebaran (see image above) forming a second eye for Taurus the Bull, this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon. (although Venus rises higher later in the twilight, the Pleiades will be washed out by the brightness of the sky).
On the 19th and 20th Mars is close to the Pleiades cluster (see image above), this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon.
Evening sky on Saturday June 18 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).
Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 18th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis), being just a quarter of a finger-width apart. They already look beautiful, paired close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 23:30 am on June 18th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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.
The eclipsed moon near Scorpius at 5:30 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. In the eastern states, twilight will be starting, and in WA the eclipse will be ending. Click to embiggen.The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia.
The eclipse starts as the Moon begins its descent towards the western horizon. It occurs in the morning before and during twilight, so you have to get out of your comfy bed to see it. It is the longest eclipse since 2000, but only WA gets to see all of it, although all states will see totality.
The Moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow (the Umbra) at 4:23 am on the east coast, 3:52 am for the central states and 2:23 am in Western Australia. Over the next hour you will see the shadow slowly creep over the Moons face until the Moon is covered by the shadow of the Earth (5:23 am eastern states, 4:52 am central states and 3:23 am WA). You should see the stars becoming more visible as the Moon darkens. The Moon will not be completely dark, but will be a deep red colour. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to look at.
You can see a YouTube videocast with additional information featuring a simulation of the eclipse here. You can get more information (eg twilight times) from the eclipse section at Southern Skywatch, some hints on observing and photographing the eclipse and a printable guide suitable for kids and schools.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 19 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, but is still readily seen in the late morning sky. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 16th Venus is close to the Aldebaran (see image above) forming a second eye for Taurus the Bull, this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon. (although Venus rises higher later in the twilight, the Pleiades will be washed out by the brightness of the sky).
On the 19th and 20th Mars is close to the Pleiades cluster (see image above), this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon.
Evening sky on Saturday June 18 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 18th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. Saturn is still close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis), being just a quarter of a finger-width apart. They already look beautiful, paired close together.
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 23:30 am on June 18th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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
Carnival of Space #201 is here.
Carnival of Space #201 is now up at Starry Critters. The upcoming total lunar eclipse features, as does a live exoplanet transit, the M51 supernova, the giant solar flare and much, much more. Head on over for a starry good time.
Labels: carnival of space
Monday, June 13, 2011
Walking on the Devils Nose
So today being the Queens Birthday, Chez Reynella went for a walk in Parra Wirra Recreation Park. We normally walk in the central and southern parts of the Adelaide Hills, so this little park was a delightful surprise.We walked to a rock formation called the Devil's Nose. Only 2.2 Km one way, but with SmallestOne and EnergeticFriend along (and EldestOne doing his best disaffected teenager impersonation), you don't want to go too far.
The walk is largely along a rocky ridge, with occasional splashes of quartz. There are stands of she -oaks, pale eucalyptus and grass trees, still flowering and humming with bees.The views are great, across rolling hills dotted with dramatic rocks.
Just .. don't decide "Hey it would be cool to walk down to the creek!", becuase, well, it isn't.
Labels: bushwalking, miscelaneous
Comet 2009 P1 Garrad, June 10
Comet C/2009 P1 imaged on June 10 with GRAS-05. Image 3x120 second exposures stacked with ImageJ (click to embiggen).While many of the general public are focused on comet Eleinin, there is another relatively bright comet in the sky.
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is already magnitude 10, and is heading for magnitude 6, possibly 5. It will make a very nice binocular comet from September this year to May 2012.
In the image you can already see a small, fan shaped tail, and this comet will be very interesting to follow over the coming months. Another good image of the comet is here.
Labels: comet, Global Rent-a-Scope
Friday, June 10, 2011
Total Lunar Eclipse - Morning June 16, 2011
Western horizon as seen from Adelaide at 3:50 am AECST on June 16, visualized in Stellarium. The Moon has begun to enter the darkest part of Earths shadow (click to embiggen).On the morning of Thursday, June the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia (as well as Africa, Central and parts of South-East Asia). Western Australia sees all of the eclipse, and while for central and Eastern Australia twilight occurs after totality begins, a goodly chunk of the eclipse is seen.
The eclipse starts as the Moon begins its descent towards the western horizon. You have to get out of your comfy bed and into the cold of the early morning to see it, so dress warmly and have plenty of hot cocoa on hand. This is the longest eclipse since 2000, and the best since August 2007, so it is well worth getting up and braving the cold.
The eclipsed moon near Scorpius at 5:30 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. In the eastern states, twilight will be starting, and in WA the eclipse will be ending. Click to embiggen. The Moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow (the Umbra) at 4:23 am on the east coast, 3:52 am for the central states and 2:23 am in Western Australia.
Over the next hour you will see the shadow slowly creep over the Moons face until the Moon is covered by the shadow of the Earth (5:23 am eastern states, 4:52 am central states and 3:23 am WA). You should see the stars becoming more visible as the Moon darkens.
What is the best way to watch the eclipse? Well, with the unaided eye to start with. The sight of the shadow crawling over the Moon will be awesome, and you can watch the sky darken and the stars pop out as the eclipse progresses. The Moon will not be completely dark, but will be a deep red colour. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to look at.
Over in the east, as twilight approaches, Jupiter, Mars and Venus form a line. Venus is close to the bright red star Aldebaran. This is a nice accompaniment to the ongoing eclipse. You may even see a satellite going over (from Adelaide the ISS passes between Mars and Venus at 6:49 am) or a meteor or two.
You can also use binoculars; the eclipse will look quite nice in binoculars, and you will be able to see the darkened part of the Moon clearly. In a telescope, you will notice that the Earth's shadow is not sharp. You can use a low power lens to see the entire Moon to best effect, or with a high power scope you can time when various craters are covered by the shadow.
Photographing the eclipse can be done with simple digital cameras. You can just point the camera through your telescope lens and press the button, that works! For binoculars though, other than at maximum eclipse the Moon is too bright and the bright part will be over exposed.
Partial Lunar eclipse as seen from Adelaide at 21:30 pm, 26 June 2010. 4" Newtonian Reflector, 20 mm Plossl eyepiece and Canon IXUS 100 IS (400 ASA, 1/15 exposure). Click to embiggen.
For photography without a telescope, you will need a tripod or something to keep the camera steady as you take the photo. You will need to take the photo on the fastest setting you can to avoid overexposure.
Most simple digital cameras have a night mode, or allow you to set the exposure for a few seconds or more , but for most of the eclipse the Moon will be so bright you should use something like a daylight setting with no flash - experiment a little the night before to find the right settings).
If your camera has a zoom setting, zoom out to the maximum optical zoom
The Moon setting at 7:00 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. The shadow of the Earth is moving off the Moon Click to embiggen.
Maximum Eclipse occurs at 6:13 am on the east coast, with twilight beginning. The sight of the bronze disk of the Moon hanging in a twilight sky should be pretty good. In the central states, mid eclipse is 5:42 am and in WA it is 4:13 am
In the central states, twilight brightens as the Earths shadow slips off the Moon, and in WA the total eclipse ends at 5:03 am, and the partial eclipse ends at 6:02 am.
The YouTube clip below shows an animation of the eclipse as visualised in Stellarium.
You can link to the YouTube videocast of the eclipse here. You can get more information (eg twilight times) from the eclipse section at Southern Skywatch, and here's a printable guide suitable for kids and schools.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
And on Thursday Night ....
... EldestOne made dinner. He's always like cooking (all the boys do), but this is the first time he prepared a meal from wo to go for all of usIt tasted great.
Of course, then I spent the rest of the night washing up, and advising him on bacterial names for his homework.
Labels: home life, miscelaneous
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
M 2.5 Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection, Possible Aurora
On June 6 at 4:00 pm local time there was an M2.5 solar flare and a spectacular associated coronal mass ejection. The video below is from the Solar Dynamics Observer, via Helioviewer (tip of the hat to the Bad Astronomer for putting me on to it.)
The CME was not aimed directly at the Earth, there is the possibility that the CME will brush past Earth, so people should be alert for aurora in Tasmania and Southern New Zealand late tonight (8th, around midnight or so), early morning of the 9th and the evening of the 9th. Australians should keep an eye on the IPS Space Weather page, (as opposed to Spaceweather, which is northern hemisphere specific). More nice images and videos at Spaceweather, Universe Today and the Bad Astronomer.
The CME was not aimed directly at the Earth, there is the possibility that the CME will brush past Earth, so people should be alert for aurora in Tasmania and Southern New Zealand late tonight (8th, around midnight or so), early morning of the 9th and the evening of the 9th. Australians should keep an eye on the IPS Space Weather page, (as opposed to Spaceweather, which is northern hemisphere specific). More nice images and videos at Spaceweather, Universe Today and the Bad Astronomer.
Labels: aurora, Solar flare
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday June 9 to Thursday June 16
The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia. Venus, Mars and Jupiter form a line in the morning sky. Saturn is closest to the star Porrima, gamma Virginis.
The eclipsed moon near Scorpius at 5:30 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. In the eastern states, twilight will be starting, and in WA the eclipse will be ending. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia.
The eclipse starts as the Moon begins its descent towards the western horizon. It occurs in the morning before and during twilight, so you have to get out of your comfy bed to see it. It is the longest eclipse since 2000, but only WA gets to see all of it, although all states will see totality.
The Moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow (the Umbra) at 4:23 am on the east coast, 3:52 am for the central states and 2:23 am in Western Australia. Over the next hour you will see the shadow slowly creep over the Moons face until the Moon is covered by the shadow of the Earth (5:23 am eastern states, 4:52 am central states and 3:23 am WA). You should see the stars becoming more visible as the Moon darkens. The Moon will not be completely dark, but will be a deep red colour. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to look at.
You can see a YouTube videocast with additional information featuring a simulation of the eclipse here. You can get more information (eg twilight times) from the eclipse section at Southern Skywatch, and a printable guide suitable for kids and schools.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 12 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, but is still readily seen in the late morning sky. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 9th and 10th Venus is close to the Pleiades cluster (see image above), this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon (although Venus rises higher later in the twilight, the Pleiades will be washed out by the brightness of the sky).
Evening sky on Thursday June 9 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).
Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 9th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. On the 9th Saturn is at its closest to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis), being just a quarter of a finger-width apart. They already look beautiful, paired close together. On the 10th the waxing Moon is close to Saturn
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 12:30 am on June 9th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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.
The eclipsed moon near Scorpius at 5:30 am local time as seen from Adelaide, SA. In the eastern states, twilight will be starting, and in WA the eclipse will be ending. Click to embiggen.The Full Moon is Thursday June 16. On the morning of the 16th there is a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Australia.
The eclipse starts as the Moon begins its descent towards the western horizon. It occurs in the morning before and during twilight, so you have to get out of your comfy bed to see it. It is the longest eclipse since 2000, but only WA gets to see all of it, although all states will see totality.
The Moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow (the Umbra) at 4:23 am on the east coast, 3:52 am for the central states and 2:23 am in Western Australia. Over the next hour you will see the shadow slowly creep over the Moons face until the Moon is covered by the shadow of the Earth (5:23 am eastern states, 4:52 am central states and 3:23 am WA). You should see the stars becoming more visible as the Moon darkens. The Moon will not be completely dark, but will be a deep red colour. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to look at.
You can see a YouTube videocast with additional information featuring a simulation of the eclipse here. You can get more information (eg twilight times) from the eclipse section at Southern Skywatch, and a printable guide suitable for kids and schools.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 12 showing Jupiter, with Mars and Venus lined up below. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.In the morning the bright planets are strung out in a line. Jupiter leads the procession above Mars and Venus. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular.
Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, but is still readily seen in the late morning sky. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".
On the 9th and 10th Venus is close to the Pleiades cluster (see image above), this will be difficult to see without a clear, level horizon (although Venus rises higher later in the twilight, the Pleiades will be washed out by the brightness of the sky).
Evening sky on Thursday June 9 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen, Porrima is just visible as a dot on the side of Saturn in this image).Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 9th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. On the 9th Saturn is at its closest to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis), being just a quarter of a finger-width apart. They already look beautiful, paired close together. On the 10th the waxing Moon is close to Saturn
The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes. See here for some stunning amateur images.
Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 12:30 am on June 9th looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.3), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. Iota Capricorni is the third star up and to the left of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
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
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