Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Okay, so How do I Point My Telescope at the Sun for the Transit of Venus
 |  |
| So, you have set up your scope with a solar filter (or you are using a projection system) and you ask yourself " how the heck do I actually point the scope at the Sun"? Obviously you cannot look through the viewfinder (I have mine set up with the lens cap to the view finder taped on, so it can't accidental fall off). So how do you do it (and keep your eyesight)? | My Solar filter and the adaptor to attach a digital camera to a standard scope using eye piece projection. You will have to set the camera focus to infinity. You can get both filters and adaptors at all good optical stores. |
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| Simple, you use the Telescopes shadow. Firstly roughly align the scope up. The shadow will be not quite circular. | Then adjust the shadow of the scope so it is the minimum size. With the lowest power lens in your scope, the Sun should be more or less in view. You may need a little more fiddling to get it, but the shadow will get you most of the way. |
 | Some nice sunspots captured using infinity/infinity eyepiece projection with my Canon IXUS clamped to the scope (and some slight zoom to get the Suns' image bigger). |
Carnival of Space #251 is Here.
Carnival of Space #251 is now up at the Chandra blog. There's anti-mater rockets, Planet X redux, making pinhole cameras, telerobotics and much, much more. Zip on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The Sky This Week - Thursday May 31 to Thursday June 7
The Full Moon is Monday June 4, there is a partial Lunar Eclipse this night. The transit of Venus is on Wednesday June 6. Mars is in the western evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. On the 1st the waxing Moon is close to Saturn and Spica. Saturn is visible near the star Spica.
Morning sky on Wednesday June 6 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 7:45 am local time in South Australia showing the Sun rising. The left inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time with Venus just entering the Sun's disk. The right inset shows the appearance of the Sun and Venus near maximum transit. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is is lost in the twilight.
On June 6 Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117. The transit starts at around 8:15 am on the East coast, 7:45 am in the central states, and in WA the Sun rises with the transit in progress. Mid transit is around 11:30 am and the transit finishes at 2:44 pm on the east coast, 2:15 pm in the central states and 12:46 in WA.
See my Transit Webpage for more details of when the transit is, how to view it, public viewings and webcams. My guide to binocular projection is here.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 7 :30 pm local time on Friday June 1 showing
Mars and Regulus. The waxing Moon, Saturn and Spica form a nice triangle. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Monday June 4. There will be a partial Lunar Eclipse, with slightly less than 40% of the Moon being covered by Earths shadow. The eclipse starts at the family friendly 7:59 pm AEDST, and mid eclipse is 9:03 pm AEDST. this will be an excellent opportunity to see a nice partial eclipse.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 6:30 pm local time.
Mars is not far from the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the northern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the evening, being highest at 9:15 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world. On Friday June 1 Saturn, Spica and the Moon form a nice triangle in the sky.
Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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 on Wednesday June 6 looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 7:45 am local time in South Australia showing the Sun rising. The left inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time with Venus just entering the Sun's disk. The right inset shows the appearance of the Sun and Venus near maximum transit. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is is lost in the twilight.
On June 6 Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117. The transit starts at around 8:15 am on the East coast, 7:45 am in the central states, and in WA the Sun rises with the transit in progress. Mid transit is around 11:30 am and the transit finishes at 2:44 pm on the east coast, 2:15 pm in the central states and 12:46 in WA.
See my Transit Webpage for more details of when the transit is, how to view it, public viewings and webcams. My guide to binocular projection is here.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 7 :30 pm local time on Friday June 1 showing
Mars and Regulus. The waxing Moon, Saturn and Spica form a nice triangle. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.The Full Moon is Monday June 4. There will be a partial Lunar Eclipse, with slightly less than 40% of the Moon being covered by Earths shadow. The eclipse starts at the family friendly 7:59 pm AEDST, and mid eclipse is 9:03 pm AEDST. this will be an excellent opportunity to see a nice partial eclipse.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the north-western sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 6:30 pm local time.
Mars is not far from the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the northern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the evening, being highest at 9:15 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world. On Friday June 1 Saturn, Spica and the Moon form a nice triangle in the sky.
Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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, May 28, 2012
A Step by Step Guide to Making a Binocular Projection System for Viewing the Transit of Venus
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| What you will need for making a binocular projection system. Binoculars (of course), a tripod, a binocular tripod adapter (or, if you have an older model of binoculars, lots of gaffer tape), some sturdy cardboard, pencil, scissors, aluminium foil and gaffer tape. | Using your binoculars as a template, draw circles on the cardboard that forms the sun shield where the binocular lenses will fit. The sun-shield will stop the projected image of the Sun from being washed out. |
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| Carefully cut our the holes so your cardboard will fit over the lenses | Now set up the tripod and attach the adaptor. These adaptors can be bought at all good optical stores. |
 |  |
| Attach the binoculars to the adaptor. If your binoculars do not have an adaptor attachment, lashings of gaffer tape work as well. | Carefully slide the cardboard sun shield over the binoculars (yes, I used old pizza boxes, they work and are cheap). The carefully put the aluminium foil over one of the lenses (so that you don't have overlapping images. |
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| You may need to stabilise the sun-shield with a piece of tape. Remember to NEVER look through the eyepiece of the binoculars (or any projection system). To align this set-up so the sun shines through the lens, move the system so that the shadow of the rig is minimised as described for the telescope here. | And now you are all ready to go. Here I am projecting on to a wall, but you may want to use a stick attaching a piece of card to the binoculars, as walls and such will often be at an inconvenient angle so the image of the Sun is distorted (as in the example above). |
And now you have a low cost set-up for observing the transit of Venus (now just over a week away on June 6). You can photograph the projected image with a simple digital camera (see here for an example). Getting the imaged focussed may be a problem. I draw a small cross in pencil on the projection surface so the digital camera has something to focus on.
Do practise setting up and imaging before the day of the transit, so you are familiar with the set-up.
Always be careful to avoid looking at the sun directly and NEVER look through the eyepiece (this can cause some frustration as you try and line the binoculars up using just the shape of the shadow as described here, but the frustration of permanent eye damage is worse). If you have small children with you, be very alert that they don't try an look into the projecting eyepiece.
Now, get ready to enjoy the transit!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Amazing Messier Object Images
Rolando Ligustri is an astrophotographer par excellence, and fellow iTelescope user. If you really want to see something amazing, head on over to his facebook gallery for this fantastic poster of Messier objects.
Labels: astrophotography
Waxing Moon, Sunday May 27
I've spent the weekend setting up my scopes and binoculars ready for the Transit of Venus on the 6th.
I've also put together some set-by-step guides to safe solar projection and setting up for digital imaging (hence tonights photos). I'll start posting them tomorrow.
Labels: astrophotography, Moon
Venus, Sunday 27 May 2012
Venus is only just above the horizon (compare this shot with last weeks and the previous weeks). Soon it will be unobservable in the twilight, before it transits the Sun.
The Transit occurs on 6 June, observational details are here.
Labels: Venus
Australia AND South Africa Both Win the Square Kilometer Array
In case you haven't hear the news, the site of the Square Kilometre Array, a massive synthetic aperture radio telescope that will greatly advance our understanding if the universe, has been awarded to BOTH South Africa and Australia.
This is a great outcome for both our countries, and science. We get the low
Of course, The Australian sees this result as a snub, not a win.
*Sorry, I wrote this at about 1 am, so I misunderstood what was going on. Australia basically gets to probe the very beginning of the Universe. Astroswanny has a much better article explaining what it means here.
Labels: Astronomy, miscelaneous, Radio Astronomy
Earth from Mars, May 2012
The morning sky on Mars is quite lovely at the moment, with Earth and Venus lined up in the east and Saturn close to the western horizon.
Once more the top search term for people visiting my blog, is "Earth from Mars", probably in response to more publicity about the "John Carter on Mars" movie (or a DVD release?). So, once more, here it is for you searchers.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Watching SpaceX go by
If you haven't heard, the first purely commercial spacecraft to the ISS, SpaceX, has been launched successfully and should be docking now. Sadly, from Australia neither the ISS or SpaceX is currently visible, but the should be seen in our skies on May 30. See Heavens Above for predictions for your location.
Fantastic video of the docking here
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=144472261
Fantastic video of the docking here
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=144472261
Labels: ISS
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Carnival of Space #250 is Here.
Carnival of Space #250 is now up at Vintage Space. There's the SpaceX mission, asteroid mining, the 100 year starship organisation, antimatter propulsion and lots lots more. Zip on over for a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Transit of Venus, June 6 2012
My image of the 2004 Transit of Venus, taken with a Pentax K SLR and actual film. It's two weeks now until the Transit of Venus, the last one we will see until 2117. The rare transits of Venus occur when Venus passes directly between us and the Sun.
This occurs roughly ever 100 years or so, then there are two in quick succession, eight years apart.
The last was in June 2004, you can see my images from that transit here. The next starts just after sunrise on Wednesday June 6 (in Australia and New Zealand). June 5 in other parts of the world)
Safe solar projection rig for observing the sun with binoculars. Note that this is for projecting an image onto a card or a wall (I was using a wall here). NEVER look though the eyepiece of a projection system pointed in the vicinity of the Sun. See here for step by step details of making a binocular projection system, showing projection onto a surface. The transit can be viewed without fancy equipment, using safe solar projection techniques. If you are at work, you can pop out and view it at lunchtime with simple, portable kit.
The best views will be with with telescopes, but you don't need lots of money to watch this once in a life time event.
I have set up a webpage for this years transit of Venus. It has timings of when the transit starts and ends for various Australian cities, viewing tips, and links to webcasts, public viewing and more information. I've also added it to the links on the side of the blog. I will be also adding more details of actually constructing some of these projection systems.
So go and have a read, and start preparing for the transit!
Labels: astrophotography, transit, Venus
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Sky This Week - Thursday May 24 to Thursday May 31
The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday May 29. The transit of Venus is two weeks away.
Venus is visible very low in the western evening sky. Mars is in the western evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. On the 29th the First Quarter Moon is close to Mars and Regulus. Saturn is
visible
near the star Spica. Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at7 :00 pm local time on Tuesday May 29 showing
Mars, Regulus and the Moon. As well there is Saturn and Spica and comet Garradd. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.
The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday May 29.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:00 pm local time.
Mars is not far from the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week. On the 29th the First Quarter Moon is close to Mars.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the northern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the evening, being highest at 9:30 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in the north-eastern sky. At magnitude 9, it is now observable only in telescopes . It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views under dark sky conditions. By the end of the week the brightening Moon makes observation difficult.
Evening sky on Wednesday May 23 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Venus. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen telescopically at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about half an hour.
You will need a clear, level horizon (like the ocean) to see it at its best.
Venus remains in Taurus this week. It starts the week not far from the star Elnath, and doesn't move very far away.
Venus is now rapidly sinking towards the horizon, and this will be the last week it is reasonably easy to see. Venus is quite large, and a very thin crescent, the crescent shape can be seen even in strong binoculars. In two weeks tine Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117.
See my Transit Webpage for details of when the transit is, and how to view it.
Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at7 :00 pm local time on Tuesday May 29 showing
Mars, Regulus and the Moon. As well there is Saturn and Spica and comet Garradd. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday May 29.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:00 pm local time.
Mars is not far from the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week. On the 29th the First Quarter Moon is close to Mars.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the northern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the evening, being highest at 9:30 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in the north-eastern sky. At magnitude 9, it is now observable only in telescopes . It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views under dark sky conditions. By the end of the week the brightening Moon makes observation difficult.
Evening sky on Wednesday May 23 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Venus. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen telescopically at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about half an hour.
You will need a clear, level horizon (like the ocean) to see it at its best.
Venus remains in Taurus this week. It starts the week not far from the star Elnath, and doesn't move very far away.
Venus is now rapidly sinking towards the horizon, and this will be the last week it is reasonably easy to see. Venus is quite large, and a very thin crescent, the crescent shape can be seen even in strong binoculars. In two weeks tine Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117.
See my Transit Webpage for details of when the transit is, and how to view it.
Jupiter and Mercury are lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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
Comet C/2011 L4 Panstarrs
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Rather nice little picture if I say so myself.Taken with iTelecope T14. Stack of 4 images, stretched in FITS liberator, summed in ImageJ and then stacked and despeckled.
Labels: cluster, comet, comets, iTelescope
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Venus,Saturday 20 May 2012
Venus is rapidly heading towards the horizon (compare today shot with last weeks). Soon it will be unobservable in the twilight, although on the 22nd and 23rd the thin crescent Moon will be close by, don't forget to watch out for that.
And don't forget that on 6 June Venus will transit the Sun. I'll be putting up observing details later.
Labels: Venus
Saturday, May 19, 2012
SOHO Sees Jupiter and Its Moons
Tip of the hat to the Bad Astronomer and Sungrazing Comets on Twitter.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd Near NGC 2683, 15 May, 2012
Finally got a shot of comet Garradd near the galaxy NGC 2683. I have a bunch of other Garradd shots I have just not had time to process yet, but I thought this one was the priority to get done.
Technically, it is a stack of 4 x 120 second luminance exposures, stretched in FITSliberator and stacked in ImageJ, the stacked SUMMED, then a square root process, followed by despeckling. I thought it came our rather well.
Labels: astrophotography, C/2009 P1 Garradd, comet, iTelescope
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Finding Hubbles Hidden Treasures
Yet there are thousands of images that have never been seen by the public. So Hubble is throwing open its archives to the public to look for interesting images.
Some assembly is required, you will need to do some processing of the image data. There is a series of tutorial to help you though.
There is even a competition with prizes (see here and here), but you have to hurry. The competition closes May 31!
More information from the Hubble site:
- How to find hidden treasures in the archive
- What is image processing?
- Hubble’s Hidden Treasures 2012 Contest
- Hubble's Hidden Treasures 2012 Image Processing Contest
- Who is organising this?
What, you are still here? Hie thee to the Hubble site this instant.
Labels: astrophotography, citizen science, competition, hubble
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Carnival of Space #249 is Here.
Carnival of Space #249 is now up at Riding With Robots. There's Saturn, the Transit of Venus, asteroid mining (of course) alternatives to Dark Matter, Light Pollution, astronaut actors and much, much more. Ride on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
The Sky This Week - Thursday May 17 to Thursday May 24
The New Moon is Monday May 21. The transit of Venus is three weeks away. Venus is visible very low in the western evening sky close to the star Elnath. On the 22nd and 23rd the thin crescent Moon is close to Venus. Jupiter is lost in the twilight. Mars is in the
eastern evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. Saturn is visible
near the star Spica. Mercury is visible in the morning sky. On the 19th Mercury is not far from the cresent Moon.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at
8:00 pm local time on Saturday May 19 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica and comet Garradd. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Monday May 21.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:20 pm local time.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, being highest at 10:00 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in the northern sky. At magnitude 9, it isnow observable only in telescopes . It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views nder dark sky condition.
Morning sky on Saturday May 19
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)
Mercury is visible above the eastern horizon by 6:00 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still visible this week if you have a flat, unobstructed horizon (such as the sea).
On Saturday Mercury will be near the thin crescent Moon, low in the twilight.
Evening sky on Wedensday May 23 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about 3/4 of an hour.
You will need a clear , level horizon to see it at its best. On the 23rd, Venus is below the thin crescent Moon (on the 22nd the thin crescent Moon is not far from Venus, but this may be a challenge to see).
Venus remains in Taurus this week. It starts the week not far from the star Elnath, and doesn't move very far away.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a thin crescent in even small telescopes now. In three weeks tine Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117. More details on viewing the transit will be published later.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at
8:00 pm local time on Saturday May 19 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica and comet Garradd. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn at this time. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Monday May 21.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:20 pm local time.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, being highest at 10:00 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in the northern sky. At magnitude 9, it isnow observable only in telescopes . It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views nder dark sky condition.
Morning sky on Saturday May 19
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)Mercury is visible above the eastern horizon by 6:00 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still visible this week if you have a flat, unobstructed horizon (such as the sea).
On Saturday Mercury will be near the thin crescent Moon, low in the twilight.
Evening sky on Wedensday May 23 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about 3/4 of an hour.
You will need a clear , level horizon to see it at its best. On the 23rd, Venus is below the thin crescent Moon (on the 22nd the thin crescent Moon is not far from Venus, but this may be a challenge to see).
Venus remains in Taurus this week. It starts the week not far from the star Elnath, and doesn't move very far away.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a thin crescent in even small telescopes now. In three weeks tine Venus will cross the disk of the Sun in a rare transit, the last until 2117. More details on viewing the transit will be published later.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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, May 13, 2012
ASCSA: The Big Snapshot of Australian Science Engagement Monday May 14
How are we engaging people with science in Australia, and how do we do it better?
Come to this Science Communicators social where your voice can help shape the future of science communication in Australia.
A National survey on science engagement is being funded by the Australian Government's Inspiring Australia Strategy, the aim of which is to gather information about the who, what, where, when, why and how we communicate science in this Country.
The Australian Science Communicators, Bridge8 and Econnect are creating a high definition picture of
Australian science engagement. This evening presents the chance to
contribute right at the start of the process during a fast paced
session, led by Kristin Alford of Bridge8. Your input and ideas will
help shape the survey. Like meetings are being held nationally at other
ASC branches.
Monday 14th May 2012
6.00pm-7.30pm
Ri AUS Science Exchange Building
55 Exchange Place, Adelaide SA 5000
The event is free but please book via event bright:
Labels: science communicators
Friday, May 11, 2012
Venus, Friday 11 May 2012
The rain has just stopped as I write this, but the weather has been messing up my astronomy for days. There's always STEREO, but EldestOne has used up all our bandwidth in one week, so downloading is painfully slow.
Still what glimpses of the sky I do get are very nice, worth the wait.
Labels: astrophotography, Venus
Sunspot 1467 via Binoculars
To the left is an image of the Sun and Sunspot 1467, the Sunspot group that has been blasting out M class flares for the past few days made with safe solar projection. On the right is the binocular lashup I made to take it. The Pizza box sun screen is required to keep the projected image in a reasonably dark spot. The image was projected onto a piece of paper stuck to a handy pillar on the verandah. It was quite clear to the eye, but getting the camera to focus on it was not so successful.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
More Flares Incoming! Aurora Possibilities Ahead.
In addition to the flares I reported earlier, there was a M5.8 event around 2:30 pm. Looks like we could be in for some aurora one way of the other. Spaceweather gives a 50% chance of geomagnetic storms in high latitudes in the next 24-48 hours.
In regard to the May 7 flares, solar storm watch says the May 7 CME's will miss us http://
Labels: aurora, Solar flare, Sun, sunspot
More Flares from the Sun
In the past 24 hours we have had an M5 and M4 class solar flare, as well as several smaller ones. It is possibly that Tasmania and Southern New Zealand will see aurora in the next 24-48 hours
Labels: animation, aurora, Solar flare
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Carnival of Space #248 is now here
Carnival of Space #248 is now up at Dear Astronomer. There are super moons, the age of the Universe, solar sails, Dyson bubbles, asteroid mining and much, much more. Zip on over and check it out.
Labels: carnival of space
The Sky This Week - Thursday May 10 to Thursday May 17
The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday May 13. Venus is visible
in the low in the western evening sky close to the star Elnath. Jupiter is lost in the twilight . Mars is in the
eastern evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. Saturn is visible
near the star Spica. Mercury is visible in the morning sky.
Evening
sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at
8:00 pm local time on Saturday May 12 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica and comet Garradd. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn and it's Moons at this time. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday May 13.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:30 pm local time.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, being highest at 10:30 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
With the Moon rising later, Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is once again visible in the northern sky. At magnitude 8, it is just observable in binoculars. It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views are in strong binoculars or telescopes under dark sky condition. As the week progresses it will rise further above the horizon, improving its visibility.
Morning sky on Sunday May 13
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)
Mercury is visible above the eastern horizon by 6:00 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still visible this week.
On Saturday and Sunday Mercury will be within binocular distance of the Asteroid Vesta. Vesta, at magnitude 8, will be hard to pick up without strong binoculars and a good dark sky site.
Evening sky on
Saturday May 12 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about an hour.
Venus continues to pass through Taurus this week. It starts the week close to the star Elnath, and draws away from Elnath during the week.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a distinct crescent in even small telescopes now.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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 Last Quarter Moon is Sunday May 13.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 7:30 pm local time.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it continues to move away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, being highest at 10:30 pm local time. local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
With the Moon rising later, Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is once again visible in the northern sky. At magnitude 8, it is just observable in binoculars. It's still relatively low to the horizon and the effects of light pollution means that the best views are in strong binoculars or telescopes under dark sky condition. As the week progresses it will rise further above the horizon, improving its visibility.
Morning sky on Sunday May 13
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)Mercury is visible above the eastern horizon by 6:00 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still visible this week.
On Saturday and Sunday Mercury will be within binocular distance of the Asteroid Vesta. Vesta, at magnitude 8, will be hard to pick up without strong binoculars and a good dark sky site.
Evening sky on
Saturday May 12 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for about an hour.
Venus continues to pass through Taurus this week. It starts the week close to the star Elnath, and draws away from Elnath during the week.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a distinct crescent in even small telescopes now.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Monday, May 07, 2012
iTelescope User Gallery of Astromomy Posts of the Day
Pop over the the iTelescope User Image Gallery of iTelescope images that made Astronomy Post of the Day. You will not regret it, there are a lot of truly beautiful images there.
Labels: astrophotography, iTelescope
Prepare for Flares, Active Sunspot 1467 Arrives with a Bang (and a possible geomagnetic storm)!
On Sunday and this morning my mailbox got hit with news of several M class flares. These all emanated from the Sunspot region 1467, which had just rotated onto the face of the Sun (big group just on the left of the image).
Sunspot region 1467 is massive, one of the biggest sunspot groups in years, and should be easily observable with safe solar projection.
None of the flares that crackeled off are headed in our direction, but it is very likely the a couple will fire off when the Sunspot group is more or less facing us.
But we might get to see aurora before then, there is a geomagnetic alert for 9 and 10 May, with the possibility of isolated minor storms. So Tasmania and Southern New Zealand might have a chance of aurora.
Labels: aurora, Solar flare, Sun, sunspot
Not Quite a Spectacular Comet Crash
And yeah, I have el mucho images to Garradd to work on. Still bleah from the flu. Lots of stuff astronomical to do, just don't know where to start.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
No "Super moon" for Me Tonight
Saturday, May 05, 2012
The Tooth Fairy's Car
Labels: home life
Friday, May 04, 2012
While We Are On Things Lunar; Map the Moon with Cosmo Quest
CosmoQuest.org is a group of astronomers who have created a series of citizen science projects for people who would like to contribute to astronomical science.
MoonMappers is a project where you identify and measure craters using high resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. You will need to register first but this is quick and easy. Once you are registered go to the Moonmappers home page and start mapping to your hearts content.
CosmoQuest has issued a Million Crater Challenge, to get 1,000,000 craters identified by this full Moon, which is just two days away. Why not join up now and help them along.
You can follow the mapping progress here.
The "Super Moon" of Sunday May 6, What Can You See?
Illustration of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Distances for apogee and perigee are given for the 2011 Full Moons because I was lazy and didn't want to redraw the diagram. The Full Moon of this Sunday May 6 (in Australian time zones anyway, it's 3:34 May 6 UT, which is 13:34 May 6 AEST), occurs at perigee.
Some folks have started to call perigean Full Moons "Super Moons" for reasons that, to my mind, are not entirely justified.
Still, we have the name, let's move on. What will you see, and what are the implications of this coming "Super Moon".
The Moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth (greatly exaggerated for illustrative purposes in the diagram above). When the Moon is closest to Earth, it is at perigee, and furthest, at apogee. The orbit of the Moon precesses around the Earth, so that sometimes perigee occurs at full Moon, sometimes at new Moon, and every time in between. Also for a variety of reasons the distances of closest and furthest approach can vary by up to almost 1,000 Km.
Perigeee Full Moons ("super moons") are closer and brighter than other full Moons.
So, what can you see?
Without a telescope, and a near photographic memory, not much. The Moon is closer at perigee than at apogee and this years perigee full Moon could appear up around 12% bigger and a bit under 30% brighter in the sky than this years apogee Moon.However, the full Moon is only around half a finger-width wide in the sky, 14% of half a finger-width is not very much.
Technically the Moon is around 33 arc minutes wide. The limit of distances that someone with good vision can distinguish between is 1 minute of arc (about the width of a human hair). So, for the vast majority of people any difference smaller than 1 minute of arc cannot be seen.
Perigee
and apogee as seen through a telescope. With the unaided eye, the Moon
only appears half a finger-width wide, so the difference is much harder
to see. This full Moon (May 6) will be 33.3 arc minutes in diameter, last months full Moon was 33.2 arc minutes in diameter, so even if you remember the last full Moon, you won’t notice any difference. If you wait for next months full Moon, that will also be 33.2 arc minutes in diameter, so you won’t notice any difference either.
If you can wait until November the 28th. when the Full Moon is at Apogee, then it’s diameter will be 29.1 arc minutes, and you could notice a difference if you have a good memory and good eyesight , but it won’t be spectacular.
However, it will be a good photo opportunity, if you have a decent zoom on your camera, taking a photo of the Moon on May 6 and then again on November the 28th you will see a decent difference (you need to use exactly the same zoom enlargement, see Inconstant Moon for instructions).
What will Happen?
The Moon will be bright and lovely, if lucky you may see a satellite pass or a meteor (sadly, there appear to be no International Space Station passes or Iridium flares at this time). Maybe you may see a Moon Bow. But nothing else will happen.One of the reasons why I am annoyed with the term "super moon" is that it was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle. While I am all for getting people excited about going out an seeing the sky for whatever reason, Mr. Nolle promoted the idea that "super moons" are linked with earthquakes, the the name "super moon" almost always pulls up this spurious idea..
They are not. And the "super moon of March 2011, which was much closer than this one, didn't result in any unforeseen earthquake activity.
Table of closest perigees for each year since 1991,
Date Time Distance Moon Phase Year Mar 8 8:36 356529 km ++ F- 1h 1993 Jan 19 22:13 356548 km ++ F+ 0h 1992 Dec 12 21:38 356567 km ++ F+ 4h 2008 Mar 19 19:10 356577 km ++ F+ 0h 2011 Jan 30 9:04 356592 km ++ F+ 2h 2010 Nov 4 0:42 356614 km ++ F- 4h 1998 Dec 22 11:01 356654 km ++ F- 6h 2001 Dec 22 11:01 356654 km ++ F- 6h 1999 Oct 26 11:52 356754 km ++ F+ 6h 2007 Feb 7 22:20 356852 km ++ F- 8h 2002
Apr 25 17:18 356925 km ++ F- 2h 1994 Jul 30 7:37 356948 km ++ F- 2h 1996
May 6 3:34 356953 km ++ F- 0h 2012**
Sep 16 15:25 356965 km + F- 3h 1997 Jun 13 1:06 357006 km + F- 2h 1995 Apr 17 4:59 357157 km + F+ 9h 2003 Jul 21 19:46 357159 km F+ 8h 2005 Sep 8 3:08 357174 km + F+ 8h 2006 Jun 3 13:11 357248 km ++ F+ 8h 2004 Jan 10 10:53 357500 km + F- 16h 2009 Dec 22 9:29 358353 km F+ 23h 1991 Nov 14 22:59 366050 km F+3d 1h 2000
This years "super moon" is indicated with asterisk**. It's not particularly super, being quite a bit further away from us than the March "super moon" of 2011.
So, go out and enjoy this weekends "super moon" free from fear. If possible, try and photograph it and the November 28 apogee Moon (what do we call them? "underachieveing moon"?).
Here's the Bad Astronomers take on the "super moon", and this link is to a great "super moon" cartoon.
Labels: astrophotography, earthquakes, Moon, Pseudoscience
Southern Skywatch May 2012 Edition Up
The May edition of Southern Skywatch is now up.
Venus is low in the early evening sky. Venus close to Elnath on the 7th. Venus is close to the crescent Moon on the 23rd.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
Mars is close to the Moon on the 1st and 29th.
Saturn is close to the Moon on the 4th. "Supermoon" on the 6th.
Mercury leaves the morning sky by mid-month.
Labels: southern skywatch
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
The Sky This Week - Thursday May 3 to Thursday May 10
The Full Moon is Sunday May 6. Venus is visible
in the low in the western evening sky close to the star Elnath. Jupiter is lost in the twilight . Mars is in the
eastern evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. Saturn is visible the whole night long
near the star Spica. On the 4th the Moon forms a triangle with Saturn and Spica. Mercury is visible in the morning sky.
Evening
sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time on Friday May 4 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn and it's Moons at this time. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Sunday May 6. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to Earth, at this time.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 8 pm.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it moves away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, rising before 6 pm local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Morning sky on Sunday May 6
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)
Mercury is now visible above the eastern horizon by 5:30 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still easily visible this week.
Evening sky on
Saturday May 5 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for around an hour.
Venus continues to pass through Taurus this week. It comes close to the star Elnath, and is closest on the 7th, when Venus becomes one of the tips of the horns of the Bull.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a distinct crescent in even small telescopes now.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Evening
sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time on Friday May 4 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn and it's Moons at this time. Click to embiggen.The Full Moon is Sunday May 6. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to Earth, at this time.
Mars is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in the northern sky around 8 pm.
Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it moves away over the week.
Mars was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be fairly small in modest telescopes.
Saturn is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for telescopic observation in the late evening, rising before 6 pm local time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time for telescopic views of this ringed world.
Morning sky on Sunday May 6
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)Mercury is now visible above the eastern horizon by 5:30 am in the morning.
Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still easily visible this week.
Evening sky on
Saturday May 5 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for around an hour.
Venus continues to pass through Taurus this week. It comes close to the star Elnath, and is closest on the 7th, when Venus becomes one of the tips of the horns of the Bull.
Venus is slowly sinking towards the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a distinct crescent in even small telescopes now.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
With Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Labels: weekly sky
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